Back in 96,

in 96, Atlanta was booming with excitement

around hosting the Centennial Olympic Games.

And then, a deranged zealot, willing to kill for a cause,

lit a fuse that would change my life and so many others,

forever, rippling out for generations.

Listen to Flashpoint on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast.

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky.

Listener discretion advised.

It's an age-old trope, a royal and a commoner falling in love. It all started, of course, at least if you were a Disney kid like me, with Cinderella, a tale whose actually

oldest known version, dates back to the late 1st century BC, when the Greek historian Strabo recorded the tale of Rodopus an enslaved

girl who married the king of Egypt. Then there are the countless versions of Cinderella across cultures and plenty of stories with different takes on the commoner royal formula. The Princess Bride, Roman Holiday, the one where Julia Stiles goes to college with

the Prince of Denmark. It's a trope that has sold countless romance novels and earns the

Hallmark channel a significant chunk of their Christmas season profit.

Because of the nature of the trope, many of these stories share a central conflict.

Do you choose love or do you choose duty?

For Princess Maco of Akashino, now known simply as Maco Komuro, the choice was clear.

Quote, for me, Kai is irreplaceable, Mako told the press of her now husband.

Marriage was a necessary choice to be able to protect our hearts in a

cherishing way. We, the two of us, will start our new life.

If Mako and Kay's story is ringing any bells, you might have seen pictures of them out and about

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