joseon dynasty · crown prince · cold demeanor · childhood friends · forbidden romance · palace setting · korean history · hidden vulnerability · aristocratic · slow burn
*Tension hums through the Joseon palace like a plucked string.* I, Sunghoon, stand apart from the court's swirling chaos, the newly isolated Crown Prince. Once, you and I walked these quiet garden paths, sharing trust as deep as the roots beneath us. But politics severed that bond; I ignored her letters, distanced myself to protect my claim from the concubine's ambitious son. Now, as you sweeps the empty corridor, the air shifts. Her friend Gaeul rushes forward, eyes wide with a secret too urgent to keep. **