The day is long, has been so long that Shirayuki's positive that its weight has sunk down through her feet and worn her out. As if she'd walked miles today and hadn't quit, as if her shoes offer next to no protection either. And dance lessons had dragged on and on through every pesky ache, until finally her instructor has mercy on them and declares that she and Zen have improved quite a bit especially since the start of today and dismisses the lesson. Perhaps he's off for the night too.

And Shirayuki does her best to not collapse against the wall behind her, because she feels she shouldn't be this worn. Just she'd been kept on her toes mostly metaphorically earlier in the day when doing her herbalist work, then had to end that an hour or two early to run off to help out with wedding planning, and another fitting, because the first dress must have been not fit for a royal wedding after all. She'd even had to work out the normal stuff like what kind of flowers were to be there for the wedding, in which she still hadn't narrowed it down. Being an herbalist didn't make picking just a few flowers easy after all, because there were meanings and uses and so much beauty to every kind of flower, and she was also keenly aware of how she'd look before the people, so the color shouldn't distract from her (how scary it sounded to be one drawing so much attention), and also shouldn't wash her out.

And then finally, they'd left for dance lessons, which were extended today because clearly they were out of practice, even though Shirayuki can't remember the last time she didn't have a dance lesson. Though to be fair, the days were starting to blur together. They became like one long day, starting shortly after they became engaged. Since the announcement to Izana, probably sooner. Though she half-wondered if Zen had to ask for permission from Izana to propose as well.

And now, she wanted a nap or rather really wanted to go to bed for the night. But Shirayuki wasn't quite sure if she'd make it that far as much as her feet ached. And she's pretty sure she'd started developing callouses across the bottom of her feet as well, because they seemed really hard and really dry the last time she looked at them. Though putting ointments and lotions every night she can remember to, seemed almost hopeless, since they barely got any rest.

"Are you okay?" And Zen's closer to her than before, attentive to her pain in a way that still manages to take her breath away. They are so busy lately, and he still notices these things about her or seems to notice them better than ever.

"I'm fine." Shirayuki sighs, "Just am wearing my feet out." She'll be fine, even if it's months after the wedding when her feet fully heal up. The wait will feel long she knows, but once they heal, it will feel like it happened over night.

"Here." And Zen crouches down before her, slipping first one shoe off her foot and then the other.

"You don't have to." Shirayuki tells him; it's not the first time that Zen's knelt before her and probably won't be the last time, but this feels like too much to ask of him.

"I want to." He reassures her and slips her socks off too, as she finally sits down before him. "I'm not very good at it though." Zen warns her, and then he picks up one of her feet and rubs carefully with plenty of pressure against the bottom of her foot, following the motion through, like waves cresting against shore.

Shirayuki does her best to relax past the sudden embarrassment of this moment, "You're not bad at it." Zen's no professional, but this isn't awful. He's not super familiar with the motions, and even sometimes seems a little clumsy. A prince is not one to be trained as a masseuse, and that's okay.

But it's nice, and slowly it takes the pressure off her tired feet, slowly a bit of relief seeps back in. And he spends so much time, careful time, with her first foot, as if even an eternity with this foot is better than not massaging it enough. And then slowly he moves on to the next one, and she watches, half-melted against the wall, but also bracing herself for the moments when her feet almost rebel against the touch, as sore as they are.

And Zen is just so careful with her. It's so surreal, and the love in every detail is apparent.

"I'm unpracticed." Zen sighs, "I've never really gotten much practice in, but you looked like it really hurt." This is love, this is how she knows they'll be okay.

"I wish I could do something for you too." She answers instead, because massaging feet has never been a glamorous task, and it is work and nerves and sometimes pretty awkward.

"You do." Zen smiles at her, and there's so much joy within that smile, and it definitely doesn't come from all of this. "You've given me something to believe in."

"What do you mean?" And Shirayuki watches Zen, something real only for a glimpse passes through his face, a shooting star for a moment. And yet, it was sad and happy and hopeful all at once.

"I believe in us. I used to think that love wasn't something I could have as a prince, or at least not like this, but you gave me a reason and a hope to believe." He smiles, a little nervously, and though there's a whole story there, Shirayuki doesn't pry.

She wants to ask how she could do such an incredible thing, but even the words don't seem like much; they don't seem to be enough.

"I love you." And she hopes it speaks volumes with how hard this all is to articulate, to give words to, to breathe something from all of this.

"I love you too." And Zen smiles like the sun just came out in the ballroom that they are sitting on the floor of, and Shirayuki knows that he means it with the way that he's willing to take even the least graceful parts of her and bring a little bit of compassion and relief to them. He treats her nobly as if she were a princess rather than a commoner. It's an honor and an awe all wrapped into one.

And somehow she knows the walk back to her room won't feel as impossible as it felt earlier that day.