If they stayed inside the villa basking in the pale yellow glow of the lamps as they lie quietly beside each other, could they remain to be just a man and a woman struggling with the unwelcome emotions plaguing their chests? Could he strip off his birthright as easy as he did his shirt and pants, and waste the day away talking about nonsense, trying to get to know the girl he was going to marry at one point? Could they both forget their differences as they forget about how the world continued to move outside their villa?

Luke lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. At one point in the last hour, he accidentally kicked his computer out the bed where it stayed forgotten for the time being. He did it again. It was a major flaw in his character, how he was easily fooled by the chemical reactions in his brain telling him that he was attracted to another pretty face or a kind gesture. Then a new face would come along and the last woman would be a history to be written in the chronicles of Prince Alessandro’s conquest. Thus, the media often dubbed his women as the “flavor of the month” soon to be replaced by the lovely lady. Luke was knowledgeable in many things, but to say that he knew how to differentiate attraction from infatuation from love was a lie. He could hold himself well enough in a debate concerning love, but really it was abstract and ideal and something the prince had not yet experience in the fullest. Yes, he loved his sister and maybe his brothers and mother, but it was a familial kind of love borne from being of the same blood. To feel the same for a stranger was beyond him. 

But love was not a prerequisite to be physical with the opposite sex. Her voice fluttered lazily in the space surrounding them. It pierced through the wall of thoughts where he was trying to reconcile with reality the fantasy that had just happened. “I’ll call Tobias to help you,” he joked, pushing himself to a sitting position. 

The room was quiet enough to conceal the groans and protests of her stomach. Luke swung his legs to the edge of the bed. He picked more food from the cart and into the tray balanced on the nightstand. The juice for Rhiane was also loaded into it. “Here.” It was offered to possibly end the misery of the woman. He came to know how she loved to eat and loved sweets the most. “Eat then go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up once Tobias is ready for you.” He winked then went to pick the tablet from the floor. It displayed the number of failed attempts his sister had to contact him that morning until suddenly a window popped up with her name on it. 

As soon as he received the call, the princess’ bored face filled the window. She was granted a split-second view of her brother’s face, but the latter quickly shut the cameras off. “Luke!” Calista squealed and whined the name at the same time. “I want to see that you’re okay! Why do I keep reaching Nolan when I call? He scares me.” Another party joined the call turning it to a mini conference before Luke could answer. 

“Are we in? Cally?” Nico was sitting behind a desk while his twin crouched behind him.

Philip asked, “What are you pouting about? Where’s Luke?”

The eldest of the siblings sighed. Nolan did quite the job keeping his callers at bay, but Luke imagined that it was not easy, and the royal guard may not be happy with the prince at the moment. He rose to his full height, then walked straight to the bathroom to shower again without saying another word to Rhiane. “What do you three want?”  
“Turn your camera on, brother.” Philip insisted. “We saw the news. How do we know that the terrorists did not replace you with an android?”

Luke frowned. He had no time to read or watch the news, didn’t even had time to talk to Luce Viscomi for an update. Whatever the palace released to the media might be controversial enough to reach overseas. But the palace was very cautious in protecting itself from potential scandals, it did not want the people to see the weaknesses of the royal house. “What did you see from the news?”

“See? It’s not Luke. Our brother knows everything that is happening in politics.”

“Shut up, Philip. Of course, it’s our brother. I shouldn’t have added you to the call.” The princess rolled her eyes. She was about to say something, when the tablet beeped and one of the twins said something about being done. In an instant, the cameras went back on and silence fell for a moment before all three younger ladies and gentlemen peered closer to the monitor as if doing so would make a difference. 

Luke cursed his little brother. He was almost at the door of the bathroom then, but unfortunately was in a perfect angle so that Rhiane was visible on the frame. There was nothing left to do then but rush his steps and shut the door behind him. The tablet was placed flat on the counter so its cameras pointed either on the granite counter or the ceiling. “You little --” 

“How dare you, Luke? While we were worried sick, you were taking your sweet time with a woman!” 

“I’m more interested in who she is, Philip. That’s definitely not Sophia.” 

“Wait, I have a screenshot,” Nico volunteered. The twins argued, while the princess joined them with the most obvious answer. The boys would not believe her, because the woman their brother was meant to marry was a lowly commoner. Luke would do no such thing, the twins argued, while Calista took to the defense of Rhiane telling the two boys that there was nothing wrong with being born a commoner. It was not Rhiane’s fault that she was not a lord’s daughter as much as it was not the twin’s choice to be born as princes. At one point, they insisted Luke to confirm the theory. He didn’t as much as say anything helpful. 

The siblings’ conversations evolved from the woman on Luke’s bed to data privacy and their eldest brother’s right to keep his personal life private to the press release of the palace to testing that Luke was not an android. Simultaneously, the crown prince showered as to not waste time. When he was done, he told the younger siblings that he had a commitment to attend to, so they were all forced to end the call.

Putting on a robe after drying himself, Luke walked back into the bedroom and sat on the bed.