Yuri's POV

I stood uneasily as tailors and dressers dressed me up in a royal hanbok, full of lavishing colors. It was made out of pure silk, and I felt so awkward and uncomfortable in it, as I stared at myself in the mirror. Usually, I would wear one made of of cotton, or something that was actually affordable for me. 

The hairdresser sat me down on a random chair, and started pulling at my hair. I resisted letting out a few squeaks of pain, but it was pretty hard when she was practically tugging strands of hair roughly. It didn't take long for the hairdresser to pull out her hairpins and I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt her push it in fast paced, careful where she aimed, and not so careful on where it landed. Luckily, I narrowly missed one that almost attacked the side of my head when I moved a bit. 

It was definitely a good thing that the lady only made me wear four pins, two on each side of my head. After that near death experience, she placed a golden crown on my head, which was encased with differently colored jewels. She pulled my face into her direction and rubbed her chin, inspecting me carefully. 

"Okay," she clapped loudly. "The crown princess is ready to go!" 

I groaned under my breath, and blinked, readying for the last bits of my single life - well, the life before marriage, since I was technically engaged since I was a baby or something. A tall, somewhat older woman came by my side kindly, and bent down to meet my eye level. 

"Hello, your Highness." She beamed. 

"Hello," I smiled back. 

She held out her hand for me, and I took it innocently, wondering what she was trying to do. Blinking in surprise, she pulled me up, and placed a hand around my back to support me. 

"My name is Lee Subin. I will be your assistant from now on, so please, don't hesitate around me," she said courteoustly. 

"Alright, thank you, um, noona?" I said dryly. 

She gave a light laugh and said, "You don't have to call me noona, I'm your assistant, remember?" 

I nodded awkwardly, and she grabbed my arm. 

"It's time," Subin whispered with a gentle and cheerful smile. I smiled weakly at her, feeling nauseous from my nervousness. 

"Are you excited?" Subin giggled. 

I nod, but really, I felt like a piece of crap. She walks me out, and I see a ton of people, causing my nausea to be even worse. In the front row, I notice my mom sitting next to Kris' parents, a bright smile plastered onto her face. 

Deep breaths don't help me at all. I feel like I'm going to trip over my hanbok. Subin walks me to Kris, and I pivot my head, staring straight into his eyes. He looks down at me, and I don't even see an ounce of excitement or love in his eyes. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I thought I felt my heart shatter into billions of pieces. 

"Are you nervous? I am," I chuckled, trying to make conversation. 

"Don't worry," he replied with a hard voice. "It's gonna be over soon." 

The way he voiced that sentence killed the whole conversation. I didn't dare pick up the remains, and instead, just blinked, turning forward.

The wedding wasn't that bad. My heart was heavy, but otherwise, everything else was fine. I sat near a table filled with frilly, ribboned gifts, resting. I noticed my mom come over and straightened my spine, trying to keep my exhaustion oblivious to her. 

"Yuri, thank you so much," she grinned at me. "You fufilled your promise." 

"Yeah, and now I'm married." It came off as snappy, and I honestly felt a bit guilty when I saw her wince, but I still said nothing. 

"But he'll give you a good life," My mom urged. 

I rolled my eyes. 

"I think anything else would give me a better life," I said sarcastically. 

She didn't reply, and stayed quiet. Then, she finally opened to speak. 

"Yuri, I know you hate it now, but trust me. You'll be really glad and happy in the future. You're still just a child." She said, and when the words left her lips, I winced. 

A child? I'm eighteen, but I'm still a child? Yeah, okay, I admit, I have been in a pretty grouchy mood today, but I'm not gonna take to being called a child, especially when I'm doing this all for someone else. 

"Just stop, please. I'm doing this just for you and you insist on doing things that I don't want. A child has more freedom than me. I'm sick of this." I say, and I stand up, walking away, and leaving my mother dumbfounded. 

She was too shocked to speak, and I sighed, going outside for a breath of fresh air, trying to cool myself down. I just needed to clear my head. In the night, the sound of crickets chirping, the wind singing softly, and the trees and bushes gently swaying along created such a blissful scenery for me. I closed my eyes, taking it all in. 

I don't quite remember when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, it was still dark, and I was leaning on someone's shoulder. I blinked, and assumed it was Kris. 

"What are you doing here?" I said, yawning. 

"The question is, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be inside, princess." 

I turned my head to face the unfamiliar speaker. It was a guy with a gentle face, neat black hair, and eyes that were darker than the night. Staring in surprise, I jumped back in alarm. 

"Wh-who are you?" I asked warily. 

He gave a smile. 

"I'm Cho Sanchul. I'm Kris' personal assistant." He answered. "Princess, it's really cold outside, why don't you go in? I'm sure his Highness is worried about you." 

I just frowned in disbelief at him. Yeah, right, totally, Kris is worried about me. Please, all he does is think about himself. However, I just followed Sanchul because it was less than a hassle than running away from him. 

I stared at him with interest as he stood in front of me, walking with his back straight and his head high. He seemed silly and childish when he talked and when you glance at him, but he was actually quite mature when you see how he acts. Well it's whatever, since this is indeed coming from me, the child. He led me to Kris, who had a sulking face on. 

"Where were you?" he demanded, his voice low.

"Outside." I answered curtly.

He blinked.

"For three hours?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Sleeping makes it ten minutes."

"What? You went to sleep? Over there? We were supposed to greet guests together, but you disappeared!"

"Why can't we greet them now?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Fine." His voice was short and firm; he seemed really irritated.

I looked at Sanchul for some relief, but he furrowed his brows, and frowned, bowing before walking away. Yeah, totally great. I'm stuck with an angry prince, and he has the potential to lash out at me, and totally hang me or something, and make it look completely accidental. According to royal protocol, he walked in front of me, which I was glad about, but I couldn't help staring at his back with guilt. It was quiet between us, and the tension was tight. We greeted guests, and I tried my best to hide it, but really, I felt like I was the only one actually putting all of my spirit into something. Kris was just effortlessly doing what he had to, which made me jealous.

This made me realize that I'm not meant for royal life. I just hope I can leave soon.

That night, Kris and I walked to our room, but he still wasn't talking to me. He opened the door and I stepped in, and sat on the bed, wanting to sleep so badly, but first, I had to change out of my hanbok and brush my teeth and wash my face. Kris quickly finished first, coming out of the bathroom when I was just done with pulling down my pajama shirt.He went over to look in the mirror, and I glanced at him, slightly worried.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked quietly.

He paused before replying.

"No... Just upset. I think I'm calmer now." He answered curtly, not bothering to look back at me.

"Oh," I said, and then made my way to the bathroom.  

"Yuri." 

I stopped and turned my upper body around a bit to face him. 

"Yes?" I asked. 

"I've already said this before. We will not make this into a loving relationship. I have better things to do than that." 

"I'm aware," I reply, somewhat disappointed. 

"Good. You can go," he said, turning and getting under the covers. "I'm gonna sleep first." 

I nod obediently, and then went to brush my teeth. When I walked out of the bathroom, the lights were turned off and Kris was hunched at the edge of the bed, his body pressed into a messy position. I climbed onto the other side, and turned to my left side, making our backs face each other. It was lonely and quiet that night, but I secretly hoped it would get better by time. His words replayed in my head. He said he didn't want a relationship... I kind of did, no matter how dumb that sounded in my head.