Hi. I’ve talked this through with some people before, but never posted it here. So, here’s my essay-length ramble of a post on why Bf!Cherri is Demiromantic coded to me. (Coming from a Demiaro person)
She has said she’s “never felt [these feelings] before” Now the obvious answer is she hasn’t fallen in love before, but I don’t think it’s quite that simple. Being the princess, and with what we know of her backstory, she’s never had close friends before.
The definition of demiromantic is “someone who only develops romantic feelings for people after developing a strong emotional connection with them” Cherri's she’s never had the proximity or close friendships needed to fall in love with anyone. The suitors have only ever been interested in the political aspect of it, not being close to her, not being her friend.
Sure, there may have been attractive suitors, but none that she’s felt that “special spark” that people say is love. As their time in the red kingdom moves forward, she gets more and more closer to Apo. She learns their story, sees their true self, and truly considers them as friends. But nothing more. Or, at least that she knows of. She’s slowly falling in love with them, but not having experienced it before, she doesn’t know what she’s feeling, other than the fact that she cares for them.
So when they hear Apo say “you looked beautiful, with the mask and without”, they get that realization. Oh my god, I like her. That’s what I’m feeling. Oh my god, I've never felt this before. And so they do the only thing they can think of. They run. They need to process all that's happened, and they need time alone. That’s why when Apo kisses her, she’s so surprised. She’s just realized that she likes her, she’s not quite ready to deal with it yet. She
Then we get to the confession scene “I still don’t know what these feelings are or how to deal with it” It’s all so new and confusing, but she cares. She wants to care, she really does. She wants to try. She’s fallen in love for the first time, despite not knowing what it’s felt like before
Apo’s “We can take it slow, none of those royal weddings or anything” comment also plays into this. Most likely, Cherri has heard of marriage as something political, something that happens fast. Say yes to a suitor and 3 weeks later you’re married. She doesn’t want that to happen with Apo, wants to be friends, to still have time to figure out what’s going on, what they’re to be.
Her relief at this is so obvious, and I personally think she still takes time to figure things out after their canon story ends. It takes a while for her to learn how to express feelings, to initiate not just reciprocate actions of affection.
Eventually, though, they do. And that’s the two’s love language from then on. It’s just small things, like standing close, intertwining hands, or just never not touching the other, but it’s special. Something nobody else in Cherri’s life does, something just reserved for Apo.