Set during the early Joseon Dynasty in Korea, Hwa-yeon, a minister's daughter and Kwon-yoo, a commoner are deeply in love. Yet, when Hwa-yeon is ordered to the royal palace to become the King's concubine, she and Kwon-yoo attempt to flee. They are intercepted by Hwa-yeon's father and his men who threaten to kill Kwon-yoo. To save her one true love, Hwayeon agrees to go to the palace as instructed. Five years later, Hwa-yeon is the mother of the heir to the throne, but the King is slowly dying. After his death, the King's step-mother, uses her power to appoint her biological son Sung-won as the successor. Sung-won has been madly in love with the unobtainable Hwa-yeon for years. Now that he must procreate in order to produce an heir to the throne, he can have any woman he wants except Hwa-yeon … which pushes both of them into a dangerous chess game of lust, sex and power.