PROLOGUE- CHILDHOOD

The skies were a deep, luscious blue, and a ball of fire in the sky outshined them. Of course, that ball of fire was the sun. The sun is something that helps you see the world better, because of its phonomenal power of light God had given it. Except, there may be another thing that may help. No, not flashlights or lightbulbs, because they weren't invented yet. Nor candles, because you can't really carry candles all the time. But the person who might have figured it out may be a pure, feminine boy. His name was Lee Sungjong. 

"Your highness, you may get off the chariot now," the said.
 

"Our Jongie, you're going to love it in Hanyang," King Lee Sungwoo of Jeolla said, as he lifted his son and placed him on the rocky ground.
 

The young but experienced king, Sungwoo grasped the arm of the queen  as he helped her step off the chariot. Sungjong jumped around in excitement, glad to be in such a great, big kingdom. It was more populated than Jeolla, where he had come from.

"We're going to be staying in that building, right of the main castle," Lee Sungwoo said.

The king pointed towards the building, while Sungjong excitedly looked toward it in utter happiness.

"You're a big enough boy to go around and explore by yourself, right?" Queen Park Kyungmi asked young Sungjong.

"Of course, umma," Sungjong bowed and waved as his parents walked hand-in-hand towards the building where they would be living.

Sungjong spotted a pretty grass field, and sprinted over to run in it.
 

"Wow! It's so green! So different from the dirt patches in Jeolla!" Sungjong squealed in excitement, but tried to keep himself clean, as he was a prince.

 Just then, out of the corner of his eye he saw majestc, blue wings fluttering toward his direction.
 

"B-b-butterfly?" Sungjong had only heard of butterflies. His educator had told him about them, how they would spread their wings and capture the attention of the people with their beauty.
 

"Kyaa!" Sungjong chased after the butterfly, running through the grass and staining his shoes green.

 He ran across a bridge, down a path of beautiful rose of sharon trees, and ran through flowers in the garden. He didn't care who saw him, and he didn't care how dirty his clothes were getting. He was going to catch that wonderful creature no matter what.

"OOMPH!"
 

"Aish! Watch where you're going, you brat!" a small-eyed older boy looked at Sungjong with a look of disgust and dissatisfaction on his face.
 

The older boy was on his knees, and was planting some seeds in the same garden that Sungjong had ran across. Sungjong's mouth formed an "O" shape as he stared at all the trampled flowers.
 

"S-s-sorry.. I didn't mean it.." Sungjong stuttered, as he wiped his knees, which were covered in dirt.
 

"Stop... getting... dirt... in... my... OW!" the small-eyed boy exclaimed. "You got dirt in my eyes!" he yelled at Sungjong, who looked flustered. Then a smile broke out on the younger boy's face.
 

"Your eyes.. they're small.. Hehe.." Sungjong couldn't contain his laughter. He was looking at the gardening boy, who was squinting and wiping the dirt particles from his face.
 

"YAH! Why are you trespassing in the gardens of the crown-prince and the second-prince's home? Who are you, anyways?" the small-eyed boy looked Sungjong from head to toe.
 

Sungjong bowed, smiling and stopping his laughter. "I'm Prince Lee Sungjong, the successor to the throne in the Jeolla Province."
 

"I knew another prince was coming, but I didn't know he would be so young and annoying," the small-eyed boy muttered the last part under his breath, which Sungjong pretended not to hear. "I'm from Jeolla too... well I was born there but my parents moved here.. I came later.." the small-eyed boy continued on.
 

"Well, I guess I should take you to the other princes. They've been waiting for you, although I don't know if Myungsoo will be there today or not."
 

The small-eyed boy grabbed Sungjong by the arm and began dragging him to the main palace building.
 

"Wipe your feet here," he said, as he wiped his own feet on the make-shift doormat. "We don't want to get mud into the main palace. I'm Sunggyu by the way. Prince Sunggyu. I'm not as high-ranked as the others, and the only reason why I'm like this is because today is my day for garden duty. The regular worker, Kim Minseok, is sick today, so I had to take over."
 

Sungjong didn't say a word, and he was still thinking about the pretty blue butterfly that was able to make an escape from him.
 

He blindly followed Sunggyu down the main hall, and towards a small room. Laughter could be heard from inside, and Sungjong was excited. He had never had any real friends before; he spent his time with his educators and servants.
 

Sunggyu knocked.
 

"Who is it?" a sweet, feminine voice asked from inside.
 

"Almighty Prince Sunggyu and the new prince from Jeolla," Sunggyu dully said.
 

