“There are several different elemental kingdoms throughout the land. The largest kingdoms that control what goes throughout the world are the Snow Kingdom, the Sunshine kingdom, the water kingdom, the Earth kingdom, the Air kingdom, and the Fire kingdom. However, these aren’t the only kingdoms there are a couple of other small kingdoms the celestial and the fertility kingdoms. It’s believed that people’s personalities coincide with their element kingdoms.”

“Despite their differences the eight kingdoms work together to create unity in order to maintain a fair balance in the world. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with this ideology and break off from the kingdoms and do as they please. These outcasts usually consist of bandits or criminals that had been banished from their kingdom or chose to leave...”

Kikwang sighed obnoxiously, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand. YeEun nudged him in the side for his rude gesture. Kikwang made a face at the younger before sitting back up. YeEun rolled her eyes shaking her head.

“…It is important for us to stay away from the fire Kingdom. Because our element is snow it’s dangerous for us to be near them for too long. Also, our past history has shown that our two kingdoms haven’t gotten along over the past couple of decades…” Our instructor continued.

I stared out the window, my chin resting in the palm of my hand. I watched as the delicate snowflakes fell gently from the sky, studying their intricate shapes. I smiled to myself. Winter was here.

Though we lived in the Snow kingdom it didn’t ever snow until winter. However, it does remain cold throughout the year, but our winters were long than that of other kingdoms.

I enjoyed the snow.

“I guess we’ll end the lesson here for the day, seeing that none of you seem interested.” Our instructor said, slamming his book down, cutting me out of my trans.

YeEun quickly stood up and bowed her head slightly. “I’m sorry Ryeowook.” She apologized sincerely.

“Yeah, sorry.” Kikwang apologized halfheartedly.

I only bowed my head slightly.

Ryeowook sighed, slightly nodding, “I understand that this may be boring to you, but it’s especially important for you all to know this as the Kingdom’s princes and princess.” He stressed. “Yeh.” The three of us said in unison and with that he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

“I don’t understand why it’s so important for us to know all this stuff. We’re going to be sent off anyway. Plus, we already know this stuff.” Kikwang murmured, “Hyungseung should be the one here listening to these lectures since he’s going to be the king.”

I shook my head. He was only complaining because he hated being in lecture. “At this rate we’re being treated like YeEun.” Kikwang said to me pointing to our younger sister. “Yah!” The 16-year-old spat at him.

“Well…we are fertile males.” I reminded.

“What does that even mean?” Kikwang asked in slight frustration. I only shrugged not knowing myself. All I knew was that it meant that we had an extra ability such as being able to make plants grow and bring life to certain things. But there were certain things that we had to do and couldn’t do because of our ability, but we were never told why.

“Anyway! Who wants to go out and enjoy the first snowfall with me?” Kikwang jumped out of his seat.

“I’ll go.” I said, unable to contain my smile, that’s all I’ve been waiting to do this morning. “Really?! You’re allowed to go out today?” Kikwang chirped excitedly. “Of course, I am. I’m always allowed to go out on the first snow fall.” I said standing up.

“Great!” Kikwang cheered. “What about you YeEun?” He turned to the younger who was already standing up collecting her books. “I’ll pass.”

“What? Why not? You have to go.” Kikwang urged, poking out his lips. “Ryeowook is going to give us a pop quiz tomorrow and I’m not trying to fail and suffer the consequences. So, I’m going to study as much as I can today.” She said.

Kikwang frowned at this, “But it’s first snowfall. There’s going to be festivals and tons of things to do.” He said. “There’s a first snowfall every year. I’ll go to the next one. And if I finish in time then I’ll join with that she left the room first.

Hyungseung, Kikwang, YeEun, and I are the princes and princess of the Snow Kingdom ruled by Jang Seokim. We all share the same father but have different mothers. Hyungseung’s and YeEun’s mother is the Queen of the Kingdom. Kikwang and I are the ones who have different moms, so we kept the surnames of our mothers.

Kikwang’s mother was once the highest ranked concubine in the palace and she was the one who raised Kikwang and I, but because of the drama between her and Queen Jang, she left the palace when we were teens and we’ve never seen her since.

My mother is a children’s nurse outside of the palace. She’s originally from a noble family from the Fertility Kingdom but they fell into hard times a few months after I was born.

After Kikwang’s mother disappeared, my mom stepped in and did her best to take care of us. But it was hard for her to do so since she wasn’t allowed inside the palace and I was hardly allowed to go out.

The snow kingdom is known to be the purest of all Kingdoms, and it’s lived up to its name because of its element. And the reigns of the past rulers have been known to be fair and just…at least that’s how it appears to the rest of the world. But in reality, the most recent reigns haven’t been as just as it appears, for instance my father.

It wasn’t until a year after I was born when my father finally decided to stop messing around and marry Mrs. Jang. But because of his actions he was punished by a curse that was put on me since I was born. I was to be extremely sick for the rest of my life. I wasn’t even expected to be alive after my 13th birthday. But that’s why I’m constantly being taken care of and why I’m not supposed to go out.

Despite the tension and drama between our mothers, Hyungseung, Kikwang, YeEun, and I got along very well. But Kikwang and I are the closest to each other. Hyungseung, however, always had our back after Ms. Lee left since his mother was constantly trying to go after us and get us kicked out.

“YeEun is going to be one very smart princess.” Kikwang said as we walked under the pale blue sky, enjoying the beauty of the falling snow. Before I went out, I had to be wrapped in four layers of robes and clothing and wore a face mask. I nodded in agreement. “I feel bad for whoever she marries. She’s going to make them feel dumb.” He said. I shook my head. Just when I thought he was complimenting her.

