It was almost  sunset when a coach surrounded by riders in arms entered the City. Most riders were hoisting flags with a red phoenix on a golden background and thanks to that, people who saw them could tell they didn't come from this country at all, since the heraldry of the country was a galloping, white horse on a dark green background.

The carriage and its suite crossed the City and headed for the higher levels, where stood an old-looking castle, that was the property of the royal family. They stopped right in front of the big doors, where a man with several servants came from to receive them properly.

The man was tall and held himself upright, he had grey hair and blue eyes that could freeze the death itself and he was wearing a crown on his head, so it was pretty obvious that he was the King himself.

The door of the coach was opened by one of the servants, who bowed respectfully when a mid-aged man walked out.

The King furrowed his brows but said nothing and both greeted each other; then the King took the floor:

"I was waiting for you. Excuse me if it sounds impolite but... I don't think you are the Prince Minho, are you ?"

"You're right, Your Majesty, I'm not." The man nodded with a smile. "I'm just the steward of the King Minhyuk and I'm accompanying his son."

"Talking about him, where is he ?" the King asked when he saw Minho wasn't in the coach as he had thought.

"I'm here, Your Majesty !"

Both men turned and saw a young rider got down his mount to politely bow to the King.

"King Sulmyong, it's an honour to finally meet you." he said.

The older man smiled and answered:

"Same goes for me."

Then he looked at the Prince with shining eyes. He had heard a lot about Minho but he had never met him before, so he was quite relieved he had unconsciously chose such a handsome boy for his daughter. Sulli would probably be relieved too that he was good-looking, since she had to marry him in two months...

Really, Minho was perfect. He was young, he had a flawless face, big brown eyes, a cute smile and short, soft-looking hair. He was also tall and seeing his carriage, the King could tell the Prince was strong and muscular. He would be the perfect husband for his beloved daughter.

In top of that, his father's country was an extensive and rich one, so Sulli was going to be the Queen of a great land. Everything would be fine.

"Why weren't you travelling in the coach ?" the King asked, curious.

It was rare to see such a young nobleman, the heir of the throne, riding a horse with soldiers instead of sitting comfortably in a coach for a long journey.

"I like being with my troops." Minho immediately answered. "It's a good way to learn about strategy, because they all are really skilled. I'm also able to learn more about them and they learn about me too, that's why we can trust each other. It even creates friendship and friendship can save your life during a fight with the enemy."

"I think I like you, boy." the King said, chuckling.

God, could this boy be even more perfect ? He wasn't proud as other noblemen he knew and he was clear-sighted. Indeed, developing trust between the heir and the soldiers was a really good thing: if the troops didn't trust their King, how could he count on them to protect him and his country ?

"You must be tired." the King said. "Two of my maids will lead you and your steward to your room so you can change your clothes, then you both will have dinner with us. The other servants will lead your troops to their own rooms and take care of the horses."

Minho nodded and smiled to a young boy while he gave the reins of his mount to him.

"Take good care of it." he said.

"I will, Your Highness." he answered, bowing several times.

Minho chuckled. Your Highness ? He was just the heir, why was everybody calling him like that ?

He followed the maids inside the castle and he found out that it was... Amazing.

Shining armours stood in the corridors, paintings were everywhere on the walls, some of old kings and beautiful ladies, others of wonderful sceneries, but all with bright colours. There were big windows so it was really luminous and even if it was old, the castle felt... alive.

Soon, Minho was left alone in his room, that wasn't less nice than the rest of the place: a king-sized bed, a window where he could overlook the gardens from, a small bathroom with a strange system that gave warm water when you turned it -and this thing was fantastic. He didn't know how it worked but he would tell his father's engineers about that, so maybe they would have warm water in their castle too !

There was also a big wooden wardrobe where he found clothes prepared for him. He took off his clothes that were dirty because of the journey and he didn't really pay attention when he took one of the outfits out of the wardrobe. He quickly got dressed with a blue tunic that was heightened by silvery threads. In other words, he looked even more handsome than before.

When he walked out of his room, he saw the maid who had brought him there and she bowed before leading him to the dining-room, where his steward was already waiting.

The dining-room was astonishing. There was a big oaken table set for five in the middle of it, candle-sticks everywhere, wonderful tapestries on the wall and shining silver-plate.

He sat and talked with his steward, Mister Wong, for a little while, until the doors were opened by a servant to make way for the royal family.

