"I have found the perfect paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." -- Mother Teresa.

Over the course of the next few days, the prince and the pauper didn't talk, they didn't utter a word to each other, no friendly conversation about how to style Jisoo's hair, or what he'd wear, instead they just existed alongside one another with a dicey tension clinging in the air. It almost felt as if all the time that Jisoo had spent trying to tear away Wonwoo's frigid exterior had gone straight to waste, and they were back to being complete strangers.

The prince was sitting in his father's quarters, legs crossed as he stared across the table at a young woman who had dark hair that framed her porcelain face perfectly. She had onyx eyes that looked almost as dull as the prince's were about having to be a part of this meeting, seeming to have trouble finding where to look as her eyes darted between the king, the prince, and the pauper who was standing in the corner. Her plump lips were puckered perfectly so she could top off the doll-like appearance, letting it slip for the sake of smiling as she spoke.

"I think that you marrying me would be a wise decision because I've always admired the Hong Kingdom, your family has always had such a benevolent rule."

Jisoo cleared his throat, eyebrows knit together, and his left eye twitching in general annoyance about the day. He leaned over, and threaded his fingers together, dropping his head over his knuckles.

"Okay, and Miss.. Saiko, was it? Please, inform me of this kingdom's highest industry, if you're so invested in the way we run things around here." The mundane meeting had turned into what could only be described as an interrogation. The king had made a face at the prince, only to be replied to with a sly smirk, Jisoo trying his best to assure his father that he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Your kingdom's highest industry is the agriculture, the highest output in the land." The woman smiled proudly, so confident in her answer, staring back at the men across the table with a toothy grin, the excitement within her over what she must've assumed was a right answer was plain to see on her beaming face.

"And, lastly, what is our most bartered item in the entire kingdom?" The prince's voice was flat, wondering just what kind of answer the princess across the table would end up making up to answer him. It was growing boring, spending days interviewing women of influence who barely even seemed to know his name.

"Oranges!" The young woman's response was quick, and entirely wrong, earning a loud scoff out of the prince as he handed the scroll she'd walked in with containing her name, and kingdom information back to her.

"Ma'am, listen, I'm sure you've got a good heart, but I can't marry someone who knows nothing about this kingdom. We haven't always been benevolent, in fact, there was a war waged by this kingdom last year for new land. Our highest industry is the weaponry industry, we unlike most kingdoms in the country have an equal amount of farmers and blacksmiths, and I'm sure if you know anything about how agriculture works, you would know that knives are easier to churn out than armor. Now, leave." Jisoo's tone was cold and harsh as he stood up, and walked out of the king's chambers, not bothering to look back, or even pause for a polite sendoff.

His footsteps were loud as he stormed up to his bedroom, his footfalls echoing through the massive corridors of the castle as he made his way upstairs. Wonwoo had hung back a moment, conferring with the king and the visiting princess, apologizing for the prince's sour behavior before he excused himself to seek out the prince, promising the tongue lashing of a lifetime for his rudeness to their visitor, trying to spare Jisoo the punishment from his father.

The loud clamor of footprints followed by the slamming of a door gave away Jisoo's location as Wonwoo hurried upstairs, he didn't even bother to knock to announce himself as he entered the prince's room, pausing a second as he looked at the prince that was huddled up in the windowsill of his room. The servant closed the door behind him, and grabbed the chair near the vanity in the room, turning it so he could look at the prince.

"Would you mind explaining what that spectacle downstairs was, sir?" Wonwoo asked, tone conveying both his frustration and embarrassment in the way the prince chose to conduct himself, wondering exactly what the motive behind it could possibly be.

"She was wrong."

"Yes, but that was no reason to basically call her a moron."

"She was. She was lying straight to my face. She didn't care about me, my kingdom, or my people. She only cared about the money in it."

"Sir," Wonwoo paused, taking a deep breath in, and exhaling quietly, pained by the explanation, but still trying his best to be understanding about it. The prince had lost a lot in his life, so it made sense that he would want someone who actually cared, but it was still utterly inexcusable. "You have to realize that not everyone cares."

"It makes sense that you might say that." The prince spoke with a forked tongue, and the words were like a hollow point bullet aimed at Wonwoo's chest.

"Excuse me?" The servant asked, trying to bite back the frustration that was pooling inside of him.

"You opened up, and then after I kissed you, you just seemed to go back to the same old Wonwoo, silent, chilly, mysterious and private." Jisoo moved to the other side of the window so that he could look at Wonwoo, his blank face proving to be yet another blow in the verbal fight it felt was about to begin.

