After some time of playing with the dogs, Jaesi grew restless because Brownie and Blondie were too excited to play with the toddler that they scared her away. So Ahri moved inside the palace, where one of the staffs immediately showed Ahri the playing room that was reserved for Jaesi.

Inside the room was full of baby toys and soft mattresses. It was also a lot cooler than the outside temperature. Jaesi immediately wobbled towards the plushies on the mattress once Ahri put her down. She couldn’t help the soft laugh upon hearing the loud squeal Jaesi emit when she got a grip on the pink plushie.

For the next half hour or so, Ahri kept playing with Jaehyun’s niece. At some point, one of the staffs brought snacks for both her and the toddler. They were eating the cookies when the Prince finally entered the room.

“Oh no! No, the teddy doesn’t want cookies, honey!” Ahri laughed when Jaesi tried to shove the cookie into the doll’s mouth, making it covered in cookie crumble all over.

“Hey,” Jaehyun called, closing the door behind him as he entered.

Ahri turned towards him, “Hi! Your niece keeps trying to feed the dolls,” Ahri laughed.

Jaehyun laughed in turn as he watched his niece. He was about to join Ahri on the floor, but then stopped when he saw how uncomfortable Ahri’s position was. The Lady was actually wearing a blazer and suit skirt, and sitting on the floor was difficult for her, so she had to fold her legs to the side, lifting her skirt up a couple inches. The Prince then grabbed a small blanket nearby and spread it carefully on top of her lap.

Ahri was surprised at the gentle manner that she couldn’t help the blush covering her face. She didn’t realize that she had been sitting in a compromising position.

It felt like Jaehyun kept on surprising her.

“She can be stubborn when she’s into something,” Jeahyun spoke as he fixed the blanket on Ahri’s lap.

Once the Prince sat down with them, Jaesi finally acknowledged her uncle’s presence. The baby brought her doll towards Jaehyun, indicating that she wanted him to play with her and her doll. Jaehyun chuckled and cooed as Jaesi blabbered about something. “Honey, look at his face, it’s all dirty, because of that cookie,” Jaehyun said with a soft voice. “Will you give uncle some of those cookies?”

Jaesi was standing in front of Jaehyun, holding a cookie in one hand. When she saw Jaehyun opening his mouth to her, she immediately shoved the cookie towards the Prince’s mouth, surprising both Jaehyun and Ahri. But both of them laughed at that.

“Thank you, darling,” he then pulled Jaesi towards his lap and kissed her chubby cheek.

“Where’s Seah?” Ahri asked.

“She’s visiting my father. It’s been quite some time since she last saw him,” Jaehyun was smoothing Jaesi’s hair.

Ahri nodded at that. She bit her lip for a second before asking the next question. “What were the two of you talking about earlier?” she said, watching him.

Jaehyun paused for a second, still brushing Jaesi’s hair, but not meeting Ahri’s gaze.

“I was telling her about Yerim,” he finally said in a low voice.

Jaesi was now crumpling the teddy’s ears in her hands.

Ahri cleared subtly. “I spoke with Sooyoung a couple days ago. She… told me a little bit of some insight on Lady Kim.”

“Sooyoung has never been fond of Yerim,” Jaehyun said indifferently.

That much was visible from the way Sooyoung described her to Ahri. But Ahri could understand where Sooyoung was coming from. She deeply cared about Jaehyun, and Ahri thought that Sooyoung was being as objective as she could.

Jaesi suddenly rose from Jaehyun’s lap and waddled towards the plate of cookies, bringing the doll with her.

There was a long pause between the two adults in the room as they watched the toddler, both with unspoken thoughts on their minds.

For Ahri, she didn’t know where they stood—or rather, where she stood in this situation. She felt like an intruder in this unfinished relationship between Jaehyun and Yerim. She didn’t like that, but there was not much as to what she could do.

“There’s actually something Sooyoung said that made me think…”

“What’s that?” Jaehyun turned to her.

