I started watching this drama while having low expectations honestly, I saw Cha Eun Woo as the ML and so I decided to give it a chance, but wasn't sure how it will turn out since his acting in his previous works (I mean ones before True Beauty and Island) weren't that good. But his character's personality was pretty close to his one in Island so he done great actually, he is improving clearly, and I liked his spoiled, adorable, and meschivous prince character. He looked flawless and stunning in the traditional style.

FL was very likeable too and had a real personality, she is brave, smart, logical, funny, honest, hard working, fair, and strong mentally, not just your typical dense damsel in distress or annoying rude bitch. Yes, she gets in trouble and the guys do try to help her, but still she also make accomplishments and help them back. She also didn't have her whole life revolved around ML, she truly cared about her passions/career as well. Actress is cute and her acting was good. Their chemistry was pretty good as well.

I highly enjoyed the romance between them, it was healthy, fluffy, cute, chill, realistic, straightforward, and simple without too much angst, stupid misunderstandings, and zero toxicity. They are now added to my top straight couples list.
Her older brother was sweet, I enjoyed their relationship.

Plot was pretty good, it has some nice political issues that kept me focused, without feeling bored not even once, a perfect balance of comedy/romance moments and the serious/dark moments, and surprisingly it didn't get draggy nor overcomplicated and dramatic although it has 20 episodes (40 episodes if watched in 30 minutes duration version).

Loved the relationship between the ML and his older brother, they had such heartwarming and unfazed bromance, and the crown prince totally deserved to be the king instead of their shit father. They both grew up as good men although the king is messed up.
The supposed 2nd ML (Historian officer Min) was also a decent and respectable guy.

The ML's servant eunuch was funny, loved the way he acted around the prince, he sometimes acted like his friend, while other times as his humorous and energetic grandfather. The price would turn up all cold and depressed probably if it wasn't for the eunuch and his brother. The two servant girls of the prince were also cute, even though they barely had lines.

The leader of the historians (Officer Yang) was annoying as hell at first, I mean yeah most of them were misogynic as hell (Which isn't surprising considering the era), but damn I wanted to slap him at times. Surprisingly he later became among my top characters, and I couldn't help but laugh whenever he appeared. The male historians overall became likeable when they stopped being too mean to the girls and started viewed them as equals.

The budget, outfits, hairstyles, make up, filming sets all looked quite beautiful (Especially the outfits of prince Dowon, I especially loved that dark purple outfit and the pink and blue outfit with the hat that has a green peacock feather, beads, and red ribbon he wore when he went to the plague filled village. The color pink fits perfectly with Cha Eun Woo, he looks majestic with it, and for the first time I thought a guy looked hot while wearing that type of lame looking hat), the OSTS were good, and I ended up binge watching the drama in few days and enjoyed it quite a lot. Every episode was better than the previous.

They also showed girl power/feminism in the plot in a good way (Unlike the one shown in Love To Hate You for example in which the women and men just existed to bash and hate on each other), in this drama they did show that women can be capable, ambitious, hard working, and brave just like any man if they are given the opportunity to use their talents properly, yes they face misogyny and harassment, they struggle to have equal rights and find themselves constantly controlled by unfair men, traditions, and laws but:

1- Not all the men are awful. Some like the crown prince, that chief of the military, the dethroned king (Who was the true supporter of equal rights no matter their gender or status), officer Min, prince Dowon...etc are pretty decent guys. They didn't try so hard to make everyone a scum. And the rude male historians started changing when they realized that the girls aren't as incompetent and stupid as they believed at start.
The men like the princes also struggle to be free and have to follow the royal rules, the can't even easily be with the women they love nor do what they want all the time. So in a way both genders face issues.

2- Mostly the girls had a very healthy relationship with each other, I thought the girls historians would hate on each other for some lame reason like over men, but nope, they helped ad liked each other. Even the queen dowager (Whom wasn't at fault, her on was wrongfully killed and had his reputation ruined, then his son was treated like shit), that doctor woman, crown princess, and few others were good women. Not sly, envious, slutty, and calculating. They also didn't need to be tomboyish or act vulgar to be considered strong or anything (Since many shows make it seem as if a strong woman is the one who tries to act as much as possible as men, all violent, or literally crossdress, while being girly and physically non tough makes her weak). The FL managed to use her words, brain, and actions to make everyone admire her and admit her ability to make a difference, including the king himself.

3- Like I said before the romance between main leads was pretty healthy, not that much cringe moments, no abusive ML with toxic masculinity. He can be soft, a coward, insecure, clingy, childish, naïve, awfully innocent, kind hearted, and romantic, not just a hero/knight in shining armor wannabe type. I liked that FL was the bold one in the relationship, and even was the one who would constantly kiss and hit on ML without hesitation instead of acting overly coy forever. Both of them supported and helped each other equally.
They had a big age gap with FL being the older one, and although I'm really not into age gaps that are more than 2-4 years, I didn't even care about it in this drama cause I simply loved them together.

The historians job, although important clearly, is still very boring, like imagine spending your days writing all day long about every fucking thing and breathe the royal family takes/does. Even writing about what they eat and them taking a dump lol The royal family as well always have to spend their days being watched by someone who stares at them as a hawk and writes about everything they do, like having CCTV everywhere in your house, it's horrifying! Lmao

The main villain (Officer Min's father) was well written, he wasn't your typical overly greedy and cartoonish type of evil who laughs loudly and tell his evil plans to everyone, he was actually very scheming, creepy, and had a pure selfishness about him that I liked, kind of a psychopath who didn't seem to have emotions nor care about anyone including his family, he was a total jerk who believed he was completely right till the end, but a good written one which made the plot even better.

The only thing that bothered me about the romance is that the FL kept saying she doesn't want to just be a wife and stay locked in her house serving her husband according to what I got, and I do understand that logic fully, being a housewife isn't bad or anything, but not wanting to be one is also not a bad thing. Still if the FL knew that was her goal since the start then why she fell for the prince and became his secret lover?! She gave him hope and made him get all obsessed with her like a child (Which makes sense since he is very young and was sheltered since birth so of course he will be naïve and reckless and will fall in love pretty quick), didn't she know it could end up with them marrying and her having to play the housewife role?? That part kinda upset me. Also the kiss scenes weren't as romantic as I hoped them to be, they weren't literally bad, but not great either.

The ending was logical and satisfying, it's refreshing seeing a historical drama filled with rightful people including most of the royal family. I like that in the end the leads became official lovers without even bothering to marry, the gender roles went out the window with FL going to do her job early in morning while ML stays home and waits for her (Unless he has to go on a trip to find inspiration to write on his books) while trying to come up with ways to look hot and romantic and seduce her lmao. It was basically a historical drama with a modern mindset and vibe.

Anyway what started as a drama that I had zero expectations for, ended up in my favorite historical & Korean dramas lists, and with a 10/10 rating, and I although I'm not into rewatching stuff, I wouldn't mind rewatching it someday in future. Especially the romance moments between leads.