The embarrassing fall didn’t happen, she managed to save her reputation as her first day becoming the Crown Princess.

She opened her eyes to see the Crown Prince, holding onto her, his eyes looked worried for a flash second before it turned into a look full of judgement as he looked at her.

“Can you stand up?” he asked, when she stared at him in shock.

“Erm, yes, sorry,” she stuttered and grabbed onto his hands to get back up.

The crowd started to whisper amongst each other, probably talking about the Crown Princess. As it is everyone’s first time seeing her, and to see her acting so clumsy, they aren’t sure what to expect from the future Queen.

The person officiating their wedding cleared his throat and continued the ceremony.

Taeyeon nervously glanced at the crowd from time to time and back at Hyun, who was just looking straight at her the whole time. When their eyes met again, she stiffened and tried to stop herself from fidgeting so much, but she went back to doing that after holding it in for a few seconds.

After their relationship became official, they sat at their seats and people started to eat and chatted away. Taeyeon’s legs started to feel sore for sitting there for a very long time, she glanced at her groom, and he just sat there, looking over at their guests.

“This is really happening, we are actually married now and I am going to live the rest of my life with him. Stuck here in the palace,” she thought to herself as she stared at him. She hoped life at the palace would treat her well, but after being reminded by her father to be careful at all times, she wasn’t sure if her life at the palace would be anywhere peaceful, or safe at all.

Sensing someone staring at him, the Crown Prince finally opened his mouth to speak for the first time since the wedding started. “I thought you would be gone by this morning.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Like I said last night, I have my family to think about first. Or were you hoping that I will run away so that you won’t have to go through the marriage either?”

He turned to look at her, answering her question with a subtle nod before looking back to the front. She gasped softly, surprised that he admitted that so easily. Here she is thinking that he cared about her to help her escape.

She slouched down in her seat, feeling tired from forcing herself to sit straight throughout the whole party. She could see Court Lady Jo trying to signal her to sit straight from the corner of her eye, but she pretended to yawn and look in the other direction.

Her stomach growled under her dress, and she swallowed her saliva down as she looked at all of the food in front of them. But Court Lady Jo told her not to eat any of them as it won’t look good for everyone to see the Crown Princess eating in front of the crowd.

She understands that there is a certain reputation for a noble lady to uphold, but how about the Crown Prince, he isn’t eating anything at all either.

Finally the ceremony was over, and she was escorted to his chambers for their first night. Or to use a more official term, for the consummation of a future heir. Taeyeon felt so nervous as she sat alone in the room, waiting for the Crown Prince to come in. She glanced around nervously at the room, trying to think of a plan to stop him in case he tries anything on her.

Maybe she can keep feeding him alcohol so that he falls asleep first instead?

How do you make someone drink until they are drunk and don’t look suspicious though?

She looked over at the table filled with food, and eyed the pot of alcohol. Glancing quickly at the door, she crawled to the table on all fours and reached for the pot to check if there was really alcohol in it. After confirming that, she smirked to herself and practiced pouring it in his cup later.

The door suddenly opened, catching her off guard. She stared at the Crown Prince awkwardly with her hand holding the pot in mid-air, her other hand holding the cup, ready to pour the drink into it. The Crown Prince stopped walking forward to look at her, eyeing the pot and the cup in her hands.

“I, I was just getting thirsty,” she quickly made up an excuse and put the pot back down. Her eyes followed him as he walked past her and sat down in front of his desk, completely ignoring her. She frowned, feeling invisible.

He grabbed a cloth from the corner of his table and started to wipe the surface of his desk, before grabbing a book from his shelf and placing it in front of him to read. He didn’t seem the least bit interested in her.

She sat in front of the table of food quietly, wondering what to do. He really does have the knack of making people feel uncomfortable. From his cold expression, to the nonchalant attitude and standoff-ish behaviour to anyone around him, it really baffles her how different he is from the way Court Lady Jo described him.

Court Lady Jo might need to refresh her impression on his Royal Highness.  Because this one is really a prig.
Or maybe… he’s just shy, probably lived his whole life in the palace and doesn't know how to handle normal human interactions.

“So, are you not hungry at all?” she asked, trying to break the ice with food. “I noticed that you didn’t eat anything at all just now.”

When he didn’t respond, she crawled closer to his desk and settled herself down in front of his desk. Clearing to get his attention.

He finally looked up at her, waiting for her to say something. But he looked annoyed, and Taeyeon suddenly didn’t know what to say.

“What? You look like you want to say something. Just spit it out.”

“Are you always this rude?” she blurted out before she could stop herself. People in the palace probably fear him to death, and wouldn’t dare to speak in his presence. But she had always been bold with her words, and was never scared to speak her mind. Or maybe it was because she had saved his life before that she felt that she had the right to speak that way to him.

“Why don’t you just mind your own business and treat yourself to some alcohol?” he asked back, seemingly unbothered by her blunt question. “You seemed very thirsty earlier,” he said as he looked back down his book.

“Excuse me for trying to get to know you, seeing as we are now husband and wife,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Why do you have to make it so difficult?”

