Wonshik was one of the top officials of the Northern Society. He was very brave, very strong, very skilled and a very well disciplined man. Aside from being from a very wealthy and powerful family, he worked alongside the leader of their society, Leader Cha Hakyeon. Hakyeon and Wonshik’s father were best of friends and when Hakyeon found out that his friend’s son had been getting so much praise and attention for his swordsmanship, he had decided that he would take the little boy under his wing and pass down his knowledge and skills to the young boy. Hakyeon had always wanted a son but for him and his wife Sojin, they were blessed with two beautiful daughters both of whom were married to the highest officials from the West and the East Society. Their daughters only came to meet them during holidays since they were now living in different places.

There were 4 Societies in their world.

There was the Northern Society, they are known for being the strongest among the 4. This society was popularly known for their swordsmanship and the men there were very popular. All the women from the other 3 societies would dream of getting married to them.

The West were known for modernization. Their people were more into analytical and technical stuffs and they were very sharp and intelligent. They were very good with finance thus making the society richer and more developed as they grew older.  

The East were known for their very rich cultural diversity. Even when the society was developing rapidly, they never forgot any of their cultures and traditions. They had the best artist in the land and people from this society would travel to the other societies to buy and trade their products and goods.

And lastly the Southern Society. In terms of strength and power, they came 2nd but this society was the richest among the 4. They had the best natural resources in any of the land and their land was blessed with many ores, coal, fuel etc. This society was the only society that still had their Royal Family and the people loved and respected them so much. One thing why the South was also popular was, they had the most beautiful women in all of the land. Just like how the women dreamt of getting married to the Northern men, the men dreamt to have a wife from the South. Hakyeon’s wife, Sojin was from this land and she also had a royal blood. She was the King’s youngest sister.   

This was how their world worked – the women and men from the same society cannot get married. All the brides, at the minimum age of 20 should get married and are sent off to different societies as a dowry to the men, who are also by then, the age of 25. But before getting married, the brides and the grooms are given many pictures of each other and are able to communicate through letters. It was never a forced marriage. But if it involved people of higher ranks, they had no choice but to get married to one another even without seeing each other.

The marriage happened every mid of each season. The brides would all go to their designated society together and after days of travelling, they would finally be able to meet their “Husbands”. The brides and grooms would all gather at the biggest hall in the land and get married at the same time. No family members were allowed.

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“My dear son, Wonshik!”, Hakyeon said, raising his glass up in the air. They were at a dinner gathering with all the highest officials in the land. Wonshik’s parents were also among them.

“You have been such a blessing to our land that I cannot thank you more. You have protected our home with all your strength and power and for this I want to give you something very special.”

All the people there cheered and clapped. But what was this special gift that Leader Hakyeon was taking about?

“My dearest friend, King Jung of the Southern Society wants his only daughter to get married to you.”

Everyone there were surprised. Wonshik, himself too. Everybody had heard of how beautiful this young Princess was. She was given the nickname, the Goddess of the Societies by all the men who had laid their eyes on her. Flattered and honoured as he was, Wonshik wasn’t ready to get married yet. He was at the peak of his career, he did not want to get married and settle down yet. And so, being the honest and straight forward man he was, he politely asked Hakyeon to re