Ahri almost jolted awake. She pulled in a deep breath as she realized that she was sleeping in somebody else’s room. But then she remembered the happenstance that occurred the night before. That made her open her eyes slowly.

She was immediately met with a pair of tired eyes looking back at her. Their faces were inches apart, but Jaehyun still felt too close for her. And she didn’t expect to see his face early in the morning. So she closed her eyes again and buried her face in her hands, trying to gain some composure.

“I’m sorry, I overslept,” she said, slowly waking up. The entire room was exactly as it was; Jaehyun’s shoes and socks were on the floor next to the bed, and so were her heels. They were still fully clothed in last night’s attire. Even the Prince’s sheets didn’t move.

The curtains were already lit, indicating that the sun had risen. Ahri glanced around to find a clock, and noticed one on the wall. It was eight in the morning, and they had been asleep for almost 12 hours. Ahri figured that the Prince must have been so exhausted.

Ahri glanced to the side again towards Jaehyun, who was still staring at the empty space where Ahri was laying. “Do you… want some breakfast, Jaehyun?” Ahri tentatively asked.

Jaehyun didn’t answer immediately. He took a couple of breaths before finally speaking. “The last thing my father said to me was that I shouldn’t be worried about taking over his place… because it’s in my blood.”

He sounded almost robotically, and it broke Ahri’s heart to hear him like that. “I don’t doubt that,” she replied in a small voice.

Jaehyun didn’t react to what Ahri just said. It was apparent that he was caught in his own trance, his mind wandering elsewhere. Ahri was almost scared because she did not know what to do. She did not know how to deal with this. She wished Jaehyun would come back to his usual self sooner.

A knock then sounded from outside the door. Ahri was instantly alert, because she was on the bed with the Prince, and it could be the Queen behind that door looking to check on her son. So she quickly got up from the bed and tidied herself up. She waited for the person to enter the room but nobody came. Instead, they knocked once again.

So Ahri made her way towards the door after giving Jaehyun one last glance to make sure he was alright. He was still staring into the space.

Ahri was met with Jinri’s face upon opening the door. “Milady,” she said with a slight bow. “I was informed that you were staying with the Prince, and I wanted to check if you needed anything this morning.”

“Umm…” Ahri paused for a moment, glancing back at Jaehyun who was still on the bed. And then she turned back to Jinri. “Can you arrange a breakfast for Jaehyun here? Nothing big, though, just something easy like a toast and milk.”

“Alright, milady,” Jinri said, nodding before turning around and go.

Jinri was a few steps away when Sooyoung appeared from the corner of the hallway. Once she saw her, Ahri stepped out and closed the door behind her, sauntering towards Sooyoung.

“Milady, how is the Prince doing?”

Ahri sighed sadly, “He’s still shaken, I think…”

Sooyoung nodded, looking down. The woman was holding her phone in her hand like usual, but Ahri could hear it buzzing from time to time.

“The Queen?”

“The Queen is currently with your mother, Milady. Your father has been helping in arranging the funeral. It’s been so busy since 5 a.m., the news of the King’s demise is all over the news as we speak.”

Ahri nodded, hugging herself. The entire atmosphere had become so cold suddenly. She wasn’t used to dealing with somebody’s demise.

“Pardon me, Milady, but the PR team really needed to speak with the Prince regarding the funeral. They wanted to know if he would agree to speak in front of the cameras…”

“I don’t think now is the right time, Sooyoung. I think he still needs a little bit of time. I’m going to try and coax him to get out of the bed first, and then we’ll see from there.”

“Yes, Milady, I’ll inform the team. If you’ll excuse me, Milady…” Sooyoung then bowed before leaving.

A few minutes later, Jinri came with a tray of food and milk. Ahri took the tray from her and dismissed JInri. She then brought the tray towards the bed, carefully placing it on the empty spot where Jaehyun was still staring off. She sat sideways on the bed, looking at Jaehyun.

“Jaehyun,” she called with the softest voice. “Are you hungry? I asked Jinri to bring some food for you. Do you want to eat now or should I just put it on the table?”

Jaehyun slowly blinked, and finally brought his gaze to the food in front of him. With a big exhale, he finally woke up and sat on the mattress. He eyed the food first before eyeing the girl in front of him. For a moment, he stared at her before finally mumbling, “Thank you, Ahri,” with a weak voice. Although his voice was very low and his face was void of any emotion, Ahri could tell that he was sincere.

