As the sun sunk deeper and the pretty shades of twilight fade into black, the farmers and their apprentice retired for the day. Soiled boots invaded the newly polished flooring one by one. Hubert was first to cross the threshold, then there was Sebastian and Gerard with Luke right behind them all. The farm tools were discarded in a plastic bin outside the door, cleaning of which was one more task to accomplish come daylight. The men were clear with their mission for that day, but none had a clue, not even Luke, about what the princess elect had been up to other than shopping for furniture. Therefore, it came as a surprise that the house had been cleaned and organized, touched by a woman’s hand. The walls were scrubbed clean and the floors polished. 

Luke had been tired of keeping his patience in check, of absorbing all the unfounded insults hurled his way, of not fighting back. But when his eyes found his intended with her hair pulled up in a messy bun, wearing a casual shirt fashioned to show her midriff, all the fatigue and the budding headache disappeared. Rhiane and her smile. It shouldn’t, but it did make him feel emotion he could only describe as the lovechild of longing and happiness. It made him forget the nicks made by shears on his untrained fingers or the blisters on his feet from wearing fashionable sneakers instead of functional ones. And suddenly he regretted not harvesting a few stalks of flowers from her garden for her. 

But the smile morphed into a frown and just as soon did she launch into the offensive. Luke nodded at Sebastian, freed one of his hands from the gloves and just when she was about to strike, caught her wrist. If she turned her head, he would be caught with an amused expression which he kept on trying to hide. “It’s fine. The flowers in your garden will thank me for such a fine compost. I made sure that it was thoroughly watered and evenly aerated before replacing the cover.” 

Gerard just smirked. Sebastian was the only person who was kind enough to explain the process to Luke instead of leaving him staring indignantly at a covered pile of dung. But perhaps even the latter doubted that a prince and the future king would seriously tend to the compost. Luke just asked for a piece of cloth that he could use to cover his nose and mouth with. His shoes were dirty, his clothing smeared with dirt and the occasional juice of fruits he harvested. Even his face, which was flushed by the sun, was not safe from smudges of dirt. Working in the field was neither comfortable nor glamorous, but the prince went through with it out of curiosity and pride. More of the former than the latter. 

He let her wrist go. His eyes wandered around the space she put together. “Nice work making this place look a little more livable. I see that there’s no need to bring in an interior designer.” Three of her guards were still in the room, helping tidy up the place. No doubt that she worked the three to the bone as much as Gerard and Hubert did Luke. The ladies did not appear to be happy about the menial housework, but Tobias did not seem to mind.

“I'm going to use your bathroom. A warm bath is all I need right now. Actually, I don’t care if the water is warm or cold.” All that mattered was for Luke to feel clean again. He gestured for one of the girls to step closer. “Fetch a change of clothes for both myself and Rhiane.” Octavia acknowledged before she was on her way to the vehicle. Luke casually walked to the kitchen where he tossed both gloves into tha trash bin. His dirty sweater was pulled over his head and unceeemoniously diacaeded Problem was, she returned empty-handed and with an explanation that it was not loaded to their service.