"That one isn't quite my fault, sir. I asked you politely not to do it again."

"Why? Was it bad?"

"No, but I'm not sure how that matters." Wonwoo's eyebrows were tight, and he started to feel hot even though there were little goosebumps popping up all over his skin.

"I think that it does matter." The prince slung his legs off the windowsill, kicking them back and forth, staring down at them for a moment, before he looked back to Wonwoo, who's face had begun turning a soft shade of pink. His mind was riddled with ways to try to speak what was actually on his mind, but instead it all came out with awkward prose, and lost meaning. It was infuriating that Jisoo couldn't just outright say the things that were on his mind, but it had been a learned behavior from his father. 'Never show your feelings, always hide your bluff.'

"And why is that, sir?" Wonwoo's voice was tired, obviously fed up with the way that Jisoo had been acting over the last few days, finally trying to find some reason behind it, and only being given answers in the form of cryptic nothings, and questions tossed back at him.

"Do you remember what I said to you in the garden after you hugged me?" Jisoo stood up, and stuck his hands in his pockets, staring at the servant in the chair as if he could bore a hole through him with his eyes. Wonwoo only offered a nod in response, but his face still served to show the confusion in how it mattered.

"I told you that I thought that you cared about me more than anyone. And I even said I could only see you being the only constant in my future."

"Yes sir, I know, but what does that have to do with anything? I'm just a servant." The response from Wonwoo earned a loud groan from the prince, who's hands had moved to ball up in his hair, staring up at the ceiling as if looking for some sort of message from god written up there. Jisoo crawled to the middle of his bed, pointing a finger in front of him. Wonwoo huffed, still getting up and sitting on the bed in front of Jisoo, letting his hair hang in his face to try to hide the budding pink that was swelling across his cheeks, to absolutely no avail when the prince's hands cupped his cheeks, making sure that they were looking each other in the eye.

"It has everything to do with it. I meant everything that I said, a-and I realize that I messed up along the way. I wasn't kissing you for some sort of weird, simple satisfaction, I was kissing you because I don't know how to talk about my feelings." Jisoo's expression had softened, and his voice had finally toned down from his obvious upset to a barely-heard whisper of sincerity. Wonwoo's cheeks turned from a soft pink to a deep red, and his teeth grit down on the tip of his tongue to try to calm the flutter in his heart, trying to turn the blossoming feeling into pain to distract from the prince's fingertips tracing over his cheekbones.

"S-sir, please." Wonwoo begged, for nothing in specific, wishing he could ask the prince to stop this, despite the fact that his soft hands felt like heaven on his cheeks.

"Wonwoo, please. Try to understand. I spend everyday with you, and I finally got the chance to see a glimpse of who you are, and I want to see more. You know me better than anyone, and you actually care about what I think or feel. I care about you too. More than I would like to admit." The prince was playing copycat now, his cheeks were rosy in his embarrassment at the confession. Wonwoo's lips had parted, and his eyes were wide, replaying the moments in the garden, and wanting to kick himself for not realizing what the prince had really been saying.

"Sir, I've been your seer for years now, and these last few months it's gotten harder to hide, because we've gotten closer and closer, since I have actually been opening up, knowing that you weren't fond of worker's who merely came to do a job and leave at the end of the day. I moved into the castle under your recommendation, and shortly after, I considered quitting because I realized that I had feelings for you." Wonwoo's words were soft, quiet, uttered like he was worried that someone may walk in on the two of them in this interesting position, despite the fact that he was the only person in the castle who dared to enter this room without knocking.

"Wonw-" The prince's words were interrupted by a flash of dark hair, and a warm pair of lips against his, the pair of lips that had been plaguing his dreams for the past days, the only pair of lips that the prince deemed worthy of moments like this. Jisoo's lips eagerly returned the kiss, finally feeling some peace over the disastrous days prior, it almost entirely made up for not hearing the sweet honey voice of the pauper at the sake of his own idiocy. The kiss was sweet, and peaceful, longer than the other two they'd had, and it was only broken so that they could catch a breath.

The servant pulled away from the kiss, with a wide grin on his face, and leaned in ever-so-slightly so that he could rest his forehead against Jisoo's. "I love you too." Wonwoo murmured, his words almost disfigured by the smile on his face.

A/N: Okay, I had to churn this out at the speed of light because I felt really bad about where I left that last chapterr, so have this as an apology. <3