The itinerary was simple – more of the prancing-around-total-strangers act, while the two of them smiled as if nothing else delighted them more than being paraded like prized cows in a marketplace. Their shiny black SUV would be filmed entering Rhiane’s hometown. Its smooth surface bouncing off the soft morning rays would contrast against the rough roads of the countryside just as its passengers distinguished themselves from the townspeople who waited to welcome their princess elect back home. Of course, a team of professional creative crew was on board to make sure that the cameras capture the perfect picture that was the rural landscape where the princess elect grew up on. 

Anele briefed Luke about the morning itinerary out of fear that the prince would be adamant to follow a blind lead. She was correct. Finding himself in the midst of a crowd of peasants was not something that the prince was fond of. He was forced to learned to tolerate being surrounded by nobles, but even the week they spent visiting places in the kingdom he rather would not set foot on was not enough to get him to be used to the idea. 

He adored the solitude inside the vehicle, yet more than fifteen minutes passed since he gave the order to Tobias, more than ten minutes since he made himself comfortable inside the parked SUV. Not even the shadow of the princess elect was in sight. The impatience embedded in every royal’s DNA compelled him to look up Tobias’ contact number if only to remind the royal guard that it was well past the deadline.  Was it his fiancee making a statement again? Perhaps she was pressing the point that she owned her time and nobody, not even the arrogant Prince Alessandro, the future king, her future husband, could compel her otherwise. The thought irritated the royal. Peasants might be in possession of enough time that they squander it like some of his noble lords spend their fortune, but the crown prince was a busy man. He hated waiting. 

Then finally after what felt like an eternity and a day, the rear door was pulled open to welcome his beautiful fiancee together with her bouquets. The floral scent instantly wafted inside the vehicle, overtaking the subtle car scent, grabbing Luke’s attention. He eyed the flowers, then the princess who pulled a piece of pastry form her lips, then bluntly declared, “You’re late.” 

If he had any comments about his fiancee baptizing his ex-lover as the devil, he kept it to himself. No emotion betrayed the mask he put on as his gaze glided to the view of trees sailing by the window. Finally, they were moving. 

Without looking, he traced a pattern on the communication band. A soft feminine voice greeted him. “How did you forget to prepare funeral bouquets?”

“No, Luke. I did not. I specifically picked the arrangement and flowers. Imported blooms, mind you. I don’t settle for less than perfect.” She paused as somebody seemed to ask her for instructions. Luke turned to Rhiane, then cut the line right at the moment when Anelle was about to say something. 

He regarded Rhiane’s version of bouquets, the flowers he remembered vibrantly coloring the princess elect’s garden, that patch of land which Sebastian worked hard to maintain. Both were not as polished as he would like them to be. A work of an amateur who had little passion in flower arrangement was how he would describe them. He could tell her to forget about them. The palace had prepared something more beautiful, more polished. And it was true. The crown could provide her the nicest things in life, but it might not be what she desired. He could give her access to his fortune, but it was not what she wanted. Callie was right, he was an ass. Surely, Rhiane saw that too. Could be one of the reasons she did not trust him to bring the paintings back to the palace. And he knew too that if he said something about the flowers she or somebody else picked from their backyard, she would take it as a criticism against her person.

“They look and smell wonderful.” His blue eyes averted from her face. An attempt to start a conversation, because he wasn’t even sure if she was in the mood to speak to him that soon after her outburst. And he was not about to apologize for nothing, because he was not wrong.