“No problem,” she then moved to grab the small packet of strawberry jam and opened its foil. And then, as Jaehyun grabbed the glass of water from the tray, Ahri slowly spread the jam on the toasted bread. They moved in silence, and Jaehyun watched Ahri as she prepared the toast for him.

And when she finished, she handed him a slice of toast covered in jam. The Prince took it and brought it slowly to his mouth for a bite. He ate in silence, while Ahri prepared another toast. After two or three bites, Jaehyun reached forward and stopped Ahri’s hand from moving.

“You should go to your room. I’m sure you’d want to freshen up yourself,” he said.

Ahri shook her head, “No, it’s okay, I can stay here with you.”

“It’s fine… I’m fine. I’ll need to get up too and tidy up. I’m sure the parliament is waiting for me, and I still need to address the press… I need to get going.”

Ahri stared at Jaehyun with a frown. “The parliament and the people can wait, Jaehyun, you just lost your father—“

“And the people just lost their King,” he retorted. “I have only limited time to mourn, I need to be strong for the nation… I need to be strong for my mother…” he shook his head.

“Jaehyun…” Ahri wanted to reach out and embraced him. He was the Prince, but he was also a son who had just lost his father. He was bound to have the privilege of mourning for as long as he needed. But at the same time, Ahri knew that Jaehyun was right, and that it was inevitable. The Crown Prince must stood strong for the nation.

With a heavy sigh, Ahri put the toast down and looked up at the Prince.

“Alright, but I’m staying beside you wherever you need to be. Especially when you address the nation.”

“You don’t have to—“

Ahri shook her head, “I want to… If I’m not allowed then I won’t be there, but I’ll still wait for you until you finish everything. I want you to know that you’re not alone,” she said sternly, looking straight at his eyes.

Jaehyun pondered on this for a moment, his eyes searching hers. He wanted to say that she really didn’t need to do that. But the look on her eyes told him that she would not take no for an answer.

♦♦♦

The funeral service was held at the Palatial Church at 2 p.m.

True to her words, Ahri didn’t leave Jaehyun’s side. She was by his door when the Prince got out of his room. Jaehyun was clad in black suit with white shirt underneath it. He looked a little paler than usual, and it seemed that he had been crying when Ahri wasn’t with him.

Jaehyun couldn’t help but feel a little bit lighter at the fact that someone was here with him. But he needed to be there for his mother first. The Queen was still holed up in her own room, and one of the staffs said that the Queen was not to be disturbed. Ahri watched as Jaehyun’s face fell when he learned of this information. It must be really hard for his mother to deal with this loss alone in that room. At least Jaehyun had Ahri to accompany him.

So Ahri motioned for Jaehyun to enter the Queen’s chamber, while she arranged for their mobilization towards the church.

It took a while to convince the Queen to get out of the room. But the Prince managed to bring her out. Ahri didn’t know how to react once she saw the Queen. Queen Jessica was already clad in her black attire, complete with her black veil hat, the net covering almost all of her face. Ahri merely stood to the side, making way for the Queen.

But Queen Jessica stopped in front of her and looked at her with sad eyes. And then, she pulled her for a hug, to which Ahri responded with a light rub on the Queen’s back. After a few moments, the Queen pulled back and immediately walked away without looking at Ahri again.

During the ride inside the limousine, Ahri grabbed Jaehyun’s hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. When she was about to pull away, Jaehyun squeezed her hand back and kept holding her. Ahri was wearing the similar black veil hat, but her net was only covering her eyes. While Prince Jaehyun decided to put on his sunglasses.

The whole ride towards the church was silent. Ahri kept on looking down at her hand in Jaehyun’s. His thumb was absentmindedly rubbing the back of her hand, while he looked outside the car in trance. Ahri watched his profile; his straight nose, his strong jaw. His eyes were covered but Ahri could remember those soft orbs because she had begun to like looking into them. She then looked down again and put her other hand on top of the Prince’s, giving him the warmth that she knew he needed.

Ahri was oblivious to the pair of eyes watching from across them. Queen Jessica watched behind her veil how his son was drawn to the Lady’s affection.

**

People were already lined up in front of the church, behind the metal barricade that the police put. They were informed that they were the last motorcade to arrive at the church, so people outsi