Part l : The ignite's flame
Prologue:
The bells rang for the dawn of a new reign.
Queen Kim Maeve sat upon the obsidian throne—her shoulders draped in golden fur, her crown no longer borrowed from legacy, but forged by fire and earned through blood. The halls of the palace, once echoing with betrayal and unrest, now thrummed with order.
But silence, she had learned, was not peace. It was waiting.
Her first royal decree was swift and absolute: a reformation of the high council, the removal of corrupted nobles, and the redistribution of wealth to rebuild the war-torn villages. Her next acts followed just as boldly—education for commoners, freedom of trade, protection for orphaned children, and a curfew on dark magic practices once whispered beneath the court.
The kingdom whispered her name with reverence—and fear. For though she ruled with grace, none could forget how she'd banished blood, crushed rebellion, and stared down a blade without blinking.
Yet behind the calm, she sensed something shifting.
The Queen Dowager, ever watchful in her widow's tower, had gone silent—too silent. Old alliances stirred in the east. Murmurs of an ancient law lost to time and tucked in shadowed archives. And the Queen's own dreams turned darker, haunted by visions of betrayal wrapped in velvet and poisoned wine.
Kim Maeve looked to her people and wondered—
Would her reign be remembered for its justice?
Or for what she would become to protect it?
The new era had begun.
But every crown, even a rightful one, has a price.
[Main story ]
As the story back to its past ,Once upon a time during Joseon Dynasty in seonhwa under the ruler of king kim cheoljong as the princess Kim Maeve father and there a neighboring kingdoms of Goguryeo as Goryeo Dynasty which were torn by politics and united by tradition,there lived a prince Yeon Minjung a future king and a princess as Kim Maeve were born . The boy, Yeon Minjung of Goguryeo, was known for his fierce temper and unshakable pride. The Princess, of Joseon, was light incarnate—bubbly, curious, and endearingly naive. As children, their meetings were diplomatic in nature, arranged by kings and queens who whispered of future unity. But Minjung found her presence a nuisance, her innocence clashing with his brooding nature But their destinies intertwined before they ever understood the meaning of fate. As children, she adored him—the bright, spirited princess with a heart full of dreams. But the prince, proud and cold, saw her as nothing more than a political pawn.
Kim Maeve, on the other hand, had once harbored a girlish affection for the boy who would one day wear a crown. But her heart learned silence when he rejected her attention without cruelty, yet with indifference and Years passed, and war, time, and loss reshaped the world they knew. From the neighbouring kingdom That young prince became a king—handsome, cruel in his quietness, bound by duty and haunted by ambition. And the Princess?Soon She will became a queen, not by marriage, but by blood and fire. Her father, the elder prince Kim cheoljong and his wife the queen Cheorin, unfortunately die in Tragic incurable illness , and the throne passed to his daughter, as dictated by the ancient laws. Her uncle Kim Taejong—the current king and the prince she once loved as his father younger brother—watched with shadowed eyes as she returned from her mother's house to claim her place at court.
So the Years passed. Wars rose and fell again. The current Kings also face the same consequences as he also started to get the symptoms of same illness that took the previous king and queen life , and kingdoms bent under the weight of fate. When Kim Maeve's uncle fell ill, under the Queen Dowager Yi Shinjeong sudden exigency order she returned to Seonhwa from Qian, disappearing from Seohwa's court and Minjung's sight. There, behind palace walls and mirrors, the sweet girl died and a queen was born.
Her past childhood desire, Minjung, now sat on Goguryeo's throne—crowned not by inheritance but by circumstance, as his father, lay dying from an incurable affliction and single prince from that Goryeo Dynasty. Now The crown was meant for Minjung, and it embittered him. It made him cruel. Possessive. Isolated. A king who trusted no one and loved even less.
But then she returned.
Princess Kim Maeve—now Rightful Queen Kim Maeve—walked into court like a phantom of pheonix from a forgotten dream. Cold, regal, distant. Her eyes, once wide with wonder, now held secrets. She had come to claim her rightful place—not to challenge Minjung, but to replace the queen second son and as her uncle , who had stepped down in exigency of king health.
She would serve the kingdom as its first queen. A symbol of unity between the bloodlines and her tradition.
But unity of neighbouring kingdom was soon to be occurred.
Minjung from Goguryeo kingdom was drawn to her now. Obsessively. She haunted him. Her voice was softer than a whisper yet struck him like a blade. Her presence broke through the walls he had built, but his pride held him prisoner. He lashed out with sharp words, played tyrant to test her steel, and burned with jealousy when she stood too close to others—especially her childhood friend, Lee Saejong, a nobleman's son turned royal minister.
Saejong was loyal and kind, had never stopped loving Kim Maeve. He knew her true self—still hidden beneath the ice. He saw the little girl who once cried for orphaned children and taught herself healing herbs in secret. He saw that same girl again, hidden beneath dark cloaks and false names, tending the wounded in alleys, slipping food to the poor, and delivering justice with a quiet, gentle hand.
The people whispered of the Shadow Queen—no one knew it was her.
But Minjung knew. Or suspected.
And his fury grew—not because she defied royal protocol, but because she belonged more to the people, more to Saejong, more to anyone than to him. The woman he once ignored was now the only one he could not possess. And that tore him apart.
Their love was not a blooming flower. It was a vine of thorns—tightening, choking, drawing blood. And yet, neither could sever it.
Through wars, betrayals, and court intrigues, Kim Maeve fought to rule justly, even as her heart warred with itself. Duty battled desire. Freedom clashed with fate. And Minjung watched her, obsessed with what he had lost before he ever knew it was his.
In this twisted game of power and passion, love is not pure. It is dark, tangled in lies and bound by fate. As the moon rose over the silent halls of the castle, one question remained unanswered still....