The weather is nice today. The sun is up in the sky but it does not burn when the rays touch their skin and the wind blows softly, making the leaves of the trees sway along with it. Areum stands quietly at the palace balcony, admiring the view of the vast sea before her.

This day seems to be peaceful, too peaceful that it makes Areum's insides twist. 

"Vhrea declared a ceasefire last week." Her lover says from behind, his arms wrapped around her waist with his chin rested on her shoulder. 

"That's… that's good news, I guess?"

The Kingdom of Vhrea and the Kingdom of Meri, which is theirs, have been rivals ever since the time of their ancestors, fighting over territory, resources, alliances, and almost everything that the sun touches. It was five years ago when Vhrea tried to claim Zlato as theirs and it enraged the people. It wasn't a surprise that they took interest in the city that was indeed close to their zone because it was very rich in gold but it clearly belongs to Meri. The other was so adamant about it, started stationing men on the city's borders, exploited the land, terrorized the people, and of course, the oppressed won't stay silent forever. It didn't take long before they retaliated and declared war against Vhrea. The battles took place on the borders which kept the main cities still functioning and have the palace untouched but it doesn't change the fact that it threatened the security of the citizens of both kingdoms. The casualty continues to rise and the economy is suffering which could be the most probable reason for the ceasefire or maybe they simply got tired of their bull and wanted to finally have some quiet. That's less likely though because from what she heard, the people over there are quite prideful. 

"That also means that I get to be here more often." He tells her softly.

"Does that also mean you'll finally fulfill your promise?" Areum asks, looking at the diamond-encrusted ring around her finger, but she gets no response. She feels the arms around her waist grasp her tightly followed by a heavy sigh.

"The royal family of Vhrea will visit in two days." He replies instead, evading her question.

"What for? I thought the matters were already discussed at the borders?" 

He doesn't respond again. There was a long stretch of silence between them and only the soft waves of the sea along with the chirping of the birds can be heard. 

She turns around to face him properly and, finally seeing the pure worry in his eyes. "Jungkook, there's something you aren't telling me." 

"I'm afraid I'm not in the position to tell you." His expression became unreadable, guarded to be exact.

"I'm still the princess of this country, Jungkook, and it's an order. Tell me everything." She hates it so much, having to rub their ranks on his face but this is the only way to have him speak up because she knows him very well. He bottles up everything most of the time and it takes every effort to break down his walls. He casts his gaze on the floor, looking apologetic and this immediately makes her feel waves of guilt. 

Just as she was about to say something, she sees her personal guard approaching. 

"Your highness, I'm sorry to interrupt." Jimin speaks, acknowledging her presence before shifting his gaze to Jungkook "The king is requesting for Lieutenant Jeon's presence." She nods because it's not like she can do anything about her father's requests. Her lover bids her a short goodbye and the silence of their parting follows through the next few days. Jungkook becomes unusually silent around her and always seems to be deep in thought. He's so close to her yet Areum feels like she can no longer reach him anymore. He feels so distant even until that day comes, the day that the royal family of Vhrea arrived. 

She finds their palace strangely accommodating to the Vhrean royals, considering that they've been on each other's necks for god knows how long. Who in the world would invite their own enemy for dinner? Unless this is all another political show and the thought of it alone makes her nauseous. 

She makes her way to the dining hall with Jimin escorting her, reasoning out that they can't let their guard down because literally anything can happen now that their enemies have entered their territory. Areum completely understands this and the only thing she couldn't understand is why are they suddenly acting like they're friends with Vhrea because heck, the entire world is shocked as well. A part of her prefers to be somewhere else right now, to be with Jungkook, thinking she could've been with him right now if only she wasn't bound to her duties to the country. 

They both enter when the doors open and the first thing she notices is there are guards situated around the hall. Her black heels clink against the tiles as she walks inside, taking a seat beside her brother, the crown prince of Meri while Jimin proceeds to stand a few feet behind her. 

Just a few minutes after she arrived, the sliding door opens once again and Vhrea’s royal family enters the room, also having their own set of guards that positioned themselves on the left side of the hall. They stand as they greet their guests and Areum feels the air go tight around her, the tension so high that gets even worse when she meets the eyes of Vhrea's crown prince. She's quick to mask her surprise when she sees a long scar on the right side of his face, starting from above his brow down to his cheek that kind of messes with his features. Areum has seen him a lot of times in news outlets and she has to admit, the prince is flawlessly handsome but at the same time, he looks like he'll eat you alive. She won't allow him to intimidate her in her own palace though, so when the corner of his lips lifts to form a smirk, she stares back at him smugly to somehow put him in his place. 

The two families talk as they start eating dinner. They talk about the situation on the borders, the troops, how the people are coping and many more political matters and just like what she thought it would be, it's another show where everyone plays pretend that things are finally going smooth and fine to soothe the fear of the citizens but there's nothing smooth about this because she feels like she's being choked with apprehension. 

"It must be nice to have a daughter. Just by looking at her, I know she's a fine lady." Vhrea's queen speaks and Areum forces herself to smile at the compliment just to not look rude but the fakeness of it makes her skin crawl. 

"She is, truly. Our princess has been actively involved with charity and such and the people admire her so much for it." Her mother boasts and it's almost sickening how they talk like their allies. They all finish their meal and as the plates are being taken out of the room, her father clears his throat to get everyone’s attention. 

“I guess it’s time to get to the main point of this gathering.” The king says once the table is completely clean and all eyes are on him.

Ah, here it goes.

“We’ve decided to move towards a peaceful alliance. The long rivalry between Meri and Vhrea and the ongoing war for Zlato will be put to an end as it brought nothing but fear and dread to the people. This will help us win back the people's trust, have a chance to expand our horizons, and at the same time give both parties a chance to form a friendship as we reestablish security within the nation.” The king of the opposing nation speaks this time, seemingly proud of their decision disregarding the bewildered look at their children's faces. 

It isn’t bad but all of this is so sudden. Huge adjustments will surely be needed and are they even prepared for this?

“The two kingdoms will unite by marriage. My daughter, Areum, you will be set to marry Min Yoongi, Crown Prince of Vhrea to signify that the two nations are now at peace and further strengthen the alliance.” Her father says with a smile as if it's the best thing he came up with and now the attention is all on the two of them. 

Areum’s eyes widen at the words and she thinks her heart stopped for a moment, half of her is slowly dying inside as she looks at her own parents disbelievingly. Her chest feels like it's about to explode as she tries to suppress her emotions, to carry herself with grace despite what has been said because honestly, this is a lot to take in. First, they told them that they want peace and now they want her to marry their prince. 

They're giving her away for the sake of this so-called peace, giving her away like some object that you can toss back and forth, giving her away like a sacrificial lamb. 

There’s a heavy, deafening silence inside the room and she slowly turns to look at the person in front of her. Yoongi looks as shocked as she is and this makes her even angrier. He looks at her too and she can’t even read his emotions right now. This is a huge mess. This is wrong. This is not supposed to be this way. She knows one has to say something because everyone is just waiting for either of them to respond so she takes in a deep breath before she speaks

“No.”