Hana looked at herself in the mirror. The hair and makeup artist did a damn good job fixing her up. Her lips were painted red, her eyes were lightly covered with makeup, and her cheeks were as rosy as the cherry blossoms that were placed in her pink hair for decoration. Her French nails accentuated her white gown and the train of her dress extended for about a yard and a half. This was about to be the absolute worst day of her life.

"Hana. It's time."

Hana took in a deep breath and looked at her bodyguard in the mirror, who was waiting for her at the door of the dressing room. "Right."

She walked over to him and heaved a big sigh. "Donghae. Will you be staying my side after this ceremony?"

"I'm not sure if I can."

"I see...what will you do after this?"

"I'll still work at the royal palace in Seoul with your father since that's what he wants me to do...so I'm afraid that this will be the last time I you...your highness."

"Right...by the way, didn't I tell you to stop calling me 'your highness'?"

Donghae hid a small smile. "I apologize, Hana-shi."

"Ugh...shi again..."

She walked into the hallway and saw guards lined up against the wall towards the stairs that led to the enormous hall where the wedding ceremony was going to take place. At the top of the stairs, she saw her father waiting for her. He held out his arm and she wrapped her arm around it. Looking at Donghae, her father bowed his head in thanks.

"Thank you, Donghae. For everything you've done for my daughter up until this point."

Donghae bowed and Hana looked at him sadly. "Donghae...I-"

"Be happy, Hana-shi."

Hana pursed her lips together in a tight line without saying any more and nodded. Her father looked at her regretfully and she noticed her dad's expression and sighed. "I have to do what's best for our city, didn't you say that? This was going to happen eventually."

When they finally reached the palace hall, wedding symphonies started playing, marking their cue.

"Put your veil on."

Hana followed her father's orders and did so after taking a quick look around the unfamiliar palace hall. She could definitely feel the tension in the air between the two royal families of Seoul and Busan.

For many years, the weather in the city of Seoul was unbelievably unpredictable. There would be seasons where the city would suddenly fall victim to harsh dry seasons. Most farmers couldn't harvest their crops and there wouldn't be much food to go around as a result. This eventually caused a great wave of hunger among its citizens leading to riots and crime in the country. Hana's father knew that as long as this kept on going, Seoul would eventually fall apart. No one ever knew when or how long the dry seasons would last. Its neighboring city Busan on the other hand is blessed with fertile land and many farmers tend to a wide variety of crops.

However for over 100 years, both royal families have never gotten along and have always been at odds with each other. Multiple wars broke out and they never made an effort to get along either. It wasn't until last year when Hana's father declared for a peace treaty with the king of Busan. Even if Seoul didn't have the most fertile land, its royal family had knowledge to many medicinal secrets and formulas and had healing abilities running through their blood. It was a rare power that the king of Busan knew would definitely benefit his country...and his bloodline. As a result, both royal families decided to settle their differences and work together, but at the expense of their children's freedom. It was because of this peace agreement that Hana was given the task to marry the only son of the royal family of Busan.

For what felt like forever, Hana made it to the front of the hall where her future husband was waiting for her. She saw her father shake hands with the king of Busan and she went to stand next to the prince. It was their first time meeting each other since their parents wanted to make sure they would see the wedding through till the end. Both of them couldn't see each other very well since the veil was somewhat obscuring their facial features to one another and so with both hands, the prince unveiled her face and opened slightly in shock. The prince of Busan was handsome and looked ridiculously familiar. He had dark hair and dark eyes and sharp facial features that were incomparable to even some of the most handsome men from Seoul. She noticed that his expression also had the face of someone who looked like he saw something outside of his expectations. He smirked at her, sending chills down her spine.

They turned their heads towards the priest who was going to wed them. In a loud voice, the priest bellowed, "Welcome royal family and friends of Seoul and Busan, we are gathered today to celebrate this very special day, marking the beginning of our peace treaty between the cities of Seoul and Busan. I introduce to you Kim Myungsoo and Park Hana. By joining them in marriage, may we see our lands prosper and may all the people of our kingdoms live in peace and harmony."

Hana glanced at Myungsoo, who had his full attention on the priest. Her mind went completely blank and Donghae appeared in her mind. She bit back at her tears and heaved a sigh. Myungsoo heard her protesting murmur and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He noticed that she was biting hard on her lip and he looked back at the priest. It seemed like the both of them were going through the worst days of their lives.

The ceremony took about an hour and the royal family and its guests were quickly dismissed after it had ended. There was no reception at all. The wedding turned out to be all formalities and it ended, just like that. Her whole life was now committed to this stranger, the son of the king whose ancestors had been at odds with hers for generations.

The newly weds went to their separate dressing rooms and changed out of their formal attire. For Hana, living at the Busan palace was definitely going to be hard to adapt to. Some of the maids who were helping her out of her dress and makeup gave her evil glares. Most of the guards also looked at her distastefully. She hated it. She walked out of her dressing room after finishing up and saw Myungsoo waiting for her outside.

"You're different from what I imagined." Myungsoo said.

"And so are you."

Myungsoo scoffed. "I guess I got lucky huh. Even if our parents waited till this day for us to meet, I still would have called it off if you had turned out to be ugly."