A pretty girl came to get the door. She had long hair and flawless pale skin, along with long legs. A dimple adorned her face. A navy skirt surrounded her with a pink top adorned with flowers.
 

"Hello. Welcome to Hanyang~" the girl said, grabbing Sungjong's smaller hand and pulling him into the room.
 

"You're beautiful," Sungjong said. She was the first girl Sungjong had ever seen in his life.
 

"You're handsome!" the girl said, breaking out into a smile, revealing two dimples.
 

"Are you coming in?" the girl narrowed her eyes at Sunggyu.
 

"Nah, I have some gardening to do still. But I thank you for the invitation," Sunggyu bowed mockingly and marched off.
 

"Sorry, he's always like that. You know.. like in a bad mood.. His father spoils him too. I don't know what the deal is with him. Anyways, hi. I'm Nam Jieun! I have a twin sister named Somi, and I'm younger by only a minute. My older brother is Nam Woohyun, second to the throne after Prince Kim Myungsoo!" Jieun shook Sungjong's hand. "How about you?"
 

"I'm Sungjong! From Jeolla! The crown prince of Jeolla!" Sungjong said, excited because of Jieun's energy. He wanted to jump up and down and catch a pretty butterfly.
 

"Let me introduce you to everyone!" Jieun exclaimed.
 

Sungjong gladly followed her to the other side of the room, where three boys were sitting on a couch.
 

"Dongwoo, Woohyun, Howon, meet Sungjong. He's from Jeolla and he's a prince like you guys!"

Three pairs of eyes seemed like they were burning a hole through Sungjong.
 

"Hi.." Sungjong shyly said. He tried to ease the tension.
 

"Call me Hoya, not Howon. I'm probably never gonna take the throne, but I'm still a prince," a boy with thick-eyebrows said, holding a hand out to Sungjong, who shook it.
 

Sungjong looked at the boy who looked like a foreigner. His mouth was wide-open, and he was laughing hard at something. He had big lips and a strange look in his eyes.
 

"Dongwoo! I want to take the throne but there are too many people in front of me, like Hoya," he merely said and continued laughing hysterically.
 

"Okay.." Sungjong felt a little weirded out, but he felt a hand on his shoulder.
 

"Hi! I'm Sungyeol! I'm known as the 'immature' prince! I like rolling around in the mud and drawing pictures!"
 

"Me too!" Sungjong beamed. "Except I prefer water instead of mud. What do you draw?"
 

"Butterflies!" Sungyeol said.
 

"Wow! DAEBAK!" Sungjong's smile stretched even wider.

Sungyeol skipped off to a table where a girl was sitting. Sungjong's eyes widened.

"She looks exactly like you, Jieun!" Sungjong said.
 

He looked at the girl, who had similar facial features as Jieun, however, she didn't have the same cute dimple when she smiled, and she had a shorter hairstyle as well. Her skin wasn't as fair either. Her eyes also seemed smaller and slightly more beady than Jieun's. Sungjong suspected that she liked to play outside. Sungjong thought she looked slightly more mature, but still, just as beautiful as Jieun.

"She's my twin, Somi," Jieun looked at the girl. Sungjong could hear her voice yelling at Sungyeol all the way across the big room.
 

"She's very different from you.." Sungjong said.
 

She dressed differently from Jieun, and looked less timid. Instead of a majestic hanbok like her twin, she seemed to wear cool colors, with just a few decorations. No golden, sparkly linen, and no poofy skirt.  She also seemed to have more of a rebellious tomboy inside of her. 
 

"Hey, you forgot me!" a cheeky-boy with smile lines already around the corners of his mouth skipped over to Sungjong and Jieun who had slowly made their way away from Dongwoo and his friends were sitting on the couch.
 

"I'm Woohyun! I'm Jieun's oppa and Somi's oppa too! I'm the nicest prince here! Also, my cousin is Myungsoo!" Woohyun said excited, as he pinched Sungjong's cheek.
 

"Ow!" Sungjong winced out in pain as something scratched his cheek.
 

"Oh, sorry. That's the ring that my father gave me," Woohyun said.
 

"I have a ring, too!" Sungjong said excitedly. "It's from my grandfather, I have it here right in my pocket."
 

Sungjong stuck his right hand into his side-pocket.
 

"It should.. be here.." he slowly said, as he emptied his whole pocket out onto the floor. There wasn't a sign of a ring.
 

"But... it should've been here!" he cried out. His eyes were tearing.
 

