“I-It was you? But...why?” Somin felt tears start to well up in her eyes. “Why would you…?”

“I was getting desperate. It was only a matter of time before people found out the truth about you. I had to kill my wife and daughter because they were going to tell. If they told, the entire kingdom would be in an uproar,” he replied. “I couldn’t have that happen.”

“What do you mean?”

Her dad’s expression hardened as he looked her dead in the eyes. “I kidnapped you when you were a baby from the previous royal family.”

Somin gasped. Her body started to shake as she stepped back from the cell door. “Y-You what? I-I’m… a princess?”

“Yes,” the man in the cell replied. “And this person you’re here with”—he held up the flyer with Mark’s picture on it—“he’s the prince of Thyslao. I bet he didn’t tell you that. You wouldn’t be here with him if he did.”

Somin snatched the flyer away and stared at the flyer with shock. “Y-You’re the prince?”

Mark bit his bottom lip. “I...I wanted to tell you.”

Somin gripped onto the flyer in anger and it burst into flames. She exhaled heavily and pushed past Mark, heading down the hall.

“Somin,” Mark called out as he followed after her. He caught up to her outside of the jail out on the street where she stopped.

She turned to him, angry tears streaming down her face. “You… S-So… when you asked me about… what I thought if you told me that you were a prince, you weren’t kidding?”

“Yeah…”

“So, you were lying to me this entire time… I told you I didn’t need any more liars in my life.” Tears escaped Somin’s eyes as she spoke. “Now… it’s not only you. My dad, or whoever he is, was lying to me all my life too… I can’t believe this…”

“Not everything I told you was a lie…”

“It doesn’t matter… You still lied to me about who you were. How hard would it have been if you just told me that you were the prince?”

“Oh yeah, like I could even go around telling people who I am.” Mark clenched his fists feeling annoyance start to build up within him. “Tell me that if I told you upon our first meeting that the worst king in Thyslaoan history is my dad. Everyone would automatically hate me because of who he is, including you. And I’m about to inherit all the ed up things he’s done to Thyslao and the hate of every single resident on this continent because of him. I would rather be lied to than have to deal with the he’s done. I’ve been under a lot of pressure because of all of this and you’re complaining about being lied to?”

Somin choked back a sob as she listened to Mark speak. She looked down and wiped the tears off of her cheeks. “You’re right. I have no right to be complaining about being lied to for my entire life compared to what you have to deal with, but it still hurts. I trusted him… and I trusted you… I was naive and stupid for being so trusting… And can you believe how stupid it was of me to actually start to fall for you? Crazy, right?” She let out a breath as she smiled weakly at him. “I hope you have a good life, Prince Mark. Go ahead and marry your Cresthan princess… Go fix all your dad’s -ups if you can… You won’t ever see me again…”

She turned and bolted down the street leaving Mark there surprised. Mark let out a loud groan as he stared down at the ground. “Taehyung was right… I guess an arranged marriage isn’t so bad for me,” he muttered to himself. Mark looked up at the sky as it slowly turned a shade of pink.

“I thought I would find you here, Highness,” he heard. He looked up to see the head of the Royal guard, Minjun walking up to him. “It’s time to go home. Your father is worried and your marriage is soon. There is much to still prepare.”

Mark sighed and nodded. “Sure, whatever… Just… I want to make a stop in the Lost World District before we head back to Trinsa Island. I wish to speak with Jinyoung.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Jinyoung knocked on the door to Somin’s place for Bambam to answer the door. “Is Somin here?”

“She’s in her room.” Bambam stepped out of the way as Jinyoung walked in. He went over to Somin’s room door and knocked softly.

“Somin? Are you okay in there? You’ve been in there for three days.”

“Go away.”

Jinyoung sighed and pulled an invitation to Mark’s wedding from his pocket. “I’m about to leave to go to the prince’s wedding but I would like to have a plus one. Why don’t you come with me?”

“You can’t even leave the district, Jinyoung,” said Somin. “How do you expect to go?”

“There are exceptions… Come on, Somin. I hate to go alone.”

“Then take Bambam or Yugyeom. They loved Mark.”

“You love him, too, Somin. You can’t hide that from me.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Somin, please. Just… see him one more time.” Jinyoung tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. He slowly opened it and smiled finding Somin sitting on her bed with a pout on her face. “If you can’t stand being there, I’ll bring you home. But please, come with me. Sana will be there.”

Somin sighed. “Fine, I’ll go. But I’m not wearing a dress.”

Jinyoung laughed. “Fine. Just use something nice then.”