Night and Day
Description
Four years after the battle at Baekham Bridge, the next heir to the throne of Sangdokchi is none other than the young Krystal herself - who faces greater dilemma than her brother Prince Changmin when he was crowned as the incumbent ruler of the kingdom. Four years after it's astounding fantasy prequel about love, friendship, magic and spells - Krystal, the princess brave enough to cast hearts to fall in love, and to fall out of it, the princess strong enough to discover and oppress the power of the Byungmi siblings' rings, must choose her fate wisely for she cannot make the same mistakes the past has shown her. She must choose if marriage is the only key in protecting her kingdom and her brother, or if she just could ride away with the masked Robin Hood into an adventure she'll never forget.
From it's loved prequel, Someone Other than Me, four years later and this is still a story about love and marriage, courage and faith. Let us go back to the world you've all been familiar with, and maybe, just maybe you'll know why some mistakes will always be worth it.
Listen to the official soundtrack for this story here. ♫
[ K r y s t a l ]
Krystal is the second child of the Sangdokchi King. Four years after the war, where the nations finally found peace, Krystal, the heir of the seas and oceans, will be the next queen of her kingdom – one of the biggest and most progressive ones among six others in their country. She is not destined to marry Sehun, the youngest duke of Honsang. Even from the first story, Krystal is portrayed to be childish yet at the same time an actively strong-willed woman who will not be put down just because others are not in favor of her decisions (even though seldom, they are quite unreasonably wrong). The problem however is that Sehun is not the man she loves, nor will he ever be she promises and she too understands that Sehun might be in love with someone else, a similar situation to her brother years before. While she decides that tradition is completely unfair, she still longs for someone else. Other than this, the after effects of her formula attacks Prince Changmin, and Krystal needs to find an antidote which takes time to perfect and without the help of Jongin, her masked lover. With duties both to the kingdom and to the heart, Krystal have always made choices for herself, sacrifices for herself, was it time to deal with the consequences of these actions to save the life of others?
[ S e h u n ]
Sehun is the youngest duke of Honsang (with two older duchesses) and chooses to be cold-hearted towards Krystal the moment it has been announced he will be proclaimed as the next ruler of Sangdokchi. He thinks the idea of marriage with her will be such a failure that they will eventually set the whole kingdom on fire if he was to be pushed into marrying that unruly woman. His father is Sulli’s uncle, the prince of Hayanchul before he decides to marry the princess of Honsang, claiming the kingdom. Sehun is sulky and brooding, something that Krystal understands when he agreed to be her husband in this dolled up tradition. During his travels he meets a young girl, to which he has fallen in love with, despite his hand already marked by a wedding ring. But when he finds out about the secrets of Sangdokchi, and how lives could be at stake, Sehun believes he has no chance of getting out of the marriage. Not when Krystal had been the center of it all, and if there's one thing he just can't stand, it's seeing her get into so much trouble.
[ J o n g i n ]
Jongin is Krystal's mysterious lover - mysterious because he has never shown his face to her, not even in kissing or making love. He disappears after the announcement of Krystal's engagement to the duke of Honsang and it pains him to always be watching her from afar. He is fond of magic as much as Krystal is - it is this interest that binds them together for some reason that leads it to a compelling romance stronger than death. He taught Krystal himself the power of the elixir of life, the power of revival, taking and calling a soul from the dead back to life. His past is still unknown. He lurks in the woods of Sangdokchi but to Krystal's disappointment, goes missing when she searches for him in her darkest hours.
[ S u l l i ]
Princess by blood, Sulli is Krystal's best friend and Sehun's cousin. To hear that her best friend is going to marry her douchebag of a cousin had been a weird feeling for the young princess but she knows well that it was another amazing story yet to unfold. She is portrayed mostly as a hopeless romantic, supportive and child-like, and likes the superficial arrogant boy from Sangdokchi, who is also their closest friend Taemin. Though she understands that it is against the rules to love someone from the lowerclass, she is not tied to duty as she is the youngest in her family, and her oldest brother is already leading Hayanchul. She likes to give everyone their daily those of energy in spite of the trouble, and for someone looking as young, she has some good wisdom in her, especially in the streets and can put up a good fight (Thank you, Taemin!)
[ T a e m i n ]
Taemin is one of the 'sewer rats' of Hayanchul, the 'alpha male' of the trio and is often regarded as silent but deadly especially in the streets. He knows all the nooks and crooks of both Hayanchul and Sangdokchi since his father is a trader, so he travels in both kingdoms and thus meeting Sulli and Krystal in the process. He grew up with them and for someone growing outside of the palace, he had manners and was respectful (but did throw a temper and an attitude) which gives him access through the royal gates.
