THE KING’S FORBIDDEN QUEEN

The palace bells rang thirteen times before midnight.

Han Seo-rin stood beneath the ancient stone archway, staring at the golden gates of the royal palace.

She had dreamed of this place for twelve years.

Not because she wanted to become a noblewoman again.

Not because she missed the silk dresses, servants, or elegant banquets she had once known.

She had returned for one reason.

Revenge.

Her fingers tightened around the small jade pendant hanging beneath her collar.

It was the only thing her father had left behind.

A guard approached the gate and held out his hand.

“Name.”

Seo-rin lowered her hood.

“Han Seo-rin.”

The guard froze.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then he looked at the document in his hand again.

“Han Seo-rin?”

“Yes.”

His expression changed.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Seo-rin gave him a faint smile.

“I know.”

The guard glanced toward the palace behind him.

Everyone in the kingdom knew the name Han.

Twelve years ago, Han Seong-ho had been one of the kingdom’s most respected ministers.

Then, in a single night, everything had changed.

He had been accused of selling military secrets to an enemy kingdom.

The evidence had been presented before the king.

His property was confiscated.

His title was stripped.

And before sunset, Han Seong-ho was executed.

His wife died shortly afterward.

His servants disappeared.

His relatives abandoned the family name.

And his twelve-year-old daughter vanished.

Everyone believed she was dead.

But she had survived.

And now she was standing at the palace gates.

The guard swallowed.

“You should leave before someone recognizes you.”

Seo-rin’s eyes hardened.

“That is precisely why I came.”

Before the guard could answer, the palace gates opened.

A royal carriage emerged.

Every guard immediately bowed.

Seo-rin stepped aside.

The carriage moved slowly through the gates, surrounded by mounted soldiers.

She lowered her head.

But just before the carriage passed her, the curtain shifted.

Seo-rin looked up.

For the briefest moment, she saw a man’s face.

Cold eyes.

Sharp features.

An expression that revealed nothing.

Their eyes met.

Seo-rin’s breath caught.

She knew that face.

Crown Prince Lee Jae-hyun.

The future king of the kingdom.

The son of the man who had condemned her father.

Jae-hyun’s gaze remained on her for one heartbeat.

Then the curtain fell.

The carriage continued into the night.

Seo-rin watched it disappear.

“So,” she whispered.

“The prince is still alive.”

She touched the jade pendant beneath her clothes.

“And so am I.”

⸻

By sunrise, Seo-rin had entered the palace.

She had been summoned as one of the new attendants assigned to the women’s quarters.

It was the last position she had expected.

She had imagined entering the palace with a carefully prepared plan.

Instead, she had been given a plain uniform, a tiny room, and enough work to exhaust her before noon.

She didn’t complain.

Being invisible was useful.

For three days, she watched.

She learned which servants belonged to which noble family.

Which ministers visited the palace after dark.

Which corridors were guarded.

Which doors were never opened.

And most importantly, which people still remembered her family.

On the fourth night, Seo-rin heard two servants whispering near the eastern courtyard.

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“The Crown Prince is returning tomorrow.”

“He has been away for months.”

“They say His Highness is bringing military reports from the northern border.”

Seo-rin stopped walking.

The second servant lowered her voice.

“And they say the Queen Dowager wants him married immediately.”

“Married?”

“Yes. Before the end of the month.”

Seo-rin continued walking.

Her expression remained calm.

But inside, her thoughts raced.

A royal marriage would bring the Crown Prince even closer to the center of palace politics.

And if Jae-hyun knew anything about her father’s case…

She needed to find out.

That night, she entered the palace archives.

The archive building was rarely visited after midnight.

Seo-rin had learned that from a senior servant who complained constantly about how frightening the place was.

She pushed open the wooden door.

Dust filled the air.

Rows of old documents stretched into darkness.

Seo-rin lit a small lamp.

She had spent years searching for records concerning her father’s trial.

Every copy outside the palace had been destroyed.

But royal archives were different.

The palace kept everything.

Birth records.

Marriage contracts.

Military reports.

Death sentences.

Royal orders.

If the truth existed anywhere, it was here.

Seo-rin searched for nearly an hour.

Then she found it.

HAN SEONG-HO — TREASON CASE.

Her heart pounded.

She reached for the file.

But before her fingers touched it—

A voice came from behind her.

“What are you doing?”

Seo-rin froze.

The lamp nearly slipped from her hand.

She turned slowly.

A man stood in the doorway.

He wore a dark royal robe.

A sword hung at his waist.

His face was the same one she had seen through the carriage curtain.

Lee Jae-hyun.

The Crown Prince.

Seo-rin immediately lowered herself into a bow.

“Your Highness.”

Jae-hyun’s eyes moved toward the document in her hand.

