All these events will take place during the Joseon era.

 

"It's time," Sunggeun told Daniel.

Sunggeun was Daniel's right hand man.

"Shall we go?"

Daniel had secretly walked out of the palace.

He couldn't get caught....

All he wanted to do was see how it was in the village.

Daniel had dressed in a humble hanbok and had a gat on his head.

Sunggeun had dressed the same way as Daniel. 

Daniel and Sunggeun had sneakily passed the guards and they walked around the village.

"Would you like to buy some jewelry, it's jade," a villager had asked Daniel.

"No thank you," Daniel told him.

Daniel and Sunggeun were looking at a stall, there were oranges and apples.

A girl walked up to the stall and was looking at the fruits.

She looked at Daniel.

"Shh," she said.

When the owner of the stall wasn't looking, she grabbed an apple. However, someone saw.

"Thief," a villager had yelled.

"Aish," the girl said and grabbed Daniel's arm and ran.

Daniel had no idea why she was dragging him with her...

He noticed that there were guards behind them. He couldn't get caught...

Daniel ran faster while the girl was still holding her arm. He ran and there was a fork in the road. He dragged the girl to behind a house.

They hid behind the house, they were both panting and were looking to see if the guards had left.

"That was a close one," the girl said.

"Why would you steal," Daniel asked her.

"Because I'm poor, I don't have the money to buy this apple," the girl said and cleaned the apple with her sleeve.

"But still, stealing isn't right. Return the apple back to its stall," he told her.

"No."

"No?"

"Who are you to tell me what I should do," the girl asked.

Daniel couldn't tell her, people couldn't know his identity...

"I'm.... Well, I can't tell you but if you don't listen to me now, then you'll regret it later."

"I don't think I'll regret it later, so if you'll excuse me, I haven't had any thing to eat this whole day," she said as she was about to take a bite of the apple.

But Daniel took the apple from her.

"Give it back," she told him.

"No."

"No?"

"Who are you to tell me what I should do," Daniel mimicked her.

"Fine... I'll just steal another apple," she said as she was about to walk away.

Daniel grabbed her arm and told her," you know you can just ask me to buy you an apple."

"Why would you buy an apple for me? You don't even know me."

"I was just trying to be nice... Plus, how are you going to steal another apple when a villager had already saw your face?"

He was right, if she went back to the same stall then she was bound to get caught.

"So... You're going to buy me an apple?"

"I could buy you something better than an apple, but only if you ask me politely," Daniel told her.

She knew that her pride was going to get hurt... A lot... But she was hungry...

"Can you please buy me something to eat," she asked him.

"Now was that so hard?"

"Yes, yes it was.... Let's go," she said as she dragged him to a fish stall.

"You want to eat fish?"

"Well, I have always wanted to try mackerel but it's very expensive."

"Can I get 2 of these," Daniel had asked the man at the stall.

The man handed him 2 fish and Daniel gave him money.

"Is that the only thing you want," Daniels asked her.

"Well, you know those hair pins.... I always wanted to wear one of them," she told him.

"I meant food, but I guess I'll buy you a hair pin."

They walked over to a hair pin stall.

The girl looked at all the hair pins. She didn't know which one she liked the best...

Daniel picked up a pink jeweled flower and he placed it in the girl's hair. 

It suited her well...

"Can I get that one," Daniel told the woman at the stall.

Daniel gave the woman money and the girl was smiling brightly.

"Anything else?"

"Nope, but I should get home now," the girl told him.

"Let me walk with you there," Daniel offered.

The girl and Daniel walked through the village and into the girl's house.

"I'm home," the girl said.

"Oh, Yoona... Who is the person next to you," her mom asked the girl.

"So her name is Yoona," Daniel thought to himself.

"I'm Kang Daniel."

"Oh, what's your relationship with Yoona," Yoona's mom asked.

"Mother!"

"Well, I met her at a fruit stall...," Daniel told Yoona's mom

"You were going to steal again, weren't you," her mom yelled.

"I was just going to take an apple.....," Yoona said.

"Oh Yoona, what did I tell you about stealing?..... Wait, what's that hair pin in your hair? Why do you have 2 mackerels? YOONA!!!!!"

"He offered to buy it for me," Yoona told her mom.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to but her something that way she wouldn't steal," Daniel said.

"It's fine... Have you ate though?"

Daniel shaked his head...

He didn't eat before leaving the palace but he should've...

"Stay for lunch then, I'll make a meal with the mackerels," Yoona's mom told Daniel.

Daniel nodded his head.

Yoona helped her mom cook and Daniel wondered if he could help with anything...

"Just sit down at the table," Yoona told Daniel.

Daniel sat at the table and was watching Yoona and her mom cook.

(15 minutes later....)

