Emilia could only look up at him with her eyes completely wide. Then she opened her mouth to say something, but the words died in her throat the moment she saw Mark’s expression.

He was upset.

"What...?" was all Emilia managed to say in a voice that came out small and trembling.

"Stop acting like a child and tell me directly what’s wrong with you," Mark said without loosening his grip on her wrists. "Because if you don’t tell me, I can’t know what’s going on."

Emilia’s green eyes stared at him fixedly for a couple of seconds. Then her expression changed.

"Nothing is wrong with me..." she said, frowning. "You’re imagining things."

"I’m not imagining things, Emilia."

"Yes you are," she insisted, starting to struggle with her wrists trying to free herself. "Let go of me."

Mark tightened his grip.

"I said let go of me."

"And I said tell me what’s wrong with you."

The queen pulled harder but after days of not eating or sleeping properly her body simply didn’t have the strength to compete with Mark’s grip.

She struggled for a few more seconds until she finally gave up and lay still beneath him, breathing hard.

"Something happened because out of nowhere your attitude changed with no explanation," Mark said, looking at her directly. "You stopped talking to me, stopped seeking me out, stopped eating, stopped sleeping, and you’ve been locked up in here for days doing absolutely nothing."

Emilia didn’t respond.

"That’s not just being ’tired.’"

"..."

"So stop playing games and tell me once and for all what happened," Mark said, lowering his voice slightly. "Because if you don’t tell me, I can’t do anything to fix it."

The queen kept her face turned to one side, looking at the wall, looking at anything that wasn’t Mark’s eyes.

The seconds passed without her saying anything.

Until she finally murmured something.

"You wouldn’t understand..."

Her voice was so quiet Mark barely heard it.

He waited a few seconds, but Emilia didn’t speak again. She simply stayed still, her face turned toward the wall and her gaze lost on some invisible point.

In the end, Mark released her and moved away. Then he sat at the edge of the bed for a few seconds, and after letting out a long sigh, got to his feet.

"Alright..." he said in a tone that was no longer frustration but exhaustion. "If that’s how you want things to be between us, that’s fine by me."

"..."

"I’m not going to push any further."

Then Mark turned around and began walking toward the door. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the entire room as he slowly moved away.

Emilia lay still on the bed, listening to him.

Each step brought him closer to the exit. Each step carried him further from her.

And for some reason, that was unbearable.

Something inside her chest began to crack until, when Mark was less than two meters from the door, she finally moved.

The queen had launched herself from the bed and wrapped herself around his back with what little strength her body had left.

Her arms closed around his waist and her face pressed against his back with such force that Mark could feel her entire body trembling.

"Please don’t go..." she murmured, tightening the embrace as her voice broke with each word. "Don’t leave me alone again... please..."

Her body trembled against Mark’s back. Not from cold. From fear.

Mark stayed still for a moment, feeling Emilia’s embrace against his back. In the end he let out a sigh before turning around.

"I’m not going to leave you alone," Mark said, looking at her.

"..."

"But you’re not helping me prevent that from happening either," he continued, taking her by the shoulders. "Every time I try to get closer, you push me away."

Emilia lowered her gaze.

"So tell me," Mark said, squeezing her shoulders slightly. "What’s wrong with you?"

She didn’t respond immediately. Instead she stepped forward and hugged him again before lifting her head slightly to hide her face in his neck.

"The situation just completely overwhelmed me..." she said, her voice muffled against his skin. "Everything piled up too fast and I didn’t know how to handle it... and I ended up acting like an idiot." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"..."

"The speech, the fight, what happened between us that night, the kingdom’s problems, all of it..." she continued, squeezing the fabric of Mark’s clothes between her fingers. "Everything came together at the same time and instead of talking to you about what was happening to me, I locked myself in here and pushed everyone away."

Her voice grew quieter.

"I’m sorry..." she murmured. "I really am sorry."

Mark raised a hand and placed it on top of Emilia’s head.

"It’s alright," he said, gently stroking her hair. "I forgive you."

The queen pressed herself closer against him at those words.

"But next time something is bothering you," Mark said in a soft tone, "talk to me. It doesn’t matter what it is. Alright?"

She nodded against his neck without pulling away, and after a few seconds lifted her head to look at him.

"Is it true you won’t abandon me?"

"No," Mark replied with certainty. "I won’t."

Emilia looked at him as if searching his eyes for some sign that he was lying.

But she didn’t find one.

"Thank you..." she murmured. "For everything."

Mark didn’t respond.

And Emilia didn’t need him to.

The silence surrounding them was no longer uncomfortable or heavy. For the first time in days, it was simply silence.

She stayed looking at him for a few seconds before rising onto her tiptoes and kissing him.

The kiss started soft, barely a brush of her chapped lips against Mark’s. But it didn’t stay there.

Emilia’s lips parted against his and her hands moved up from his chest to his neck, drawing him closer as the kiss grew deeper.

"I love you..."

She pressed herself even closer to his body, but then Mark broke the kiss for an instant and rested his forehead against hers.

"They all do," he replied with a smile.