A loud, painful groan echoed throughout the building; it has been a while since the groans began. All people in the building stopped their tasks; some of them are praying, some are crying, some just lowering their gaze to the ground, unable to take it any longer because, deep inside their heart, they all knew it wasn’t long until Death comes to claim the soul of their ruler. It was the King himself, who has been ruling the country of Stella for more than 20 years, who has been suffering from an incurable disease for the longest time that let out the loud groan; his health deteriorates as the time passes by, and his already weak body can’t take the pain any longer.

Standing in the King’s chamber are several people; the Queen, the Captain of Stella’s Army, the Royal Physician, and a small boy, who is holding the King’s hand tightly as his tears fell to the floor. The King smiled softly at the sight of the crying boy; his hand softly wipes the tears and snots away from the boy’s face before caressing his cheeks tenderly.

“My dear Jongin, why are you crying? You have known for the longest time that I’ve been suffering from this disease...so why are you crying now, my dear? I, for one, knew that my time is limited, from the day that the Royal Physician told me about the disease. I was thrown beyond despair; I brood about the short timeframe that the God bestowed me every single day. I asked the God to take me away, for I can’t take the pain any longer. But then a miracle came; you, my own flesh and blood. I was completely enchanted the day you were born; and every single day living with you gave me hope; that life isn’t so bad even though you are suffering...”

He gave the little boy a soft smile as he struggled to cup the boy’s face; soft eyes penetrating the boy’s teary brown orbs...

“Promise me, Jongin...that whatever you do; the wellbeing of the people of Stella will be your number one priority. Protect your Mother, the Queen. Protect our people, the citizen of Stella. I trust all of them, to you, my dearest son...my own flesh and blood...my heir...”

The little boy watched as the King’s smile fades; eyes closed as the hands on his face fell. He watched as several people entered the King’s chamber, weeping their heart out as they put a long, black silk over the King’s body. He watched as several soldiers went to the Royal Bell, which is hung on top of the castle, to ring it seven times; an unspoken message to the citizen that the King has passed away. He watched as the mahogany casket is lowered into the ground by several people wearing all black; all crying their heart out. He watched as the Queen placed the wreath of roses on the memorial stone before she knelt in front of it; hands clasped in front of her as she prayed, tears wetting her face.

“In the name of Queen of Stella, I promised I will take care of the people of Stella, our people, until the Crown Prince Jongin is deemed worthy enough to fulfil the King’s place; his responsibility and honour, as well as the respects from our people...”

Jongin was 7 when the King passed away; young as he is, he understood the meaning of death that very day…

**********

Surrounded by the rockiest mountain, Stella is the kingdom blessed with sun and rain throughout the year. Since the kingdom is built on mountainous terrain, the kingdom makes use of the surrounding terrain as one of the defence mechanism of the kingdom; creating an impenetrable fortress from within. Stella also boasts the most powerful army force in the world; the renowned Stella Army, which has successfully kept the peace in Stella and the surrounding kingdoms for generations.

The rocky surrounding also blessed them with natural minerals. Mining becomes the most successful business of Stella; the high-quality jewels in the world can only be found in Stella and its surrounding. Even the smallest Stella diamond can fetch millions of Gil, the currency of Stella; and of course, this fact alone attracts a lot of unwanted attention.

The Queen knew this; and the spreading news of the recently passed away King will not help her at all...

The renowned Stella Army is lead by the late king and the Captain of Stella Army, the almighty Captain Yifan; who is also the only brother of the late king and Prince Jongin’s godfather. But ever since the death of the late king, Captain Yifan has seemingly lost hope to lead the army and the second captain is nowhere as strong as the Captain. The Queen watched as the Captain succumbs lower with each passing day; and she would be lying if she said that she is fine with succeeding the throne after her husband’s death; leading the whole kingdom with only her two frail arms...

But she had to do it; the lives of more than a million people of Stella rest in her frail arms and it will be until the Crown Prince is capable enough to succeed the throne on his own...

To reduce the casualties, the Queen formed an alliance with the two nearest kingdoms; the kingdom with brawn and brain, Terra and the kingdom with unsurpassed magic of water, Aqua. She realized that the natural surroundings of Stella is like a double-edged sword; while it protects the kingdom from the evil hands, the people of Stella is also trapped within the kingdom if the enemy decided to surround the mountains, leaving them with no way out. Hence she put on her best smile and went to the nearest kingdoms, bringing Stella finest jewelleries with her as she sweet talk her way with the other royalties.

And she did it; soldiers of Aqua and Terra come to their aid when the kingdom of Nix decided to attack them from the air...

The two kingdoms also send their reinforcement when Stella is surrounded by bandits and rogues trying to take over their jewel mines...

The people of Stella are impressed with the Queen’s intelligence; avoiding unwanted casualties without going for a war. But the Queen knew that there’s a limit of where talking can withhold the peace in the kingdom. If, God forbid, Terra and Aqua decided to ambush Stella one day, the kingdom will crumble faster than a sandcastle on the beach. And that is the biggest concern of hers; she can’t lead the army all by herself. Heck, she can’t even hold a sword properly without twisting her tiny wrists. And without her or Captain Yifan to lead the army, their men will fall in the battlefield like leaves during autumn. She pondered about this every single day; frown deepening with each and every passing seconds...

But little that she knows that certain soft brown eyes are watching her every movement; every day and every night...

A 7 years old Prince Jongin watched as his mother, the Queen, took over the throne even though she deemed herself unworthy for the title. He watched as she stumbled over the King’s responsibilities; ignoring her own wellbeing for the sake of her people. He watched as she shed her precious tears over her incapability to rule the kingdom without casualties. He watched as she quietly woke up at 3AM to check the infirmary, where the injured soldiers lied down. He watched as her face paled and thinning, eye bags dark and pronounced; the King’s duty is taking a huge toll on her.

But she still come to read a bedtime story for him every night, tucking him to bed while giving him good night kisses. She also managed to knit him a warm, red scarf in between her duty; smiling as she watched the little boy ran around the castle with the red scarf around his neck. He burst into silent tears when he overheard the conversation between the Queen and her personal maiden; he was going to disturb the Captain, his Uncle Yifan when he passed through the Royal Chamber, where the Queen sat among the bundles of yarn balls of the colours of rainbows.

“Your Majesty, if it is not rude for me to ask, what are these yarn balls for? One of the kitchen servants send them here a while ago even though I asked him not to...”

“Hmm? Do not worry, my maiden; I specifically asked him to send these here...I’m going to knit a sweater for the Prince; his old one is too small for him already. So what do you think about the combination of royal blue and gold? Or should I make it red, since Jongin liked it a lot?”

“Umm...the blue one is better in my opinion, Your Majesty; since the Prince already have a red scarf. Pardon me for asking, Your Majesty, but we do have sewing maids to knit everything you wanted, Your Majesty, so why.