“Princess, is there something on your mind?”

His sudden question broke me from my train of thought.

“Yongguk, do you find it strange that Prince Woobin wants to meet with me?” There were many reasons why I would find this meeting to be somewhat of a mystery and since lessons were cancelled due to the visiting guest, I had all morning and afternoon to figure it out.

I’ve been staring out the window, this time not admiring what was on the other side of the glass but, staring hard as if the answer to my question was hidden out there.

And there was Yongguk, who has been keeping me company.

“Princess, I believe you’re overthinking it.”

That’s what I thought too but, I just couldn’t shake the feeling. “He definitely wants something.” We’ve only met once officially and now he wants to meet with me? There is definitely a motive there.

There was silence between us when Yongguk spoke again, “are you afraid?”

Yongguk was sitting across from me in my bedroom and I looked up to meet his eyes. “Of course, not. You’ll be there.” Now that Yongguk will be present, meeting Prince Woobin no longer worries me and whatever the Prince is hiding, I’m not afraid of it. I knew there was no possible chance of me getting hurt. “I do not fear Prince Woobin…he only makes me feel like I have to be on guard all the time.”

“Doesn’t that mean you’re afraid?” Yongguk points out with amusement.

“No,” I emphasized, “it just means I want to be careful around him, that’s all.” Prince Woobin had never personally done anything to me, besides that incident of bumping into each other, but I’ve seen him at the last tournament. If his Knight is that fierce, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prince is just the same.

“You are always like that. You can never admit when you’re scared,” Yongguk says as he directs his attention out the window.

“What is there for me to be afraid of?” I stared at him, mouth agape. 

“Lots of things. The world is fearsome.”

There's that look again – like he's looking to somewhere into the distant. I hate to admit it, but sometimes it feels like Yongguk holds back and doesn’t tell me many things about his own thoughts and about himself. Since, I wouldn’t mind listening to him speak, I wish he would talk more about himself. But when we’re together, it’s always the other way around – me speaking, while he listens.  

“Well, I know that there are many things out there that can hurt me.” Not everyone is happy with the royals and in this world there are threats from Werewolves and also from other humans. “But, I’m just not afraid of them.” My words were soft and sincere. I couldn’t quite explain it – I just wasn’t afraid.

“How about that Lone Werewolf?” Yongguk asks as he looks down at my feet that still has the visible traces of the healing scratches. “Even after him trying to hurt you, it didn’t make you fear his kind?”

I shook my head. When the Lone Werewolf attacked the banquet, it wasn’t fear that I felt.

“I don’t know why I even asked you,” his tone turns soft, “you even went to our King to lessen his prison term...strange, isn’t it? Even though he was trying to harm you, you are worried for his life instead.”

I just wanted to right the wrong. 

“Princess, I think you should work on your priorities,” Yongguk shoots me a side glance.

“Priorities aren’t meant to stay constant,” I retorted. “Like now - my number one priority is to find out why Prince Woobin is taking time to come see an antisocial Princess.” This is going to certainly be an awkward meeting since I figured there would be nothing to talk about. “But, I guess it doesn’t matter right now. By the end of today, we’ll find out for sure.”

***

Instead of watching Prince Youngjae walk down the hallway, Prince Woobin is. Mirae led him towards us, with his Knight following closely behind. They matched in their dark uniforms - the gray athletic suit the Knight was wearing and the black outfit the Prince had on. What a huge contrast to the simple white dress I was wearing. Shifting my eyes down to the Knight's hands, I stare at the box that was cutely tied with a bow.

Once standing before me, Prince Woobin bowed. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“It must have been a tiring trip.” With the region of Yoggu and the region of Kkum being on opposite ends of the country, it is quite a long one also. Yet, he still made the travel to come here.   

A smile that I didn’t take as sincere, spread across his lips. “It was worth it.” He turned to his Knight and took the box from him to hold out for me. “This is a gift from me – an apology for ruining your beautiful dress at the banquet.”

I didn’t have the option to deny it, so I politely took it from him. “There was no need, but thank you.”

Yongguk takes it from me to carry and I turned to Mirae, being extra careful to not call her name. My father had warned me that my habit shouldn’t be done in front of guests.

“Can you please take us to the guest room?”

“Yes, Princess.” She motions for us to follow after her.

“Prince Woobin, there will be tea and snacks prepared. I hope that fits your taste.” We walked beside one another. The evident height difference was there, causing me to tilt my head a bit to see him.

“That’ll be fine, Princess Haewon.”

There was nothing suspicious yet. But, with Yongguk around, I definitely didn’t feel any bit of intimidation.

Mirae leads us down the hallway until we reach a pair of large wooden doors. She pulls it open and I step into an unfamiliar room. The guest room was used for ‘guests’ but since I didn’t have many people visiting me, the room had been left unused by me…well, until now.

The room was heavily decorated to match my father’s taste. Paintings were hung on every available space on the walls, antiques lined the shelves, and in the center of the room was a low wooden round table. There were four chairs surrounding it, each carefully carved and polished to perfection. “Please have a seat.”

Prince Woobin takes the chair across from me as our Knights stand behind us. I couldn’t help but take quick glances at unfamiliar Knight, who seems to be staring at Yongguk quite a lot. I turn my head to look at Yongguk to see that he isn’t the least bothered by the attention, so there was no need for me to be concerned.

“So, this is the crowned champion,” Prince Woobin declares as he looks at Yongguk. “Your fight with Titan was very memorable. I enjoyed it.”

Yongguk bows at the mention to show his gratitude and the Prince turns to me after. 

“What did you think, Princess Haewon?”

Titan: 23 years old

I wasn’t sure what to say. Though I always remember that around guests, I can never truly show my opinions. I’ve come