Prince Veo spent the rest of his morning running between the two locations and snacking on macaroons and drinking far more tea than he’d anticipated. The pain in his arm was making him irritable. He needed to pee. And why did people like these sugary things? 

Out of all twelve omegas he’d met, five men and seven women, only one of them had been suitable as an ally of sorts. It was the blonde omega he had seen crying the other day who had been the unexpected friend, he thought. 

She had been the only one to notice when he sat down a little too heavily on the chair, dizzy from rushing around with a recent injury. And when he’d shook her hand, no matter how hard Veo had searched, he found no trace of pity. Ms Ella Timbers, daughter of an A-list celebrity in America and an accomplished lawyer in her own right, had met him with genuine sincerity and a self-introduction so he needn’t ask for her name.

For her, he’d stayed on a little longer than the ten minutes he’d allocated per person. 

“No offence, I didn’t expect you to be a lawyer,” he’d blurted after she had told him she was.

Instead of getting all huffy at Veo’s tactlessness, Ms Timbers had laughed and agreed. “Yes, I don’t look like one, do I? Well, I save that for court.”

Veo laughed. “I wouldn’t know. I can’t see.”

“Oh,” said Ms Timbers, like she’d forgotten his blindness. The Prince relished it. “Then what made you think I couldn’t be a lawyer?” she asked curiously.

Veo winced as he thought about it. “Well, you were kind of crying when you arrived. It’s just, all the lawyers I’ve met all seem like soulless bastards, you know?”

Ms Timbers laughed long and loud at that. “I know exactly what you mean!” she crowed. “I was robbed right before I came here. And apparently, I haven’t been the only one. They had a gun like in movies!”

“Did they hurt you?” he frowned.

“No, not at all. I was quite cooperative. Life is more than a few pieces of metal and minerals after all. It’s just that they took my locket too. That was sentimental.” Her aura flickered blue. 

“Sorry,” Veo said awkwardly.

Ms Timbers waved it away. “No, it’s alright. It’s also just a bit of metal in the end.”

“Listen, Ms Timbers—”

“Call me Ella,” she interjected.

“Alright, Ella. Look, no offence, because you seem like a really nice person, but I’m not really looking for a relationship or anything.”

“A rejection already?” she said amusedly. “I must be losing my touch.”

“No, please don’t take it personally, but all this is my mother’s doing. I’m really not looking to settle down.” Veo grimaced at the whole situation.

Ella studied the Prince. He looked as uncomfortable as the conversation they were having. “I get it,” she smiled reassuringly. “You need a friend or ally in difficult times like these. I’ll even sit next to you during those dinners if you’d like.”

Veo sighed in relief. That was far better than he’d been expecting, honestly. “Yes, please,” he agreed fervently. “That would be so helpful.”

“Don’t sweat it, your Highness,” she laughed teasingly. “You’d be doing me a favour too. And just so you know, this is a vacation for me now.” 

“Great,” he answered. “Please enjoy yourself.” 

Veo left after feeling heartened at having made a new friend. He was rather pleased that Felipe had saved Ella for last. What a clever man, that Felipe.

The man who was now breathlessly running up to him.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Your Highness, one more omega has just arrived. Do you want to meet them too?”

His good mood could hardly be dissipated at the moment. “Why not?” he said and followed Felipe down the hall to the other room.

At the door, Felipe knocked and said “Prince Veo to see Prince Hisahiko.” Behind the shades Veo rolled his eyes.

“Pleasure to meet you, Prince Veo,” said Tenshi after Felipe had shut the door. 

Said Prince Veo paused before crossing the threshold. “Likewise, Prince…Hisahiko.”

That voice… Veo was quite certain he had heard that voice before. Like yesterday. But how could the Prince of Japan be the same omega robber from yesterday? It didn’t seem wise to ask about it. At best, he would have an intruder in his home and some explaining to do. At worst, he’d have offended a whole country by calling their Prince a thief. Politics sucked. Veo wanted to fly back to his penthouse in New York and stay in bed for a month.

He decided that his best course of action was to pretend he didn’t recognise the omega standing before him. Veo reached out a hand to shake the imposter’s and was disappointed to find him wearing gloves. He wondered if the omega had known about his abilities but dismissed the thought immediately. 

The imposter definitely smelled like an omega, though it was less perfumed than the rest he had encountered. And the gloves he was wearing were made of exquisitely fine material. Veo suspected that if he didn’t have the incredibly invasive ability to read people’s thoughts and emotions through touch, he might not even have guessed that the omega had gloves on. There were so finely made. He would like to ask the imposter where he got them.

“Welcome to Angkova,” he said. “I’m glad you made it safely.”

“Yes,” said the imposter. His tone was bland and polite, giving nothing away. But Veo could see how his aura was flecked with wary red. “Thank you for your kind words.”

“Not that Angkova isn’t safe, but apparently there were highwaymen on the scenic route, you know?” tested Veo. 

“Oh,” said Tenshi. “No, I didn’t realise. The trees must have hidden them.”

“You’re probably right,” agreed Veo suspiciously. Why was this imposter pretending not to recognise him? Veo wanted to push further and see how much it would take to make this fake Prince admit to being a fraud.