Yoona placed three bowls that were full of rice on the table. Yoona's mom had brought two grilled mackerels over to the table.

"Thank you for the food," Daniel said.

Yoona's mom had placed a piece of mackerel meat on top of Daniel's rice.

"Thank you," Daniel told her.

"What about me," Yoona asked.

"You do it yourself," Yoona's mom told her.

Yoona frowned, but she did it herself.

"So, what do you think about Yoona," her mom asked Daniel.

"WHAT?!," they both said.

"Don't you think she's pretty and cute? Is she your style?"

"Mother, please stop," Yoona told her.

"Well, she's pretty... I guess....."

"What do you mean I guess? It's a yes or no question, I guess isn't an option," Yoona said.

"Fine, she's pretty.... "

Yoona smiled, she got her beauty from her mom. She was thankful that only the good genes were passed down to her... Well, maybe not all good genes were passed down but most were...

"Where's father," Yoona asked her mom.

"He said that he's going to come home late," her mom told her.

"Okay," Yoona said as she took a bite of the mackerel.

They all were done eating, Yoona was happy that she was able to eat a mackerel and Daniel couldn't help but smile at Yoona due to her happiness.

Daniel had to go back to the palace and he had forgot that he left Sunggeun.

"I have to get going now," Daniel said.

"I'll walk you to your home," Yoona told him.

"It's okay, you really don't have to," Daniel said.

"Well, you bought me the mackerel and this hair pin... So I want to at least do something for you," she told him.

"Okay...."

Daniel was walking with Yoona through the village. Daniel had to find a way to get to the palace without Yoona noticing....

Yoona saw the palace and she walked up to the gate.

"I wonder what it's like in there," she said.

"It's boring in there," he told her.

"How do you know?"

"I mean, it looks like it'll be boring in there.... The scholars are probably always studying and the King never reveals the crown prince... The crown prince is probably going to be the worst king ever."

"You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover... How would you know if the crown prince would be a good king or not? We never know until he actually becomes king," Yoona told him.

She was correct....

But she didn't know....

Who he really was...

"Daniel!!!"

Daniel and Yoona looked and saw a man walking towards them.

"Sunggeun," Daniel said.

"Where did you go? I was looking all around for you.... Who's that," Sunggeun asked while looking at Yoona.

"She's the apple thief," Daniel whispered in Sunggeun's ear.

"Ohh.... We have to go back inside the palace now though," Sunggeun whispered.

"I know but I don't know what to do about her..."

The gates suddenly opened...

"Make way for the King," a servant had announced.

Daniel and Sunggeun had to hide or the King would see them...

But before they could hide...

"Stop," the king said.

Daniel and Sunggeun didn't move.

"What are you doing out here," the king asked them.

Yoona was confused as to why the king was talking to Daniel...

"Get back inside the palace immediately," the king said and Daniel and Sunggeun immediately went inside the palace.

Yoona stared at the king and the king looked at her.

"Excuse me your majesty, but who is he," Yoona asked while referring to Daniel.

"He's someone that belongs in the rich palace, just like you belong in the poor village," the king told her.

Yoona was offended by what he said. 

Was he discriminating?

So what if she was a poor villager?

"Just because there are rich people in the palace, it didn't mean that only rich people deserve the best things in life," Yoona thought in her mind.

The King had left while Yoona was standing still.

She didn't like the king...

He was rude....

"If he's so rich, then why doesn't he give some of his money to the poor," Yoona mumbled.

She couldn't believe that he was their king.

She wanted him dethroned immediately...

Yoona walked back to her house and was very angry...

 

Daniel got caught.....

He was scared to face the consequences...

"Raise your arms higher," the teacher told Sunggeun.

They were both kneeling and were holding their arms up.

"Why did you guys think that it was a good idea to leave the palace," the teacher asked them.

"I'm sorry, we won't do it again," Daniel said.

"I'm disappointed in you Daniel... After 5 more minutes, you guys will write," I will not leave the palace again without the King's permission," 100 times," the teacher said.

After 5 minutes....

Daniel and Sunggeun started writing," I will not leave the palace again without the King's permission.

Their arms were hurting so much...

But Daniel persevered, he wanted to hurry up and write 100 sentences.

Sunggeun took some breaks and couldn't believe how fast Daniel was writing the sentences.

Daniel had finished after 15 minutes, which astonished Sunggeun.

The teacher looked at Daniel's 100 sentences and he had written each sentence with no grammatical errors. The teacher was satisfied with Daniel's work but Sunggeun still had a lot more sentences to write.

"Daniel."

Daniel turned around and saw that it was the king.

"Follow me."

Daniel followed the king and they were walking around the palace.

"Why did you leave the palace," the King asked him.

"I wanted to see how life was like in the village," Daniel replied.

