[Eng]The Queen : Eternal Monarch✔

(Noh Ok Nam) Azalea

I suggest you to hear the song at media, Fate from Lee Sun Hee (ost. The King and the Clown)

Noh Ok Nam x Prince Buyong / Lee Jong In

Year 1950's

That day, I saw my father and mother embrace in tears. My baby brother also cried in the basket. I still don't understand what's really going on. If I knew that it was the last day I saw my father, maybe I would cry too.

Father went to follow the ranks of soldiers. A soldier gave him a rifle before he climbed into a truck. Until the season changed several times, my father did not come home, nor did we hear anything from him.

One night, the sound of an explosion like a bolt of lightning woke me up. My brother and I cried loudly in shock and fear. My mother hid us in a dry well at the back of the house. I don't know how long we were in that well. I was about to leave when I didn't hear gunshots anymore. With my brother tied to my back, I climbed the well. My house has been leveled, and so have other houses. I didn't find my mother anywhere. All the bodies lying on the ground were covered in blood, and some were scorched by fire. I hope my mother is not one of the corpses.

But my wish was not fulfilled. I found my mother lying covered in blood, motionless and breathless. I do not know what to do. I'm still a child. I just cry and cry. Moreover, a few days later, my younger brother followed my mother to heaven due to severe diarrhea. I failed to protect him, I was incapable of guarding him.

Now I am alone, alone in a quiet village. I thought I was going to die too, but a man appeared. In his hand was held a flute.

"Come with me, I'll take care of you."

Somehow I trusted that man and followed him. I didn't know that I would never return to the world I was born in.

~~~

Kingdom of Korea, 1950's

The place I just stepped on was very much different from where I lived, which had fallen apart. It looks so peaceful here. No gunfire, no soldiers roaming around, no war. The man who asked me earlier took me to a magnificent palace. He said I would stay there as a palace maid. I was bathed and my wounds were treated. I was also given good food. I cried, thinking of my brother who had died. If this man had arrived a day earlier, perhaps he too would have enjoyed this luxury. But I have to be grateful because I can still breathe until now.

The man who brought me to this place was apparently a king. He has two sons from different wives. The first son named Lee Rim, was born from a concubine, while the second son who was the crown prince was born to the legal queen, named Lee Ho. Although a crown prince, Lee Ho is very kind to everyone, regardless of their status, much different from his cold brother.

Besides the two of them, there was another boy, their cousin, named Lee Jong In. He's the same age as me. Like Lee Ho, Lee Jong In is also kind, but a little nosy. He likes to bother me. But because of that, I became closer to him than the other two princes. Of course, because the prince actually shouldn't be friends with a lowly maid like me.

Lee Jong In is very smart. He always gets first place in school. He really likes science lessons and often teaches me, even though I don't really understand the lessons. He is a good teacher, I think when he grows up he can become a teacher.

"Hey, hey!" Jong In snapped his fingers in front of my face, making me gasp in surprise.

"Were you daydreaming when I explained this formula to you?" He scolding.

I sighed, "So why should I learn this algebraic formula? Will I be able to spice up my food even better?"

"Algebra can be applied in everyday life, for example in determining spending money. We consider spending money per week as X, then ... blablabla ..."