Aria was confused. She stayed there for a bit, letting him sleep, before she got up carefully and headed outside. What was she even doing here? Sage clearly didn't think he was loved, and he was... very much so. Aria didn't know what to do. Thoughts rushed through her head. Should I just leave? Take a break from all this? Did I ruin his life as king? It was hard to imagine leaving... but maybe this would be for the best.

Sage slept for a while, though woke up after a little while and sighed when he woke up alone. He sort of lay there for a while before eventually deciding he should get up and do something. Aria looked like she wanted to be alone out there, so he sighed again and sat down to do some paperwork that had been piling up on his desk.

Aria carefully snuck back into the castle, quietly grabbing some of her stuff without Sage noticing. The girl walked to Caroline's room and woke her up, grabbing her hand. The little girl looked confused, but Aria later explained. It would be hard for both of them... and the baby Aria was going to have.

(I was thinking that maybe Aria and Caroline could be gone for about a year and then Sage sees Aria in town one day? Just an option!)

(that might be interesting! We could do that lol)

Sage didn't notice Aria come back in, and kept working on paperwork. It had been piling up on his desk...maybe he should get a secretary or something, so he could get it done and still have a time for other stuff.

(Okay! That's what I was thinking lol)

Aria walked into town with Caroline and found a small cottage for them to stay in. She could tell Caroline was nervous about living somewhere new. Hopefully this was just temporary...

Sage didn't look up from work for a while, and he was startled to see it was already dark out. He felt worry spike through him when he couldn't find Aria or Caroline anywhere, but things caught up to him after a while of panicked searching. She'd packed, which meant she'd meant to leave...and take the kids with her. He sort of just sunk down into his chair and stared blankly at the wall. Why would she do that?

Aria put Caroline down for bed. She walked over to the room she would be staying in and sunk down on the bed. Tears fell down her face. She had to leave, just why would she? Aria thought life with Sage was perfect. He loved her and she loved him... he just didn't think his life had any love in it. And that was what hurt her heart.

Sage ended up just staring at the wall until he happened to glance out the window and notice it was already dark. He should sleep....but how was he supposed to do that? He stared blankly out the window, lost in his mind, which was really a horrible place to be. Eventually, though, he just took a deep breath and went back to pick up the next letter on the stack of paperwork that had to be done. What else was he supposed to do? He was still king...he had no choice but to suck it up and push all his awful emotions away. He'd dreaded this in the back of his mind, but he never thought she'd actually leave. And so suddenly like that. But then again, so had everyone else. And really, who could blame them? He was just him, after all. Nothing special. Certainly not at her level.

Aria couldn't go to sleep. It was too hard without Sage by her side. The girl laid in bed for, what felt like, hours. She just didn't know what to do. Would Sage change? Would he know she loved him? She left, hoping Sage would figure it was because of what he thought. He should've listened to her. She did love him so, so much. Why didn't he trust her?

Sage worked through the night, and continued the next morning, only looking up from his papers when a messenger came with an urgent message...a message about an alliance with the country they were fighting. Sealed with a marriage. It was a completely absurd thought...but he had to go through with it. He didn't exactly have a choice. Aria was gone, as much as it hurt...and this would save lives, from both kingdoms. He simply nodded, and as soon as the messenger left, he just crumpled, no longer able to stop the sobs welling up from him.