Finally! This story is a whole lot different from my original idea, but I'm really satisfied with this. I love this version more! The original idea had so much flaws so I decided to drop it. But the renewed one really took a long time because I had changed the plot so many times. Finally I stucked with one idea and decided to go with it. This is really hard because it's historical and I'm not Korean so I'm not accustomed to the Joseon history. But I had searched some information and hoped that I didn't mess up. I will work harder :)

I really love this story so I want to share it with you, so I hope you'll enjoy it too~

In the era of Joseon, more than 400 hundred years ago…

“Sire…! Sire…!” a shouting servant wearing a dark green robe was running down the hallway to see his master. When he came upon the door to his master’s study, the maidservants who were standing by the door opened it for him, then he dashed in anxiously. Inside, the old servant expected the crown prince would had seated behind the low table, reading one of his favourite literature books, but shocked that he was not there. He searched for him frantically around the room, but the young prince was no where to be found. Almost quickly, the poor servant turned pale.

The royal highness his majesty, the king of Joseon, had sent him to bring the crown prince to the Geunjeongjeon, the throne hall, for the test in choosing a suitable bride for the prince would be held. The candidates for the next queen of Joseon would arrive to the palace anytime soon. Therefore, if this old servant had not found his master by the time the test started, he would be punished to death for sure. And that very thought made him went mad, causing him to run out of the study to find the prince.

In the mean time, the said crown prince, who was officially crowned as the Crown Prince Lee Jae while his personal name was Im Jaebum, was strolling by himself along the palace garden where the violet trees grew near the Chwihyanggyo bridge. True to his servant’s horror, Mabong, he purposely ran away as to not have to attend the crown princess test. It was not because he did not want to marry. He had always wanted to get a wife. But since he lost his mother, the late queen, at a young age, he thirsted for some love. Therefore, he had hoped to fall in love with someone and marrying her. He refused to marry some lady that was chosen by the royal family, without having to love first.

When he was grumbling inside about how he was not given such freedom to choose a bride himself, he saw a figure of a boy in purple robe, which is of the same colour as the violets, standing under those trees. Even though the boy was standing quite far away from him, the prince could see how beautiful he was. A strong breeze suddenly blew by causing the clusters of violet flowers swaying around, making the scenery even more beautiful. It was so picturesque that Im Jaebum thought it was all a dream.

Controlled by an invisible force, Im Jaebum slowly walked up to the boy, and that was when the boy finally realized his presence. They stared at each other for a moment, but neither had spoken a word. It was as if the two of them were hypnotized. After a while, Im Jaebum finally regained his senses and coughed awkwardly.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

The pretty boy snatched his eyes away from the prince then looked back at the violets hovering above his head. “The flowers,” he said. “I like it.”

“Really? I like it too! I think it’s the prettiest flowers in this land!” the crown prince exclaimed with a loud voice and his eyes were sparkling so brightly that the other boy thought he could become blind. But in the prince’s mind, he thought, “Of course, it became the second prettiest the moment I saw you.”

The boy chuckled softly behind the back of his sleeves, but then he sighed. “I wanted to pluck some for my dear sister, but this is the palace garden. I’ll be punished if I did it,” the boy said dejectedly.

However, it made the crown prince mad. “What? Who dares to punish someone innocent for only plucking some beautiful flowers for his family? Where did you hear that from?”

“I didn’t, but it’s called stealing if we plucked the flowers without anyone’s consent,” the boy told him, all the while was feeling strange of the prince sudden outburst.

“What’s your name?” the prince suddenly asked.

“Park Jinyoung. I’m the son of the late Chief Scholar Park,” the boy answered truthfully.

“Eh, so you’re the son of that old man Park. Bring back memories of when I was taught by him. It was really hard,” the prince said, almost laughing when he remembered how the Chief Scholar Park was being really patient in handling all his mischievous pranks. But he had to admit he was a really great teacher.

“You’re my late father’s student?” Jinyoung asked, obviously feeling happy in talking about his father.

“Yes. I’m sorry for your lost. But let’s step it aside for a while. I live here, so I’ll pluck the flowers myself especially for you, Park Jinyoung,” the prince said with a huge grin. He quickly ran to one of the trees and started rolling his long sleeves, preparing to climb up. Jinyoung hastily followed him to try to stop him since he was worried that it would get them in trouble.

“You live here? Who are you?” he asked. Clearly he did not know that Im Jaebum was a crown prince because he was not wearing the official blue robe for a crown prince. “Even if you live here, you won’t be able to get out if we’re caught!”

“Don’t worry!” Im Jaebum said, reassuring him. “I’m not just someone who lives here. I’ll get it for you for sure. Just you wait!”

