Luke was annoyed with her- again- but this development was not new. Because she had been frustrated she had turned his words against him as if she were secretly a masochist seeking out her own punishment in his sharp words. Nothing beneficial could truly come out of antagonizing him into a more foul mood than he already was. Regardless of either of their feelings on the matter they were now bound together for at least a decade while she was paraded around the kingdom and made to bear him heirs. Rationally she knew it would be easier to live a partially conjoined life if the impression she had on him was positive rather than negative. Her quality of life could be improved or made miserable by his whims once he was crowned and she was less visible to the public eye. Once they had offspring she would also need to consider that any resentment he had towards her could be imputed to a son or daughter. If they were to too closely resemble the manifestation of all his disdain then they would be damned on her actions rather their own. Mentally Rhiane chastised herself as she gently bit her tongue in a reminder that fighting Luke at every pass was doing her no favor.

"Yes, I am used to pain and suffering, but that is not the reason for my reluctance," she sighed. That he expressed even stoic concern for her person utterly defeated her even if she did not voice as much. Turning towards the table she took the glass in one hand and the capsule in the other. The crown prince had not been apologetic, and his sincerity about not wanting her to continue to feel any physical torment might have been a farce, but she would feel guilt in the unlikely event her pride smothered this glimpse of compassion from him. Gerald had always told her she was much more soft emotionally than she would ever admit and he was not wrong. Their family had a theory that the stronger the barriers a person built around them the greater chances they were protecting a vulnerable heart inside. Such an opinion wasn't extended to the nobility and royalty but Rhiane had to admit it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that Luke had empathy.

The princess elect's hand trembled slightly as she popped the pill in her mouth and gulped down the water after it. Both with the doctor and earlier that morning she had taken medication without so much as a flinch, but both time had been in front of an audience. With the medical staff she was required to be complacent, obedient, and without reproach in her composure or else she would jeopardize her standing. With the attendants earlier the summoning of a tablet was an excuse to delay their departure and had been in another high pressure scenario where she could not dwell upon historical parallels. Rhiane had pledged Luke honesty in private and she had not meant that to be with words alone; her actions would be just as truthful in the event her words were insufficient.

"You are correct, I do not want nor expect you to lie when we're alone," she acknowledged. While she wanted to be civil she didn't want pretenses. It was this battle of wills she already found tiring. Were she always to have the worst expected of her she knew eventually she would stop trying to disprove the belief. Rhiane was strong in both body and mind but not enough to be her own champion for respect eternally without respite. That neither of them had privacy exacerbated matters. What fortitude she had to fight his misconceptions would not hold fast for a decade with an implant keeping them within 10 meters of one another; she'd be lucky if she didn't bitterly lash out after a few months of insults.

"And besides, you don't have to worry about playing with my emotions," she said as she stood up. Tentatively she placed weight on both legs, shifting it back and forth, as she made certain the overexerted leg had recovered and that the injured ankle could bear the strain with no adverse effects. Whatever drug she had been fed was not instantaneous but she hoped it would not just alleviate her pain but reduce swelling around the joint in question. "My mother and father loved each other deeply until the day she died and my brother found that one in a million in the middle of nowhere. I'm sure you sailed through all your accelerated statistics classes with comparable ease to me, but even I know my odds are slim to none. The only thing that could play with my emotions is a cat- we had one that wandered around the farm and was a tempestuous beast," she jested lightly.