Chapter 1. 

lips red as rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow, and heart pure as gold

“Hanbyul! Did you sweep the front of the store?” Her mother called.

“Not yet! Going now,” Hanbyul called back, standing on her tip toes to reach the broom in the supply closet.

It was another quiet day in their sleepy village called Dream. Snow gently fell from the white clouds above, though thankfully the wind had died down, allowing Hanbyul to enjoy the beauty the weather brought. With an extra pep in her skips, she opened the door to their bakery to begin her daily morning chores.

Ever since her step brother, Johnny, had left for the Neo Kingdom after being accepted as a royal knight to the prince, she had taken it upon herself to help out around the store in his stead.

“Remember to take care of mom. I filled in dad’s shoes as much as I could but now that I’m leaving, you’ll need to help out a bit more,” Johnny said gently as he pat her hair, her tears rolling down her cheeks as she clung to his pant leg.

Hanbyul had only been 8 years old at the time when her stepbrother Johnny had left their village at the age of 16. Since then, 2 years had passed and she was finally entering the double digit ages at a ripe age of 10.

“Oh, Hanbyul! Lovely to see you this morning. I can’t wait to stop by and pick up some pastries,” a beautiful woman with long sleek hair and a petite frame said with a smile and wave.

Hanbyul beamed and waved back. “Auntie Boa! We have our special raspberry chocolate operas in stock today. I’ll save you one!”

As she continued through her chores, several people stopped by to chat and say hello. Their village was small and quaint which meant everyone was like family and they all simply adored Hanbyul.

Her mother always told Hanbyul she knew she was special from the moment she laid eyes on her. Found in the crevice of a nearby forest, Hanbyul had immediately crawled her way into her adoptive parents’ hearts with lips red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin whtie as snow. Undoubtedly, she was a beautiful baby who grew up with a heart of gold.

Hanbyul never wondered who her real parents were or why she had been abandoned. She supposed everyone had their circumstances and she could only call herself lucky and fortunate to have fallen in the hands of parents who loved her unconditionally, adopted or not. And the fact that Johnny had accepted her so easily, treating her like he would a real sister never failed to make her truly feel like part of the family.

Her father had passed a year after Johnny had left for the Neo Kingdom, falling ill with old age and unable to recover. Ever since then, Hanbyul had willfully determined that she would do everything in her power to help her mother with the bakery.

As she swept the remainder of the snow from the front of the store, she saw a line of customers already forming and wondered what the big occasion was.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, sweetheart,” her mother answered when she voiced her question after putting away her broom. “Everyone wants to get something sweet for their loved ones.”

She was only 10 and Hanbyul didn’t understand the concept of love but nodded anyways. She tied her apron around her waist and moved towards the door, flipping the sign from ‘Closed’ to ‘Open’.

The bells on the door jingled as someone made their way inside and Hanbyul smiled warmly at them.

“Welcome to the Seo Family Bakery!”

“We should set up camp soon before the snow gets any worse,” Johnny called out from the rear of the guard.

Jaehyun looked back and nodded in agreement. He stopped his horse and the others followed suit, before he dismounted and turned to face his guard.

He had just turned 16 years old and was finally allowed to go on patrolling duty with the rest of his guard. Doing a head count to ensure there were no stragglers, he swept his eyes from left to right: Doyoung, Lucas, Yuta, Johnny and Haechan.

Everyone was present and accounted for.

With their serious business aside, Jaehyun’s face broke out into a wide smile as he stretched his arms above his head. “Aw man, I am tired. I can’t believe you guys do this every month!”

“It was about time you got your lazy out to do some real work,” Doyoung sniped in jest.

“I wasn’t of age!” Jaehyun shot back as the two began to bicker, while the other guards merely sighed.

“Alright, break it up,” Johnny, the eldest of the group at the age of 18, stepped in between the two boys.

Jaehyun crossed his arms with a huff. “He started it.”

With a firm flick to the forehead, Johnny pulled back with a satisfied smile as Jaehyun yelped in surprise. “I don’t care who started it. It’s cold and we should start looking for shelter before we have to report back to the King and Queen that his Highness was being petulant and died in a frozen ice block.”

A bark of laughter escaped Lucas at that and soon Haechan followed in his laughter. “On his birthday no less!”

“You’re gonna make the kid cry,” Yuta chimed in though the playful undertone of his voice was not lost on them.

“I'm not a kid! I should have your heads off for this insubordination,” Jaehyun grumbled under his breath.

The cheerful laugher spread across the guards at that and even Jaehyun couldn’t hold his poker face for long.

In the Neo Kingdom, the land was ruled by the ancient magical laws that believed true love brought prosperity and blessings to the people. The past royals have married from all different social statuses without prejudice and the Kingdom has prospered under their rulings.

Because of these beliefs, social status differences and the fact that he was royalty had never truly mattered to Jaehyun. He was always glad that his squadron treated him just like they would anyone else, though he was absolutely positive one of these days there would be a mutiny, most likely led by