Prologue

[Royal Times / Breaking News]

Exclusive! Prince Damien caught in a secret rendezvous with a Korean woman in Bali.

…Amid dating rumors, the royal family remains ‘silent’ while the internet ‘buzzes’

Recently, Crown Prince of Bernhardt was spotted dating a mysterious woman in Bali, becoming a hot topic.

Damien Alexander Hastings (29) is first in line to the throne of Bernhardt, a European constitutional monarchy. He is a figure who had withdrawn from official appearances for a while due to a recent death within the royal family.

Currently, photos of the Crown Prince embracing the woman on the terrace of a luxury villa are spreading rapidly online.

The indulgent atmosphere of Bali, the securely guarded private villa.

What happened inside is left to the imagination.

Prince Damien’s deviation? Who is the woman?

Unprecedented attention is focused on the prince’s scandal, as he has never once had a public relationship.

Who exactly is this woman?

According to our investigation, she is Yuba Da (27) from South Korea. After graduating from a university in the U.S., she worked at an investment bank in Seoul until early this year.

An acquaintance of hers stated, “She has striking beauty and an outgoing personality. I heard she’s been experiencing financial difficulties recently.”

An engagement ring on her finger?

Royal family remains silent… rumors amplify.

To date, the royal family has not released any official statement.

Above all, due to the ring worn on Yuba Da left ring finger in the photo, controversy is arising over whether she is the official fiance

A jewelry appraisal expert explained, “The ring features a 14-carat heart-shaped sapphire, and the band is engraved with the wild rose, the symbol of the Hastings family. This is a royal heirloom created in 1792, not a ring that would be given to a mere casual fling.”

Amidst the rumors, a high-ranking official expressed their stance, saying, “If the rumors about a woman of unclear background are true, it would be very regrettable.”

The suspicions towards H.R.H (His Royal Highness) only grow!

This newspaper earnestly hopes to hear the Crown Prince’s side of the story soon.

Written by Sarah Miller/Royal Correspondent.

The Korean translation service for this article is provided by ‘The Fact Focus’.

View more comments▼

• Wow… so is a Korean woman becoming a European Crown Princess? It’s so unreal I can’t believe it lol This is shocking, like a live-action web novel.

• Look at the tone of the article lol. Don’t they get sued for this?

• The prince in that country actually looks like a real prince…

  • 22 With a face like that, paying taxes wouldn’t feel so bad. That face is welfare.

  • 333 lol Maybe that’s why the royal family survives in the 21st centuryㅋㅋ

• That woman’s appearance… is she really a regular person? I thought those paparazzi shots were a pictorial;

• This is just Bali travel viral marketing

At the time the news broke.

Caroline was spending an ordinary evening in her small studio apartment in Sindaebang-dong.

She was sitting at her desk, revising her resume for re-employment on her laptop, but for some reason, she couldn’t focus today.

Taking off her computer glasses, she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

‘Why am I acting like this? This isn’t like me.’

It had already been a month since she returned from her trip to Bali.

Yet, whenever she closed her eyes, the face of the man she met there still vividly came to mind.

Eyes that shone a particularly deep blue under the shade of the palm trees.
The faint scent of sunscreen that lingered on the back of his neck.
And the first kiss by the swimming pool in the rain.

To be honest, apart from knowing his name was ‘River Grant,’ she didn’t know much about his personal background.

He had hidden his occupation and contact information as if he had a cleanliness fetish.

At first, she thought that was acceptable.

To him, she must have been just a fleeting, casual encounter in a travel destination—someone who might someday be referred to at a bar as ‘the woman I spent a night with in Bali’ rather than by her name.

Just a summer fling.

But contrary to that resolve, their relationship deepened rapidly.

The two spent about a month together in the luxury villa, intertwining like animals.

On the beach, on the king-size bed with Egyptian cotton sheets, and in the swimming pool.

She fell asleep in his arms and woke up to his face in the morning.

Caroline liked everything about him.

