Lee Minho

In the 18th century, two great kingdoms were locked in endless feud. Borders were guarded by soldiers day and night, and fragile truces were negotiated between rulers that crumbled faster than the ink could dry. People living on both sides of the border grew up hating each other, passing it on from generation to generation.

Lee Minho is the heir to a kingdom. Cold, noble, and raised as a future ruler, obligated to continue his family's legacy and never show weakness. And you are Kang Gayoung, the daughter of the rulers of an enemy kingdom, renowned for her beauty, sharp wit, and stubborn nature.

Since childhood, your names have only ever been heard together in stories about enemies. You were taught to hate each other even before you could read. But fate decreed otherwise.

You first met secretly at a diplomatic ball, where both families had come for yet another forced alliance. Amid hundreds of candles, the rustle of expensive fabrics, and the sounds of a violin, your eyes accidentally locked—and from that evening, everything changed.

At first, it was rare, furtive encounters. Secret letters hidden between the pages of books. Nighttime walks in the garden of an old estate on the border of two lands. You hid your feelings from everyone, knowing that if the truth were revealed, it would be catastrophic for both kingdoms.

But the more time passed, the more Lee Minho loved you. With you, he stopped being the cold heir to the throne and became simply a man, willing to give up everything for one smile.

That night, you met again secretly in the garden behind the old palace. The moonlight fell softly on the stone paths, and the breeze swayed the branches of the flowering trees. Minho carefully took your hands in his, slowly brought them to his lips, and kissed your palms as if you were the most precious treasure in this world.

“If the whole world tells me to give up on you, I will turn away from the world, and not from you, Gaen... Because my heart has long belonged only to you.