They immediately stood up and bowed to show their respect and Minho peeked at the girl following the King. He had never seen Sulli before but he knew what she looked like, since his father had described her to him. Like he had said, she was pretty, shorter than him and visibly shy. Well, that was quite normal when you had to meet an unknown guy you were going to get married with.

He was thankful that his steward, the King and the Queen were there with them, to avoid an awkward situation... Even if they would never have left her all alone with him: the usage prescribed to never left a girl alone with a man if he wasn't someone from her family or her husband to avoid any scandalous situation and since they weren't married yet, someone had to stay with them. Well, Minho was a gentleman and he would never dare to do something that was unbecoming, but they couldn't know that since they didn't know him at all.

The Queen was a pretty lady and Sulli and her looked a lot alike, even if the girl had his father's little nose. Minho suddenly noticed someone behind Sulli and he furrowed his brows.

It was also a girl, but he could only tell so because she was wearing a dress. A mask was hiding her face; the right part was golden and the left part was a dark pink, curls were drawn on the cheeks, around the eyes and on the lips, and red feathers were surrounding the mask.

"Prince Minho." the King said. "Let me introduce you to my wife, Queen Soojung."

The young heir bowed again and the lady did too, then the King added with pride:

"And this is my daughter, Sulli."

Eager to make a good impression, Minho approached his fiancée and slowly bowed before lightly kissing her hand.

"It's an honour, My Lady." he said.

He saw how her cheeks reddened and found it cute. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get on well with her before their wedding... Minho had always known he wouldn't get married to someone he loved and he knew Sulli had probably known it too. If they could at least be friendly with each other, that would be easier for them both.

This wedding must be terrific for her: she didn't know him but she would have to live with him and give him a lineage... Oh God, he didn't want to think about their wedding night. That would be so awkward for them !

"Here is my other daughter, Taemin." the King said, turning to the girl with the mask.

Both of them bowed and Minho smiled at her, but he didn't know if she did too because of that mask. Why was she wearing it ?

However, he could see her eyes and what he saw in them left him speechless. He had never seen such beautiful and sad eyes before.

"We will have dinner now." her father said. "Taemin, you can come back to your room."

The girl slowly nodded and her heels but Minho furrowed his brows. Why couldn't she stay with them ? Was it because the Queen and the King didn't want her to interfere in the business between her sister and her future husband ?

"She can stay with us." he said, and the girl stopped walking and hesitated to come back, turning her head to the Prince to lock eyes with him.

Minho could clearly see the glimmer of hope his words had brought into them, as if she was really eager to stay but didn't dare to say so. He noticed that Sulli and her mother were looking down, as if they didn't want to see what was going to happen.

"You don't mind ?" Taemin asked.

Minho was quite surprised to hear that her voice wasn't really girly but maybe the sound was just weird because of the mask she was wearing. He was so curious to know what she looked like, what was hidden behind this beautiful mask !

"She can't." the King said severely before Minho could answer. "I don't want her to stay with us. Go back to your room and don't trouble us, Taemin."

The Prince opened his mouth in shock. How could the King be so rude with his daughter ?! He was even kinder to him, who was a perfect stranger !

He saw how the hope died in Taemin's eyes and he chose to oppose to the man.

"Your Majesty." he said. "I would like her to stay. I want to know my fiancée's family and Taemin belongs to it. Please, let her have dinner with us."

Mister Wong sent him a warning glare and Minho understood it wasn't really recommended to go against the King's will but the Prince didn't care. All he could think about was the sadness in the girl's eyes.

Again, Taemin hesitated, looking at her father and then at Minho.

"No." the King answered, shaking his head. "Minho, maybe it's the one and only thing I will ever deny you but I'll be final."

The boy looked at Taemin with guilt but the girl shrugged as if it was nothing, although she was obviously hurt by her father's decision. She bowed slowly to him before heading for the doors and the servants closed them behind her.

She was gone.

Minho felt like something was up between Taemin and her family but he didn't know what. He had a lot of questions but seeing what had just happened, he knew he wouldn't get any answer from the King nor the Queen. Maybe he could ask Sulli when her parents weren't there ?

Really, what had Taemin done to be treated like that ? As if she wasn't worthy of sitting with them ? Why was she wearing a mask ? Maybe it was an extravagance from her but he was almost sure it wasn't.

"Please, Minho, forget about Taemin and enjoy the dinner, will you ?" the King said, motioning for him to sit.

Forget ? How could he forget when Taemin's sad eyes were haunting him ? How ?

Guys, I love you. You were so many to subscribe already ! I hope that you liked the first chapter and that I didn't disappoint you ^^

Thanks again to you all <3