Ahri slightly fidgeted in her place. “It’s the timing of all this…” she trailed.

Jaehyun frowned at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Have you ever thought why she came back just now?”

Jaehyun’s face was completely confused as he scrutinized her. “Why now?”

“Yes,” Ahri nodded once. “Why now that you’re getting married? Why not immediately when she found out that she was pregnant the first place?”

There was a pause before Jaehyun’s face changed into something harder. “She came back now because she was scared of having the baby alone. You don’t know her well, Ahri, but Yerim is an independent woman,” he said with a cold voice that made Ahri flinched slightly. “She had wanted to raise the baby alone, but then she was afraid, that’s why she decided to come back. She didn’t even know I was getting married.”

Jaehyun’s face was now stone cold like she had said something that offended him. She might have pressed the wrong button this time.

“I’m… I just…”

Jaehyun shook his head, “I told you not to do this, Ahri, and I mean it, don’t drag yourself into this.” And then, the Prince got up from the floor and sauntered towards where Jaesi was crouching. He then carried her up before getting out of the room, leaving Ahri alone with her thoughts.

This was the first time that Jaehyun was mad at her, and she caused that. But why did he become so defensive all of a sudden? Ahri was merely offering him a new perspective, yet he blocked it out and went to his reasoning.

Nonetheless, she felt bad that Jaehyun became mad at her. He had been nothing but nice and kind to her. And seeing him so cold and looking angry like that, shook her insides. She didn’t like the thought that he was angry with her.

♦♦♦

Ahri kept working hard on her lessons for the next few days. So much so that the Queen herself told her to take some time off. She refused at first, saying that she needed to learn everything before the test day came. But when the order came from the Queen herself, there was so much Ahri could do not to obey.

Jaehyun had been a little bit distant after that day when he snapped at her. He had cancelled their breakfast dates. Sooyoung even informed her that the Prince had to attend the National Economic Conference in another province, so he was out of town for a few days.

It worried her that the last time they spoke was when she was leaving the palace after his outburst. And at that time, Jaehyun was cold, only giving her a brief wave before sending her off. They didn’t speak ever since.

So, during her day off, Ahri decided to visit the organization office to check a few things. The palace had assigned two guards to accompany Ahri wherever she went. She was still uncomfortable with it, but she figured that she needed to get used to the feeling.

It had been so long since she last came to the office, and seeing the people inside gave her a refreshing kind of feeling. Everybody was surprised at her appearance, grinning widely and greeting her with a bow. There was a slight change in the way the employees were greeting and talking to her. She was originally well looked up, but this time, everyone was even more polite to her.

“Ahri?!”

“Chaeyoung-ah!”

“What are you doing here? I thought you were trapped in that castle forever!”

The two friends rushed towards each other and engulfed each other in a hug. It had felt ages since she last saw her friends, because she barely had time for herself or even see her friends. Ahri didn’t have that many friends, and Chaeyoung was one of her closest, so she was beyond glad to see her.

“Jaehyun is out of town, and the Queen gave me some time off. So, here I am…” Ahri shrugged.

“Jaeh—ooohhhh… you mean the Prince!” Chaeyoung gave a mischievous smile, teasing her friend.

Ahri laughed, “Yes, Prince Jaehyun.”

“Let’s get inside. Tell me how Princess life is treating you,” Chaeyoung glanced at the two tall men behind her friend before ushering her towards her office.

“I’m not the Princess yet, Chaey,” Ahri chuckled. The guards stopped at the entrance and took post nearby the door. Once they were inside and Chaeyoung closed the door behind her, Ahri turned to her friend. “Why is everybody looking at me funny?”

“Are you kidding? Do you not see the two giants towering you?”

Ahri laughed again. Park Chaeyoung was a very lively and bubbly woman, quite a different persona than Ahri herself. And she was grateful for her presence in her life because she brought new colors and vibes with her. Chaeyoung was like the fire to Ahri’s ice, and despite their differences, they matched each other.

