Amaryllis is a small kingdom, sitting in an island isolated by other countries of the world. Though they are strategically in between big countries and are famous of their soils being rich with gold and lumber, the neighbouring countries do not dare set war against them. This is because of their well-known history of wise strategy-prone kings and well-trained armies that could battle against any highly trained officer in the world. They are also known to be ruthless to their enemies, using such old-age punishments such as decapitation and mutilation of body parts. Spies sent to Amaryllis never comes back.

It all comes down to generations after generations of almost devilish kings. As small children, they have been trained on hand-to-hand combat and mentally prepared to be strong and confident. Generations after generations, none of the kings of Amaryllis has ever broken this trend, nor is anybody expecting it to be so.

-

The shuddering small boy dressed in his hunting shirt is sweating even in the cold wind. He shook his head at the small little bird chirping mindlessly in the cage in front of him.

“..No.. I can’t..”

“You must!” The King’s roar echoed throughout the palace gardens. He glanced at their surroundings, making sure that no suspicious movements are heard. He glared at his 10-year-old son and crouched down to his level. “You are my only son and you will be the heir to the throne. You must do this, or I will have to disown you and you will be killed before you can even step out of this palace. It is the rule of our kingdom, and we do not defy rules.”

His head shook vigorously and hugged the king tightly with his small hands. He sobbed for a mere few seconds and quickly calmed himself down. “I’ll do it,..”

The king gave a small sigh of relief and watched as the crown prince opened the cage with his shaky hands and captured the small bird. His eyes were trembling and trails of his tears could still be seen in the bright moonlight as he grabbed the bird’s neck with both hands and twisted it. The limp body of the bird fell to the ground with a thud and his eyes lost focus.

It is so easy to take a life, he thought to himself.

The king gave the little boy a small pat on his shoulder. “That’s it, my son. It is that easy. It is not difficult to take one’s life. Remember: taking a life is not for your pleasure, but for your protection and the protection of our kingdom. It better to be feared than to be afraid of others. Your first lesson as a crown prince ends tonight.”

The little prince nodded his head to his father and bowed as he walked past. “Thank you Father, for your kind wisdom.”

As soon as his father’s footsteps are gone in the night, his knees gave way and fell to the ground and looked at the small bird on the ground. He picked up the small figure in his hands, uncaring of the blood and silently wept. His sobs got louder, but it could not cover up the piercing in his heart for taking away an innocent life.

Crack!

“Who’s there?!”

He stood up, dropping the dead bird and looked at the nearby bush where the sound of broken branch came from.

His nanny, Mrs Joo came out holding onto a small girl tightly. was tightly sealed by his nanny, but the little girl was struggling to get free. Her small curls bouncing as light as the feather at her every move.

The crown prince looked at her, not knowing what to do. If he calls the guards, they will kill her on the spot without question. This is a forbidden area of the palace, especially from a maid such as her, judging from her torn clothes.

Mrs Joo hissed, “Quiet, child! If anybody knows you are here, you will be killed. Stop struggling and I will let you go.”

The little girl stopped struggling, but her chest moved up and down in fright as she shuddered nervously. Hot tears could be seen flowing down, wetting the nanny’s hands that are covering . Mrs Joo waited for a few minutes and crouched down to the little girl.

“Promise me you will not tell anybody of what you have seen after the king has left. You are not to tell anybody you have even seen the crown prince.”

She nodded vigorously, falling down to her knees and begged. “Please.. let me go. I promise. I did not see him here. I did not come here. I did not see him wept after..”

“Shush!” The crown prince cut her words.

She instantly bowed the very grounds right in front of him. “I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. I will keep my word. I will not say anything to anybody. I promise, my prince.”

He gave an inward sigh and said, “look at me.”

When she looked up, her big brown eyes that are filled with water made him forget what he was going to say. He could still feel the blood from the bird in between his fingers, and as much as he should kill her for seeing him being so weak, he could not do it.

“Go.” He said in a very low voice, it was almost a whisper. She quickly stumbled away and ran off as fast as she could.

He closed his eyes and gulped, hoping it would not be a regret someday. His nanny hugged him tight and said, “You did the right thing. You must not take away innocent lives unless you need to.”

… but the need to take away innocent lives increased as the years passed. He grew up as a person who thinks lives as nothing more than the dirt underneath his perfectly polished shoes. He grew cold and ruthless. Just as his father wanted him to be.

For 23 years of his life, the only life that Prince Oh Sehun has ever spared was of hers: Yoon Hye Young – an insignificant cleaner of the palace.

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Thank you to Cherry Dragon Shop for the poster! :D 

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm not exactly a new writer, but I am certainly new to AFF (so hi! :D). To be honest, I've kept this storyline stashed somewhere in my email for years and I found it while I was looking through some trash (hahaha ... trash? fanfic plan? get it? ... no? ._.) At the moment, I am on holiday (YAY!) so decided to share this story with everyone. Its a nice and simple story (at least I think so ._.) and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it :D I know I made up some kingdom and all that nonsense, but I will be concentrating more on the romance.