Dayeong wasn't sure what she was expecting when the King and Queen called her and Eric into their office early that morning. Maybe she was expecting more photoshoots. An interview, perhaps.  

What she had not been expecting was for them to ask her and Eric to move in together. 

"What?" Eric exclaimed, his voice raising. "What do you even mean by that? Technically, aren't we already living together? We're in the same house, aren't we? Isn't that good enough?" he groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration. 

She was glad he said it so that she didn't have to. 

"We think it'll be good for you guys to start sharing a room. We prepared it already. Juyeon's been working on it for a while, so don't worry, everything is completely ready. It's beautiful, you guys will love it," the Queen gushed. 

Juyeon's been working on it for a while. 

She blinked slowly, those words swimming around her head over and over again. She wasn't even sure how to feel, hearing that. Beside her, Eric tensed up, his hand momentarily balling into a fist as though he may turn around and punch Juyeon. 

Juyeon and Hyunjae were standing behind them since they were their guards. She suddenly felt a hundred times more aware of their presence. She wanted to turn around and look at Juyeon. She wanted to ask him something, though she wasn't even sure what. 

What did she want to ask him. Why didn't he tell her? Probably because he couldn't, he wasn't allowed to. Why didn't he answer her question? Would he like her, would he consider her if she wasn't a Princess? Probably not. That's probably why he didn't answer. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to push away her mounting tears. She would not cry. Not again. She'd be strong and accept his rejection gracefully.

She felt Eric's hand slip into hers and she opened her eyes, realizing that they were dismissed. She curtsied quickly to his parents and then left the room with him, their guards following close behind. 

"Are you alright?" Eric asked, letting go of her hand when they left the room. "You don't look well. I know that sharing a room is very... unideal," he said slowly, obviously hating the idea as much as her. "But we'll figure something out," he said, trying to sound optimistic. "Don't worry too much. Are you okay?" he asked again, looking at her with worry in his eyes. 

Dayeong forced a smile. "I'm fine," she assured him, though she felt lightheaded. She hadn't been eating or drinking much lately. Her appetite had simply disappeared, and she spent most of her time reading, watching tv, or sleeping. 

Most of all, she just felt lonely. She was grateful for Eric's friendship, but she missed her home. She missed her brother and she missed her guards who were like an extended family to her. 

"I'm going to go to my room for a little bit," she told Eric. "Are we doing anything later today?" 

"We have to go check out our new room at some point today," he said, making a disgusted face at her. "Let's look for escape routes," he suggested playfully, making her laugh. 

"Okay, let's do that later," she agreed, stopping in front of her room door. The world was spinning beneath her, and she struggled to hold onto her smile as he nodded and she watched him leave. 

Her fingers grasped the doorknob and she opened the door, her legs giving in as soon as she entered the room. 

Juyeon ran forward, catching her in his arms. She heard him kick the door closed. "Your Highness, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice panicked. "Do you need me to get the doctors?" 

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. He lifted her into his arms and her eyes flew open of their own accord, not leaving his face as he walked over to her bed, placing her on the soft covers. 

"Do you need anything?" he asked again. 

"Some food?" she said softly. "I haven't eaten yet." 

Juyeon's eyes widened and he sighed, looking at her with disapproval. "You're going to get yourself sick like that," he murmured, taking out his phone and stepping aside to call someone. 

She closed her eyes, feeling hot tears run down her cheeks. She hated it. She hated being this weak. 

She just wanted to go home. At first, when she'd arrived here, she wanted to draw out her visit for as long as possible. But now she just wanted to leave. She had nothing keeping her here anymore. 

All the stress from the past weeks that she'd bottled up seemed to escape her and she couldn't stop herself from crying. 

She was scared. She'd never been in the publicity this much before. But now she saw the comments. Angry people hating on her, saying she wasn't good enough for the Prince. People questioning why so little was known about her, wondering if there was something she was trying to hide. She remembered the airport incident and knew that she wasn't loved by this Kingdom. 

Maybe she really wasn't good enough. 

"The food will be here in a minute... what's wrong?" Juyeon asked, rushing over to sit on the bed beside her as he seemed to just realize she was crying. 

"I'm sorry," was all she managed to get out. "I'm sorry." 

"Why are you sorry? Don't be sorry," he insisted. 

Dayeong couldn't meet his eyes. She just covered her mouth with one hand, trying to stop her sobs from escaping her. It wasn't working. All the fears and insecurities she'd been hiding for years behind kind smiles and dainty curtsies... they all were coming to the surface now. She couldn't hide them anymore. 

She had a terrible feeling that she was going to end up being forced to marry Eric. And while she knew that wouldn't be the worst thing, since they were close, she also knew that she didn't want to be in a marriage without love. Sure, she liked him. Maybe even loved him, but as her friend, not as a lover. They weren't in love. She didn't want to be married to someone who wasn't in love with her, and she especially didn't want to break apart Eric and Chanmi. She couldn't do that to them. But she sensed that she had little choice in the matter. She'd known it all along, of course. She never had any choice in the matter. 

But behind all those thoughts was one, the most pressing of all. 

She wasn't ready to be Queen. 

Dayeong knew how these things worked. After they got married, maybe it would be a mere year or two before Eric would be asked to take the throne. 

And she wasn't ready for that. 

"Hey... don't cry," Juyeon said softly, sounding at a loss of what to do. 

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I'm fine," she said, though she knew it wasn't convincing. "You can go." 

She could feel his hesitation in the air around them, almost tangible. She felt him shift and assumed he was leaving, but he moved forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. 

Dayeong held onto the soft material of his shirt and cried. "I hate myself," she whispered. "So much." 

"Why?" he murmured, patting her back gently. 

"Because I'm so weak," she cried softly. "I should be stronger. I should be able to easily face the press. I should be able to let any hate I receive just roll off my shoulders. I should be ready to be Queen. But I'm not," she said, her voice breaking. Juyeon didn't say anything, he just held her tight. "I'm not ready," she said again. "I'm scared, really scared. And I hate it. I shouldn't be scared. I shouldn't be here crying. I should be doing something. I should be making my own choices. But I feel like I can't... I feel like I have no control... and I just feel so lost," she whispered, still crying. 

She didn't say anything else after that, and neither did Juyeon. He just stayed with her, holding her in his arms until her tears subsided.