I wake up to the sun shining in my room. I can hear the birds singing and the wind rustling in the trees. It is a mild summer day, perfect for riding. Maybe I can go to Baekhyun later and ask him.
Baekhyun is my personal guard and something like my best friend. I don't get out often (as in never) so I don't really get the chance to know other people than those in the palace. Baekhyun is the son of one of our knights. I got to know him one day when he watched the guards train and I sneaked away from lessons with Lady Lee. I really hated that woman. She had a really pointed nose and looked like a crow. I was afraid of that woman!

So as I said, I hid from her and I kind of forced him to help me... he was afraid of me telling my father that he sneaked into a area that he wasn't allowed to (Still don't know why he believed me, I must have been a great actress). After that we met often in the palace and we became friends (he was really shy in the beginning, but I wanted a friend, so I was persistent)

When he was old enough he became a knave and after that a knight, I asked my father to give him to me as my personal guard (he accepted because I said I would feel more comfortable with a person of my age). Since then we became best friends.                                                  
Now I am 18 years old. Baekhyun is 20 and the best knight I know of.

I stand up from my queen sized bed and go to the window. The breeze feels great on my face. I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling for a moment. Then I open them again and look out. Under my window I can see the palace workers work. Some women clean the clothes and other fabrics, other bring the freshly plucked carrots and other vegetables to the kitchen. But not everybody is working. There are also castle residents walking and enjoying the good and mild weather. But these are not the things I want to see. The castle wall isn't far away and behind it there's just a big wild field with colourful flowers. It's really amazing how much grow there. When I was a kid there were times when my parents would take me there, so that I could pluck them and play there for a little while. Sometimes I could even bring Baekhyun with me (they realized that I enjoyed the company of him).
These days I don't see my parents often. Especially my father because he has to discuss important matters with other countries or people. I don't know what they have to discuss so urgently because my father says a girl like me doesn't have to know and that I wouldn't understand and would think it was uninteresting and boring. It was just something women don't think and talk of. 
A little farther behind the field, with that I connect some of my best childhood memories, begins the woods, in which my father and his companions hunt. We have a lot of animals here: Bears, wolves, deers and so on.  But just like I don't see my father, he doesn't enjoy things like hunting anymore.
I sigh, I feel that something isn’t right with the current situation in our kingdom. I mean I’m not stupid, I see the glances my parents exchange and I also see that my father looks…older, not like himself. But he won’t tell me what bothers him.

A knocking on my door disturbs my thoughts. “Milady, are you awake yet? It’s almost time for breakfast. May I come in?” it’s Sun-Hee, my chambermaid. “Yes Sun-Hee, you may”, I turn away from the window and go to my washbowl to clean my face.

“What would you like to wear today Milady?” Sun-Hee is standing in front of my wardrobe considering carefully what dress I could wear today. “Just take one out, I don’t mind, I’ll be alone anyway.” I answer turning around to her. She’s standing there with two dresses in her hands, looking at both of them alternately, frowning. “What’s the matter, Sun-Hee?”, I’m confused by her behavior, normally she would just take the first “beautiful sign” (as she calls them) she sees with her “great intuition”. “Her and His Majesty are eating with you today. You have to look the best you can Milady”, she says smiling. Sun-Hee knows that I’m often lonely. Sometimes I need another person to talk to, other than Baekhyun, because sometimes he just isn’t the best solution. He just thinks too boyish. He doesn’t understand the point, or he isn’t here either because of some kind of job.
So I decided that Sun-Hee would be my second friend. I know she wouldn’t ever betray my trust and I would never betray hers. She once told me that she’s really in love with one of our knights, a friend of Baekhyun. But they won’t ever have the chance to marry or even be together, because her father doesn’t want her to marry a “mere” knight. She is the daughter of some duke and she is here to learn, after that she will get married to a man who has his own land and maybe a little castle. Something a knight would never achieve. I pity her, my father once promised me that I’ll never have to marry somebody I don’t love, my mother and father also married, because they loved each other.
So I would sometimes organize trips, so that they can have some “alone time”. Baekhyun and I also enjoy those times….

“I’ve decided”, suddenly I have some green fabric in front of my face, behind it I can see Sun-Hee smiling.  “It’s pretty, but not too formal…Just right… His and Her Majesty will see the wonderful daughter they have.”
I laugh. Sometimes Sun-Hee is just overly poetic. “Yes it is, thank you Sun-Hee”. She helps me putting it on and then she makes my hair. Sun-Hee makes the best hair styles in the world, they always look so pretty.
After getting everything done, she accompanies me, with Baekhyun, to the dining hall. It’s a rather long way, because it’s on the other side of the castle. We walk through the white stone corridors. Every few meters is a big window with red curtains. Because of them we don’t need to lit candles all day long.
Sun-Hee and I chat along the way with Baekhyun tossing in some comments here and there. After a five to ten minutes’ walk we arrive in the big dining hall. The guards open the doors and we enter.
Sitting at the table are my parents and another man I don’t know, I can see that he wears the emblem of our neighbor country. What is he doing here? I try to not look too surprised. My father will tell me when the time comes. Going to my seat I greet them with a bow. Sun-Hee comes with me while Baekhyun takes his place behind me against the wall.

“Hyun-Mi, my dear daughter, meet Sir Kim the royal messenger of Agria.  He was sent here by our friend King Jinki of Agria. He arrived already yesterday, but we had a lot to discuss, so you couldn’t meet him sooner” My father points to the man sitting across from me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Kim. I hope you had a good journey”, I greet again with a bow of my head which he returns; “The pleasure is all mine Milady.”

“Now, that the greetings are finished let us eat”, my father makes a gesture to the servants and they begin to show us the different plates with food. I’m not really hungry so I just take a few grapes and a piece of bread. My father breaks the silence after a few minutes: “My daughter, I want you to stay here after breakfast. We have important matters to discuss”. “Sure, father, what is it about?”, I ask, normally my father would, if it was something that concerns me, just say it, so I was really interested in what he wants to tell me. “Just finish your breakfast Hyun-Mi, we will talk later”, my mother answers softly. I like her voice, she doesn’t speak often, but when she does, her voice sounds calm and melodic. When I was small she would always sing me to sleep. Even today I often sing the lullabies to myself, when I’m stressed and can’t sleep.
I don’t have to wait long after that until everybody is finished and the servants clean the table. Sighing my father folds his hands and lays them on the table. Expectantly I look into his eyes. “My daughter, it’s not a nice matter we have to discuss. I hoped I could solve the problem without involving you, but now it’s almost too late…” “Father, what is the problem? Please explain.”, I interrupt him. The tension is getting thicker and I can’t stand it anymore. “Be calm, Hyun-Mi and let your father talk. It’s not an easy topic for the both of us.”, my mother looks sad and I really want to know what happened, what could it be that made my parents so upset and how was Agria involved?
“My dear Hyun-Mi, you know that we have serious problems with the country of Delsa for a long time now. The first war was won and we still lay siege to it. But a few months ago the riots started again. We don’t have much money left and the situation in Delsa escalates more and more… So we asked the kingdom of Agria for help and by sending Sir Kim the request was approved…” “But that’s great father, mother! Why are you still looking so sad?” “Calm my daughter, that isn’t the full story yet..” “Yes mother, I’m sorry…”
Sighing my father continues: “The king approved under one condition…” My father pauses. “Under which condition?”, I don’t think I want to know it, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

“You will marry the prince of Agria”

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So first chapter :)
It's just a small introduction of some characters and the story. The real story starts in the second or third chapter.

I hope I could make you interested in the story and I hope you will read the next chapters too

See you,
Rima-chan ♥