"At this rate, I don't think the Cream Kingdom is ever going to fall."

Lee Cheonghyeon, who suited the strategist role perfectly, toyed with the chain attached to his monocle as he spoke. Fitting for an imperial prince from an allied kingdom of the Cream Kingdom, Mariva's outfit was dazzling. Not that anyone here wasn't dressed extravagantly, but the cobalt-blue long coat and golden embroidery looked like a sapphire ring displayed at Sotheby's.

"The knight looks way too intimidating."

"I can't even fight right now because of the knight's hair."

"You don't need to fight. That face alone would scare everyone away."

I struggled to brush the hair touching my face aside without actually touching my skin. So this was the effort required to live with long hair. Another lesson learned.

"Wouldn't it be more comfortable to tie it up at least before filming starts?"

Jeong Seongbin, wearing a dried-leaf-tea-colored wig, asked while staring at my curtain-like hair.

"No. It's already been styled, so I'll keep it as intact as possible."

There was someone else suffering for a completely different reason.

True to his role as the arrogant second prince, Choi Jeho had to wear a magnificent fur-lined cape. He complained so much about the fur getting into his mouth every time he opened it that Park Juu glued himself to his side and diligently brushed the fur trim.

"Is it really okay to make hyung wait on you like this?"

"Is a guy who falls for someone else while already having a marriage partner really a hyung? That's trash."

"Sorry. Just know that I absolutely do not support such behavior......."

Now playing the prince of the Cucumber Kingdom, Park Juu took excellent care of his younger brother. Despite the obvious wealth radiating from his clothes, serving his sibling came naturally to him. Thanks to Park Juu's careful hands, Choi Jeho's fur gleamed like a well-made raccoon plushie.

Compared to everyone else, who had undergone a complete flashy transformation, Jeong Seongbin belonged to a slightly different genre.

Maybe because fantasy settings didn't need every costume to come from the same era, even though he was from the same series, he alone wore an adventurer outfit mixed with faint steampunk elements.

Unlike me, who at least had a terrifying sword, all Jeong Seongbin had was a worn backpack that looked like shaking it would make coin pouches fall out, plus a cute companion-creature doll.

Even then, this was apparently the most respectable outfit among Uron's costumes.

"Doesn't Uron ever wear something flashy? Like, something as sparkly as possible without ruining the character?"

"He does in flashback scenes, but there's nowhere selling those outfits. They're not his main costume."

"I'll go learn sewing myself if I have to. Make it happen."

Thankfully, it never came to me learning how to sew.

The production team caught me searching for sewing machines on the Carrot Market app and immediately stepped in for the sake of achieving the best visuals possible. After sourcing materials from Dongdaemun Market and attaching every individual part by hand, they completed Jeong Seongbin's outfit magnificently.

I even watched videos titled "Kindergarten Event Costume? Don't Sew It, Glue It! With Just a Stapler and Adhesive, You Too Can Become a Costume Master."

I thanked them so deeply my forehead nearly hit the floor.

"Usually characters like this are animals or fairies or something. What exactly is this thing?"

Choi Jeho poked the cube-shaped plush dangling from Jeong Seongbin's shoulder.

"It's apparently based on dried fruit jelly. You know, those dried fruit jellies that sometimes come in tea bags."

Lee Cheonghyeon kindly explained.

I could feel the experience he had built up through years of friendship with Kang Giyeon.

"No matter how I look at it, this is kind of......."

Kang Giyeon, now wearing a white bob wig, finally joined us after finishing the last of his preparations. Fitting for a princess striving to become a leader skilled in both martial and scholarly arts, the shoulders of his jacket and the uniform pants looked ready to burst from muscle.

"Doesn't this feel awkward? Princess Soda is supposed to be beautiful."

"The carbonation got a lot stronger, but the elegance is similar enough."

"If you're going to become king, you need this much training."

"You hyungs only care about brute force and dominance, don't you? Neither of you really has what it takes to become king."

Lee Cheonghyeon mercilessly roasted both me and Choi Jeho.

