Kai buried a hand in his hair. "I've been completely honest with the media. She hasn't brought anything up on those accords. There hasn't really been much talk of her signing the treaty, either, but the way the queen has mentioned the letumosis antidotes Luna has developed has made it sound like she's having more developed as we speak."

"You're basing all this on assumptions?" Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom asked incredulously through one of the netscreens on Kai's wall, gaping at him. "Based on what she made it sound like? Prince Kaito, I know this is a difficult time for you, but the threat of Luna is still imminent despite your little camaraderie with Selene. Has she or has she not been pursuing more negotiations of peace?"

Kai sank lower into his desk. When she put it like that, he realised how strange it sounded. How silly of him. Had he been ignoring his duties? "She has not. But-" Kai cut himself off. He didn't know how he meant to finish that sentence.

"What was the last word on the marriage alliance she proposed before your father was diagnosed?" asked Prime Minister Kamin of the African Union.

"To my knowledge, my father was quarantined in the midst of discussion with his own staff. But the queen hasn't exactly made it clear whether or not she intends to carry the same alliance onto my reign." This was giving him a headache. He couldn't tell the other world leaders about all the things he'd talked about with Selene. All the things she'd seemed to care about. He couldn't tell them of these feelings he had for her, whatever exactly they were, and he couldn't tell them that he was starting to think they really were friends. That she was more than just the queen of Luna. Because to these people, that's all she was. And he couldn't exactly blame them.

"Prince, all of us here recognize that you're being thrust upon this much sooner than you would have hoped. But I urge you not to forget that getting Luna to sign the Treaty of Bremen is of dire importance." President Vargas of the American Republic knitted his brow. "For better or worse, Selene has chosen to enter into these negotiations of peace with the Eastern Commonwealth, and the moves you make toward peace will be instrumental in the fragile alliances we've formed with Luna thus far. I compel you not to forget your duties as the new leader of your country."

Kai nodded bitterly, leaning into his laced fingers. His brow was knit. There was an awful tension in the room, and he didn't know how to relieve it. He hadn't thought it too strange that their negotiations were paused following his father's sickness and Selene's recovery, but maybe he was kidding himself. Maybe he'd been stalling all this time. What's worse was the awful feeling lingering at the back of his throat. He completely overlooked politics and negotiations when he was with Selene. Was he already neglecting his duties as prince? His duties as the future emperor?

He nodded again, drawing his shoulders in and sitting up straight. "Thank you for the conference. I'll be taking your advice into consideration soon in my discussions with the queen. Computer, end communication."

Kai pushed his chair away from the desk as soon as the screens on the wall went black, forcing himself to his feet. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to go about these negotiations, and he felt more useless than he had yet so far. What would his father do?

Kai stalked over to the window, gazing down at New Beijing. Would his father have married Selene? He couldn't be sure. For all his talk of friendship with Selene, Kai couldn't even be sure of her. Why had Luna wanted a marriage alliance with the Commonwealth in the first place, rather than just pursue a signature on the Treaty of Bremen? Why would they do this, if they truly just wanted peace the same way Earth did? The same way Kai did? Kai was trying to be resolute in his beliefs, that Selene just wanted peace, that she and Luna had no ulterior motives. But he couldn't stop himself from questioning.

Then images flashed through his head, memories of Selene caressing his face. Raising a cool hand, Kai touched his jaw where Selene has cupped it. Just last night, brushing away his tears. He'd seen the concern on her face. He'd seen the way her lips had twitched. The way her hair was falling in her face. It could have been an act. But Kai remembered her nervous laugh, her hysterical giggles, and her genuine smile. He doubted she was that good an actress. And then he remembered how badly he'd wanted to kiss her in that moment, raw and real with bad makeup and her lips quirked up in a smile.

Kai brought his fingers to his lips and shut his eyes. There was something seriously wrong with him. Why couldn't he forget those dreams of his? Why couldn't he stop wondering if her lips would be that soft and warm in real life? He needed to stop. Negotiations would get nowhere if he couldn't be professional around Selene. It was more important now than ever that she didn't play a part in every single one of his thoughts. As a naive prince? Have as many silly crushes as you want, Kai. But he would be emperor soon. He needed to keep these feelings in check.

It made his head spin.

Sighing, Kai opened his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back. He turned away from the window just as the door to his office chimed with a request for entrance. "Come in," Kai called, tugging at his collar, and Torin, his father's advisor, walked in briskly.

Torin bowed to Kai. "Your highness. How did the conference with the leaders go?"

Kai sighed, collapsing onto his desk chair. "You want the truth? Terrible. They all think I'm incompetent. I can tell."