“Seriously though, people are already seeing you as the Princess, boo,” Chaeyoung took a sit on her seat. “They’re so looking forward to the royal wedding. When is it anyway?”

“It’s in less than a month. They’re announcing the date tomorrow,” Ahri smoothened a fabric on her suit pants. “That’s actually why I’m here.”

“Oh?”

“You know, the wedding is pretty much all set, because the Queen herself is handling it. I didn’t have enough say in it, which I’m not complaining at all. But I figured that I have been feeling sort of alone whenever my mother and the Queen talk about the wedding. I realize that I need my best friend with me…” Ahri trailed.

Chaeyoung looked taken aback for a moment before recovering herself. “Sweetie, you can always call me whenever,” she reached out to grab Ahri’s hand. “You know I’m always here whenever you need me.”

Ahri smiled gratefully at her friend. “Thank you, Chaey.”

“Of course! You know I’m the best. Now, tell me everything I haven’t heard from the press,” Chaeyoung leaned forward with enthusiastic eyes.

 “I’ve grown close to the Prince, as you can tell. He’s been so kind and attentive towards me…”

“Prince charming, is he?” Chaeyoung raised her brows.

Ahri tried to smile, but then she remembered the state of relationship between her and Jaehyun right now. She didn’t know if she should tell her friend everything that had been happening—between her, Jaehyun, and Lady Kim Yerim. But she felt like she needed to pour her thoughts out to someone.

And if there’s anyone she could trust, it was her best friend.

“But I think I’ve gotten on his bad side…” Ahri looked down.

“Why, what happened?”

She then looked up at Chaeyoung with a serious face. “You can never tell anybody what I’m about to tell you, okay?”

“Of course,” Chaeyoung’s face was serious too now.

“I figured that Jaehyun’s ex-girlfriend is 8 months pregnant…”

Chaeyoung paused to sink in the information. “…with his baby?”

Ahri nodded. “But that’s not what’s actually bothering me at the moment…”

“How can that not bother you? The Prince is marrying you but he’s having a baby with another woman?!” Chaeyoung seemed livid.

“He just found out recently…” Ahri shook her head. “His ex-girlfriend suddenly came back after months of being away, with a huge bump.”

Chaeyoung still looked unsettled. “What does the Prince say about it?”

“He won’t abandon his child… he can’t…”

“That’s understandable, but he’s going to get married to you. What does he expect to happen when the press finds out about this?”

“I’ve got the PR team handling it,” Ahri mumbled.

Chaeyoung sighed as she looked at her friend. “As a friend, what matters here is what you think about this situation. So… what do you think?”

“I…” Ahri paused. “I’m actually not sure… I mean, I’ve shared my thoughts with Jaehyun, but he doesn’t seem to receive it well. He kind of snapped at me, and we haven’t talked ever since.”

“Why is he mad at you?” Chaeyoung looked even more troubled.

Ahri sighed as she leaned back and rubbed her forehead. She needed to tell the whole story for Chaeyoung to understand where she stood. “I talked to the Palace’s Chief Assistant, Sooyoung, who happened to be a close person to Jaehyun too. I asked what his ex-girlfriend was like, and I didn’t get a good response. I mean, Sooyoung could be biased, but I don’t think that she’s overrating. She said that she was suspicious of the timing—right when news of Jaehyun’s engagement came out. And she was suspicious as to why she came when she was already this far along…”

“Are you?”

“What?”

“Are you suspicious too?”

“Honestly?” Ahri took a deep breath before saying out loud what she really thought for the first time. “I think the baby could be anybody else’s as much as it is Jaehyun’s.”

There, she said it. She felt kind of guilty for thinking about it. Mainly, because as Jaehyun said, she didn’t know Yerim. But her logic told her that Yerim had been away for so long, and not even Jaehyun himself was aware if Yerim had been with another man or not.