“We really should study for the pop quiz. You know Ryeowook always gives us one when we don’t pay attention.” I told him. “Yeah, Yeah. We’ll study later. Let’s enjoy the first snow!” Kikwang brushed off. However, we were stopped at the front gate by the guards.

“Your highnesses, where are you going today?” One of the guards asked. Kikwang and I looked at each other in confusion. They usually never asked. “Um, we’re going around the town for the first snow fall festivities.” Kikwang answered.

The two guards seemed hesitant but nodded and stepped out of the way opening the gates for us to let us through.

“That was weird.” I said once we were a few yards away from the palace. Kikwang nodded in agreement. “Let’s go!” he said, grabbing my wrist, “We already missed half of the day. I don’t want to miss anything else.” And with that he ran off into town, dragging me with him.

The entire town was full of paper winter decorations, glitter, and tinsels. Some people used their powers to create friendly decorations made from snow. People stopped to greet us as we passed by. Children ran around excitedly, building snowmen and forts and having snowball fights. I couldn’t help but smile at the kids having fun in the snow. My heart sunk a little, I was never allowed to do such things.

We went deeper into the town where the year’s largest festival was held. There were tons of festivities to take part in. There were games, several stands where people sold food or special trinkets, and even a few performances were held here and there. Kids ran around nonstop, playing as many games as possible to earn prizes. Friends hung around with one another. Families were together, spending quality time.

“There are a lot of couples out here.” I noted out loud. Kikwang made a stink face at this. I chuckled a little. The elder prince hated couples and anything having to do with romance. “Come on!” He said, dragging me to one of the game booths.

“Hello, your highnesses, it’s an honor to have you here.” The man bowed his head. “Please no formalities sir, we just want to relax and enjoy the festival like everyone else.” Kikwang told him. The man nodded in understanding. “This is my favorite game.” Kikwang clapped happily, receiving the bow and arrows that the man handed him. “You have to hit all three targets, but you only get three arrows.” The man explained.

Kikwang nodded. He picked up the bow and carefully positioned the arrow on it. He lifted the bow and arrow. He closed one eye, focusing on his first target. He then released the arrow and it hit dead center. The man nodded, impressed. I couldn’t help but smile. Kikwang was good with arrows. He practiced it all the time, he loved it.

Kikwang made the next two shots, hitting dead center on both. The man handed him his prize which was his own bow and arrow kit. “I heard that our prince was excellent with the bow. But it’s much more impressive seeing it for myself.” He complimented. We thanked the man before moving onto our next game. “I guess I have another kit to add to my collection.” Kikwang smiled to himself.

We went around and played a few more games. I won myself a small white stuffed bear for solving a puzzle in under 90 seconds. Other than that, Kikwang did most of the playing and I did most of the watching. I had to be careful in what I did. We also went to different stands and sampled the food as well. It was all delicious!

“Ah~, I am stuffed.” Kikwang patted his stomach as we walked further into town. We decided to visit my mother since we were here, and who knows when I’ll be able to go out like this again. “I still can’t believe you ate something from every stand.” I chuckled. “What? All of the food was home cooked. Unfortunately for us we don’t get to eat stuff like that. So, I’m going to eat as much as I can.” He stretched.

“You’re going to end up having a stomach ache.” I told him. “It’ll be worth it.” He smiled cheekily, but his smile soon turned into a smirk. “Do you think if I get a really bad stomach ache I’ll be able to miss lecture tomorrow?”

I only shook my head. He crossed his fingers, “II hope so. I’m going to eat more!” He prayed. “You’re going to regret it.” I warned. “No, I’m not. Anything to get out of lecture is worth it.” He said. “Okay~,” I said not convinced.

We walked for another half hour or so before reaching my mother’s’ small, cozy home. “Oh! What a nice surprise.” She smiled, opening the door. She opened the door wider, allowing the two of us inside before closing it behind us. We sat down on one of the small navy blue velveted couches in her humbled living room. She sat down on the floor by a large blanket that she went back to crocheting.

“How are you two enjoying the first snow?” My mother asked, her hands still skillfully working with the yarn. “We’re having a lot of fun. There’s a lot more stuff at the festival this year!” Kikwang said excitedly. First snow was his favorite time of the year. It was everyone’s. “Yeh. There is. I went this morning.” My mother smiled.

My mother was a pretty woman and looked especially young for her age, she was very nice and caring. I studied her fingers carefully as they seemed to dance, maneuvering the yarn and crochet needle with ease, as if it were second nature. I admired her a lot, she was strong, kind, and hardworking, despite all that has happened to her in her life.

Kikwang and my mother chatted away as I stared out the window, admiring the delicate snow that floated down from the sky, and the kids playing around happily, a small smile stuck on my face. Even though I could never do the things they could it made me just as happy seeing how happy they were doing it.

“You guys are both in your twenties now, so it’s about that time.” My mother suddenly said. I dragged my eyes away from the window to her. “Kikwang, you’re 24. So, it’s about time for you to get married now.” She said.

I looked over at Kikwang who made a face. I let out a chuckle. My mom raised an eyebrow, noticing this. “What’s the matter? Have you found anyone yet?” She asked. I couldn’t help but a laugh a little harder this time. “No.” He frowned.

“Awe, I’m sure you’ll find someone soon.” My mother encouraged. I shook my head, “He’s turned down all of the noble girls that approached him and he even turned down all of the suitors that Queen Jang pr