Ten years have passed since the Kingdom of Daran lost their beloved queen and heiress to a war against the kingdom of Hiraya. It was a tragic time for the whole of the kingdom, the people became sullen and the economy almost fell along with time. It was heartbreaking for the people because never again would they have a royal family of pure Daran blood.

The kingdom of Daran was once the two kingdoms, Diwan and Aldan. Diwan was a kingdom of many resources and Aldan was a kingdom of great warriors. The kings of both empires thrived with great allegiance.

Unfortunately, the king of Diwan grew very ill just when his wife was about to give birth to a new heir. But the kingdom couldn't have thrived alone with its heir still a newborn. It was then that the Diwans and Aldans decided to merge their kingdoms for the sake of saving Diwan, thus, the birth of the kingdom of Daran.

At around the same time, the Aldan Queen was carrying a princess in her womb. Both sides promised for the royal infants to be wed one day and hailed as the King and Queen of Daran. From then on, people labelled Prince Manos of Diwan and Princess Haleya of Aldan to be the 'First-Generation of True-Blooded Darans'.

When the King of Aldan finally died of age, Prince Manos was immediately crowned King and married Princess Haleya who became Queen alongside him. The two have shared a very close bond since they were little and so, their marriage was filled with joy and prosperity. With their reign, the whole of Daran thrived and turned out to be one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms in the land.

Soon enough, the Queen gave birth to a little boy and the kingdom rejoiced. A new heir was already in line for the crown. For the people, this assured another generation of excellent government. Prince Akil was trained by his father to rule the people while his mother taught him to be excellent in combat. At an early age, the people of Daran loved him and accepted him as a future ruler.

When Akil turned nine, a new blessing came upon to the kingdom. In the middle of the empire's growing prosperity, a princess was brought forth to the world. It was the people who named her 'Mayumi', meaning demure and modest. From her youth, Mayumi has been delicate and sweet causing the people to love and cherish her.

But on her eighth year, tragedy fell when the Hirayans started peaking interest to conquer Daran. Many times did they attempt to wage war on the Darans and many times they failed. But on an ambush attack by the Hirayans, they were finally able to end the life of the Daran Queen and heir.

Hirayans never came back after the tragedy as most of them died in that certain battle. But even with victory, Darans fell into a sullen state with no queen to console and rule alongside the King Manos. And no heir to have given them hope.

The little princess was left in the dark during the most tragic times in their kingdom. No one dared to explain to her what happened to her mother and her brother. When she asked his father why they weren't coming home, he'd start weeping and give her no answer.

It was only a few years after did she understand what really happened to her family. At that time, a neighboring kingdom was already proposing allegiance to Daran. King Almiro of Namayan was giving his daughter, Princess Hera, in marriage to King Manos.

The advisers of King Manos thought it was the best way to save Daran from its failing military and economy situations. Namayan had a great record when it came to military forces and all they asked for in return was for Darans to allow Namayan citizens to mine gold from their territory.

King Manos agreed to the plan, having to save his kingdom whilst the years of sadness he went through. So, at the time when Daran welcomed their new queen, Princess Hera of Namayan, Princess Mayumi was only starting to accept the fact that her mother and brother already left her and her father.

Servants pitied her as they said she tried her best to "accept a new mother in the midst of her suffering."

At present, Mayumi was quietly seated by her window as she hummed a tune her mother used to sing to lull her to sleep.

From the castle courtyard, everyone passing by stopped a while to catch a glimpse of the princess. Passers-by whispered in awe to each other due to the beauty of the princess.

Her hair was black as the night, lingering down to her waist, swaying to the slightest gust of wind. Eyes were a beautiful tint of brown but it was deep as the ocean would be. Her skin was fair and her features were perfectly drawn upon her small face. Darans say the princess is a copy of her the late queen, Haleya. But unlike her mother, Mayumi is very modest and quiet. Castle servants would often find her quietly singing in her room and playing her harp.

Her peace was startled when a knock was heard on her door. "Your Highness." She heard her servant, Mera, called, "The Queen has asked for your presence in your chamber."

She opened the door and asked Mera if she knew why the Queen called for her. The servant shook her head, "No, Your Highness. The message was only relayed to me by one of her servants as well."

Mayumi nodded and said she'd follow immediately. Walking to the Queen's chamber, Mera tried to remind her of the town festival that was happening in two days, "It's the Daran Foundation Festival, dear Princess. It happens every year, right? It has been quite disregarded the past years. But they said it's quite a feast this year. It has been put under Queen Hera's care. Your Highness forgot about it?"

Mayumi nodded. She hasn't been going out to celebrate for the feast for quite a while now. Besides, ever since the tragedy, the kingdom hasn't been putting much of interest into the festival. There was no reason to celebrate anyway, she thought. If the festival was the reason the Queen Hera looked for her. It would be unfortunate.

As they reached the chamber, Mera stood aside and opened the door, "I'll be waiting for Your Highness outside. Please call me if you need anything."

The princess nodded and thanked her before finally walking into the chamber.

As soon as she takes sight of the Queen, she bows slightly as a greeting, "Your Highness called for me?"

Queen Hera chuckled at her formality, and asked her to move closer, "It has been three years since I married your father, Princess Mayumi. Shouldn't it be the time when you start calling me mother? Or Auntie Hera, at least?"

Mayumi felt a twinge of pain in her heart when she heard the word 'mother' from the Queen's mouth. However, she still managed to politely smile, "It would be an honor, Your Highness."

"Anyway, I called you in because I wanted to you to be in-charge of the music for the festival. I wasn't going to bother you initially but the musicians I hired for the festival were suddenly unavailable. I asked around the palace and they told me you were once part of the orchestra when you were little. So, I figured out you'd know some musicians around town."

The princess subconsciously frowned. She has been a part of the orchestra but that was almost a decade ago. She was so little back then, she barely remembers the faces of the people she played with. "What Your Highness heard about is true. But it has been so long, I wouldn't know where to find these people or if they still stayed in Daran."

The Queen fell silent and thought for a while. Suddenly, a grin was on her face, "Then why don't you perform alone? I've heard you singing and playing the harp in your chamber. The people would love it."

Mayumi felt uneasy from where she stood. She barely left the palace since her mother was gone, performing in front of a lot of people is something she really wouldn't want to do.

"Is there something wrong, my dear?" Hera asked her. "Now, now, don't you worry about it. You can think about it until tomorrow morning then tell me if you can do so. There's no problem if you can't, I'll have people find other performers just in case."

Mayumi thanked her and exited the chamber, still in deep thought. Mera noticed the princess was a little more quiet then she'd usually be so she decided she'd ask, "What is Your Highness in deep thought about?"

Mayumi shrugged, "Queen Hera wants me to be in-charge of the music for the festival. She suggested I find the people from my orchestra. But I was so young back then, I can't possibly find them in a short period of time." She didn't bother telling Mera about the Queen's suggestion for her to perform instead. She wouldn't do it anyway.

"I can send people to find them, Your Highness, if you want to." The servant girl recommended.

She nodded and asked Mera to do so. After all, she's still a princess of Daran. If the town was finally going to have their chance to celebrate after years of sorrow and silence, she must at least do what she can to contribute.