Torin lowered himself onto an armchair. "I'm sure that's not true. They all recognize you're being put under immense stress right now, and that they would be in just as bad a shape as you if they were in the same position."

Kai glanced up at Torin. "You think I'm in bad shape?"

Torin hesitated, and Kai stood, pacing back to the window. "You know, don't answer that. I just don't know what to do, Torin, I don't know what to think. After all that's happened, I've forgotten that Luna's still up there. That it's still waiting, and that that's still where the queen comes from. It's so easy to forget when I'm prince. But now- I'm going to be emperor, and I don't know what to think of anything." Kai buried a hand in his hair. "I don't know what to do about Luna."

Torin was silent for a long moment before he finally spoke up again. "I remember the first letumosis outbreaks, when you were very little. Your father had been very happy at the time, and he was thriving as a leader. You were the light of his life, along with your mother, and he was highly respected among all the leaders.

"You would not have known, seeing how he led his people during those times, that he was just as uncertain as you are now." Torin was very stoic and still, even as he smiled a bit in nostalgia. "But he confessed to me many times about much of the same things you are feeling now. He felt as though he would fail his country, that he would fail you and your mother. He worried that he wouldn't be able to combat this fast-spreading threat, and that it would take all he cared about before he could fight it away."

Torin's smile grew sad as he met Kai's eye. "Your father lost his battle with letumosis. I compel you not to give in and lose yours before it takes you, too." 

Kai's eyes dotted with tears, and he turned away, back toward the window. "How can I fight a battle when the other side hasn't even said anything to insinuate we're warring?" 

"This is not a fight of violence, your Highness. This is tactics. This is logic. Even if Luna's intentions are as pure as Selene says, nobody knows what lies beyond. It is a foolish ruler that assumes the intentions of one they know nothing about before peace is made." Torin crossed his ankles. "Even though we pursue peace, that does not mean that we should open ourselves up to Luna's surveillance." 

Kai gazed out the window before nodding slowly. He made his way over to a chair and collapsed into it. "You don't think Luna is trustworthy? Because I honestly don't know what to think. It's so- it's like-" Kai groaned into his hands. He felt pathetic. He wasn't supposed to need this much guidance. He wasn't supposed to make Torin act like a therapist. He was supposed to be the next ruler of the Eastern Commonwealth, for God's sake, and he couldn't even rule. 

Torin hesitated. "Your Highness, do you think Queen Selene is a competent leader?" 

Kai peeked at him from between his fingers. "Of course I do." 

"You don't think that Selene has been doing the same? Rather, keeping the Commonwealth at arm's length? I am certain she has never assumed your intentions were entirely noble, at any point, either- or your father's." Torin leaned the side of his face into his hand. "Luna has a history of complications with Earth. It would be foolhardy of them to trust us, just as we should not trust them. If Selene is an intelligent queen, then she surely knows this." 

Kai froze. Behind his hand, he closed his eyes and tried to process what Torin had just said. 

Yes, it could all have been an act. Selene could be toying with him. She could be trying to weaken him for the kill, trying to soften Earth before the bite. She was the queen of Luna. Luna was devious. Evil. Lunars were manipulative, horrible people. They were hardly even human any more. 

Kai felt as he had so many weeks ago, when his father was healthy and well and he had just entered negotiations with Luna. It had seemed like nonsensical, political rumours. It would be stupid of his father to believe anything the Lunars said, right? He could not be seriously considering entering binding agreements with them. 

His brain felt like it was going to split open. Sharp pain echoed around every thought. Business, friendship. Trust, evil. Manipulation. Love. Politics, death, sickness, blood, nobility, honour, royalty, Lunar, Earthen. 

"Thank you for the advice, Torin," Kai said, his voice strung thin. "That will be all." 

He could hear the creak of the armchair as Torin stood, the swish of his clothes as he bowed, and the hissing of his door as it opened. The clipping of his heels on the flooring outside Kai's office. The door closed behind him. 

Kai started to sob. Dry sobs at first, but tears started to well up in his eyes and soon they overflowed. Kai couldn't be emperor. He was going to fail the Commonwealth, he was going to fail Earth, and he was going to fail himself. He needed to sort this out. He needed to get rid of his stupid feelings. 

Kai tilted his head back, sniffing and wiping his eyes dry, as the door beeped with another request for entry. 

"Come in," Kai croaked, opening his eyes. The door slid open and Nainsi wheeled in. 

"Your Highness, Queen Selene Blackburn has requested your presence in conference room three." 

Kai ran his hand down his face and tried to ignore the jump in his pulse at Selene's name. "I'll be there momentarily."