Chapter 1

"Your highness, please, you need to make it to the meeting."

Kang Mo-Yeon gives an unintelligible grunt and buries her face deeper in her sheets. These sheets are heavenly, I should ask Myeong-Joo to get more of this stuff for me, she thought before letting her resolve dissolve back to slumber.

"Your highness, please" Choi Min-Ji insists, a bit more desperate this time, knowing it's not exactly the best behavior for a servant to touch her queen unless given permission to. "It's almost nine and the generals wouldn't appreciate it if you make them wait again this time."

Min-Ji knows her words are falling on deaf ears as Mo-Yeon has successfully returned to sleep. She hears quiet snoring emanating from under the sheets. "Oh no, what do I do again this time!" She cries out silently, her hands desperately searching her head for answers.

It's been like this for four years now, ever since Mo-Yeon has assumed the highest position in the land of Urk—morning after morning of Min-Ji trying to wake Mo-Yeon up in time for her morning schedule, and Mo-Yeon, the not-so-morning-person that she is, desperately clinging to her comfortable bed.

And to save yet another morning, Myeong-Joo barges in Mo-Yeon's bed chambers and heads straight for their royal sleeping beauty.

"Get up, you lazy bum!" To Min-Ji's horror, Myeong-Joo aggressively drags Mo-Yeon's body from below the mountains of pillows and sheets. Mo-Yeon wails in defiance, clutching a huge feather pillow to her body.

"We're sorry, your highness, but you have to get up now," Min-Ji says apologetically, looking at the pillow tug of war ensuing between Mo-Yeon and Myeong-Joo.

"Don't apologize to this lazy piece of ^ss, Min-Ji!" Myeong-Joo says through gritted teeth. "Her whole kingdom's awake and yet, she's still on her bed, trying to be a spoiled brat!"

"Myeong-Joo, you meany!" Mo-Yeon pouts at her commander-in-chief, finally letting go of the pillow they've been fighting over. She slumps resignedly on the floor, her back leaning on the bed. "But I'm soooooo sleepy! I've stayed up 'til three in the morning watching hilarious videos of kittens and puppies!"

"That sounds about right for this kingdom's queen, don't you think, Min-Ji?" Myeong-Joo rolls her eyes as Min-Ji starts straightening up the bed. "Come on, Min-Ji has your bath ready. We're almost complete at the conference room so you better drag your sleepy ^ss there in 10 minutes."

"Yes, ma'am," Mo-Yeon sighs, dragging her body across the room towards the door leading to the bathroom. Myeong-Joo leans on the door frame of the bedroom, her hands crossed over her chest, and gives Mo-Yeon one last I'm-watching-you look, before marching out back to the conference room.

"Good morning, your highness! Your bath for today is milk and rose petals. I hope you find the temperature agreeable," Min-Ji enters the bathroom after Mo-Yeon and picks up the trail of clothes left by her queen.

Mo-Yeon gives Min-Ji a grin and a thumbs-up, and gets rid of her last piece of clothing. She dips a toe on the bath tub, testing the temperature of the water, and slides her whole body in. She exhales contentedly, savoring the fragrance of the bath and the warm temperature of the water. "So what's for today, Min-Ji?"

Min-Ji sits beside Mo-Yeon's tub and fishes out a tablet from her front apron. "After your nine o'clock at the conference room with your commander-in-chief and the rest of the generals, you have a few hours before your lunch at the green house with Mr. Park, Mr. Soo, and Mrs. Ha. There's a two o'clock meeting with the education minister after that—we can't reschedule anymore, your highness, he's been trying to get a hold of you for weeks now and he says he won't take no for an answer this time—and then a four o'clock with the budget mistress. At five, the tailor will be coming in for your fitting for next week's gala so I've cleared the rest of the afternoon 'til dinner just so you'll have some breathing time. By seven—"

"Please clear everything after the tailor, Min-Ji," Mo-Yeon cuts in.

"But, your highness—"

"Thank you, you're an angel," Mo-Yeon smiles at her and fishes out her towel. Min-Ji gives out a resigned sigh and follows Mo-Yeon to her walk-in dresser.

After Kang Mo-Yeon was crowned as Queen of Urk, she decreed that the wearing of royal gowns will be saved for the more formal occasions and ceremonies. She felt that at this age, huge gowns were not only a waste of fabric, but also irrelevant to the current fashion milieu. Urk is one of the top exporters of cheap but quality fabric in the world and Mo-Yeon has always envisioned her kingdom to become a fashion central like London or Paris.

Although Min-Ji has insisted that she employ a stylist to help her with her everyday clothes, Mo-Yeon disagreed and she has since been shopping and picking clothes for herself. This has brought hundreds of designers and brands from all over the world knocking on the doors of the Urk royal castle, showcasing their best pieces to the queen and her high ministers and consultants.

