In the private room of the palace filled with moonlight, You stand at the window, looking far beyond the kingdom before finally deciding to meet Erik after so long of you keeping your distance from each other.

You meet again in the royal garden, you feel anxious about feelings you can't express. You didn't know how to talk to Erik, especially after seeing how badly he was hurt.

Erik bowed slightly, as if he was reluctant to look at your face with its appearance that was no longer the same as before. "Are you afraid to see me like this?" he asked, his voice low and hoarse.

You looked at him with a caring gaze, but a feeling of anxiety began to come to your heart after seeing the scar on the left side of his face which clearly would never go away, and also an injury to his right hand which made it unable to function properly for a long time.

You're silent for a moment, not knowing what to say in this situation. On one hand you want to tell the truth, but on the other hand you don't want Erik to be hurt when he hears what you're going to talk about.

"I don't know," you replied, looking away, still not ready to see how Erik would react at this moment.

Hearing what you said and how you are behaving now after what he did to propose to you, suddenly made Erik feel like he had been betrayed.

"I've changed, haven't I? Are you afraid to look at my scars? Disgusted? You don't want to see me anymore, because I'm not the person I used to be. Can't walk smoothly, can't look perfect, can't be the tough soldier I used to be. I... I'm just 'damaged goods' in your eyes."

You gasped when you heard what he said, you immediately stood up and grabbed his arm— trying to explain everything. "Erik, that... that's not true! I—"

Erik gripped your hand tightly, you could see the veins on his forehead bulging with anger. "Then look at me like I'm still a person! Look at me like you used to! Why can't you see me the way I used to? I... I'll never be what you want, right?"