Sua had always been good at enduring her life. Whether it be a lesson which dragged on painfully long, expectations from Nigeh about how she should behave, the subsequent disappointment she'd receive as she failed to be exactly as she was expected to be—she knew how to endure it. She carried everything with a practiced ease, her emotions carefully bottled away where nobody could see.

It was safer that way, nobody could hurt her. Nobody could see the vulnerability she hated about herself.

Nigeh praised her for her obedience almost as much as she scolded her, yet each word from her mother felt hollow, like she didn't really care for Sua. Which, of course she didn't. All she was to her was a pretty face, which after hearing it so many times Sua was starting to believe.

Yet amidst her increasingly sluggish days she had something to look forward to. Her personal knight, Mizi.

Mizi was like the light she so desperately needed in her life—no one understood her like Mizi did, no one cared about her past her looks like Mizi did. If only she could get married to her, she was confident she'd be much happier in life if that was the case.

Sua knew her mother absolutely detested Mizi, and how close the two of them were, yet after several attempts of reassigning the pink haired girl which all failed as Sua refused to cooperate until Mizi was returned, Nigeh learned to give up.

The only times Sua ever dared to speak up were when Mizi was involved. She truly valued Mizi over everything, she loved her.

☆-

It was yet another day of the same routine she'd been used to. She always liked following a schedule, anything straying from what she had mentally planned for the day stressed her out.

She walked quickly through the castle's halls following the scolding she'd just been subjected to by her mother. She would've been lying if she said she wasn't upset, yet of course she didn't let that show. Her expression stayed carefully schooled, as if unaffected by everything.

As she finally reached the room she entered, shutting the door behind herself with a quiet click. For a moment, she just stared at the interior. It was far more simplistic than the rest of the castle's extravagant decoration, just as she preferred it.

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor. The silence gave her enough room to think, and, honestly, it was overwhelming.

The unwelcome feeling of tears stung at the corners of her eyes, her breath quietly hitching in the back of her throat. She pressed her sleeve against her face, desperate to stop herself from crying, yet it proved itself useless as her tears kept falling.

She shrunk inwardly into herself, her shoulders trembling with each silent tear which fell down her face. God, how pathetic was she? She hated herself for crying, even if it was just her alone. She suddenly flinched up as she heard the sound of the door opening, trembling as she watched who entered. Mizi.

"Sua!! Gosh, training was sooo boring today, I swear I almost fell asleep-" She cut herself off as she noticed Sua, her voice instantly softening as she gently shut the door behind herself.

"...Oh." She muttered, walking over to where Sua was on her bed and lowering herself to sit beside the princess. Her arm slipped around the smaller girl's shoulders, pulling her close, her touch comforting, and undeniably familiar. "...What's wrong?"