Even if he had told her things he had never told anyone else—-

Even if there was nothing else he wanted more than to continue being with her—-

Even if she was crying now—-

Cursing under his breath, the prince swung away from the window and stalked out of his study. He started walking, but in the end he was running, feeling like the more seconds passed—-

The prince halted with a rare display of inelegance and tried to catch his breath as his gaze urgently sought Fawn—-

He found her seated alone at the dining table, gazing at him with wide-eyed shock, her half-opened mouth literally stuffed with...cake.

The prince couldn’t help it.

He laughed.

Cringing at the sound, Fawn hurriedly gulped down her glass of water so she could swallow the rest of her cake.

Holy sweet Jesus, this was just—-

The. Most. Embarrassing. Moment.Ever.

The prince strode into the room, looking his usual beautiful self. No swollen eyes like hers, no pale skin, no flaw whatsoever, and her shoulders slumped.Maybe I need to be a bit more evil, she thought miserably. The way it looked like now, bullies got prettier while idiots like her got uglier.

When the prince reached her side, she said weakly, “Hi.”

“Enjoying your breakfast?”

She nodded. When Igor had seen her sobbing over cereal, he had left without a word and came back with a large slice of her favorite red velvet cake.

“Sweets will always make you feel better,” Igor had told her politely before leaving.

She had decided to take him up on his word, stuffing herself with cake—-

And that was how the prince ended up catching her transformation into a glutton.

Fawn stiffened as the prince came to crouch beside her chair. When he slowly reached for her hands, she tried to pull away, but by then he had her locked in his grip.

“I’m sorry.”

She bit her lip hard.

“I didn’t know how to look at you. I didn’t know how to talk to you. Now that you know the kind of person I really am.”

Ah.

She still didn’t speak, but now it wasn’t because she didn’t want to.

Now, it was because she couldn’t.

“I don’t know what’s happening anymore,” Fawn choked out.

And as the truth came out, so did the tears.

“I’ve known you for months, but you...”

The prince’s hold on her hands tightened.

“You don’t just make the pain go away anymore, prince.” The tears fell faster. “It’s beyond that now. You...you can actually hurt me more than Grant can. And I don’t understand why.”