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By the time my maid, Mei, burst into my room the next morning, I had slept about an hour. There was no way I was getting up for breakfast with my mother and brother. If the king were there, I wouldn't have a choice, but since he was off to god knows where for diplomatic reasons, I could at least pretend to be sick.

"Princess, it's not healthy to sleep in so late!", Mei continued opening all the curtains.

"I don't feel well, Miss", I said in a weak voice and placed my hand over my forehead dramatically, "Please tell the Queen I won't be joining her."

"Ah, Princess", she sighed, rushing over to my bedside and checking my temperature, "I hope you will at least be healthy for later this morning."

"What's later this morning?", I frowned and pulled the covers up to my nose.

"Your lesson with Prince Namjoon of course", she reminded me with a tut.

"I have tutoring today?", I immediately shot up in bed, my eyes excited and my lips parted.

"Yes, don't you remember?", she narrowed her eyes at me, "Does that mean you're well enough to go?"

"Of course I'm well enough to go", I assured her and jumped out of bed, running to my closet, "You may call the other maids. I want to wear something nice today."

"Aish, Princess", she put her hands on her hips as she watched me, "You wouldn't go to breakfast because you stubbed your toe, but you'd run to Prince Namjoon in a heartbeat with a fever of a hundred degrees!"

"It's not about Prince Namjoon", I huffed at her, "I'm just excited to learn..."

"Sure you are", is all she answered before calling the other maids in.

I was so giddy while getting ready, all I let them do was put me in a blush pink dress, some light makeup and curl my hair. Despite running on an hour of sleep, I was ready to spend all day studying. And there was one important reason why.

"Rushing through breakfast isn't going to make him come any faster", Mei reminded me as I basically inhaled my food at the breakfast table.

I just rolled my eyes at her, finished the rest of my food and tried to avoid my mother's disapproving stares. My brother seemed as though he wanted to say something as well, but I had already sped off to gather my book bag from upstairs.

I'd usually wait by the window until I saw his carriage pulling up to the palace, but today I was running a little late, so I hurried down to our main library in the west wing. Pushing the large oak doors open, the sunlight falling into the area greeted me. What was mostly a darker space in the castle lit by oil lamps, surrounding the rows upon rows of timber bookcases, was flooded by light through the tall windows during the morning. There was a second story to the library you could access by winding stairs and it loomed over the main area, terrace-like in shape. But Prince Namjoon had always taught me at one of the large mahogany tables by the windows.

My small shoes clicked happily against the tile flooring as I moved around the place, looking for my tutor. When I rounded one of the grand bookcases, I stopped in my tracks. The tall young man stood there, holding a book up in front of him and squinting at its contents. Some strands of his blonde hair that was slightly pushed back fell into his eyes as he read, the color of which almost seemed to glisten purple in the light. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows under his formal black vest and I could see his forearms flexing as he reached to flip a page.

"You're late", he spoke without looking up at me, his brows furrowed at his book.

"I-I'm so sorry, Namjoon", I stepped forward quickly, clutching my book bag to my chest, "I tried rushing through breakfast, but I wasn't fast enough-"

"I'm just kidding, Milou", his soft brown eyes met mine and he broke out into a dimpled smile.

I pushed my bottom lip forward in response, "I-I knew that..."

"How are you this morning?", he asked sweetly as he closed the book he was holding and slid it back into its place on the shelf.

"Great", I piped and started pulling out one of the novels from my bag, waving it up in the air, "And I did all the reading you asked me to do."

"Good girl", he chuckled, praising me the same way he did when we were younger, "But let's head over to the table and take one thing at a time, yes?"

With an obedient nod, I followed him to the large wood surface and laid out my books in front of me after sitting down.

"Show me what you read since last time", he instructed as he stood next to me, peering down at all the texts.

"I finished this one", I carefully pointed at the historic novel he had recommended me and then reached for the book of laws that I had to study, "And this one I read up until page three hundred and four like you told me. Say, Namjoon, that law on taxing the farmers doesn't seem quite fair, does it?"

