CHAPTER 1

The kingdom of Azure is still mourning after their king’s death. Everyone loves the royal family. They felt sympathy over the princess whose both parents were now dead. The only guardian the princess has is her stepmother, the new queen of Azure, Kim Yoo Jin.

The little princess, Im Yoon Ah, is at the royal garden. She is alone and crying her hearts out. She still can’t face the truth about her father’s death. She roamed her eyes around the garden. Every corner of the garden reminds her of the times when her parents were still alive. They were a happy family. Suddenly, someone came and sat beside her. Yoona wiped her tears and smiled at the person.

“Don’t act strong, Yoong.”, the person said.

Yoona sniffed and controls the tears that are threatening to fall. “I miss them, Luhan. I miss them so much.”, she confessed and then she felt her tears fell down. She tried not to cry in front of others but she can’t because her heart cannot really take it anymore.

Luhan, the young prince of Verdana, pats Yoona’s head. He knows how much Yoona loves her parents. He felt Yoona rests her head on his shoulders and this made the little prince’s heart raced.

There, at that moment, a young prince felt, for the first time, how it is to fall in love. He promised himself that he would protect her and he won’t let a single tear drop from her beautiful eyes.

*******

Inside a big house, a young girl, at the age of 16, is doing the laundry. She can feel her arms starting to numb. She’s been doing the household chores since this morning and it’s already late afternoon and she hasn’t even had her lunch. She sighed as a sign of her exhaustion.

After her father’s death, her stepmother and stepsisters became mean and cruel to her. They order her to wash the dishes, do the laundries, iron their clothes etc. All their neighbors know how she’s treated and they pity her. She’s a kind and loving daughter but she’s abused and treated like a servant.

“Yah! Why are you daydreaming again?!”, one of her stepsisters, Jia, yelled at her. Another one came out and got a pail of water and splashed it at her. She’s now drenched in water and she didn’t even fight back. The two girls smirked.

“That’s what you get for being lazy. Finish that and iron my clothes! I’m going to attend a party tonight! Make sure it would be ironed before 7, understand?!”, Sulli demanded and the two left.

Tears started to flow down from her eyes. She clenched her fists and promised herself that someday she will be free from this hell. She would leave them. That way, she’ll end her sufferings.

*******

It was late in the evening and a young girl, Joohyun, is still wide awake. She can’t sleep because of her father who is having a high fever. She wiped his father’s forehead with a wet cloth gently. She is a girl who is abandoned by her own mother and was adopted and raised by his so-called father. She loves her father so much because he treats her like his own daughter.

“Joohyun, you should take a rest now. You’ve been taking care of me since morning.”, her father instructed her but she shrugged it off.

“I’m alright, father. You’re the one who needs to rest. Your fever hasn’t subsided. I’ll take a rest later, okay. Don’t worry about me.”, Joohyun assured her father.

Her father smiled at her and closes his eyes. Joohyun sighed. She needs to take over her father’s job at the palace if not they wouldn’t be able to survive. Her father is the only one who works for them because he told her that she is her princess. She shouldn’t work because it would be hard for her. But, at this very moment she can’t let her father work. She needs to take care of him now. He is getting old and time could tell when he’ll leave her. She wants to show him that she is thankful and that she appreciates all the hard works and difficulties he had while raising her.

She looked at her sleeping father and caressed his thinning hair. A tear fell from her eyes unconsciously as she kissed his forehead. “I love you, father.”, she muttered and left his father’s room.

~~~~~~~~

Hope you like the first chapter. This is actually my first story, well, not really first but the one I did before was a one-shot.   Sorry because it's kinda short but I do hope you support my story. Thank you. :) YoonYulSeo, forever triplets. Lovelovelove. :)

~Kai