He heaved a sigh as he slowly closed his book, and rested his arms on it, looking over at her. “Not every couple who are in an arranged marriage has to get along, some people live years together without saying a word to each other. It is just the way it is. Stop being naive, thinking that I will have the time to entertain you while you live in the palace. You can do anything you want here, just don’t get in my way.”

She wanted to open to say something, but she stopped herself, knowing that he was right. They didn’t have to interact with each other, it is normal for royals especially to stay separately in the palace except for consummation night. After this night, it would probably be the last time she sees him around the palace.

“Wow, you really know what to say to hurt someone’s feelings,” she said as her voice slightly wobbled. She felt a rush of emotions pushing their way out of , tears welling up behind her eyes. She quickly looked away, wiping away the tear that escaped the corner of her eyes with her sleeve.

She usually isn’t one to cry in front of others. But today has been an emotionally draining day, letting go of her freedom to marry someone she doesn’t love and being forced to live in the palace for the rest of her life. And the only person she can talk to doesn’t even bother to make her feel comfortable.
Baekhyun was surprised to see her cry, and he didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. He fidgeted with the corner of the book with his fingers for a while before standing up quietly from his desk and walking towards the other table filled with food.

Grabbing a plate of a little bit of everything as if it was a buffet, he placed the plate on his desk, right in front of her.

“Just eat.”

She stared at the plate and looked at him as he went back to reading his book.

“Thanks,” she mumbled and grabbed a piece and took a bite out of it.

The night went on quietly, Taeyeon didn’t try to talk to him anymore and quietly ate her food. The room was just filled with the sound of her munching on her food and him flipping the pages of his book. 

Starting to feel bored, she stood up with a cookie in her hand and walked around the room, looking at the things placed around the room. She stopped in front of his book shelf, looking at all the boring books, she mindlessly picked up one and started to flip it.

“Don’t touch anything that isn’t yours,” she heard him say behind her. She quickly put the book back down and spun around to explore somewhere else. “Can’t you just sit still?”

“My apologies, your Royal Highness, I simply need to be entertained by something,” she said passive aggressively, letting her fingers graze lightly on one of the plants in his room. “Your plant is dying. It needs more sunlight.”

Baekhyun looked up from his book to see her carrying the pot to a different place in the room. 

“There. Placing it here will get it the sunlight it needs,” she said, patting the leaves of the plant gently. “You need to take care of your plants the same way you take care of yourself.”

“Put it back,” he ordered as he looked back down at his book.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him and said, “It is better here, it is right by the window.”

“It is blocking my way to the book shelf.”

“Well, then you will have to walk around it.”

He frowned as he looked up at her, giving her a look to make her put it away. She looked away quickly, pretending to be oblivious about it.

She stifled a yawn and looked out at the bright moon outside the room. The moon is bright tonight, the last time she had seen the moon this bright was the time she and Baekhyun saw each other during her attempted escape from the palace.

She hated to admit that she was relieved to see him in the palace at that time. But now that they are actually married, she wishes for more than anything to get out of this marriage with him.

Thinking about it made her sad. She sat down in front of the table and poured herself a cup of alcohol. Finishing it in one go, she poured herself another cup and drank it quickly again.

“Hyun.”

The Crown Prince slowly looked up when he heard his name. He almost forgot how she knew to call him that. Only his mother and brother called him by that name, and she was the third person in his life to ever call him by his name.

“Why is it you and not someone else?” she asked, pouring another cup and chugging it down as if it was just water. “I thought we could at least become good friends, I felt comfortable knowing that there is someone I know in the palace. And I wanted it to stay that way.”

The Crown Prince slowly shut his book and said, “Go to sleep, you are drunk.”

“No, I am not. My alcohol tolerance is very high,” she said. “You don’t believe me?” she asked, chugging down another cup. “See, I am not drunk.”

He sighed.

“Want to know a secret?”

Although she was exhausted, she gathered all her strength to stand up from where she was sitting and trudge over to his desk. Dropping down on her knees beside him, she grabbed him by the collar to pull him close to her so that she could whisper into his ear.

Baekhyun wanted to fight back, but he knew that it wasn’t a good idea, especially with a very drunk lady. She didn’t let go of her grip and pulled him closer when he tried to pull himself away.

“Don’t move, I want to tell you something,” she whispered.

He felt his ears turn red when her hot breath blew against his neck, and leaned back to put more distance between them.

“Remember, when we parted from each other at the village?”

The Crown Prince stiffened when he heard that.

Why is she mentioning about that here?

She let out a short breathy giggle before leaning closer to his ear, her lips almost touching his ear as she whispered again.

“My heart fluttered when I was with you there.”

Letting out a shy giggle, she finally passed out on his shoulder.

Baekhyun didn’t dare to move for a while, fearing that he would accidentally wake her up and cause her to act more drunk again.

When he could hear her soft snores, he gently pushed her head away from his shoulder and laid her head down on the cushion. He then walked over to grab the bed and roll it open on the floor, before walking back to his desk to carry her to the bed.

“You really are a handful,” he muttered under his breath as he placed her down and pulled the covers over her. “And I can’t seem to get you out of my head these days,” he gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with his fingers when he noticed a tear flowing down her cheek.

Then he stopped, quickly pulling back his hand.

No, he cannot be distracted, not at a time like this.