"I, Jennie Ruby Jane of House Asteria, pledge my loyalty to his royal highness, Taehyung Ares Delrico, The Crown Prince of the Valorian Empire.
"How far does your loyalty lie, Princess Jane?" He stalked towards her, unrelenting even as her back co...
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Taehyung strolled through the gardens of the Chizar kingdom at a little past midnight unaccompanied. It was the first time in a while for him to be alone, and with the events of the ball it was a struggle to sneak out of his room without alerting his guards.
The gardens were bathed in moonlight, casting long shadows on the pathways.
He was glad that this was Chizar and not the imperial palace where the border guards would make haste to surround him if he was seen alone.
That was the shortcoming of being the sole heir to the throne, after all. You become the first, last, and only resort for succeeding the crown.
He sighed, the weight of the evening's events mingling with the solitude of the night.
The stars above Chizar seemed brighter than those he remembered from home, and as he wandered, his thoughts inevitably drifted back to Jennie.
Each thought of her brought with it a clarity he had not expected.
It wasn't merely the events of the night that had highlighted her bravery and quick thinking; it was her essence, the core of who she was, that had gradually drawn him in.
The realization was bittersweet.
He understood the complexities of their positions.
Jennie was not just a friend or a confidante; she was the sole heir to the Asteria dukedom, indispensable in her role, bound by responsibilities that were as critical as his own.
If she were anyone else, perhaps there could be a simple path forward together.
But her indispensable role in her dukedom made any thoughts of a future together seem like an unattainable dream.
Not to mention, her knighting ceremony was enough evidence that she knew that too.
They were both bound by duty, their lives charted by lineage and responsibility.
For the first time, the weight of his crown felt truly burdensome. He found himself wishing, if only momentarily, that he were not the crown prince. That he wasn't shackled by the same indispensable role to the empire.
(A/N: Don't know why but after writing this 'If Only' from Descendants started playing in my head 😭)
As he strolled, lost in his contemplations, a soft voice called out to him from the shadows. "You're not easy to find when you don't want to be, are you?"
Turning, he saw Jennie stepping into the moonlight.
She was clad in a simple, flowing nightgown, her usual armor and formality discarded as she had been in Lisa's quarters till then.
The fabric whispered around her ankles as she walked, a stark contrast to the rustle of the opulent gown she'd worn earlier at the ball.
She had been on her way back to her room when a reminder of the ball's events prompted her to check on Taehyung. Lo-and-behold, he was not in his room.
