“Tobias,” he said the name thoughtfully as Luke tilted the wine glass to his lips for another sip. The dark liquid had a fruity aroma, but thankfully was not too sweet. He much preferred something with more alcohol content. Then again, even if the hall was decorated to look and feel like one of the parties that aristocrats hosted, that afternoon’s event was still a business function. Thus, the light-bodied wine being served to the guests. Even then, he noticed how Rhiane politely accepted the glass only to ignore it like she did in the last few meals he had shared with her. Her alcoholic preference was not his concern though. What was stuck in his head was Tobias Lavanchy, his second cousin. Rhiane had known the man for just a day and yet she spoke of him as if he was the most reliable person in the palace. 

“It is still inconvenient to walk at a slow pace while assisting an injured lady. Sometimes I might even have to carry her. Tobias will not be much help in public – which I expect is where we will be spending most of our time.” A small smile tugged the corner of his lips. For those curious eyes stealing glances at them, he thought. The prince may be criticizing her poor choices, but he was not about to let everybody in attendance see how disappointed he was at such a small misstep that had cost him his freedom. “I commend you for standing by your choice, princess. I do hope you will not make a fuss about seeing Dr. Gulsvig when you aggravate the already aggravated ankle.” He raised his glass to her, inviting her to have a drink with him, but seeing that she would not touch her own glass of wine, shrugged and savored the bittersweet liquid.

But her apparent hesitation to see a physician was not the case when she was younger. She did admit to bringing her ailing mother to a doctor. Public Health was something he happily delegated to someone else entirely. He was not a physician and the intricacies of the factors that made the body sick was not his cup of tea. Embarrassing as it may sound, but he was not fully informed of what had really happened eight years ago, not even the statistics that detailed how many were infected and how many died. Was her version of the story the truth or was she, being at fault, trying to redeem herself by rewriting history?

Nevertheless, her outreach project would happen so long as she would not drag him into the mess of the bidding process, procurement, logistics, and coordination of the whole thing. He already had a lot on his hands to supervise a small initiative that would keep her busy and out of his way. Hopefully, he could also use it as means to frequently request the monarch to disable the implants. 

“I cannot comment without enough knowledge on the matter,” the prince admitted his lack of information aloud. He did promise to be honest with her anyway, plus believing her statement would be admission that there was something wrong in the system, while denying her story all together would mean an undoubtedly very public disagreement. The latter was something neither of them needed. “Although I have to ask. Do you blame me for what happened to your family?” Could it be the reason why she had repeatedly rejected his romantic advances among other things that he was offering her for free? Well, except for the cannoli. 

Luke watched her quietly, no longer pretending to be discussing a light topic with her. He thought about her response. If she said yes, then it explained why she was being oddly unattracted to him. On one hand, it was good because he didn’t need to worry about her taking his gestures to mean one thing when it meant nothing. However, on the other hand, it was an unsettling feeling to have failed and to have that particular failure cost the life of a dearly loved mother. He would, if he could, prevent the accident that killed his father. But like what Sophia said, not everything was under his control.

In any case, Rhiane was saved from answering at that moment by a call. Luke, already wary of emergency situations happening in the middle of the day, immediately checked who was calling. Then he sighed. “Sorry, this is my uncle.” The man got to his feet and waved across the room to one of the men in dark tailored suits. At least it was not an emergency. “I have to at least greet him or else he might be inclined to believe that his nephew lacks courtesy. I will introduce you to the duke later, but for now please enjoy your wine.” He nodded his head at Tobias, who had automatically turned his attention to Luke as soon as the prince got to his feet. No hand gestures or messages was needed. Tobias knew what to do, especially as Luke walked away from the table leaving Rhiane alone.