Castle of Thorns

Synopsis

【STORY】

My birthplace is a small island nation called ‘Saika.’

Flowers of different colors bloom with the seasons, and the sea surrounding the island is crystal clear, allowing us to see colorful fish from above the surface.

The people of this island are warm-hearted. They make their living by fishing.

We catch only what we need to eat, living modestly and peacefully.

That was our way of life.

The king who rules ‘Saika’ is my father, and I am the third princess of this nation.

But being royalty is merely a title in name.

Our lives are not so different from the common people.

We live in a mansion only slightly larger than theirs, with a few soldiers guarding our residence.

Taxes are paid in fish, so our table is always filled with it.

Royalty no different from the people.

Yet, there is still purpose to our existence.

It is for diplomacy.

Beautiful coral is harvested from the seas around ‘Saika.’

We export it and import dried fruits, cloth, and necessities from the great nations across the sea.

The royal family serves as the gateway for this trade.

The ships from the great powers that arrive at our single port are large and magnificent. I always enjoyed watching them.

I couldn’t believe there were nations beyond the sea, but those trading vessels were proof that distant great powers truly existed.

Surrounded by peaceful seas and generous people, watching the occasional trading ship arrive—that was how I thought I would live.

I believed tomorrow would be no different from yesterday, forever.

Everything changed shortly after I turned twenty.

Unprecedented violent storms struck our nation in succession, and after they subsided, the sea turned red.

Ships were swept away and destroyed, and as the red sea spread, fish died by the thousands.

We were terrified.

We had always been cradled by the sea, sustained by its blessings, but now it had abandoned us, and we didn’t know what to do.

Then, cutting through the red sea, a trading ship from the great nation arrived.

… But we had nothing to trade.

That night, as the trading ship arrived, my father summoned me and tells me:

“Ran. My daughter. You will go to the king of the great nation ‘Ryokuso’ as a tribute.”

***

You become Ran, the third princess of the small nation ‘Saika,’ destined to live as a tribute to the king of the great nation ‘Ryokuso.’

Do you wish to gain the king’s love?

Or do you wish to save the people of your homeland?

Or perhaps, to be admired as the most beautiful princess in the world?