Lucretia was a small country near the south of Korea that adheres the modern monarch system. The country was not heavily populated, but the cities were busy enough to hold the country’s economy. Lucretia was led by a gallant and wise king, His Majesty King Jung Yunho, who had ruled the country for more than twenty years.

For many years, the king has fallen sick. This much was known to the public. But no commoners knew the extent of how sick the king was. It was said that the crown prince, Prince Jaehyun, was being prepared for when the day comes that he was going to take the throne. And that was when the people started assuming the king’s well-being.

But still, the king lived for many years and made appearances to the public, showing his citizens that the king was doing well.

It was no secret, that once the king was deceased, the crown prince was going to ascend. Yet, there were contradictions following the protocol. People started stating their opinions on whether or not the prince was going to rule the country—whether or not he was going to be a good king to them.

Prince Jaehyun was known to be more of a modern-day prince. He didn’t follow the strict rules—he changed them to fit his more free life-style. He went to a public university. He went out with girls. He did some parties. He was trying to live a normal guy life. But this was deemed reckless by the public. Because from this life the prince was living, there were hundreds of gossips and scandals—both true and untrue—that entailed.

And some people were concerned when they heard that the crown prince was going to ascend soon.

These thoughts were actually inside Park Ahri’s mind when she heard her father bearing the news to her.

“King Yunho is bedridden for a month now, that’s what the palace told me,” Park Jungsoo, the Governor of Synsithia, where the capital city of Lucretia resided, muttered.

The Governor was also the King’s long life friend and colleague. So, Ahri was aware of how much the news was heart breaking for her father. Ahri also knew that her father was aware of the King’s condition because the Queen had kept informing her parents personally. That was how close her parents with the King and Queen was.

But this time, her father said that ‘the palace’ told him. Usually, he would mention the Queen’s name directly. And the fact that he mentioned the palace meant that he was informed formally through some message from the palace.

Her father cleared his throat and continued, “Now that King Yunho is no longer in an appropriate condition to lead this country, Lucretia needs a new candidate for a king. And so the crown prince will step up and fulfil the duty.”

Ahri stopped for a moment. Prince Jaehyun, she thought. She was well acquainted with the prince, but she never got passed a very long conversation to know him that well. But the words flying around about how irresponsible the prince was didn’t fail to re