Joohyun stayed until the day after Boxing Day, sleeping in the quarters directly across from Chaeyoung’s room, which rankled Chaeyoung’s pride at the obvious snub. Although, seeing as she wasn’t sleeping very well, if at all, she supposed that perhaps Joohyun had other reasons for sleeping in her own bed, because when she did manage to sleep, Chaeyoung was restless and fitful, and Joohyun was a known light sleeper. She didn’t press the matter, and was just grateful to have her wife back in the same palace, feeling some of her worries dissipate. They were even perfectly civil, eating meals together while they planned for their first interview after the news of their pregnancies had gone public, discussed which date they should have their next scans on, and even exchanged their Christmas gifts that they’d bought before their argument had broken out.

And then Joohyun left again, and Christmas passed by, and the happy bubble Chaeyoung had been living in vanished with it. Her annual speech had gone off without a hitch, and there hadn’t been the slightest whisper about anyone causing any troubles or concerns for their safety, which made Joohyun’s parting even more bittersweet for Chaeyoung. It was almost unbearable to walk her to the front door and let her leave, but she was back less than a week later for a New Year’s Eve party, where they hosted their friends and other acquaintances, putting up the facade that they were the perfect happy couple, and went for joint ultrasounds the next day, to find both babies perfectly healthy.

The only improvement in her circumstances was with Jennie, who had taken up her near daily visits again, sweeping away Chaeyoung’s loneliness as if she’d never even left. Things had been a bit awkward at first, the weight of their argument weighing heavily on them, but it quickly dissipated, and they fell back into their easy sisterly relationship, drinking tea and chatting as the cold, wintery weather raged on outside the warm confines of the palace. It was early in the new year and they were doing exactly that, while Chaeyoung complained about how things were with Joohyun, feeling sorry for herself. She’d just come out of an irritating meeting with Hasun, where her aunt had pried and prompted, until Chaeyoung had been honest about why Joohyun was spending so much time in Gutrin. Contrary to the excuse Chaeyoung had been using, that Joohyun was sick and on bedrest away from the stress of the palace, it wasn’t for that reason, and she had been embarrassed to tell her aunt, and even more irritable when Hasun had lectured her about fixing things for the sake of appearances.

“Think about it, just for a second,” Jennie cut her off mid-rant about how she couldn’t fix things if Joohyun wasn’t willing to let her, and if she could easily fix things, like Hasun seemed to think so, then she already would’ve. Her frustration was growing with every second of her rant. “Think about it from her point of view.”

“I have! I thought about her the entire time I made my decision.”

Jennie scoffed, giving Chaeyoung a stern look. “Did you? Did you really? Did you think about how this is a woman who, until meeting you, had forsworn any kind of love? Was the godmother of her friend’s child, but refused to even call her a friend because she was afraid of losing her, and having walls was a much better idea? Who has been manipulated by her family for her entire life, and never wanted to be a princess, because all it meant was having to act for the entire world and live in a pretty cage while she had to lie about how perfect everything was. Every still thinks that she gets along great with her mother and her brother, that’s how tightly they wove their web of lies. And she’s always hated having to lie, having to listen to other people make decisions for her, and be told how she was feeling and then have to pretend that it was true. She was sold into a contract with you when she was a child. She wasn’t raised like you.”

Spluttering, Chaeyoung opened to defend herself, but Jennie held up a finger to stop her. “No, just wait a second. Just think about all of that. Everything you know about her. Now think about how it’s felt for her to have fallen in love, not only getting married, but wanting to have a family with you. To be stuck as a princess, forever standing by your side and agreeing to go to all of the important events with you, because she loves you. She’d do things she never wanted to do, because she loves you and she’d rather do them than not be with you. Only for you to fill the palace with guards like it’s ing Alcatraz, so she can’t even step foot outside without a dozen people crowding around her, filling her head with thoughts of people trying to kill you. Spending all of your time signing documents and planning parties, so it feels like you’re never around, and she has to sit around and wait until you’re free, or book a ing appointment to see her own wife. Then to have you keep the truth from her, and dig into her family, as if she doesn’t deserve to know that her own mother might have wished her dead. Just think about all of that, and tell me is she wrong to be upset? She’s given up a lot for you, Chaeyoung, and she did that willingly, without hesitation, because she knew that you would never give it all up because you made a promise to do your duty and be a public figurehead. The least she expected was a bit of trust.”

Gritting her teeth, Chaeyoung clenched her hands into fists, almost unwilling to let the words fall from as she scowled at Jennie. “I understand why she’s upset, but come on, Jennie, she’s being childish. She can’t just run away to Gutrin and magically hope things get better.”

“Chaeyoung, you’re a billionaire . Between the two of you, you own like twenty palaces, fourteen houses in five countries, have three luxury yachts and a private jet. Every single one of your needs is catered to by a team of staff, and you’ve got so many guards watching your every move that I’m surprised you can go to the bathroom without one of them accompanying you. What’s here that she doesn’t have in Gutrin?”

