**Amber POV
I didn't want him to see me like this.
I was ashamed, humiliated, and tired of having a target on my back.
I wanted to go back to my life before, as a maid, where no one noticed me. I felt safer that way.
Now, I felt so open, vulnerable, and exposed.
When the prince came in and saw tears flowing from my eyes, I cowered away from him.
It wasn't because I didn't appreciate his effort to save me. It wasn't because I was scared of his proximity. In fact, I wished he was closer.
It was because I knew that no matter how invigorating it felt to be held in his arms, to be nestled against his chest, that his actions were out of responsibility, and not out of love. They were out of duty, not out of kindness.
He rescued me, but I presumed it was just because he needed me alive