Mo-Yeon picks a black shift dress with a high collar, sleeves that go past her wrists, and the hem just skimming her knees, and puts on a long black sleeveless blazer. She pulls a pair of pink Walter Steiger pumps and marches out back to her bedroom to put on a pair of pearl studs. She then twirls and poses childishly for Min-Ji, which earns a little chuckle from her handmaid, and asks, "How do I look?"

"While it's improper for me to criticize you, you know that, your highness, please do know that I genuinely think you look dashing, as always," Min-Ji smiles at Mo-Yeon.

Mo-Yeon, obviously pleased with herself, then heads to the conference room with Min-Ji at her side. "Myeong-Joo won't stop whining about getting a new captain for the Royal Guards. Seriously, I really think she lacks trust in her queen."

"Commander Kim only looks out for you, your highness. And please forgive me for saying this, but the commander looks terribly worn out," Min-Ji responds. Mo-Yeon looks at Min-Ji, chewing on her lower lip. "She's been covering for both the positions of commander in chief and captain for the past years, too."

Mo-Yeon nods in agreement. "Well, she's still single, and she's grumpy 90 percent of the time, too! Maybe she does need some break. Maybe she needs a man!"

Min-Ji blushes and walks a little faster to stay a few steps in front of Mo-Yeon, and opens the door to the conference room for her. She then walks away with a low bow.

Mo-Yeon arrives to the conference room packed. The generals are noisily conversing with each other around the long table in the middle of the room; as she arrives, they all stand up and offer a bow. Mo-Yeon gets to her seat at the end of the table, with Myeong-Joo at her right, and motions for everyone to take their seats.

"You all look lovely today, thank you for coming," Mo-Yeon smiles at her generals, melting the hard and calloused hearts of her men. "We here at Urk are blessed to have yet another peaceful month. And since we are only conducting this general assembly out of Commander Kim's insistence—" The generals snicker and Mo-Yeon earns a glare from her right "—I'm handing the floor to our commander-in-chief for the report. Myeong-Joo, please."

"The ten states of Urk are in all good health and peace, thanks to the continued guidance of our Queen and of the hard work of our generals," Myeong-Joo starts, her strong and commanding voice filling the room. "Apart from the usual petty crimes here and there, the only substantial cause of disturbance that we would like everyone to know about today comes from the Second State of Dul. We've received reports that unregistered arms were found by roving policemen in an overdue-parked truck at the Park of The Queen of Elegance. There were thirty AKs found inside the truck, hidden among crates of bread and flour. General Park Byung-Soo, could you please fill us in?"

General Byung-Soo of the Second State of Dul arranges the papers in front of him and clears . "The thirty Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles found inside the truck were found by two policemen roving the area at two in the morning two days ago. Based from the other contents of the truck, we were able to infer that my men have stumbled upon the truck only hours after it was abandoned. We're investigating all local bakeries for more information about the unregistered guns but have yet to gain substantial information about the found firearms. The firearms are now in custody of the Second State Police and no fingerprints have been found on the weapons, nor on the truck."

"Thank you, General Park Byung-Soo." Myeong-Joo nods at Byung-Soo. "To the other generals, please leave all your reports and paperwork with Lieutenant Kim Gi-Bum."

"That was quick! Any more from our other generals?" Mo-Yeon signals at the other generals and grins. "No? Okay, great meeting! We're adjourned."

The generals starts collecting their papers and turning them over to Gi-Bum at the far end of the long table. The generals then, one-by-one, approach Mo-Yeon for a brief conversation or a farewell, before leaving the conference room. Some of the men hung around and engaged themselves in animated talks with the other generals.

"Myeong-Joo—" Mo-Yeon starts to talk to her commander-in-chief before she notices that Myeong-Joo was not in her seat. She then cranes her neck and scours the room for Myeong-Joo before she notices her approaching with a rather unfamiliar man in tow. Equipped not with the best eyes, Mo-Yeon squints and tries to identify the man beside Mo-Yeon, and a faint hint of familiarity hits her. He looks vaguely familiar but I'm not too sure where I've seen him before, she thought.

"Mo-Yeon, here's the advisor I've been telling you about," It's only been a few words but Mo-Yeon's lips starts to turn into a scowl. "Wipe that expression from your face, Mo-Yeon, it's improper for a queen to act like a brat. He's come from all over the world but thanks to our chief of royal police, he has agreed to come back and serve the Kingdom of Urk. Captain, please introduce yourself."

The man goes into a deep bow and kisses the top of Mo-Yeon's hand. "Okay, you're a gentleman, that's great. Who are you?" Mo-Yeon snaps at him impatiently. The man smirks and puts his hand to his temple in a salute.

"I've last been destined at the Republic of Korea, serving as a consultant directly to President Kim Dae-Hwan. Captain Yoo Shi-Jin, your highness, at your service."