Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 38 ~

Eric paced his room, nerves building up inside of him. He was really nervous to meet her, Princess Dayeong. What if she actually was fond of this whole marriage idea? What if she insisted that they do get married? He needed her on his side.  

A week ago, he'd gotten a folder of information about her. He hadn't looked through it until yesterday evening after Chanmi left. He was surprised at how little the public knew about her. It seemed like she'd been living a relatively private life, until now. 

He'd seen the airport incident on the news and had felt sympathy for her. His airport experience had also been awful, and he didn't wish that on anyone. Plus, his "fans", if you could even call them that, were making a big deal over nothing. He was a Prince, it wasn't as if he would marry one of them anyway. He didn't understand why people were hating on her, as if she was "stealing" him. He hadn't belonged to anyone in the first place. 

There was a knock on his door and it opened, revealing Juyeon and who he assumed was the Princess. 

"Thank you," the girl whispered to Juyeon, letting go of his arm. Juyeon wordlessly bowed to her and left, closing the door behind him. 

Leaving Eric and her alone. 

"Um... come sit down I guess," he said, gesturing to the seating area in the middle of his room. "I have some things to talk to you about." 

"Okay," she said cheerfully, following him to the seating area, but not sitting down. 

"What's the matter?" 

"Is it okay if we sit by the windows?" she asked, pointing to the little breakfast nook. "I would like to see the gardens if that's okay." 

"Sure." 

"I understand we have to have at least one date a week... can our first one be the gardens?" she asked excitedly, her eyes round in wonder as she stared out the window. "There are a lot of different flowers here. The garden looks lovely." 

"I guess we can," Eric mumbled, thinking about Chanmi. He wanted to have a garden date with Chanmi, not this girl. But the dates were mandatory, so he had no choice. 

"Listen, Your Highness," he began awkwardly. 

"Call me Dayeong," she said quickly, finally turning her gaze to meet his. "We're both royalty, it doesn't make sense to be so formal. May I call you Eric?" 

"Okay," he sighed, again thinking about Chanmi. He wished that she could also call him Eric in public. "Listen, Dayeong," he said again. "There's something I have to tell you." 

"What is it?" she asked, her eyes curious as she looked at him. 

"I can't marry you. I'm in love with someone else, and that will never change. I'm sorry... but it'll never be you." 

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but her curious expression barely changed. A small smile played on her lips, her eyes becoming thoughtful. "I'm happy you found someone you love," she said after a moment. "That's good. It's good that you don't want to get married because I don't either," she said firmly. "I have someone I want to get to know better. But here's the thing... he lives here. In your Palace." 

Eric's eyes widened, wondering who she possibly could have become interested in during the span of a day, but he didn't ask. It wasn't his business. And if he asked, then maybe she'd ask too. And he wanted to keep Chanmi a secret from as many people as possible, it was safer for her that way. 

"So... how's that going to work?" 

"I have a deal for you," she said, leaning forward. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "If we break our engagement, then our parents will immediately try to shackle us to someone from another Kingdom, right? What if that other person actually wants to get married? That'll be really bad, right?" she said, voicing his biggest fears. 

"Right," he agreed, starting to see where she was going with this. 

"So we should keep our engagement," she said. "But drag off the marriage for as long as possible. That's all I can think of right now. But while we're engaged, we'll try to think of ways where we can be able to marry someone we love, okay? Sounds good?"

"Sounds good," he said, smiling in relief. "Dayeong... you are not what I expected. Not at all." 

"What did you expect me to be? An adoring fangirl?" she teased. 

"Maybe," he admitted sheepishly, causing her to laugh. 

"If anything, you should be the fanboy," she said playfully, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I'm a Princess, and I've been in the business for longer than you," she said, winking at him, making him laugh too. 

He got the feeling they were about to become really good friends.