Eunbi knocks on Chaeyeon’s door not long after her exchange with Sakura.

She decided that her sister was right. About, well, everything. She felt so many things for the Oneiric princess. The easy affection that hasn’t left her since they first met, and the need to protect her. But also the lingering anger and frustration that was never processed before. It had made Eunbi act irrationally, which she regrets. She was ready to admit that. She hopes the Princess was ready to hear her out.

It was only a few seconds that passed, but Eunbi could not stop the dropping feeling in her stomach while waiting for the door to open. When it finally did, the Princess looked surprised to face her. But thankfully she did not shut the door on Eunbi’s face.

Eunbi clears . “Will you have breakfast with me?” she asks. “I know we haven’t been talking recently, but like it or not, you live in this castle too. You should not starve yourself just to avoid me. Please, come and have breakfast. If not for me, for yourself.”

She suspects, it might be a combination of the pleading tone in Eunbi’s voice and the unashamed groveling words she spoke, that convinced the Princess to nod and quietly followed her to the dining hall.

“Do you have plans for the day?” Eunbi asked once they sat down. The princess to her right, the spot finally filled after being vacant for so long. For too long.

Neither of them reached for the food. Eunbi was solely focused on her wife’s response. While Chaeyeon was still gathering her thoughts regarding the odd surge of eagerness that radiated from her usually stoic wife.

“No, Your Majesty,” the princess finally answers.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Eunbi said. “If you would be so generous to keep it free, I would like to spend the day with you.”

There was a beat of pause, calculating and thoughtful, before the princess asked, “Is this an order?”

Eunbi shakes her head quickly. “No. I would not order you to do anything.” She smiles to convey in what she hopes to be sincerity. “Consider it a desperate request of mine to spend time with you once again, and for a chance to explain my poor behavior.”

The Princess of Oneiric opened , but closed it again when no words came out.

Maybe it was a good sign, Eunbi thought to herself. It was not an outright rejection, merely contemplation. Eunbi dared to push. “Do think about it. I will need some time to arrange everything, and I will have Sakura let you know when it’s ready. I will wait in the stables if you choose to meet me.”

The rest of the morning was spent in silence as they ate together. After two weeks of being ignored by her wife, and the two weeks spent dining alone, Eunbi welcomed this small comfort of being in the same room. She thought it would be tense between them, but it was anything but. It was charged, but not uncomfortable. A few times, Eunbi had to stop from gasping when their fingers would brush against each other as they both reached the same time for tea or another piece of bread. Each time the touch from her fingers spread all over her and settled in her stomach with a flutter. 

Eunbi hasn’t felt this flutter in years. It was as if, by admitting her affections, she opened a floodgate of emotions, uncontrollable and wild. All of them as a result of this beautiful woman sitting next to her. Her wife.

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Eunbi couldn’t remember the last time she was so nervous. The preparation took her mind off the possibility of rejection, but now that she stood alone in the stables, she couldn’t help keep herself from thinking the worst.

The truth was, it took only a few minutes for Sakura to walk from the stables to Princess Chaeyeon’s chambers to let her know that Eunbi was ready to see her. Eunbi’s legs bounced anxiously in a quick beat that was faster than how time worked. By the time her leg became tired of the bouncing, Eunbi stilled despondently. Through sheer nerves alone, she gravely miscalculated the short time that passed as something much longer, and was ready to accept rejection.

She stands and makes her way to the door, only to find it open. The Oneiric princess was standing there, wearing the riding pants Eunbi had specifically asked Sakura to pass on to the princess. She couldn’t help herself from noting how it made the princess look taller, her legs slender and long.

“Your Majesty?”

Eunbi looked away immediately, feigning indifference, wondering if her wife caught her ogling. She quickly strode to the horse that the stablemaster had just groomed. “She’s yours,” Eunbi said, gesturing to the mare that was peeking out from the stall.

The Princess looked unsure. “But I thought this is one of your father’s.”

“She’s yours now.” Eunbi insists. She did not bother to correct the princess that while the mare did belong to her father, it was only ever ridden by her mother, the late Queen of Izland. “If you ever want to try riding by yourself, you can come to me whenever you like.”

“You would teach me yourself?”

“Would you like to learn?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will teach you.” She turns toward a different horse. This one was saddled and ready to be ridden. It was the same one that Eunbi’s father had favoured in his last battle. “Until then…” Eunbi bravely offers her hand to her wife, asking her to come closer. An invitation.

Hesitantly, Chaeyeon takes it.

Eunbi got on the horse first. The stablemaster had left a stepping stool next to the horse for the princess. Eunbi tells the princess to come up behind her, and with limited movement Eunbi stretched her body to help pull Chaeyeon up as she swung her feet around.

Steadying herself, the princess grasped onto Eunbi’s waist, her hands tangling at the front. Immediately, the proximity between them was nonexistent. Back to front, flush. Still, Eunbi says, “Hold on tight, Your Highness.” The princess obeys just as quick as the instruction came.

It was evident how smaller Eunbi was, engulfed in the arms of her wife. Obviously, Eunbi did not mind. She grasps the reins as tight as the embrace around her own waist, and commands the horse to take them away. First through a field that stretched out to nearby villages, and then onto a path that took them even farther. The hold on her waist never slackened, and it brought a smile to Eunbi’s lips. She quickly focused on guiding the horse through the endless greenery. After some time, the sight of a lake emerged in the distance. She felt, more than heard, the gasp behind her.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Eunbi says, taking a moment to admire the crystal-like water as it catches the rays of sun. The princess nodded but said nothing, so Eunbi continued, “If you cross the lake, that is where Oneiric