"If you had done that in front of our families and the guests, you would have been stripped off your crown and a war would have broken out. I don't think you're that stupid, unless you really are what they say. A spoiled conceited brat who doesn't give a damn about anyone else's problems."

Myungsoo chuckled and walked up to her. "Oo. Spoiled. Believe whatever you want. I don't care about this treaty. But if it's with you, I don't mind."

Hana closed her eyes and walked away from him. "You and I both know that this is all for the sake of our cities and our people. Don't expect me to treat you any differently."

Myungsoo pulled her back and turned her around with a dangerous look in his eyes. She yanked herself away from him and stepped back. "Knock it off."

Myungsoo placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head up to look at him. "You don't talk to your husband like that. Keep in mind that you're in my chains now. Your city is nothing without our land."

"And your country is nothing without our abilities. We may be equal in strength but your intelligence is zero when it comes to medicinal values. You have no power over me."

Myungsoo glared at her and forcefully cupped her face. She didn't flinch and he chuckled and shook his head in response. "You've got guts, wife. I'll make sure your time with me becomes a living hell."

In an instant, Hana saw someone pull Myungsoo away from her. A man with dark hair that was very familiar to her stood in front of her, blocking her from Myungsoo's reach. Myungsoo's eyes widened and he put his hands up.

"Whoa, dude. Chill."

"Donghae?"

The other guards in the hall quickly pointed their blades at Donghae since he posed a threat. Hana panicked, holding her hands out against the guards. "He doesn't mean any harm."

Donghae's eyes appeared resolute and he kept them focused on Myungsoo. "Living hell, you say? Not if I can help it."

Myungsoo scoffed and looked at Hana, her horrified expression towards the guards pointing their swords at her personal guard spoke wonders to him and he knew immediately why she was acting this way. "A princess and her royal servant. Sounds pretty novel doesn't it?"

Hana's eyes widened and her face flushed. "Shut your damn mouth."

Myungsoo smirked and looked at Donghae. "I don't know who you are, but if you're her bodyguard or whatever princesses need these days, you're useless now."

Donghae bowed, shocking Hana who had never expected him to bow to any member of the Busan family. "May I have your permission to stay by Hana-shis side?"

Myungsoo scoffed. "Have you no pride?"

Hana pulled on Donghae's shoulders, trying to get him to stand up straight. "Donghae, you don't have to do this."

Donghae stood firm and replied. "I don't have to, but I want to, Hana-shi."

"My father needs you."

"And so do you."

Hana's lips parted slightly as she was at a loss for words.

"Oh man, did I miss something? What's all this commotion?"

Hana followed the sound of the voice and saw a tall man walking up to them from behind Myungsoo.

"Sungyeol," Myungsoo scowled, recognizing the voice. "You're late."

"Yeah, well, sorry. I was messing around. How was the wedding?"

"Were you with Sora again?"

The man called Sungyeol shrugged in response and made eye contact with Hana. He whistled and eyed her up and down.

"This her? She's a ing babe."

Myungsoo rolled his eyes. "She's not all that. Just like the people of Seoul."

Hana raised a hand to slap him but Donghae stopped her. She groaned and pulled her hand away and looked at Myungsoo. "If you don't mind, I'm going. I don't like to associate with guys like you who speak badly of my people. Let's go Donghae. I'm going to father directly and I'll request for your transfer. I honestly could've just done that from the start but I guess you and I both know you're better off here."

Donghae smiled as he huffed out of his nose and followed her.

Myungsoo, astonished at her sudden reaction watched them leave. "W-what did you say?"

Myungsoo, with Sungyeol beside him, fumed and he walked up to the both of them. Myungsoo pulled her arm back but Donghae immediately stepped forward cutting Myungsoo off and making sure he wasn't close enough to Hana. However, Donghae stopped any attempts at Myungsoo as soon as he heard a familiar sound. He drew his attention away from his original target and saw that Sungyeol had drawn his sword after noticing the sound of it being taken out of its shaft.

"You let your guard down man," Sungyeol chuckled. "Sorry but I can't let you attack him. If you try something against Myugsoo, you and your little princess will be in biiiig trouble."

Hana placed a hand on Sungyeol's sword expressionlessly. "That's enough."

"I don't take orders from Seoul scum."

"I am your prince's wife. I can. Now stop."

Sungyeol's eyes widened, surprised at Hana's eagerness. He looked at Myungsoo who sighed and moved his hand back and forth as if shooing Hana and Donghae away.

"Whatever, this is pointless. Let's go Sungyeol. Keep in mind Hana, the people of our countries believe we're married so don't try anything scandalous with your little toy you call your guard." Sungyeol looked at Hana and Donghae and put his weapon away and followed Myungsoo.

Hana clenched her fists and turned around to go the opposite way. "He is not a toy...whatever...let's go Donghae."

Donghae followed her and turned his head to look back at Myungsoo, who was also looking their way. After a moment, they both turned their heads back around and kept looking ahead, going opposite directions.

"Is it just me, or does that guy look really familiar?" Sungyeol asked Myungsoo.

"Her guard?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I was thinking. Who knows.