“Me! I’m here! Her pregnant wife.”

With a triumphant look on her face, Jennie gave her a pointed look, her voice patient and borderline condescending as she spoke. “Exactly! Which is why she’s better off a country away at the moment. You’re both pregnant. You’re both hormonal. You haven’t stopped bickering and arguing for months - it’s not like this is all over one fight, it’s all the little things building up - and you’re not around anyway, so she’d be just as lonely here as she is holed up in her own estate. The only difference is that there’s less stress on the babies because you two aren’t arguing every two seconds whenever you have a free moment to actually spend time together not doing some charity event or something.”

Shoulders slumping in defeat, Chaeyoung gave her sister a wounded look, feeling the crushing guilt hit her as Jennie pointed out all of her failures as a wife. “So I’m just supposed to be okay with it?”

“No! Of course not. Find a way to make her come home! Just because you two are in a position where you can be separated and be fine, it doesn’t mean you should accept it. Get off your and go and grovel on your knees. Buy her another boat or a ing dog or make one of your sappy paintings and go and get her.”

Shaking her head, Chaeyoung grimaced, “no, she’s really mad this time, Jennie.”

“Yeah, no . And when I get a minute alone with her, I’ll make her see it from your point of view. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll drag you both into the same room and knock your heads together and see if you manage to transfer some common sense into each other. Stupid stubborn royals, I’ll tell you.”

“Excuse me,” Chaeyoung bristled slightly, “up until two weeks ago, you were being just as stubborn. What changed?”

“Mom scolded me, and Seungwan told me that she wouldn’t be second best to someone who wasn’t even here anymore, so there was that.”

Blinking in surprise, Chaeyoung raised her pale eyebrows slightly. “So you and Seungwan are actually…”

“Yes,” Jennie curtly replied, “and I’ll thank you to not interfere in my relationship. I know that I was rash with my anger, and I let my temper blind me to the bigger picture, and the thing is… I still love Lisa, and perhaps a part of me always will, because she was the first person I ever truly loved. But I know that I’ve burned that bridge, and there’s no point going back to fan the flames over something that can’t be fixed. Truth be told, if she was in this room right now, I wouldn’t be angry. I think I’d wish her well and know that I’m happy with my life as it is now.”

“Oh, well that’s very … big of you,” Chaeyoung murmured.

Rolling her eyes, Jennie climbed to her feet, walking over to Chaeyoung and kissing her on the top of her head, “besides, letting a woman come between us was stupid. We’re sisters. It doesn’t matter if there’s a crown on your head sometimes, and I’m sorry for acting like you asked for all of this to happen to you. I love you, Chaeyoung, you’re my best friend.”

She grabbed hold of her sister’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze, smiling softly up at her. “For what it’s worth, if it had to happen, I’m glad I got a sister out of it.”

“Yeah, me too. Now get your together and fix this. Stop moping around - you’re a queen.”

Sighing, Chaeyoung rubbed a hand over her weary face, her mind burdened with everything that Jennie had so clearly pointed out. The truth was that Chaeyoung didn’t want to look at it that way, because it would just make her feel worse about excluding Joohyun from her plans - which wasn’t to say that Joohyun wasn’t equally as culpable in this, and stubbornly refusing to see things from Chaeyoung’s point of view too - but it was no good pretending that her reasons were good enough to invalidate Joohyun’s feelings about it. Feeling sufficiently chastised for the time being, she bid her sister goodbye and was left alone to her thoughts.

---

It was a few days later when Joohyun appeared at the palace again, ready for an interview with Lee Sunmi to publicly talk about their pregnancies for the first time. They were already setting up the camera equipment in one of the rooms in the palace, and Chaeyoung had just finished getting her hair and makeup done, and with Yerim’s help, had squeezed into a white dress that showed off her bump well enough for the cameras to catch. She rose to her feet at Joohyun’s arrival, a small smile on her lips as she took in the sight of her.

“Hi.”

Looking antsy, yet as beautiful as ever, Joohyun gave her a grim look, nervously fiddling with her hands. “Hi.”

“You’re not wearing your rings.”

Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears, and Chaeyoung’s stomach dropped as she looked at the empty left hand of her wife, where Joohyun was fiddling with nothing. An emptiness filled her, and Chaeyoung felt the blood drain from her face.

“My fingers started to swell,” Joohyun grimaced, “the rings were cutting in. Don’t worry, they’ll be back on for the interview.”

“Jisoo said you- you met with Hoyeon,” Chaeyoung said, a question in her voice and a look of fear in her eyes as she nervously wrung her hands. “Why- is there a-a reason why you’re meeting with your lawyer?”

Joohyun paused for a moment and fixed her with a confused look, before realisation dawned on her face and she closed her eyes, letting out a huff of frustration. “I’m not divorcing you, you bloody drip!”

Feeling almost weak with relief, Chaeyoung let out a pent up breath, “you’re not?”

“I love you, you silly mare,” Joohyun groaned, “do you reall