“Ding, dong, ding, dong. Ding, dong, ding, dong,” the alarm tolled, indicating that it was 12 o’clock already.

Princess Joohyun, who was already on her finest silky robe, stepped out of the castle’s doors and walked to the castle’s biggest balcony. Below her stood the whole population of Kim Dynasty, along the road to the castle and on the castle’s garden, all wearing their finest black clothes. Behind her, stood Princess Yoona and her daughters, Prime Minister Hwang, Royal Priest Kim Joon Myun, and her best friend and head of maid, Seungwan.

Then, Royal Priest Kim moved towards the princess with a golden crusted bible on his hands, followed by Prime Minister Hwang who was carrying the Empress’ crown. The crowd went silent as they saw the coronation started to begin.

“Please put your hand on top of the bible, princess,” Royal Priest Kim whispered softly to Princess Joohyun.

“Oh, yes. Right,” Princess Joohyun complied as she gracefully placed her soft hands on top of the bible.

“Shall we proceed, princess?” Royal Priest Kim asked, making sure of Princess Joohyun’s decision.

“Yes. Please do continue, Priest Kim,” Princess Joohyun answered, removing every blank thought she had at that time.

“Do you, Princess Kim Joohyun, swear to uphold the pride and dignity of this dynasty and everything that is in it?” Royal Priest Kim asked with his bolting, loud sound, gaining the attention of every single people on the castle’s garden.

“I, Princess Kim Joohyun, promise to the people of this dynasty that I shall constantly preserve and uphold the constitution of this dynasty. I promise that I shall defend and preserve the independence and the territory of this Dynasty to the best of my abilities, that I shall protect the freedom and rights of all citizens and residents, that I shall employ all means at my disposal by the law to preserve and promote prosperity, as a good empress should do. So help me God!”

Then, the princess lifted her hand from the bible and bowed down as she was crowned by the royal priest. Afterwards, she rose, was given the scepter and orb by the royal priest, and faced the people

“Now, I introduce you Your Royal Highness Empress Kim Joohyun,” the royal priest announced loudly, prompting the echoing cheers from the people.

Princess Joohyun lifted her hand up, cueing all of the population to be silent.

“Hello everyone. My name is Kim Joohyun and I am now the empress of this dynasty. As all of you have known, the ship that transported my mother, Empress Kim, and her entourage sunk this morning when a massive wave badly hit the ship. In the light of that situation, as the throne princess, I am taking my mother’s position from today onwards. Let’s mark this day as the day where we reminisce every single deed that the empress has made and mark this day as the start of a new beginning. Thank you,” Empress Joohyun said with the dignity and power she had left.

Right after her short speech, she left the balcony and went inside the castle, followed by Princess Im, her cousins, the prime minister, the royal priest, and Seungwan. After she was nowhere to be seen by the people, she began shedding down her tears, leaving a pool o