5

She stares at him, not believing that the king wouldn’t find out after what had just happened with the dress, tilting her head as she raises an eyebrow. He gives her a reassuring smile and offers his elbow out to her, slightly nodding his head to her.

“Well, I’m sure a small walk would be okay.” She says, giving him a small curtsey.

She takes his elbow and they start toward the back gates of the Eastern wing of the palace, going onto a small path that leads through the woods. Hybe was worried about getting the beautiful dress dirty but Xie assured her that everything was going to be alright, they weren’t going anywhere treacherous anyway. The soft breeze blew her hair behind her, making soft ripples within it’s long strands, allowing Xie to take in her beauty once more. He watches as she stares up at the trees overhead, watching the birds fly overhead through the cracks of the leaves.

“So, how are you liking the palace?” Xie asks, awkwardly trying to initiate conversation.

“Um, I’ve only just arrived but I think it’s beautiful.” Hybe says, tilting her head to look at him with a soft smile.

“Ah, right, well I’m glad you like my home.” He replies, looking away with a soft blush.

The conversation was short, which made the walk even more awkward than Xie wanted it to be. Though they both enjoyed each other’s company, the urge to have conversation grew into something that they dreaded as they knew it was bound to end in silence once again. Xie clears his throat as they approach a clearing, exposing a cliff edge that was just above a small lake.

“My father used to take me here when I was smaller, he said that everything beyond this river had been owned by the North and that’s why it was so beautiful. He said that most things that came from the Northern kingdom were the most beautiful. I can see now that he was telling the truth.” Xie says, looking at Hybe as she looks out at the view, here eyes widening as she gazes over the horizon.

“My small kingdom wasn’t that beautiful. But this, I’ve never seen any view like this before.” Hybe says.

“You lived in a castle though, I’m sure you thought the view of your own kingdom was beautiful. Didn’t your father ever take you to the mountains?” Xie asks, sitting on a rock by the cliff’s edge.

“Ah, no, he never did. Not since my brother passed away.” Hybe says, walking to carefully sit on the rock as well, taking care to not get the dress dirty.

“You had a brother?” Xie asks quietly, not knowing that the Northern kingdom had a firstborn heir that had been a boy.

“Y-yes.” She says.

He could tell that she didn’t want to talk about it and decided to keep his mouth shut in order to not upset her even more.

“My brothers are quite the handful.” He says instead, hoping to draw the attention off of her.

“Oh? I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure to meet them yet.” Hybe says.

“Well, it wouldn’t be much of a pleasure. Xienbe is off to military training and Bian is too small to know how to properly socialize but he’s closest with father.” Xie says, scoffing at the thought of his youngest brother.

“Your father must be very protective of him then?” She asks.

“Well, he is the youngest so I guess it makes sense but I still don’t get why he gets all the special treatment. I don’t want him turning into father, lord knows we need another blood king.” Xie says, scoffing once again.

Hybe stays quiet, knowing that she didn’t really have a place to speak her opinion about the matter. Madame Fae’s voice came floating back to her from earlier in the morning and slightly blushed when she had thought about the king playing matchmaker with her and the prince.

“So-” She starts.

“I’ll be going on a trip soon.” He says, looking at her with sadness in his eyes.

“A trip? Shouldn’t you be happy? Where are you off to?” Hybe asks, giving him a smile.

“Everywhere, father is taking me to most of the kingdoms in the land, we aren’t going to the islands though, he says I’m still too young to travel by boat.” Xie says, returning the smile.

She noticed that the smile didn’t completely reach his eyes and she saw that he still looked so sad, even with the smile plastered on his lips.

“Yet you are sad?” She pushes.

“Not sad as much as disappointed.” He admits.

“Oh?” SHe says, trying to get more out of him.

“My father has made arrangements for me to meet the daughters of each kingdom to find a potential wife. He says that it’s notable for a prince to visit the princesses of each kingdom in order to build strong relations with one in case of a potential marriage. I don’t want to go, I don’t believe that any of the princesses will want to go to the meetings either and I hate that the kings are forcing it onto us. I want to marry who I want, not who my father wants.” Xie says, kicking a small rock off the cliff in anger.

Hybe looks at him in shock, any special feeling that Madame Fae had instilled in her completely vanishes and she scoffs, knowing better than to get her hopes up anyway.

“I’m sorry, your highness, I guess the king doesn’t care much about everyone else’s feelings besides his own.” She says, trying to console the prince instead of herself.

“I agree. What I would give to not be his son, the things he’s done...it’s terrifying.” He says, slightly hugging himself.

She watches as he shudders, not really understanding the memory he was thinking of but knowing that his father did have some rumors about him that seemed to put him in a bad light. She guessed that those rumors were true based on the prince in front of her.

“We should go back now.” He says, shaking his head to get the thoughts out of his mind.

He grabs her hand and they start to walk back to the palace, Hybe staring at their interlocked hands the whole time. She didn’t realize that they had reached the palace until he turned around and gently kissed her hand, making her blush and have those special feelings come back into her mind.

“I bid you a good day, princess.” He smiles against her fingers, looking up at her with innocent eyes.

"Y-Yes, you as well, your highness." She gives him a slight curtsey and watches as he walks away from her, the blush never leaving her cheeks.