[ S e u l g i ]
Seulgi is the young archer in the woods who has been an aide to Jongin in times of trouble and who has always protected him like a brother. They were referred to as twins by her parents, telling those two if there were any more perfect pair in the world, fate be kind, they will be such a beautiful couple – to which the two always denied. Seulgi has always loved Jongin, and that had been a problem, because of all things Seulgi can control, she knows it’s his heart she can never conquer. As Jongin's decides to leave Sangdokchi after hearing of Krystal's engagement, Seulgi follows the boy into an adventure she’s never going to forget.
[ W e n d y ]
Wendy is a princess from a kingdom across all oceans and has come to visit theirs. A treaty needs to be signed, a new contract to be discussed, for traders and for the new world to start in Sangdokchi (to which Krystal strongly disapproves of). At the banquet, Sehun dances with her and confirms it: she is the girl he has been searching for the past ten years, and there is not one thing about her anyone can hate on. She is lovable and outgoing – and throughout the story, she transforms into Sehun’s right hand mate. Although it is not revealed how she feels about Sehun, she is greatly fond of him in ways she slowly shows. Her emotions are often bricked behind a smile that Sehun tries to understand.
+ [ The Rest of the Prequel Entourage ]
Prince Changmin and his lovely Yoona are back as ruling advisors of the queen-to-be Krystal. The couple as playful as their earlier appearances still struggle with internal differences and try their hardest to be good examples to the next set of rulers. Changmin, merely revived by the potion Krystal had conjured up, faces an unwelcomed fate that will set the whole kingdom on the edge of defeat. Nichkhun as the new King of Byungmi manages the nation at peace, despite the prevailing poverty during his reign. His wife also is suffering birth pains to which according to the local physician is going to come out cursed. In an attempt to reverse the fate of his son, he exchanges his ring, the famous Byungmi ring, with an unknown mage. More consequences occur and it is up to them with Kyuhyun and Seohyun to repair the nation’s destiny.
© All Rights Reserved. Night and Day. No copyright infringement intended. Names of characters and other related material belong to their rightful owners, content from artists in South Korea. Any coincidence from her works of fiction is not committed on purpose by the author and extends her apologies in advance if they do. These stories are not to hurt the characters enlisted and are part of the story, or their families and friends. Author has no ownership of characters unless stated otherwise. Any kind of redistribution without the permission of the author is strictly forbidden. Stories are purely fictiotious and are not intended to portray the characters in real life. This DISCLAIMER is objective to all stories written by the author. Also, the background images used in the stories are not my property and was borrowed. Poster by Nikatsu ♡
PLEASE DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE (without written permission), COPY, ALTER, AND CLAIM MY STORIES AS YOURS.
Foreword
Prologue - the unwilling princess
Engagement Party. That's something new indeed.
The morning everyone in the kingdom has anticipated finally comes. Prince Changmin forfeits the crown due to his unstable condition – heart failures and seldom the inability to walk – the coronation was yet again delayed to four more years, passed down to the last successor of the great historical Sangdokchi: Krystal.
She’s been dreading this day, all its wrongness keeping her uneasy and thinking, for the wrong reasons that is. It’s all a mousetrap, luring her into the cage with the cheese and then locking her up. Why would Sangdokchi ever want a queen like her?
She played with taboo magic, and if they’d known the remarkable miracles she’d done to save the nation, they would never believe it. To name a few, she created a love potion to have Changmin and Yoona falling in love with each other (although it wore off completely after the next 24 hours, they stuck together), gave Prince Kibum a revival potion that was later used to save her own brother, and devised an escape plan in the middle of getting caught. Her cleverness is often masked by her childishness and pessimism towards everything and maybe that was why her kingdom had doubts of her maturity and wisdom in leading a growing state like theirs.
But she isn’t a child anymore. She is getting engaged to a man she has never been romantically involved with (if you count kissing on the cheek as romantic, because that is all they have gotten themselves into and no feelings attached). Love is not important now, she can hear the queen repeating it in her head, like an echo, as if it hasn’t been engraved deep into every fiber of her body by now. She knows duty will always be above anything else but what if she ends up being like her sister-in-law Yoona? What if her way with witchcraft (being banned in their nation), once publicized, be the reason for her exile? And who would rule over Sangdokchi by then?
“You’re so deep in thought.”
“Engagement,” she whispers, letting his smell linger a minute more, holding him so closely and afraid to even open her eyes. She’s been crying again.
