Princess Hours

As the investigation of the arson incident furthers and the facts about it get revealed Shin gets more and more accused of being the cause of it. In the midst of all this, Chaegyeong and Shin’s feelings towards each other grow even stronger and they fight together to get through this storm. The two already resemble each other regardless of Chaegyeong having told him that she has studied hard to be fit for him. The emperor once said that “Apart from the truth of the incident, the person worthy of the imperial throne is the one who receives the love and honor of the people.” Lady Hwayoung smiles a smile of satisfaction and throws in her last card. The empress sees that Chaegyeong has slowly started to show the qualities of a crown princess and for the first time, they actually sit down and talk with each other. The empress encourages her and gives her strength.

Yool tries his best to keep faithful to his heart even if it means breaking the rules. Shin insists that rules and regulations are the strength that holds the palace together. Even though their ways of following them and carrying them out are different, the person they want to protect are the same. Chaegyeong also feels bad watching the people she loves and cares for getting hurt, while the reasons and reality also grow farther and farther apart. Meanwhile, the emperor worries about the behavior of Yool and the other royal family members.

Because of an unexpected incident, Chaegyeong ends up in the middle of a rumor. She meets her greatest crisis after becoming Crown Princess and wanting to figure out a way to stop the rumors on her own she refuses help from Shin and Yool. Shin becomes angry at seeing Chaegyeong worrying about how to fix her mistakes and orders the Myeong Seong Dang to be repaired, but this just causes the emperor, Lady Hwayoung, and Yool to get angrier and more frustrated. After seeing Shin isolate himself from the others at the palace, the empress calls him to talk as mother and son. She tells him about what she wishes for him. After seeing Hyorin working towards of becoming her dream to become a ballerina, he thinks again of his dreams and what he really wants. He finds that his future includes Chaegyeong and the empress’s wish and goes to the interview with a firm attitude.

The criticisms of whether the crown prince is good enough or not keep rising; even the emperor starts wondering if Yool is more fit for the spot. Meanwhile, Hyorin discusses with Shin her education plans. Yool tells Chaegyeong, who is feeling miserable at hearing that Hyorin and Shin had once promised to go abroad and study together, how he feels about her.

Shin and Chaegyeong leave on a short honeymoon together. Hyorin leaves on a trip to where she can find traces of Shin and her love. After getting the cold shoulder from Shin, Hyorin remembers what Lady Hwayoung once told her and once again makes a firm determination not to give up. Because of Hyorin, Shin and Chaegyeong feel awkward again and Chaegyeong starts to feel confused when Yool tells her to leave Shin so he can be with Hyorin. The empress finds out about Lady Hwayoung’s plans and starts to take action… Just then the crown prince’s scandal gets known to the public and the palace goes into distress about the matter. The emperor calls Shin and begins seriously considering whether or not Shin is fit for being Crown Prince.

After hearing about the couple getting into bed together, Yool runs over to see Chaegyeong. She tells him that nothing happened between her and Shin, and he hugs her, relieved from the unthinkable thought of the two spending the night together. Shin sees this and gets very angry at Yool. Chaegyeong’s friends get angry at Hyorin for starting the rumors and start to criticize her. Chaegyeong learns a secret about Hyorin and starts to feel uncomfortable. Someone leaves a picture inside the crown princess’s room. Chaegyeong is shocked when she sees it and disappears. Shin and Yool soon hear that she has disappeared and instantly go out looking for her.

Shin tells Chaegyeong that he is going to withdraw from being Crown Prince, and she starts to feel frustrated because she does not know his true feelings. Chaegyeong tries her best to get closer to him but the more she tries the more frustrated and angrier she gets through finding traces of Hyorin. Eventually she gets into a fight with Shin and breaks into tears. In the palace, the plans for the restoration of Yool’s power are in their final stages and Lady Hwayoung and Yool get ready to move back into the palace. The entrance of a new power figure starts to create a division between people of the court over whom they are going to be loyal to, and Empress Min and Lady Hwayoung are busy keeping each other in check. Empress Dowager Park, who has the final power in deciding whether or not the powers get restored to Lady Hwayoung and Yool, doesn’t know whether giving them the power is the right thing to do or not. Yool and Shin bump into each other in the palace and start a nerve war.

After taking Hyorin to the airport, Shin makes it to the press conference just in time and gives an outstanding speech. Meanwhile, back at the palace, Chaegyeong gets confined to the palace for leaving the palace walls without permission. Yool, after seeing Chaegyeong get in trouble, asks Lady Hwayoung to make him the crown prince. With the help of Yool, Chaegyeong successfully finishes the welcoming ceremony for Prince William, and Lady Hwayoung starts finding back her and her son’s rights as a royal family by asking the emperor to replace back to them Emperor Hyoyeol’s powers.

Chaegyeong and Shin return to the palace and after spending time with Chaegyeong’s happy and close-knit family. Shin feels sad to see his family who has always been under the control of his strict father, the emperor. Seeing this, Chaegyeong comforts him, and Shin prepares a car just for her. Persuaded by Hyorin, Chaegyeong and Yool join an equestrian club. Not knowing why Hyorin invited Chaegyeong into the club, Shin’s friends are dissatisfied with the whole idea. Meanwhile, Shin goes to Thailand in place of the emperor, who couldn’t go because of health reasons.

Thanks to Yool’s help, Chaegyeong looks good in the eyes of the Empress Dowager Park. In addition, after attending a number of events with Shin, she becomes well known to the public and loved by them for her plain looks and free spirit. Yool tells her she should carry herself with dignity, but she ignores his advice. At the opening of the yoga center, Lady Hwayoung meets Hyorin and finds out that she is the crown prince’s ex-girlfriend, and when Empress Min later finds out Lady Hwayoung has secretly come to Korea and opened a yoga center, she is greatly displeased. Meanwhile, at the palace, a party is held to announce the officially married crown prince and his wife to the ambassadors of the constitutional monarchy.

On the first day after the wedding, Shin and the rest of the adults in the Royal Family go out to fight a little war to ensure they receive what was promised to them for granting the marriage. While Shin is being very serious, Chaegyeong, on the other hand, is busy enjoying the privileges of being the crown princess and is slowly adapting to life as a Royal. Chaegyeong and Shin go to school, but Chaegyeong gets treated like an outcast; the only person that actually talks to her is Yool.

Chaegyeong, therefore, has no choice but to marry the prince due to her family’s financial crisis. But things aren’t easy, right from the first encounter with the Royal Family. Moreover, seeing that the prince has no affection for her whatsoever, showing careless cynical behavior throughout the wedding process, Chaegyeong comes to regret accepting the proposal. But it’s too late; the Royal Marriage is the top news in the press, and Chaegyeong’s house is crowded with reporters. Prince Lee Yool, the son of Crown Prince Lee Hyoyeol who died in an unfortunate car crash 14 years ago, hurries back to Korea under the urgent order of his mother – Lady Hwayoung, eager to the win back her husband’s throne. In the airport, he runs into Hyorin, who has just returned from her contest, but they don’t recognize each other. Yool has been studying fine arts in England, and transfers to a high school for arts, where Shin and Chaegyeong are also students.