Princess Hours (official story)

In the 14th year of Inhwa dynasty when the Hyun emperor’s illness gets worse than ever, the empress commands the Crown Prince, still in high school, to marry the bride who has been arranged for him beforehand. However Prince Shin, proposes to his secret lover, Hyo-rin Min, an ambitious ballet student who takes his proposal as a joke and turns him down saying that her success as a ballerina is of her primary concern. Meanwhile, the family of Chae-kyeong, an ordinary high school student, is in deep financial trouble for standing security for the wrong person, and is overwhelmed with joy when they receive the marriage proposal from the Royal Family. The last words of their dying grandfather wasn’t a bluff after all! Prince Shin agrees to marry the all-too-ordinary prearranged bride provided the Chang-Duk Palace be granted independence and the IkWiSa be reduced. However, Chae-kyeong, who had happened to witness Prince Shin’s proposal to Hyo-rin, is outraged by the arranged marriage, and claims it is nullified. Right at that moment, the creditors march in to Chae-kyeong’s house and put red cards on all of the furniture.

Chae-kyeong, therefore, has no choice but to marry the prince due to her family’s financial crisis. But things aren’t easy, right from the first encounter with the Royal Family. Moreover, seeing that the prince has no affection for her whatsoever, showing careless cynical behavior throughout the wedding process, Chae-kyeong comes to regret accepting the proposal. But it’s too late; the Royal Marriage is the top news in the press, and Chae-kyeong’s house is crowded with reporters.

Yool, the son of Prince Hyo-yul who died in an unfortunate car crash 14 years ago, hurries back to Korea under the urgent order of his mother – princess Hye-jung, eager to the win back her husband’s throne. In the airport, he runs into Hyo-rin, who has just returned from her contest but they don’t recognize each other.

Yool has been studying fine art in England, and transfers to a high school for arts, where Shin and Chae-kyeong are also students. Unlike Shin, who tries to be friends with Yool, his mother, the Empress, feels a shade of anxiety upon Yool’s reappearance…

At last, Chae-kyeong has made up her mind to join the Royal Family.

Lessons for becoming a proper Crown Princess start as she enters the palace. She has to endure hard training, which includes learning proper ways to talk, memorizing the whole wedding process, etc., with the Prince showing no interest nor offering any help to her. Life in the palace is not an easy task from day one.

A huge ceremony is held to welcome the new Crown Princess, and with the entire country as witness, Shin and Chae- kyeong are wed in the traditional 21st century Royal procedure. Meanwhile, Hyo-rin, who had previously rejected Shin’s proposal, stands at a ballet stage in Thailand…

On the first day after the wedding, Shin and the rest of the adults in the Royal Family go out to fight a little war to ensure they receive what was promised to them for granting the marriage. While Shin is being very serious, Chae-kyeong, on the other hand is busy enjoying the privileges of being the Crown Princess and is slowly adapting to life as a Royal. Chae-kyeong and Shin go to school but Chae-kyeong gets treated like an outcast; the only person that actually talks to her is Yool. Shin runs into Hyo-rin, who has came back from her contest…

Chae-kyeong, after making her morning calls to the elders of the royal family, is surprised to see Yool inside the palace. Yool, a transfer student in her class, turns out to be prince Ui-seong. At first Chae-kyeong has a hard time adjusting to life in the palace with its strict education and rules, but thanks to the warmth of the emperor and other elders at the palace she starts to find the royal culture attractive.

Meanwhile, Hwa-yeong prepares to open a yoga center while plotting with Choi against the other royal family members, while Yool gets closer to Chae-kyeong and her,and Hyo-rin...