“You didn’t answer me.”

“I was searching for a record.”

“Which record?”

Seo-rin remained silent.

Jae-hyun walked toward her.

One step.

Then another.

The room suddenly felt much smaller.

He stopped directly in front of her.

“Look at me.”

Seo-rin slowly raised her eyes.

Their gazes met.

His expression was unreadable.

“Your name?”

“Han Seo-rin.”

Something changed in his eyes.

Only for a moment.

But she saw it.

Recognition.

He knew the name.

Jae-hyun reached for the document.

Seo-rin instinctively pulled it against her chest.

The prince stared at her hand.

“You know what that file contains?”

“Yes.”

“And you still opened it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Seo-rin’s heart pounded.

She could not tell him the truth.

Not yet.

So she said the only thing she could.

“I wanted to know whether the dead deserve the truth.”

Jae-hyun stared at her.

For the first time, his cold expression cracked.

“Interesting.”

He took the file from her hand.

Seo-rin watched helplessly as he opened it.

His eyes moved across the pages.

Then he stopped.

His fingers tightened around the document.

“What do you know about Han Seong-ho?”

Seo-rin said nothing.

Jae-hyun closed the file.

“Answer me.”

“My lord, I only know what the kingdom knows.”

“That’s a lie.”

Seo-rin’s eyes widened.

The prince stepped closer.

“You aren’t here to work.”

“No.”

“You aren’t here by accident.”

She swallowed.

“No.”

“Then why did you come?”

Seo-rin stared directly into his eyes.

“To find out who killed my family.”

Silence filled the archive.

Jae-hyun’s face went completely still.

Then—

He said something that made Seo-rin’s blood turn cold.

“Your family wasn’t killed by the person you think.”

Seo-rin stared at him.

“What?”

Jae-hyun looked toward the locked archive door.

“We have very little time.”

“Time for what?”

He placed the file on the table.

Then he opened it to the final page.

Seo-rin stepped forward.

Her father’s official death sentence was there.

But beneath the royal seal was another handwritten line.

A line she had never seen before.

Her father’s final statement.

I was not the traitor.

Seo-rin’s breath stopped.

Below it was another sentence.

The Crown knows the truth.

Her eyes lifted slowly toward Jae-hyun.

“You knew?”

The prince didn’t answer.

Instead, he pulled a small folded letter from inside his robe.

He placed it beside the file.

“This was found in your father’s room the night he was arrested.”

Seo-rin stared at the letter.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Jae-hyun’s voice became quieter.

“Because I need to know whether you can be trusted.”

Seo-rin reached for it.

But before she could open it—

A sword struck the archive door.

Bang!

Seo-rin jumped.

Jae-hyun immediately drew his sword.

Another strike shattered the wooden door.

Three masked men rushed into the room.

The first attacked Jae-hyun.

Steel clashed against steel.

Seo-rin stumbled backward.

One of the masked men turned toward her.

His eyes locked onto the letter.

“Kill the girl!”

Seo-rin froze.

The assassin charged.

She ran.

He followed.

She reached the wall.

There was nowhere left to go.

The assassin raised his sword.

Suddenly, Jae-hyun appeared between them.

His blade stopped the attack.

The assassin staggered backward.

Jae-hyun looked at Seo-rin.

For the first time, there was unmistakable urgency in his eyes.

“Run!”

“But the letter—”

“Forget the letter!”

The assassin attacked again.

Jae-hyun blocked him.

Seo-rin looked down.

The letter had fallen to the floor.

She grabbed it.

Then she ran through the opposite door.

She didn’t stop until she reached an empty corridor.

Her hands were shaking.

She opened the letter.

There were only three lines.

Her father’s handwriting.

Seo-rin,

If you are reading this, then I failed to protect you.

She covered her mouth.

Tears filled her eyes.

Then she read the final line.

Do not trust the Crown Prince.

Seo-rin’s heart shattered.

Behind her, footsteps approached.

Slow.

Calm.

Familiar.

She turned.

Jae-hyun stood at the end of the corridor.

His sword was stained with blood.

His eyes fell upon the letter in her hand.

He knew exactly what she had read.

Seo-rin stared at him.

“You knew my father.”

Jae-hyun said nothing.

“You knew he was innocent.”

Still nothing.

Her voice trembled.

“Then why did you let him die?”

The prince slowly lowered his sword.

And when he finally spoke, his answer terrified her more than the assassins had.

“Because twelve years ago…”

He paused.

“…I was the one who ordered him to run.”

Seo-rin stared at him in disbelief.

“What?”

Jae-hyun looked toward the dark palace corridor behind her.

Then he whispered:

“And tonight, the people who killed your father have come back for you.”

End of Episode 1.