the king and his bride | k.th

zero

prologue

I was 10 years old when my mom used to take me to the city for walks or to go shopping with her every Sunday. At that time of my life I was always curious about everything, more than glad to explore every corner of the city. Since me and my family lived on the country side, few miles away from the main city Silla, it was always something new for me, every time we visited the city.

And just like every other week, me and my mom were walking down the main street in the town square of Silla, when it all started.

I was gripping my mom's hand tightly, looking around excitedly with a huge grin on my face.

Maybe it was because of the hustle of the city which always excited me since I was used to living in a quiet village. Or maybe because of the ice cream my mom promised me that very morning. Either way, I was content.

"Hello there little princess, here, this is for you." I glanced up at the man smiling down at me. He was wearing a white uniform and had a weapon secured to the side of his waist. I took the letter from him, beaming a shy 'thank you' before catching up to my mom, who probably didn't notice our little exchange of words.

I looked down at the letter and furrowed my eyebrows, trying to read out the bold letters printed on the shiny paper.

"C-oro-nation...coronation?" I raised one of my eyebrows looking at the paper baffled. What does that mean?

I tugged on my mom's dress, trying to get her attention.

"What is it honey?" she beamed down at me, raising her eyebrows once she noticed the paper in my hands.

"What does coronation mean, mom?" she took the letter away from me before quickly skimming her eyes through it.

"Ah, you see, our king is getting old and he needs to rest. That's why his son will take on the responsibility of being a king. Coronation is a ceremony where he becomes a new king and is given his dad's crown. This is an invitation to that ceremony." she says with a tender smile as she hands me the letter back. I looked at it again with pouted lips.

"Well, are we going?" I asked.

"I don't think so honey." my pout deepened even more.

"But why? The guy gave me an invitation which means I'm invited. It would be rude if I didn't come, right?" my mom chuckled stroking my hair.

"Baby, the whole kingdom is invited, they wouldn't notice if you didn't come. And besides, it's happening here in Silla at night, you should be asleep by the time the ceremony starts."

Now that I think back to that moment, not only the fact that I will see the new king excited me. The thrill of being wide awake at such late hour in the main city was just as equally thrilling to my 10 years old self.