"Ha, why would you be curious about that? In the village, there are peasants and measly people. You should be happy living in the palace, you don't have to live among the peasants but among the rich people," the King told him.

Daniel didn't like how the King only favored the rich people but he didn't say anything back.

If he did, then the King might punish him for talking back to the King.

"I'm sorry for the curiosity that I had, the next time I want to leave the palace, I will ask for your permission first," Daniel stated.

"Good. Today there's going to be a man punished for his crimes. I would like you to be the verdict. I would like you to choose what punishment he should receive according to his crimes."

Daniel didn't like violence, he didn't want to be the verdict for someone's life but he couldn't disobey the King's orders.

 

Yoona walked home and saw her mom crying.

"Are you okay mother," she asked.

"Yoona......"

Yoona was confused, what happened?

"Your father....," her mom stated.

"What about him," she asked.

"He's going to be punished today....."

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

Yoona immediately ran towards the palace. The gate was closing, Yoona slid through the gate although the guard yelled," Hey! STOP IT!"

Yoona wanted to know why? She wasn't scared to get punished for running into the palace.

 

Daniel changed his clothes, from a humble robe to the royal robe.

He didn't want to give a verdict....

He wished that he wasn't the one to make the verdict, he knew that after he makes his verdict, his conscious would bother him..

"Are you ready," the King asked.

"Yes, your majesty," Daniel said.

The King walked out to the main courtyard and Daniel followed him.

The King took a seat and Daniel walked towards the criminal.

"Your majesty, there is a girl that is running around the palace," a servant told the King.

"Catch her and bring her over here," the King said.

The servant had guards chase after Yoona.

There were too many guards for Yoona to avoid... She tried to run away but they grabbed onto her arm and dragged her to the main courtyard.

Daniel saw Yoona....

"What is she doing here," he thought in his mind.

"Let go of me," Yoona said as she struggled to get out of the guards grasp.

The guards threw Yoona to the ground and the criminal looked at Yoona.

"Yoona, what are you doing here?"

"Father," Yoona said as she hugged the criminal.

The criminal that Daniel has to give a verdict for is....

Yoona's father?

Daniel couldn't do it...

He turned around and the King proclaimed," Here is the criminal, he has done many crimes. For example, he has stolen from the village market and has even stolen from me. Daniel will choose what punishment this criminal will receive. He will also choose the punishment for this insolent girl, who was running around the palace."

"Daniel....," Yoona said.

Daniel didn't know what to do...

"Please Daniel, save my father... Give me the harsh punishment," Yoona told him.

"Yoona....," her father told her.

"Please Daniel.... I'm begging you... Please," Yoona said while she was on the verge of tears.

Daniel couldn't say anything....

He couldn't bear to see Yoona getting beat....

"So Daniel, what is their punishment," the King asked.

"The criminal.... Will stay in the palace's prison for 20 days. The girl.... The girl...."

Daniel couldn't let Yoona have a bad punishment....

"The girl... Will become my servant, that way I will be able to keep a close eye on her so that she does not cause any ruckus if she is to try to enter the palace again," Daniel stated

The King wasn't fully satisfied with the punishments but he thought that the punishments weren't such a bad idea.

"Okay, what Daniel said will be taken into effect. The criminal will stay in the palace's prison for 20 days and the girl will become Daniel's servant," the King announced.

Daniel sighed with relief, he was scared that the King would not accept the punishments and give harsh punishments.

The guards took the criminal away and Daniel walked towards Yoona.

"Follow me," Daniel told her.

Daniel walked to his room and Yoona followed him.

"Were you crazy? Why did you run inside of the palace," Daniel asked.

Yoona was crying....

"Look, I'm sorry... I couldn't choose a punishment less harsh than that or else the King would place a harsher punishment on your father. At least, you can be with me and see your father every day," Daniel told her.

"What about my mom? She'll be lonely..."

"You can visit her when you want," Daniel said.

Yoona wiped away her tears and she was thankful that Daniel was the person to choose the verdict.

"What rank are you," Yoona asked.

"I'm the crown prince that no one really knows because the King has not told anyone that lives outside the palace," Daniel whispered in her ear.

It made sense now...

When Daniel had told Yoona that the crown prince would probably be the worst king ever.

He was talking about himself...

"You're going to be a great king Daniel.... I'm sure of it," Yoona told him.

Daniel smiled, he had always felt pressured to do what's best according to the King but he didn't always agree with the King...

"Crown Prince, I have brought the clothes needed for your new servant," a servant said from outside of the door.

"Please come inside and give it to me," Daniel said.

The servant opened the door and handed the clothes to Daniel.

The servant walked out and closed the door.

"Here," Daniel said while handing Yoona the clothes.

Yoona grabbed it and looked at the design....

Well, it was better than the