His unusually thick eyebrows, the corners of his mouth that curled up when he told jokes,
His playful yet tender nature, and even the large scar on his neck.

Perhaps he loved her too, she had thought.
Because her reflection in his ocean-blue eyes looked so very lovable.

She had had that naive delusion.

Until ‘that incident’ happened one day.

Caroline let out a self-deprecating laugh.

It felt as if her heart had been charred black by the scorching equatorial sun and turned to dust.

As if she had been caught under a curse by a mischievous demon.

She shook her head.

‘These are all pointless thoughts. We don’t even know each other’s contact information, so there’s no chance of meeting again anyway.’

The trip was over, and he was never mine to begin with.

So now it’s time to come back to reality.

Caroline stabbed a piece of rose tteokbokki, her substitute dinner, with her fork and put it in her mouth.

‘Forget it. He might as well be dead.’

As she chewed the tteokbokki, trying to push away the thoughts, a message from Caroline, her friend since her study-abroad days in the U.S., blinked on her laptop screen.

Caroline
…What the hell?

Caroline
Isn’t that you in the article’s photo?

Caroline
How could you date Prince Charming and not even say a word to me? You traitor!

Caroline
Article? What article?

Caroline
This article!

Bada, puzzled, clicked on the link Caroline sent.

As she scrolled down, her hand stopped dead over a photo.

‘What is this? Who took this?’

The man in the photo was River. The person next to him was definitely her.

But, what? A European Crown Prince? Engagement?

It was full of content she couldn’t understand at all.

‘Who is Damien?’

Suddenly, her fingertips turned cold, and her throat tightened.

And his suspicious behavior, which she had overlooked, flashed before her eyes like a lantern slide.

His unclear identity, his suspiciously aristocratic tone and mannerisms, and the wealth he tried to hide but was subtly evident.

Bada had even secretly suspected he might be a secret agent like in movies such as ‘007’ or ‘Mission: Impossible.’

Then, his words when she pressed him about his identity came to mind.

‘…I do official duties. Other than that, it’s a bit difficult to explain.’

‘So, did ‘official duties’ mean duties as a crown prince, not as a state agent?’

A chill ran down her spine, and her palms grew sweaty.

Her solar plexus felt blocked, as if the tteokbokki she just ate had lodged there.

“Couldn’t this be some kind of misunderstanding?”

With trembling hands, Bada searched for the Crown Prince of Bernhardt on the internet.

His profile immediately appeared on the screen.

The Crown Prince of Bernhardt, Damien, Duke of Wexley
Damien Alexander Hastings is the eldest son of King Richard III and Queen Beatrice, and is first in line to the throne. His official title is the Duke of Wexley.

sea froze solid, unable to move even a single finger.

Assets worth 1 trillion won. Hobbies are horseback riding and polo. Nickname: The Problem Prince.

As she read through the surreal profile, she saw a photo and let out a bitter, almost hysterical laugh.

‘It’s River.’

The man in her memory had long hair, while the man in the photo had his hair slicked back neatly without a single strand out of place, but the two were undoubtedly the same person.

“This is insane…”

Her vision spun as if space and time were distorting.

‘So, was River also a pseudonym? How could he deceive me so perfectly…? But, why, of all things?’

Anger, betrayal, and confusion churned violently in her chest.

With shaking hands, then tried to bring a cola can to her lips but then put it back down.

Just then, Caroline’s message blinked on the screen again.

Caroline
Hey, Miss Cinderella. Why aren’t you answering?

Caroline
By the way, are you really becoming the Crown Princess?

‘Crown Princess? What nonsense is that…’

She couldn’t understand what was going on at all.

Could it be that all of this is a dream?

Just as she was pinching her cheek, trying to figure out if this moment was a nightmare or reality,

Rrrrrr. Rrrrrr.

The sound of her phone ringing pierced the silence, and causing let out a short, startled scream.

Turning her gaze to the phone screen, a call from an <Unknown Caller> was coming through.

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