“I had no idea that it was the first time that somebody gave her flowers,” he mused aloud, suddenly a bit guilty that the gesture was not even sincere. The lights had just dimmed that night. The staff and crew of the production were busy dismantling the setup, packing up the equipment, and talking about how the camera angles worked for the Princess elect. Luke was not at all happy about how his night turned out. He was stuck with a farmer while his lover walked away in his brother’s arm. Later on, the younger prince confessed that the actress promised to arrange a meeting with a foreign model in exchange for escorting her into the palace to personally talk to Luke. But the crown prince didn’t know that. He was infuriated by the fact that he was the brain behind major decisions that steered an entire nation’s fate, but he was deprived of the choice to pick whom he would give the bouquet to.

“Then afterwards, she repeatedly rejected me. I may be able to sympathize with those fools who thought they knew what they signed up for when they proposed to Rhiane.” She used to blush a furious shade of red then run away from him whenever he got a little touchy. Luke found it cute. Little did he know that the gesture was her last stand against the unwarranted emotions sneaking its way into her fragile heart. As if she was too sure that he would one day break it. Or perhaps she was as afraid to feel for her betrothed as he was. “Peonies,” he nodded, watching the flowers dance at the prompting of the gentle breeze.

However, when he said something about the “boundary they are willing to cross morally,” Luke scoffed. “Yet they are eager to sacrifice her, to paint her as a martyr, in order to disrupt the government. I was not yet ten when an attempt was made to my life. The rebellion claimed the deed, saying that my mother should take it as a serious warning, that she should listen and stop supporting a policy that lowered the tariff for some imported crops.”  His eyes met Sebastian’s. If Luke was correct and the rebellion was more than just an army of unsatisfied peasants, the same ruthless rule that executed the maidservant who was convicted for the attempted murder of the young crown prince would be the very rule that the rebellion would place on the throne. A different House and a different name. A start of a new dynasty, perhaps, but nothing would change. The investors, the noblemen, the foreign forces funding the operations would take the vacated seat of power and then everything would be as they were. 

“They twist morality to fit their intent. I doubt that an unborn child will stop them or their benefactors from destroying my family or from hurting Rhiane.” And just like that, he was hiding with Rhiane inside the cramped cubicle of the comfort room again. “The men who attacked us in the clinic made the same claim – they came to rescue her – but in the end, one of them pointed his rifle at her. If it wasn’t for Tobias,” Luke shook his head, refusing to imagine what could have happened if Tobias and Nolan came a few minutes late. 

If their bodyguards came in a few minutes late, Luke would have taken the bullets for her. That was the thought running in his head when the door slammed against the wall. Self-preservation fled as the barrel of the rifle stared at the two of them as if picking its next victim, protecting the woman was all that went on in his head. It was odd for the spoiled and self-centered Luke too. His voice was sober when he next spoke. “I will stop at nothing to keep her and my family away from the rebels. I believe you will do the same in order to protect the persons you love.”

Call it greed, call it whatever it may be, but so long as he was in power, Luke was not going to let them take her away from him. He did not plan on being in that situation where she was being tempted to join their cause and become his enemy. That was among the many reasons why he sought Sebastian out. “To get the names of traitors in the palace is not what I came to talk to you about. My people will have to do the leg work, but I will need you to get them into position. This is not about arresting your neighbors and friends, neither is this about suppressing the rebellion. I am asking for your help as a son, a brother, as…” 

As what? What was he to Rhiane? He just realized that he would give up his life to protect her, but the rational side of his brain screamed how wrong he was. How wrong it was to endanger his royal self for the sake of a commoner. 

“Don’t you wonder where the funds come from?” Luke steered the topic away. “How the rebellion, who are allegedly farmers, miners, laborers, commoners, fund a widescale offensive against the crown and at the same time offer the same benefits that the crown gives to the Black family.”