I woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning. I’d slept horribly last night. I couldn’t forgive myself. Had I always thought of us as friends? Had I led him on?

I looked at the prince. He was still asleep on the uncomfortable couch.

I jumped out the bed. I changed my clothes and quietly left the room. I needed fresh air. I needed to think.

I walked out the hotel and down the street. I made sure to take in my surroundings, taking note of important landmarks so I could find my way back.

The streets were fairly empty not as crowded as last night, since it was still early morning. There were a few people walking around, enjoying the quiet misty morning air that’ll probably disappear in a couple hours. Others were setting up their stations for the next set of activities for the day. The sky was clear and a bright baby blue. A gentle cold breeze accompanied it.

The streets were highly decorated with streamers and ribbons that crossed the sky, painting it with red, white, pink, and gold colors. There were plenty of dragon decorations paper ones and statues.

I sat down at a bench taking in the calm environment that opposed my scattered mind. It was relatively quiet. Everyone who was out seemed to have an unspoken agreement to enjoy the cool silence. Except for a group of friends that were sat at a table outside one of the dining shops across the streets.

They drank tea and chatted loudly, not caring if their voices disturbed the fragile air. It was hard tuning out their chatter. I contemplated on leaving when the topic of their conversation suddenly changed.

“Who do you think the prince will choose?”

I paused, but shook my head, deciding not to think much about it. Maybe I misheard it. However, I stayed seated anyway.

“Are you bringing that up again?” A second voice spoke.

“Yes. I’m sure he’s going to choose someone this month. It only makes sense. Why do you think he had all those dates everyday for the past few months? And no dates this month? I think it’s obvious. The first person insisted.

I furrowed my brow. I looked up to get a better look at the group. There was 4 of them (2 girls and 2 guys). It was clear from their decorative attire that they came from high class families.

“I think she’s right.” One of the guys at their table agreed.

The second girl still looked doubtful.

“Of course he’ll choose someone.” The second guys spoke up, earning everyone’s attention. “It’s just a matter of when. Prince Yunho is unpredictable, it’s nearly impossible to predict when. But Queen Jung would most likely want to announce it this month. But who knows? We don’t know if the decision has already been made. There are still more events planned.” He spoke with confidence.

My body subconsciously leaned forward as I listened closely to their conversation. They were talking about Yunho. What did he have to choose? Dates? He hadn’t mentioned anything about making a decision this month or at any time, and it sounded like an important decision. Nor did he mention anything about dates.

“Events? What do you mean?” The first guy asked curiously.

“I overheard my mother talking about how the Queen invited all the families of the prince’s prospective partners to the palace to watch the Dragon Lover’s play later this month.” The second guy informed.

His friends’ eyes all widened.

“Will he choose then?” The first girl questioned.

“I don’t think so. That would be embarrassing for those who didn’t get chosen. It’s basically public rejection.” The second girl doubted.

“Not if we’re all getting rejected together.” The first girl shrugged.

“I don’t mind a little public humiliation.” The second guy smirked, sipping his hot tea.

“That’s because you’re confident you’ll get chosen.” The guy across from him rolled his eyes, receiving and indifferent shrug.

“How did your date go Hajun? You never told us.” The first girl asked, earning an untamed smirk from her friend.

“It went well. Better than even I can plan. We have a lot in common.” The second guy stated.

“I’m not surprised. Who wouldn’t want to date you? The prince even mentioned you during our date, and mine was a couple of weeks after yours.” The first girl pouted.

“I heard a lot of people had great experiences, but a lot also had completely disastrous ones. I was lucky enough to have a decent one. He was nice but I said some stupid thing.” She cursed herself under her breath.

“I think we already know who he’ll choose. It’s either Hajun or Nayoung. You two come from the wealthiest aristocratic families in the nation.” The second girl stated, earning a disapproving scoff from the guy named Hajun.

“I’m not worried about Nayoung. She’s a joke. She only went on the date because her father forced her. She’s already dating that peasant merchant anyway. I heard she left that date early to go on another date with that merchant.” He sneered in disgust.

“Wow Hajun-ah~, I envy you. I really think he’ll choose you as his partner.” The first girl awed.

Partner?

I leaned too far falling off the bench. I crashed into a pedestrian that was running by.

The two of us fell to the ground.

The person groaned under me. My eyes shot wide.

“I’m so sorry!” I crawled off him.

The stranger slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He was also dressed in expensive clothing. I couldn’t see his face for the fringes of his hair barely covered his eyes, but from what I could see, he looked young.

I looked around to find several papers splayed across the ground.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” I apologized again, quickly picking up his papers for him.

“Leave it.”

His tone was cold and distant.

I continued to grab the rest of his belongings until I came across a large painting.

I paused, lost by the painting. It was an image of a silhouette of two dragons in the night sky with various paintings of exotic plants across the bottom. They were similar to the flowers from the glass garden last night.

“Hey! Did you hear me? I said-,”

“This is amazing.” I whispered.” Taking in as much as the intricate picture as I could.

“Did you paint this?” I turned to him.

He blinked, staring at me in surprise.

I waited expectantly for his answer.

“You think I painted it?” He asked instead.

“Well, yeah. You were carrying it around.”

He stared at me still stunned, before forcing his eyes away, looking off to the side. “Yeah, I painted it, so what? It’s just a stupid painting.”

This time I was taken by surprise. Why would he say that? Unless he’s a perfectionist I looked back at the painting. I’m no artist but it looked perfect to me. What more could you do it? I turned back to him. I was about to ask but was interrupted before I could open my mouth.

“Master Changmin.” A soft voice called.

We both turned in the direction to where the voice came from. It was an older lady. She was stood on the other end of the street several feet away from us.

Her gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She wore a long black cotton dress that barely touched the tips of her black leather shoes and a white apron tied around her waist. Her face was gentle like that of a nurturing grandmother, but her eyes held a strictness to it.

The guy in front of me turned away from her growling under his breath. He snatched the stack of papers from my hand. He reached for the painting, but I managed to grab it first.

He glared at me with hateful eyes.

I smiled at him. “You’re painting is wonderful. You have amazing talent.”

He was unable to maintain eye contact with me. He grabbed the large painting out of my hand and quickly jumped to his feet. I watched him walk away to the elderly lady.

His reaction was strange, but I did hope he sticks to painting, no matter what the reason as for him hating it.

I sighed, deciding not to think much about it. It wasn’t my business anyway.

I glanced across the street to find that the group of friends were gone. I frowned. None of what they said made sense. Dates? Choosing a partner? What was that all about? He’d never mentioned it in his letters, unless he planned on telling me later in person.

Was he planning on going to the play at the palace?

I shook my head.

Don’t think about it. He’ll tell you. He tells you everything. Why would this be different?

However, the thoughts refused to leave my mind.

When I returned to the room, he was still asleep on the couch, showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. I frowned and walked up to the couch. “Yunho.” I called his name, but he didn’t respond.

“Yunho.” I lightly shook him, but he didn’t wake.

My frown deepened feeling irritated. “Wake up.” I lightly kicked his side with the tip of my toe.

His eyes slowly opened. A soft smile grew on his lips when he saw me.

I looked away, fighting the burning sensation on my cheeks. “Are we going out today/” I murmured losing the strength to say whatever it was I was gonna say. I couldn’t even remember what it was. I just knew it wasn’t meant to