Then, the crown prince eagerly climbed up the tree and in a matter of seconds, he had reached one of the tree branches. Jinyoung looked on in awe, making the mischievous prince felt proud of himself. Of course climbing trees was a peace of cake for him. In the past, he had pulled off countless pranks at his poor subjects, and one of the pranks was climbing the trees and stayed on the branches all day. The servants and palace guards would fall down to their knees and kowtowing on the dirt, begging him to climb down, afraid that the crown prince would get hurt, though they were more afraid of the king’s punishment if they failed to protect the heir of the throne.

Yes, the prince was a really spoiled child. But he did those pranks simply because he knew the fact that the servants were scared of the king, and not him. They did not really care for his well-being, because no one had ever scolded him for doing useless things. It was the same as his mother concubines, they did not even dare to raise their voice in front of him because they were afraid of the king and the queen dowager. The king was always so busy, therefore he did not have much time in properly raising the child, while his grandmother, the queen dowager, had always spoiling him. Let’s just say the crown prince was being rebellious to attract some attention. And it was normal for a 10-year-old motherless boy. But of course, it was a story of 7 years ago. Ever since he was taught by the great teacher the Chief Scholar Park Hwangyi, the crown prince had grown up so much now, physically and mentally. That was solely the reason for the king and the queen dowager to decide that he was ready to get married and inherit the throne.

Back to the current situation, Im Jaebum had succeeded in plucking a stem of violet clusters and he raised it up in his hand as if it was a huge victory. To the outsiders, it might seem like a childish act, but Jinyoung who was anxiously waiting at the bottom of the tree was obviously moved. The crown prince cracked a huge smile when he saw the boy’s expression. In his heart, he was jumping excitedly. So he made a move to climb down the tree and give the flowers to Jinyoung, but unexpectedly, one of his feet slipped off the branch and he fell.

Thankfully, or rather unfortunately for Jinyoung, the prince fell down flat on him, just because he was coincidentally right under the branch Im Jaebum was on. Both of them were groaning out loud, their bodies were aching all over. Jinyoung was hurt even more since Im Jaebum had crushed him from above. When the prince realized what he had done, he quickly moved away from Jinyoung but stopped midway when he smelled a wonderful flower scent. He knew it was a scent of the violets, but it was not from the flowers. It was coming from Jinyoung himself. No wonder the boy that was currently lying under him was as beautiful as those violets.

For a moment there, they were looking at each other intently, like they were hypnotized again. The prince was clearly entranced by Jinyoung’s beauty, now that he got the chance to see his face up close. But when he finally regained his full senses, he remembered the violets in his hand. However, they were already crushed in his hand, which he might have clenched during his fall. He abruptly sat up and looked at the flowers on his palm dejectedly.

“They’re crushed!” Im Jaebum said. “I climbed up for nothing! I’m sorry...”

“No, it’s alright. They still look pretty,” Jinyoung said, trying to calm the prince down. Not that he bothered that the flowers were ruined.

“No way!” the prince insisted. “I can’t leave it this way. I’ll pick a new one.”

Im Jaebum eagerly stood up, determined to climb up again, but Jinyoung quickly stopped him by taking the flowers from his hand.

“Really, it’s fine. I like it this way,” Jinyoung said, putting the violet clusters by his cheek and gave the prince a smile.

Once again, Im Jaebum was enthralled. Although he had seen some of his father’s concubines’ beauty, no one could match the beautiful boy in front of him. He had never seen his own mother queen, nor he had seen any picture of her, but he was sure that the queen was as beautiful as Jinyoung.

Suddenly, Im Jaebum took both of Jinyoung’s hands in his own, his hands felt soft in his bigger hands, and said in a thrilled voice, “You really like the violets, don’t you? How about you live here with me? Let’s get married!”

His surprising question caught Jinyoung off guard. No men, not when they were in their right mind, would ask another man to get married. In his head, Jinyoung thought the prince had gone mad, or he was originally insane in the first place. Jinyoung, being the son of a noble family, knew full well that a marriage of the same gender was a sin. Besides, they had just met, so it was ridiculous for the prince to suddenly propose to him. So why? Why would his heart thump so loudly and his face felt unusually hot?

“What are you spouting? I’m a man. Don’t you know two men can’t be together?” Jinyoung asked. He knew that he should refuse, but somehow his mouth could not say the right words.

“Should I care? I’m the next king of this land. When I become the king, I’ll change the ridiculous rule so that everyone can marry whoever they wish,” Im Jaebum declared, though it shocked the other boy a great deal.

“You...you’re the crown prince?” he asked, in shock. Im Jaebum threw him a smile and was about to say something when they were suddenly disturbed by a loud voice calling the crown prince. They turned at the way the voice coming from and saw an exhausting Mabong pulling his legs to get to his master’s side.