Honestly, he wasn't wrong. I'm naturally suited for grunt work, and Choi Jeho was born to be a servant.

"Did they actually have boots that fit?"

"They said they spray-painted men's boots."

Kang Giyeon proudly showed off his sparkling boots. The quality of the alterations was incredible.

Princess Giyeon marched toward the studio in gleaming boots.

The April Fools livestream opened with overwhelming firepower from the very beginning.

The chat moved so fast it froze several times. In the end, we had to restart the stream twice while waiting for the servers to stabilize and the comments to calm down. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

At this point, if we wanted to become truly perfect idols, we might eventually need to build a streaming platform ourselves.

Once the chat finally stabilized enough to function properly......

...it was absolute chaos.

≫ Look at them writing in huge letters on the whiteboard that they got the author's permission

≫ Our maknae became a princess lmaoooo

≫ Why is the makeup so insanely high-effortㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

≫ They may cosplay, but the friendship bracelets are eternal

≫ Congratulations to Kang Giyeon for achieving his dream~~~~!!!!

≫ I came expecting April Fools jokes but apparently I should've mentally prepared myself

≫ I think the princess could win against at least ten people through sheer intimidation alone

≫ holy shit Kim Iwol with long hair

≫ Jeho and Juu seriously look like real brothersㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ so cuteㅠㅠ

≫ Seongbin really suits brown tones♥️♥️

Spark spent the stream talking endlessly about what it felt like entering a romance fantasy world, the details they'd prepared specifically for today, and the similarities fans pointed out between the members and their assigned characters.

We even held a segment called "Giyeon's Favorite Hyung Selection," inspired by "Finding the Princess's Partner."

"Are we considering the relationships in the original story, or are you choosing purely based on your own preferences?"

"If we consider the in-story relationships, I'm at a disadvantage......."

"Me too......."

Jeong Seongbin and Park Juu both lowered their heads.

After thinking it over, Kang Giyeon chose Jeong Seongbin. Apparently he'd received a lot of help from him throughout last year and this year.

"It's hard to survive in Spark without the leader."

"How could you say something so shocking?"

"Hyungs, go look in a mirror first."

I couldn't exactly go look in a mirror, but I did glance at the livestream screen since I had to read the chat.

Everyone was siding with Kang Giyeon, saying the hyungs all had difficult personalities.

I wanted to deny it, but since it was objectively true that Jeong Seongbin was Spark's greatest warm-and-gentle handsome guy, I kept my mouth shut.

We danced to "Bright" in those outfits and even sang cover songs.

We also wanted to play some kind of elegant card game, but there wasn't enough time to memorize the rules, so we played Halli Galli instead. The bell got smashed to pieces, ending the game at the perfect moment.

A bell that understood broadcasting.

Since we were the ones involved, nothing felt that strange to us, but judging by how rapidly the viewer count exploded, we'd apparently inflicted a considerable shock on the idol scene.

≫ They're all absurdly strong. I never wanted to say that about princes

≫ Juuㅋㅋㅋ Look at him touching Iwol's wig. Visual rock really does need long hair

≫ Why is Lee Cheonghyeon so viciousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ the strategist is terrifyingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

We couldn't leave out the royal heirloom auction either—though it was only called an auction, since the winners were actually selected through a lottery among event applicants—the popular Jeong Seongbin meme recreation challenge, or the classy sketch contest.

"We originally planned to try writing letters with fountain pens."

At my comment, Kang Giyeon kept drawing while asking:

"So why did the content change?"

"Some of the princes got vetoed because people thought they'd break the pen nibs."

"Come on. No matter what, who would actually break a pen?"

"Jeho, think about how many crayons you've snapped in half."

Choi Jeho immediately shut his mouth.

The kind-hearted Park Juu silently picked up the broken crayons and continued coloring with them.

"This feels like looking at a kindergarten graduation album."

"The outfits do have recital vibes."

Agreeing with Jeong Seongbin, Lee Cheonghyeon proudly revealed his completed drawing.

