“Prince Ji Yong and Prince Seunggi have arrived in Valcoast safely, my queen,” he spoke as he served the queen her tea. The little queen’s eyes were closed as she listened, she slowly open them and lifted the cup. She took a sip and spoke, “Tell them, the queen do not wish to see them but only during the annual ball,”. He nodded obediently to her queen. The queen had her sceptre in her left hands, she spin it around.

“I don’t quietly agree with the ball here in Valcoast,” the servant expressed his opinion about the ball. The queen put her cup down and a grin appeared on her face. “I never agreed to it,” she replied. “Jinwoo, keep your eyes on the guests,” she ordered him with a stern voice. He smiled at her and kissed the back of her hand, “Yes my queen,” she answered.

Valcoast is much known to the other kingdoms for having their queen to rule the kingdom. The king held no power over the kingdom; the king is just a decoration. Every queen who had ruled the kingdom started at a young age which is 15. Besides, unlike other countries Valcoast held many secrets which are only known by the queen herself.

The reason the queen didn’t agree with the annual ball which will be held in her castle was because an incident happened decades ago. To sum up, someone tried to steal the queen’s sceptre during the first time it was held in Valcoast. The queen who ruled that time was raged and had declared war against the kingdom that plotted it. The war made both kingdoms’ citizen to live in poverty. Four years later, the war finally ended when the enemy raised the white flag. As punishment, the king was executed in public. The incident showed that cruelty flowed in the royal’s veins.

Kim Ji Won, who is now the current queen of Valcoast, stared at her sceptre. What is so special of the sceptre? Her mother didn’t have the chance to explain the power of the sceptre since her death was sudden. She tried to transcribe The Old Book of Valcoast but she failed. The language written in the book was ancient and no one knew how to read it. The only sentence she could translate was, ‘Long lives the queen,’ which was written at the back of the book.

Her hands scrambled at the ancient language carved on the sceptre. She tried to translate the words but she failed to do so. She wondered what power held inside the sceptre which all kingdoms were fighting for in the ancient days. Suddenly the bell chimed, signalling her that tea time was over. She stood up and walked heading towards the south wing of the castle. “Long live the evil queen,” she mumbled to herself softly.

As the queen left, a girl wearing a black dress underneath her white apron approached Jinwoo. Her hair was tied into two and she had beautiful emerald eyes. “Let me help you,” she smiled to him as she placed the cups on a tray. Jinwoo smiled back at her as he nodded. They walked back to the kitchen together after cleaning everything in the garden. “Yoona, thank you,” he whispered to her.

The girl named Yoona just nodded her head to her. Jinwoo had been saying thanks ever since they came to the castle. When they were young, Yoona found him beached at the seaside near the forest but luckily he didn’t lose his memories. He introduced himself as a son of a merchant who was on his way Roseby but in the middle the ship they were sailing crashed with a storm. He stayed with her together with Yoona’s siblings in a small cottage in the forest.

One day, Jinwoo told them that he wanted to work with the queen which shocked them. They told him about the bad rumours going around in the town outside the forest. Jinwoo told them his reasons which he told them the truth. After hearing him, they agreed with him. Yoona together with another girl, Seohyun, followed him to work in the castle. Jinwoo worked as a servant who serves the princess while they become maids of the castle.

Yoona never regret her decision as she thought Jinwoo as a little brother but they were different. Unlike him, Yoona is an elf who lived in the forbidden forest at the outskirts of the town. Her real identity wasn’t known by Jinwoo. As the opened the door, the kitchen was very busy. They placed the dirty plates in the sink. Yoona noticed her friend was preparing to leave. “Seohyun, where are you going?” she questioned her.

Seohyun greeted both of them as she placed her cape around her. “I’m heading to the town to buy some stuff,” she answered. Yoona pouted, “No fair, I want to follow,” she said, envying her friend. Yoona hadn’t visited the town ever since she started working in the castle. Jinwoo giggled at Yoona’s reaction. “Can you buy me a new pair of cuffs? I lost the old one,” Jinwoo