“Your majesty,” he said between heavy breaths. “Your majesty, please have mercy at Mabong. Your lowly subject was about to die if he couldn’t find his master. Your majesty...oh no! What in the world had happened to you?!”

The old servant shouted in horror when he saw the prince’s robe was covered in flower petals and dirt. To the servant, the prince became dirty was as bad as him got injured. Therefore he was really horrified by the sight. However, the prince only brushed him off.

“This is nothing. Don’t mind it,” he said indifferently. “What’s the matter?”

“Forgive me, your majesty. The king had requested for your attendance to the council chambers for the crown princess test,” Mabong told him humbly while continuously bowing his head.

The crown prince nodded his head, as if he had never heard of this, and then said, “Let’s go now. I have something to show my father too.” Without any delay, Im Jaebum took Jinyoung’s hand and pulled him to the direction of the throne hall. Hugely surprised by the prince’s action, old Mabong hastily followed while trying to stop him from going any further.

“Please stop, your majesty. The state of your outfit isn’t suitable for the audience with the king. Besides, you aren’t wearing your official robe at the moment. It’s best to go back to the quarters first and have you cleaned and changed,” Mabong pleaded. He was trying very hard in chasing after his master’s quick steps with his short legs that he seemed to be running.

“Doesn’t matter. I want to see the father king as soon as possible. I can’t wait to tell him this news!” the prince said excitedly, which had worried both his servant and Jinyoung. But no matter what Mabong said, nothing could go through the prince’s head once he made up his mind. Therefore, he had no choice but to follow the crown prince to the throne hall.

In the Geunjeongjeon hall, the King Lee Dojeon and the Queen Dowager were seated on the throne, and all officials were already on their respective seats. This was the moment when all the candidates for the crown princess position would be paying their respect to the king and queen dowager, as well as introducing themselves to the crown prince. The candidates were chosen from several noble families and they had to go through some tests to qualify themselves, then the best one will be selected as the mother to the next heir. It was a very important test that even the queen dowager who was not usually involved in the official meetings had attended. However, while all five candidates were already waiting by the entrance of the throne hall, the crown prince himself was nowhere to be seen.

When the king, his mother and his subjects were waiting anxiously for the prince’s arrival, Im Jaebum suddenly entered the hall in large steps, and all eyes were turned to him. But they were not looking at the prince. Instead, their gazes were following the boy who were pulled forward by the prince, and naturally, they were asking questions inside their heads about who the boy was and why would the prince brought him to the official court.

Mabong sneaked a glance from behind the large doors and secretly feeling relieved that the prince had changed to his blue robe. It was a hard deal to make him agree, but when the unknown boy, who was dragged along by the crown prince, insisted that he would not go to the throne hall unless Im Jaebum would change his clothes, the crown prince finally relented and went to his quarters to change out of his dirty robe. However, no matter how relief he was, Mabong was deeply worried about what might his master had in mind and prayed that nothing bad would happen to the crown prince.

Im Jaebum and Jinyoung stopped right in front of the throne and paid their respects to the king and queen dowager, but no words had come out from anyone’s mouth. The hall was consumed in silence, until the king finally spoke.

“You have finally arrived, Lee Jae,” the king said. “But who is this man that you have brought with you?”

“Father, his name is Park Jinyoung, and he’s the son of my great teacher, the late Chief Scholar Park Hwangyi. I had just met him at the palace garden near the Chwihyanggyo bridge,” Im Jaebum replied humbly. The only time he would speak in a humble way was only with his father and grandmother. He had a huge respect for his eldest, but he thought the officials did not deserve his respect unless they did their job right, and there were only a few of them who had gained his respect including the chief scholar.

The king nodded in understanding, although his son’s answer did not wash off his curiosity. Why would this son of his bring a man who he had just met to the throne hall during an important meeting? What was more, his son was holding the other man’s hand the whole time without letting go. So he asked again, “And why did you bring him here? Does he have an important matter to seek my audience that it couldn’t wait until this crown princess test ended?”

“It’s not him who needed your audience, father. It’s me,” the prince said. He then looked at Jinyoung briefly and squeezed his hand, before he turned back to the king. “I have chosen him to be the crown princess.”

Phew...to be honest,I thought this chapter accelerated too fast? But I have to since I want to make Jinyoung a concubine soon(LOL) and start their romance. Because the conflicts will be very long(I think)...

By the way, this story contains homophobic issue, but I'm not a homophobic so don't worry:D (I won't write my stories if I am XD) As you know, the people from centuries ago weren't able to accept homouality unlike these days, so I just want to potray it. Plus, homophobic issue is very important in this story, so I hope you don't mind. Feel free to comment or leave any question. I will try my best to reply :)