She stood there aghast, not quite believing her eyes. It didn’t make sense. But then, nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

He stepped towards her tentatively, carefully, his eyes almost aglow with worry; he didn’t want to scare her.

“I’m sorry I never told you,” he said, his voice feeling so far away and yet so intimately close to her. “I hope you can understand why.”

“I…” Words failed her, her mind failing to process what stood before her in the place of this stranger she had grown to know so much. This was not at all what she expected to see...or hear, from him.

“I”m sorry,” he apologize again.

“Why me?” she asked. “Why...why would you choose me?”

He looked confused. “I...I thought you would know already.”

Her heart skipped a beat. It didn’t make sense. They had gotten intimate, sure, and grown fond of each other. But at the end of the day, he was still a prince--no, a king. And she was just a common girl.

“It doesn’t make sense,” she repeated out loud.

“Merrium,” he said, taking her face in his hands. “You are special beyond anyone I’ve ever met. You give me such a feeling I have never felt of anyone else. You don’t belong here, Merrium.”

Her breath began to catch in her chest.

“Let me take you to my world. Would you run away with me?”