On the first anniversary of the destruction of the Kingdom of Tsukuyomi, Princess Serenity shut herself away in her room to mourn her mother's death and the destruction of her kingdom all by herself. She wept bitter tears for hours, unable to calm herself.

She was well aware she had numerous close friends who would be there to support her and who even mourned along with her. But today, she desperately needed not to feel like she had to be their exiled princess.

Serenity wanted to ugly cry into her pillow and stay in her nightgown all day long. Intellectually, she knew no one would expect her to behave like the stoic princess she had been taught to be—the type of princess her name symbolized. But she didn't want to live up to the lofty expectations she had for herself—not today when she was feeling broken and missing her mom.

Now that it had been a year, a year of mourning and rest, she knew many changes would be coming for her. Tomorrow was the beginning of it all, and as much as she wasn't looking forward to any of it, and even in her most resistant mood, she knew it was the best path forward for her and those she cared about.

The grand plan had a range of possible outcomes, from the wishful thinking of regaining her mother's kingdom to the more realistic idea of just being able to protect those closest to her and anywhere in between.

The plan began with Artemis and Luna, her uncle and his wife, on her father's side. A secret connection even those in her kingdom hadn't known of. A secret they were relying on to stay just that. No one needed to realize who she was.

Heartbreakingly, her father, the love of her mother's life, had been a foreign aristocrat. For a kingdom as insular as Tsukuyomi, their passion and even the idea of marriage were forbidden.

Something her grandmother, Selena, had made very clear to her mother when she found out her daughter had fallen deeply in love. What commenced was a secret marriage between the then crown princess Serenity, the first, and Hermes, the second son of Duke Ares, of the kingdom of Terra. Their hidden marriage was full of intrigue, and they slipped over the border to be together. Once Serenity, the second, was conceived secretly, her impending birth had been hidden even from Serenity, the first's mother.

Serenity had been able to hide it from Queen Selena because the queen had been in poor health for a long time. And despite everything, her last act had been to attempt to betroth her daughter to a Duke of her own nation. She died before she even realized it failed.

Once Serenity became Queen, she brought her husband to the palace under a false identity, which worked. Only a small select group of trusted people knew who he was, even today.

Yet she couldn't save him from lousy luck even with all her attempts to protect him. Her beloved Hermes died from a head injury sustained after falling from his horse. He had lingered for two days before he finally succumbed to his injuries. At the time, Princess Serenity, the second, was one and a half years old.

In love and heartbroken, Queen Serenity staunchly refused ever to remarry.

Her reign had shown her to be a caring, compassionate, and kind Queen who loved her people. Yet, the subject of her remarrying would start her screaming and threatening immediate beheading if the topic wasn't dropped immediately. That stopped her advisors from ever bringing it up again from early on in her reign.

Serenity frowned at her hands. Romantic love —she didn't have that option. Yet she reminded herself that she was marrying for love, the love of her friends and family. She would use her marriage to protect those around her.

Now, she had to rely on her father's own country, where he had seemingly gone missing since her father's life and whereabouts had been hidden for so long that a great mystery over what had happened to him had sprung up. A little over two years ago, word of a daughter had surfaced, along with the girl herself. Of course, her name was obfuscated and changed to Serena to hide her full identity.

It was all because Queen Serenity, weary of the Black Moon Clan and Demand's seeming psychotic obsession with her daughter, sent Serenity to go live with her uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess, a year and two months before the attack. It firmly established that they had a niece before Tsukuyomi was overthrown. Thus, a new identity was founded on a half-truth.

To further protect the princess, everyone had been led to believe that Serenity had been in the palace and was still living in Tsukuyomi. Therefore, during the bombing, Minako, who had stayed behind, had been posing as the princess for over a year at official functions, hiding that Serenity was no longer in the country. And it was Minako who had been by Queen Serenity's side when the bomb went off.