“I do not wish to be tied to him. Especially to him, of all people.”
“I said I can wait,” he utters, planting a small kiss on her forehead as he takes away her hands off of his shirt. “But it doesn’t mean I’m giving you up. You’ll always be mine, Krystal. Remember that. We’ll get out of this mess. Trust me.”
She smiles after hearing his assuring words. With closed eyes, and the hours of the bedroom clock ticking in the dawn, she can feel the morning air gushing in from the balcony window, and the smell of the lavender blooming from below by the courtyard; but alas, she no longer feels his touch beside her or how velvet his voice will ring in her ear. Not in a long time, she figures.
The masked gentleman has disappeared into the sunrise.
When she opens her eyes, reality greets her. And her true prince, always hiding in the shadows, returns to the world where he belongs.
She hears a knock on her door and realizes it’s going to be quite a long day indeed. She pulls the book that seemed to have slept in between them all this time, taken aback by the letter against page 63 and 64 of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is a letter she has been quietly reading nights and nights before today (yet she has not cried about it; because she isn’t like those weak Byungmi princesses), memorizes every dot and point, every quote he leaves, all the favorite ones from that specific play they both read together. He leaves her a little while back and asks her to trust him. Trust him, that coward! For four straight years, he has chosen to hide his face from her and only in kissing and making love he decides to reveal the lips Krystal will always want to kiss.
And so she scowls before directing a “come in” to the person behind her door. It’s just Yoona, one of the Byungmi princesses.
Krystal maintains her indifference to show she’s always been uninterested of her presence, such a mundane woman who’s enchanted her older brother nonetheless.
“You okay?” It is the first thing she always asks from Krystal. If ever she is all right or doing well – but Krystal always makes a face. Of course, she isn’t one to tell Yoona everything’s turning out disastrous. She isn’t her sister to start with, and she sometimes wish Yoona would stop acting like one (or something close to a mother, when she already has one herself. Yoona acts out every role in the palace, it just annoys Krystal to no end.)
The younger princess bobs her head as she pulled her hair back, closing as well the book and crossing her legs so that Yoona can comfortably sit beside her. “Is something bothering you?”
“Just nervous, I guess. I’ll be fine. No need to worry, I promise.” Somehow she realizes how hard it is to lie to Yoona than it was to Changmin, and Krystal prays she won’t take any hints of it.
Krystal feels her gaze going up and down, before Yoona speaks, “How is he, then? How is he taking all of this?”
And then it hits her: Yoona is someone like Krystal, in another dimension and she is meeting her like it is the first time.
Surprised at the question, Krystal averts her eyes, bites her lips. “He’s bound to be all right. We’re just both nervous. We’re only twenty and ruling a kingdom entirely is... effort. I don’t like effort.”
“You don’t have to do this, darling,” Yoona inches closer, holding her face in both of her palms. “If you don’t love him, you don’t have force yourself.”
She is honestly right (as always then, Yoona will always be right). But what can she still do now? Disappoint the kingdom of Honsang just because she declines marrying their of a duke? Krystal can’t do such a thing; the boy is still her friend some time before and although she has not recently met up with him, she remembers his name as much as what he is to Krystal. Acquaintances, but not as close as he is with Princess Sulli, his cousin from Hayanchul, Krystal’s best and most trusted friend.
Still, she has to marry him no matter what happens. She has to have a king by her side, has to rule over Sangdokchi and she can’t do it merely by herself.
Krystal grins, looking into her unnie’s eyes. “But you didn’t back out from marrying my brother. I suppose that can be an example? I don’t think I have to love him like how you’ve mindlessly did for Changmin, since I have no intention of having a little Minwoo either. When Minwoo’s twenty, he’ll take over. I’ll be free. Sixteen more years, right?”
“You can always back out now,” Yoona suggests, as though taking Krystal’s side. “Now come down and have breakfast with us. We need to prepare you for tonight, understand?” She stands up, her hair shorter than Krystal has remembered it from four years ago, but her smiles always the same, always pure and accepting. One way or another Yoona’s still such a blessing to the kingdom, and her fairytale already a happily-ever-after.
She leaves, and Krystal takes the book once more, reads the letter happily as if it wasn’t something to cry upon. There are blots of ink when he wrote it, the way his penmanship was always so messy. It makes her laugh quietly.
“I can’t love him...” She then said, her eyes starting to be teary. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I can’t.”
Her heart belongs to someone else. And a heart oppressed against duty to the kingdom, is never a heart ready for any battle.
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