Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 22 ~

"Are the preparations ready for Dayeong's arrival?" he heard his mother ask his father as he closed the door behind himself and Chanmi. 

Eric paused, glancing at Chanmi for an explanation, but she wasn't looking at him, and she hadn't seemed to have heard. He briefly wondered who Dayeong was, and why she was arriving. Was this another royal child that had been cast aside? Another royal child that his parents would use as a distraction?

He wasted another second wondering about who it might be, but then he shook away the thoughts. 

"See, I told you I had a plan," he told Chanmi triumphantly as they walked through the hallways together. Here was another thing he wished they could do... walk side by side. But he sensed that he wouldn't be able to fight his parents on that rule, at least not without revealing his feelings for Chanmi. 

He was still grappling with those feelings. A part of him wanted to confess, but another part of him urged himself to wait until he was 1000% sure of what he felt. A part of him wanted to try for a relationship with her, but the logical side of him knew that his royal parents would probably never allow it. 

Mostly, he just wanted her by his side. 

"I have to admit, I was worried for a second there," she said, laughter in her voice. "But your plan worked brilliantly. I'm proud." 

He was glad that she couldn't see the giant smile that came to his face when she said that. 

They arrived at the horse stables, where Haknyeon, his riding instructor, was already waiting for him. 

"Chanmi got permission to ride with me," Eric told him quietly. "Do you mind if we like... ride alone? I want to talk to her about... um... confidential matters." 

Haknyeon raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying that. But Eric and Haknyeon had developed a sort of friendship over the past few weeks, just as he had with many of his teachers. He sensed that even if Haknyeon suspected something, he wouldn't give them away. At least, he hoped not. 

But he couldn't even worry about that right now. All he could think about was how great it felt to finally be able to spend time like this with Chanmi. Haknyeon left, and they both prepared their horses, and soon they were in the fields. They were riding side by side, and truly, it felt like a dream. 

It felt almost too good to be true. 

***

A/N

I felt like updating an extra chapter🥰

Anyways I'm having so much trouble writing the sequel for this book, and honestly, I'm still not sure if it should be a separate book or just a part two for this book. Atm I think I'm leaning for it being a pt.2, but that means I have to finish writing it before Sep 30 if I am still going to enter in the Wattys. Which is fine, I guess. I can write really fast when I feel inspired but rn I just don't😭 And on top of that, my wrist and fingers have been hurting so much lately that writing is painful. Ugh, we shall see what I decide. Anyways, how are you today?