All that was there was dirt.
 

"It's okay, we'll help you find it!" Woohyun said, putting an arm around Sungjong, who was gently crying. "Come on guys!"
 

And with that, Sungjong learned that these people were kind. They rushed out the door.
 

"Which way did you come from?" Somi asked.
 

Sungjong walked them towards garden, which was blooming with beautiful pink flowers. He saw Sunggyu once again. Sunggyu's back was facing the group walking towards him, and Sungjong could see the sweat forming on his back through his white shirt. The gloves he was wearing were brown, turned the color of the soil as everyone could hear his grunts.
 

"Stupid.. seed.." Sunggyu struggled.
 

"Ohh, hyung. You're doing well!" Dongwoo had no bad intentions when he said this, but he earned a 'shut up!' from Sunggyu. Dongwoo just burst into his laughter again.
 

"Have you seen a ring?" Hoya asked. "Sungjong lost one."
 

"Nope." Sunggyu replied. He didn't even look up from his work.
 

"See you later, Sunggyu hyung!" Woohyun snickered as he searched the ground for Sungjong's ring. They walked all the way back to the dirt road where Sungjong first got off of the chariot, but nothing. 

Defeated, everyone walked back towards the main palace.
 

The candle was lit, which meant that someone was in there.
 

"Ahh.. Must be Myungsoo.." Sunggyu said. He had finished gardening and was going into rest. "Minseok better come and tend the seeds tomorrow, there's no way I'm doing that again." Sunggyu sighed and took off his gloves and placed them on the bench right outside the palace.
 

Everyone was talking amongst each other, Sungyeol and Dongwoo making jokes, Woohyun and Jieun playing a small game, Howon, Sunggyu, and Somi were singing a song that Sungjong didn't know.

Sungjong felt like a loner, and he began to think of Myungsoo. His tears started to fall a bit harder, and he was sad that no one was comforting him. At home, his mom would always hold him and tell him that he would be alright.
 

"Since he's the crown prince he should be very tall, and very kind as well. Also he would be very handsome, right?" Sungjong thought to himself. He didn't know how to imagine Myungsoo but after seeing all the other princes, they felt like friends.
 

Sungjong already felt superior to Myungsoo and he didn't know why. The group of friends walked to the door at the end of the hall, where the candlelight was even brighter.
 

"Noona.. knock?" Sungjong nudged Somi who said, "You do it!"
 

Sungjong brought his shaking hand to the door and knocked. Heavy footsteps walked towards the door, which slowly opened revealing a handsome boy.
 

"Y-y-you're Myungsoo hyung!" Sungjong said.
 

"Yes, I am Kim Myungsoo, Crown Prince of Hanyang," Myungsoo flashed a quick smile.
 

Sungjong smiled back, but tears still trickled down his face.
 

"What's wrong?" Myungsoo's eyes widened as he outstretched a hand to wipe away Sungjong's tears.
 

"I lost.. my ring from my grandpa.." Sungjong said, quietly looking at the ground. He was too embarrassed to cry in front of this prince, who was younger than most of his new friends, but is still a prodigy and a natural leader. To Sungjong, this prince was the meaning of perfection.
 

Also,  Sungjong really loved his grandpa, and he had only passed away two years prior to.  The ring was the only thing that he left for the little prince.
 

The room went silent, and Sungjong could only sigh.
 

"Hey.. cheer up!" Myungsoo said, fumbling through his pocket.
 

"Here. It's for you."
 

Myungsoo placed a diamond in Sungjong's hand
.

"Seungjung, err.. Sungjung? Sungjong. When you first walked into the room, you looked really dull. Become this diamond. Bring brightness into other people's lives."
 

Myungsoo closed Sungjong's fingers over the diamond.
 

"It's probably worth more than the ring. Consider it a token of my friendship. I'll be going now," Myungsoo winked and walked out of the room.
 

Sungjong stared at him in admiration with twinkling eyes.

"T-thank you.."

Yay! Prologue finished! Hehe, please note that the princes/princesses in the story are currently children. Sunggyu may be gardening outside, but since he's the oldest, he took Minseok's job. Sunggyu's a prince though.

Ages currently at this time (1462)
Sunggyu and Minseok- 13
Woohyun and Dongwoo- 12
Hoya- 11
Myungsoo and Sungyeol-10
Somi and Jieun- 10
Sungjong-9
 

The twins' faceclaims are Park Hwan Hui for Jieun and Su Eun for Somi.
Sorry for any grammatical and historical mistakes! Subscribe and comment!