"Ta-da! This masterpiece is titled 'The Wonderful Mariva Estate'!"

The vast ocean and Santorini-inspired design was simple yet sophisticated. The bastard who dressed well apparently also had excellent artistic sense.

"I even prepared rooms specially for the members. Ocean-view rooms normally cost extra, but I'll offer them at a discount just for you. Kang Giyeon can take the penthouse!"

"You're just locking him at the top floor, aren't you?"

Between the friendship-filled room assignments and Jeong Seongbin's "impossibly elegant drawing skills for someone whose younger sibling is supposedly an art student," the commentary never stopped.

We finished the stream with a first-quarter K-pop settlement dance medley.

By the time everything ended and we checked the clock, the livestream had run for six full hours.

After successfully surviving even the large-scale anniversary event, we ended up with a short two-night, three-day break.

It wasn't exactly a vacation. We just happened to get lucky with an empty schedule.

"So what are you all doing starting the day after tomorrow?"

Lee Cheonghyeon, whose schedule ended the latest among the members, asked the question. He had a photoshoot tomorrow.

"Choi Jeho said he's going back to action school. Apparently it's been a while since he last went."

"I've got assignments......."

Park Juu and I answered in turn.

Kang Giyeon said he didn't have any plans, while Jeong Seongbin mentioned maybe going to karaoke for a bit.

"Hmm."

"What? If there's something you want, just say it."

At my words, Lee Cheonghyeon started carefully gauging the mood.

"Wouldn't it be shameless to ask everyone to hang out together even during a lucky break when we've already been stuck together all year?"

"I don't mind hanging out, even if it's just with me. I don't have any schedules anyway."

"Really?"

Lee Cheonghyeon's voice instantly rose an octave.

Park Juu declared that while Lee Cheonghyeon was away at the photoshoot, he'd work hard and finish his assignments early. Jeong Seongbin and Kang Giyeon also said their schedules weren't important, so if the goal was simply hanging out, they were happy to join.

"......Now that it's come to this, what about you, Choi Jeho?"

"Do I even have freedom of choice when answering that question?"

"Of course."

"Fine. I'll go to action school some other time."

We even secured the cooperation of the magnanimous Choi Jeho.

Once the full lineup was assembled, the younger members immediately started planning the schedule. Since Lee Cheonghyeon had to go work, Park Juu—whose soul apparently resonated with his whenever fun was involved—handled things on his behalf.

"If possible, let's go somewhere outside the Seoul metro area. We won't have to worry about crowds, and if it's still inside Seoul, we can visit anytime even without long breaks."

"But somewhere too far would be difficult. Daeyeon hyung would have a hard time driving."

"Daeyeon hyung said he'd take us......?"

"He said he wanted to go on a drive anyway, so if we wanted, he'd take us."

Was Manager Daeyeon genuinely someone who loved driving?

I should probably meet with him secretly sometime soon.

If he was only saying that out of responsibility despite being exhausted, then we should gratefully decline while appreciating the sentiment.

I'd heard that people sometimes relieved stress through scenic drives, but even without malicious intent, abuse of power could happen because of hierarchy or outside pressure. You always had to stay careful.

You couldn't let someone feel things like, It somehow feels like I have no choice but to do this.

And now that we had a car, it was also forbidden to recklessly choose destinations that were hard to reach by public transportation. Drivers deserved comfortable roads too.

― Honestly, I feel cramped if I stay indoors too long. After dropping the members off, I might even drive somewhere else on the way back.

Thankfully, Manager Daeyeon was a genuine driving enthusiast.

Now that transportation was settled, all that remained was choosing the destination.

'Somewhere outside the Seoul metro area, but not too far away. Somewhere Manager Daeyeon would know the roads well enough to relax comfortably.......'

Just as I was thinking that, Park Juu's phone rang.

"Yeah, Auntie."

Park Juu answered with several "Yeah, yeah"s before ending the call by saying he'd ask the members first.

"So....... My aunt says we should all come visit sometime. Would you guys be interested?"

And just like that, the destination was decided:

Park Juu's aunt's house.