Minako, in her devotion, worked to protect Queen Serenity while she was acting as a double. She fought through the chaos at the initial attack and got the Queen out of the throne room. Next, she worked to take her toward her safe room. Before they could arrive there, they faced the enemy General Chiral, whom Minako managed to knock unconscious, but not before she got an extended deep cut across her face. Not stopping to check the condition of the man or stem the flow of her blood, she encouraged the Queen to move to safety. They never made it there. They rounded the next corner, and to Minako's horror, that was when the massive bomb went off. The noise and the shock wave stunned her so severely that she was unable to stop the Queen from moving first and shielding her with her own body. Ultimately, in the end, she received a large scar across her right cheek and ear, along with crippling guilt that her Queen had died protecting her.

One other thing of note that had happened was something Minako was the only witness to. She thought she heard the queen whispering Hermes' name as she died. The smile she saw hadn't been in question, though. Queen Serenity had been at peace at the time of her death despite the horror that had caused it. She was returning to the man she loved.

Now, Minako was in the Duke's household, being trained to pose as a maid for Serenity. All of Serenity's four guards were learning to hide their true identities. This was to be able to protect their princess in secret, hiding her true identity and watching out for her from the shadows.

Two months ago, Makoto and Ami headed to the palace of the kingdom of Terra to assume their new identities. Makoto now worked in the royal kitchen using the name Lita. She had to drastically change her name since Makoto was a very traditional Tsukuyomian name. It would have revealed her to be a foreigner, making her stand out when the whole point was to blend in.

Ami was apprenticing under one of the palace physicians, Amy. Her name had an analog in Terra, which enabled her not to have to adjust to a completely different name.

Then, one month ago, Rei arrived in the capital and became a shrine maiden. She technically transferred in from another shrine that, in reality, she never truly worked at. But it was to hide where she was coming from. She was lucky, too, and only had to change the spelling of her name to Raye.

Their three positions would give them access to very different parts of the palace and, in Raye's case, the surrounding city. They would all be privy to information they couldn't otherwise get. Once everyone arrived, including Serenity, they would devise a way to meet and exchange information.

Minako's arrival would be a bit different. She would arrive with Serenity, Artemis, and Luna since her role was to serve as Serenity's maid. It was the only way she could feel comfortable with the whole plan. She wanted a reason to be by Serenity's side, guarding and protecting her from harm. Again, due to different regional spellings and versions of names, she was to go by Mina.

Serenity's role in all this was apparent to her. She was to become a princess. She was now betrothed to Endymion, crown Prince of Terra. It was all arranged through Artemis and King Ellis, though Ellis didn't fully understand the full benefit that Artemis was achieving. Artemis was securing Serenity's future and her safety, which would guarantee everyone else's, too.

Serenity was the deposed princess to a mourning nation that would love to have her back as their queen. Her very existence threatened anyone ruling Tsukuyomi. Additionally, Demande's twisted obsession with her puts her in danger, too. So, they worked to position her at the heart of a powerful kingdom—one who would be more than a match for Demande and his army.

What Ellis gained, and Demande had not calculated for, was Artemis' full support of him by the arranged marriage; due to his brother's secret marriage and then hidden identity briefly as the King of Tsukuyomi, Artemis' reign as Duke had been one shrouded in mystery. He didn't want much attention paid to the goings-on of his family. That required a loyal staff that didn't succumb to bribery and a few trips to the palace.

What Artemis hadn't been able to keep secret was the army he controlled. He had many of the best knights in the kingdom and a fighting force more significant than any other Duke could muster. Where his army went, victory followed.

While Artemis showed up with his army when the king called, Ellis knew that Artemis' support wasn't as secure as he could have hoped. The marriage between Atremis' niece and the King's son, Endymion, would ensure that Artemis would always support the King with his vast military might. Thus securing the borders of his kingdom even more. Knowing the King could immediately call on the Duke's forces, anyone would be a fool to attack.

Therefore, in three weeks, Serenity, now known as Serena, was to show up at the palace and begin her engagement to Endymion.