Chanmi was in the training room she'd booked, waiting for the two "promising new recruits." She paced back and forth the length of the room. 

Her mind kept returning to Eric. 

This wasn't going to work. He had to get married. If it wasn't going to be Dayeong, it would have to be someone else. 

"He should just get married," she sighed to herself, tying her hair up in a ponytail. 

But saying those words aloud hurt. It meant she'd given up. 

Had she?

"He can always get divorced or something later on," she mumbled, pacing again. "But it seems too simple. Maybe it's not that easy. Maybe we should research that." 

There was a knock at the door and she startled, stopping in her tracks. She looked at the clock. She'd gotten to the training room really early so that she could be alone with her thoughts. The new recruits weren't scheduled to arrive yet. 

The door opened, and in walked Eric and Hyunjae. 

"Five minutes," Hyunjae said to Eric, his voice stern as he left the room again, closing the door and leaving them alone. 

"I'm sorry," Eric whispered, running up to her and pulling her into his arms. 

Chanmi held him back tightly, the tears she'd been holding back finally escaping her. "It's okay," she insisted. "It was bound to happen at some point anyway. We're just lucky things didn't turn out worse." 

"I'm sorry," he said again. 

She leaned out of the embrace so that she could see him. "I miss you," she said softly, tippy-toeing to kiss him. 

He didn't hesitate to kiss her back, and she could feel tears running down both of their cheeks as they kissed. It was a kiss that felt like their last. 

"I love you," he murmured against her lips, parting for a moment only to come back and kiss her again. His hands were on her waist, pulling her close to him, and she melted into his embrace. Her hands were strung around his neck, her fingers brushing his soft hair. "I love you, and I miss you," he whispered, finally pulling away. They were both out of breath, and he touched her forehead to hers, staring into her eyes intently. "Still, I'm not giving up on you." 

She blinked rapidly, not wanting to cry anymore. "I think you have to consider it," she whispered, her voice breaking. "If you refuse to get married to Dayeong... your parents will have someone else. I don't think there ever was a Prince who rose to the throne before getting married. Before you have any power you'll need to get married. And isn't Dayeong the best option?" 

"But if I give into that... what if I have to give in to everything?" he whispered back. "What if I end up having to give up everything? What if by the time I have enough power to bring you by my side... it's too late?" 

Chanmi wiped the tears off of her face. "We'll have to wait and see," she said softly, trying to sound brave. "We'll just have to hope everything works out." 

"I'm scared," he blurted out. "What if they tell me I have to get married before I can become King? And then when I do that, what if they say we have to produce a heir first? How can I do that? To you... to Dayeong... to me. I can't." 

She held his hands tight. "We'll figure it out," she said confidently. "We can. I'm sure of it. But you have to go now before we get caught." 

As if on cue, Hyunjae came back into the room. "Your Highness, we have to go." 

Eric bent down, pressing a kiss against her forehead before following Hyunjae out of the room. 

She sank to the floor, hugging her knees into her chest. He was right. There were a lot of what-ifs ahead of them. 

But didn't every relationship have what-ifs? No matter what choices they made, there were going to be things that could go wrong. 

Maybe they should just make decisions that they thought were best, and make those decisions now. Maybe they should stop focusing on the what-ifs and just worry about those problems when they arise. 

She closed her eyes, feeling so, so lost.