"No, it doesn't", he slowly shook his head, but couldn't keep the smile off his face at my haste of getting on with the lesson, "We'll discuss that in a bit, but first I want you to tell me about the novel."

I blinked up at him for a moment and he finally spun one of the chairs around so he could sit down next to me.

"What were the important parts to you and why? How did it make you feel? What inspired you most about this piece? Do you think others should read it too? What does the story tell that no other story does? What makes it truly unique?", his eyes burned with passion as he listed questions for me to answer. Nothing else made him as enthusiastic as literature did.

What would've normally overwhelmed me, kept me completely relaxed in his presence. I began talking about the novel in its entirety, trying to answer the questions in the same eloquent way of speaking that Namjoon would. He guided me with his words to get to the deeper meaning of topics in the book and helped me illustrate my thoughts to the fullest.

When we were finished, he instructed me to copy down some of the rules from the law book as he stared out over the meadows out the window in thought. Law was always a part of our lessons, but it never interested me as much. I only learned about it, because Namjoon was the one teaching me.

As time went by, my eyelids grew heavier and I was reminded that I had only slept an hour that night when my fatigue hit me again. My head must've been dipping forward as I sat there, for Namjoon's soft voice called out to me.

"Another sleepless night, Princess?"

I straightened up, but couldn't help the exhausted expression on my face, "Maybe."

"You should really try and get some more rest, Milou, you know it's not healthy to stay up so late", he lectured me and then lowered his voice and leaned in a little closer, "Much less running around the forrest at night."

"I did not-", I cut myself off when he raised an eyebrow. He had known me for too long.

"Hey, it's okay", he smiled almost a sad smile, "Just finish writing down these next few laws."

I obeyed and got back to work. It didn't last long though before my forehead gently rested against the table's cool surface. I could feel Namjoon's firm hand gently rubbing along my back as he sighed and he let me rest like that for a few minutes.

"Joon?", I spoke up quietly with my head still against the table.

"Yes, Princess?", he hummed.

"I'm getting married", I murmured out and his hand froze against my back for a moment.

"I know", he said desolately and continued his motions.

"You do?", I moved my head to the side so I could gaze up at him and he merely nodded.

His beautifully wise eyes were glued to something in the distance outside and his jaw set as he breathed out through his nose.

"What do I do, Joon?", I whispered out, my voice cracking in worry.

He met my gaze and an emotion I can only describe as pity washed over his expression.

"I...", for once he didn't have the perfect thing to say. Nothing laid out in that intelligent mind of his. All he could do was stare at the sad form in front of him. "I don't think there's anything you can do."

"That's what I thought", I turned my face back towards the table, my head resting in my arms.

There was nothing I could ever do to get out of situations in my life. Everything had already been laid out perfectly for me and there was no way around it.

Namjoon let me sleep for the rest of the lesson and sat by my side for the rest of the morning, silently rubbing my back in hopes of comforting me. When it was time for him to take his leave, I stood up to follow him to the door. He bowed lightly, a few books in hand, and I curtsied.

"See you soon, Milou", he smiled that warm smile of his that made a momentary wave of happiness wash over me.

"Until next time, Namjoon", I replied, wavering in my spot.

We stared at each other for a moment and he was about to turn towards the door, when I rushed forward and flung my arms around him. My head rested against his firm chest and I clung to him tightly.

"You won't leave me, right?", I spoke worriedly into him, trembling at the thought, "Even if I get married off to some horrible man you won't leave me, right?"

"O-of course not", he whispered back, his arms now moving to clutch protectively around my shape.

"Thank you, Joon", I whispered with my eyes squozen shut.

"Anything for you, Milou", he whispered back, reaching to pat the back of my head.

And then he was off. I watched his carriage ride away into the distance. It was headed back to his kingdom of Iapetus. That small solace in my life that were Namjoon's lessons had passed once more. And I was left alone.

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