"Thank you," she says unclasping the necklace from around her neck. It makes a jingling sound as it slips onto her palm.

He looks up from the flowers lying on the table but makes no move to take the object from her. The light of the candles throwing a array of colours around the room make him look almost menacing, which is far from what he actually is.

"Are you not going to take it?" She finally asks, hating the silence hanging in the air. It was never like this between them.

"Consider it a gift for your marriage," he answers, going back to the flowers. He picks up a rose, a blue one and starts plucking it's petals.

She sighs, withdrawing her hand, the necklace still in her grasp.

"I.....," She starts but there is nothing to say so she just shuts .  It's after a while of unbearable silence that she decides it's time to go. He doesn't want her there anyway. Since when did it become this way? 

"Will you come?" She asks, there is this need to know whether he'll attend the marriage ceremony.

" No," comes the simple reply and she's almost relieved.

Then she's turning around and walking towards the door, her last meeting with him like this, her last goodbye. She remembers the time when there used to be actual light in his room and in his eyes. But that time is gone and no matter how hard she tries, it won't come back.

She walks out and shuts the door but not before pleading, "Please don't hate me like this Kyung."

She finds Zico in the balcony with Timoteo. They are talking about something but as soon as he sees her, the conversation stops.

"Is it time to go?" Timoteo asks pushing himself off the wall.

"Yes," she rasps, clutching the necklace tighter, "Yes it is."

He looks at her and she knows he can read it, the black cloud over her head. But he says nothing and she's thankful for that. That had been the reason she brought him along and not Jade. Timoteo understands her in a way that scares her.

"Well then Zico, till we meet again," he bids him farewell and moves towards her.

She nods at the host and he nods back at her. It's just a moment but she sees it, the flash of pain, of memories in his eyes and then he covers it up, the mask of strength in its place. 

"Kill me," she wants to say but couldn't. She has duties, she can't die, not yet.

"Meliha," Zico calls as she falls into step behind Timoteo. She halts but doesn't look back, afraid of what she might see, "Don't.....," He starts and she's clutching her heart because it hurts, it hurts so bad, "don't come here again."

She could only nod.

"Why did you agree?" Taekwoon asks, making himself comfortable on one of the chairs. Hakyeon is busy shuffling through some documents.

"Huh?" The king asks, not taking his eyes off the papers. The recent attacks of the hunters seem to concentrate more or less around the North areas. From the information he has gathered, it seems as if they are looking for something there. The question is, What are they searching for?

"The marriage proposal, why did you agree to it?"

"Why wouldn't have I agreed?" He questions back, taking into account the road connecting them to the Northern Province. There isn't much communication between the two kingdoms, and that portrays on the condition of the road which is more than half forest.

"Seohyun noona?" Comes a meek voice. Taekwoon never liked pruding. They never really had a real conversation on the topic. He regrets it now.

"I love her," finally Hakyeon lets go of the papers and instead focus on his best friend, "but I couldn't even bear the thought of sharing her."

"So you gave up on that love? Just like that?"

"It wasn't easy. I tried to stop the feelings from growing but I couldn't. But somewhere in the back of my mind I knew, we will never happen. She deserves someone better, normal."

"And the girl?"

"Hyuk wants her, it's quite clear. The rest of you seem to respond to her as well. The fact that she's an Omega and a royal one at that is a bonus."

"And what about you?"

There is silence for a while and Taekwoon wonders if he asked the wrong question, but then Hakyeon answers, "She has got nothing to do with me."

"Don't be upset Mel," Timoteo tries to cheer up his companion as they make their way through the forest. The chirping of the birds making their journey pleasant.

"Hmm," the girl answers, uninterested. A sign her mind is somewhere else.

"What's bothering you?" He asks, eyeing her profile.

"Did I....," She starts, the necklace around her neck heavy, "Did I do the right thing?"

He stops at that, the forest around them full of life, "Did you?"

"Am asking you, you stupid!" And there it is, the life in her.

"Honestly I don't know," he answers, "but what other choice do we have? We're slowly losing this battle and being a small kingdom, we don't have a big army or ammunition. We need help."

That's what she likes about him, though he's brutally honest but he knows how to uplift people's spirits while stating the truth.

 "But I tricked them," she confesses and it feels nice because she knows he won't judge her, he never does.

"As I said we don't have another choice. And aren't you helping them in return as well?"

"Am I?" She questions because it feels more like she's forcing this marriage on them and on herself as well. 

"Would the council have approved if we didn't offer them the marriage? They want stability in the Kingdom of United. They can deny all they want but we both know that the kingdom is the only thing that's keeping a war from breaking out between the gifted."

"Hmm," and if the war does break out, the council will lose all their power because in a time of chaos nobody cares for rules and the people keeping those rules in place.

In the end everybody is tricking everybody to survive.

"I did the right thing," she concludes.