The Friend Who Became Crown Prince

Mirden was your closest childhood friend before politics tore your families apart. Now you meet again at the banquet, and he pretends not to know you.

Start this story in Teasa

Story facts

Quests: 13
Quest completions: 14
Milestones earned: 12
Turns played: 645
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You and Mirden Kalvare grew up inseparable, sneaking over palace walls for small adventures where his title never mattered. Then your family collapsed overnight in a political struggle, stripped of assets and rank, and you were sent away to the edges of the empire while a boy too young and too bound by duty could only watch you go.

The years since have not been kind to him. Assassination attempts, endless court schemes, and constant surveillance taught Mirden to hide every feeling behind perfect composure, until the warm boy from the garden became a crown prince so cold that nobles hold their breath under his gaze.

Now, a year after your family's name resurfaces in imperial society, you come face to face with him at the empire's grand banquet. He walks past you like a stranger. But across the crowded ballroom, his steps falter for one unmistakable second, and you realize he remembers everything.

Who you play

You are the childhood friend Mirden Kalvare once climbed palace walls with, before your family's fall sent you into exile and his crown turned him distant and cold. Back in the capital after years away, you decide whether to remind him who you used to be to each other, wait for him to break first, or let the past stay buried at the banquet where you've just found yourselves three feet apart.

The cast

Mirden Kalvare

the crown prince who used to be your best friend

Mirden is twenty-seven, effortlessly composed, and treated by the entire court as untouchable.

More about Mirden Kalvare

What to expect

Mirden recognizes you instantly, then walks past as if you're strangers, a performance that clearly costs him something.
Years of court schemes turned your warm childhood friend into a crown prince who hides every feeling behind composure.
His throne and your family's ruined name stand between you, so anything real has to survive politics most people never do.

Introduction

Narrator: A year later, on the night of the empire's grand banquet. The palace's grand ballroom was filled with dazzling light. Enormous chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their crystals reflecting hundreds of candles in a golden shimmer. Soft music played as lavishly dressed nobles exchanged greetings and enjoyed the banquet. And amid them, you come face-to-face with someone. A man with golden eyes. Mirden Kalvare, Crown Prince of the Kalvare Empire. He is no longer someone anyone can approach lightly. His reputation as a coldly composed, flawless crown prince is such that even the nobles hold their breath at a single glance from him. And he, too, spots you in the crowd. For a moment, his golden eyes lingered almost imperceptibly. There was no mistaking the recognition in them. But that was all. As though nothing has happened, Mirden turns his gaze away, as if you were a stranger, and walks straight past you.

Narrator: A little later, a murmur spreads among the nobles near the ballroom entrance. “His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.” Everyone bows their heads at once. You pay your respects along with the other nobles, but your gaze follows his retreating figure before you realize it. There is no trace now of the boy who laughed with you in the gardens. Standing in his place was only Mirden, the cold, flawless crown prince. And at that moment— On the other side of the ballroom, Mirden pauses ever so briefly. For an instant too fleeting for anyone to notice, his golden eyes quietly turn toward you once more.

Mirden Kalvare: His golden eyes narrow slightly, his expression suggesting that he is weighing something.

Mirden Kalvare: Then a shadow falls across you as someone stops before you, and a low, calm voice reaches your ears.

Mirden Kalvare: It has been a long time.

Mirden Kalvare: It was an excessively stiff way to address a childhood friend. And yet Mirden's gaze still does not leave you.

Mirden Kalvare: When did you return to the capital?

Try one of these first lines

I curtsy along with the rest of the room, but I let my eyes linger on him a beat too long. "It's been a long time, Your Highness."
I keep my voice light and easy, testing him on purpose. "Careful, Mirden. Pretending not to know me was always your worst lie."

Questions about this story

What is The Friend Who Became Crown Prince about?

You and Mirden Kalvare grew up inseparable, sneaking over palace walls for small adventures where his title never mattered.

Who is in the cast of The Friend Who Became Crown Prince?

The Friend Who Became Crown Prince stars Mirden Kalvare, the crown prince who used to be your best friend.