Damn you, Eden, Romain thought, staring at the other prince in the room. Prince Xiumin - at least he wouldn't have any trouble remembering his name, he'd grown up hearing about foreign royalty his entire life, and Prince Xiumin, being the heir to the New Asian throne, most certainly fit in that category - looked entirely unfazed by the situation at hand. His gaze swept around the room, his dark eyes watchful, almost as if he was studying Romain, who fought the urge to look away.

"So, um, Eden said you would explain?" Romain's voice seemed to echo strangely in the uncomfortable silence that stretched out between them. Was there a title he was supposed to address Xiumin by? Probably. Then again, Xiumin was more or less in his bedroom, so he wasn't quite sure if formalities still applied.

"There is a shortage of guards," Xiumin said. Romain had never heard him speak English before - he had a quiet, deliberate sort of voice, and like Benicia, he had the trace of an accent. His voice rose and fell with the slightest breathy inflections, making his words sound softer and rounder. "I presume that the Captain was reluctant to have a prince so lightly guarded. He has entrusted my safety, it appears, to the numerous guards outside your quarters."

"Oh." That made sense, he supposed. "Did he tell you how long it might be?"

"He did not say."

"Right." Romain glanced a little wildly around for something to do, something to talk about, maybe. What was there to say, though? Sorry about this, foreign royalty don't usually drop down dead in the middle of the day, I promise. "Um, do you want to maybe sit down?"

Xiumin regarded him in silence for a few seconds before crossing the room and taking a seat in a chair, his robes sweeping out behind him.

Romain had initially thought that Xiumin looked quite similar to Eden. They had the same glossy, raven-black hair - though Xiumin's fell in waves to his shoulders and Eden's was cropped much shorter - and the same slanted hazel eyes. They were even built the same way - that was to say, much more lean and muscular than Romain was, which made him suspect that Xiumin was not nearly as soft and demure as his delicate robes and quiet demeanor made him seem.

But Eden would never have sat so formally in the chair across from Romain, utterly silent and frankly a little unnerving.

"You are very different now," Xiumin seemed to muse aloud. He murmured something under his breath, something so quick and fleeting that Romain could distinguish nothing but for the fact that it was most definitely not in English. "Not as...how do I describe it? Not as bold, perhaps."

Romain blinked in surprise, his awkwardness forgotten. "Different...now? As opposed to...before?"

"Oh. You don't remember." Xiumin considered this for a second, before apparently accepting whatever conclusion he had come to. "But I hadn't expected you to. We were, after all, only children. It was my first time away from the Imperial Palace, so it was much more memorable for me." Xiumin's lips twitched, almost forming a smile as he caught sight of the apologetic confusion on Romain's face. "When I was five, my parents visited yours in order to discuss the relations between our two countries."

Now Romain remembered. He'd been confused but taken with the foreigners' elegant robes and peculiar language, and curious about the boy who had ducked his head away shyly when Romain approached him.

"I never really made the connection," Romain admitted to Xiumin sheepishly. "Sorry. I don't think I ever called you by your name, either."

"You tried to," Xiumin corrected him. "You weren't particularly successful, even after my attempts to teach you. As a matter of fact, I believe you still haven't succeeded in saying my name."

Romain laughed, sitting down across from Xiumin. "Teach me, then. It's been, what, fifteen years? It's about time I got your name right, don't you think?"

"I'm hopeless at this, aren't I?"

Xiumin's lips curved ever so slightly, something Romain had come to recognize as his smile. "I commend you on your effort. If it consoles you, you are closer than you were before."

Romain shook his head, laughing, as he leaned back into his chair. "Maybe it's not me that's the problem. Maybe I just have a terrible teacher." Xiumin laughed at the comment - a quiet, almost restrained little laugh as his eyes followed Romain's movement - another peculiarity of his that Romain had become familiar with.

"You are almost a different person, when you are alone," Xiumin observed. "Much more confident. Almost charming."

Romain flushed. "Oh. I, um, thank you?"

"That was not quite as charming. Or confident." Xiumin leaned forward, tilting his head to the side as he studied Romain. "Why is that so?"

"I…" Romain shrugged helplessly. "It's not as easy to be confident when people have so many expectations for you. The Selected all have their own ideas on what I should be, and I just…"

"The Selected." Xiumin sounded almost contemptuous, but his features remained entirely neutral and his voice never rose. "Yes, a group of 狐狸精, commoners whose only assets are their pretty faces, all falling at your feet so that you will marry them and make them ruler beside you. Not even you enjoy it, and it is intended to be held so you can find a husband or wife. A ridiculous business, this Selection."

"You're a part of it, though," Romain pointed out in confusion.

"For political reasons only. Nothing more. The mere act of my parents entrusting me to the Illéans will improve relations between our kingdoms."

"It's for the good of the Illéa," Romain said, though that didn't sound convincing, even to himself. Xiumin didn't appear to want to dignify Romain's feeble defense with a response. He was kind of relieved, though, that Xiumin clearly didn't care about whether he was chosen or not. It took a little bit of the suffocating pressure that he'd been crippled under for days off of him.

Just then, there was a knock on Romain's door, followed by a voice muffled by the door. "Your Highnesses? The lockdown has been lifted."

"Oh," said Romain. He turned to Xiumin. "I suppose you can go now, if you want."

Xiumin inclined his head, still the epitome of respectfulness. "It was a pleasure, Prince Romain."

"Um. Likewise?" Romain probably should have listened more closely during his lessons. Perhaps then he wouldn't be floundering helplessly, trying to think of any response to Xiumin. As it was, he just watched as Xiumin swept out the door.

Romain slumped in his seat, only just then realizing how tense he had been the entire time. But even though he was much more relaxed now that Xiumin was gone, the concerns that he had kept at the back of his mind during their conversations now made themselves heard.

Princess Artemyeva is dead. How is that possible?

As minutes passed with Romain in silent, disbelieving shock, another worry rose to the front of his mind. Where was Eden? He'd always been the one to personally inform all the royals of any changes in security - Romain distinctly remembered a nineteen-year-old Eden barging into his room when he was fifteen to cheerfully announce a false alarm, having been appointed as an unofficial messenger of the guard - in all his years at the palace, he'd never seemed to see any real need to break tradition. So where was he now? Was the situation so severe that Eden couldn't send anyone else to deal with the issue, even for a second?

The lockdown had been lifted - which had to mean that either his parents or Eden didn't think that there was any threat to the people currently in the castle. That must mean that Princess Artemyeva's death had been ruled a suicide. But Eden's uncharacteristic absence spoke louder than any bland reassurances he was sure the guards outside the door would level at him.

No matter what the King and Queen want people to think, there is someone, something dangerous within these walls.

Hey guys!

Sorry it's been so long (again). I had plans for a longer chapter, but I realized that the two sections didn't flow as well as I wanted it to, so I cut it up into two smaller pieces - so this chapter isn't quite as long as what you're used to, but I had to sacrifice length for flow. Hopefully, that means that the next chapter will come out sooner (don't hold me to that). Thanks for all your support and the lovely reviews on the last chapter!

- Brenn