Felipe showed up the next morning to recite Prince Veo’s schedule for the day. As it turned out, his valet had actually managed to arrange a short and casual date with Princess Latipha, the Princess of United Arab Emirates. 

Specifically, “a garden stroll, just as you requested, sir.” 

Veo sent his valet a look, not that the man noticed, too busy pulling out an ensemble from his wardrobe. “Which garden?” he asked finally.

“The ones in the palace grounds, sir. Plenty of hiding places to go and, you know,” answered Felipe.

The Prince rolled his eyes. “I have no intention of starting a diplomatic war,” he said dryly. 

Felipe hummed to himself. Impudent man, Veo smiled, only a tiny corner of his mouth pulled up. 

~

After a solo lunch, Veo meets Princess Latipha and her guard at the East entrance of the gardens. He finds it a little strange that her bodyguard stands much closer than most he’s seen before, but her colours are largely shades of nervous, so perhaps he’s for her safety. 

“Your Highness,” he says with a polite nod. 

She tenses, but nods back, before acknowledging him with a “your Highness” when she remembers his visual impairment. 

Veo doesn’t offer an elbow for her to hold, it would be inappropriate for him, an alpha, to touch an unmarried omega. Especially considering the customs of her homeland. Instead, he gestures towards the neatly groomed paths and colourful blooms of the garden.

He knows he’s not the best at talking to people, but Princess Latipha was hardly the most talkative omega that had come. In fact, she rather appeared too afraid to. Veo frowned to himself. They were walking in silence, the Princess half a step behind him, as if she wasn’t allowed to walk beside him. Was it a cultural thing? He seemed to recall something like that about countries in the Middle East. 

But it was more than that. Her guard walked only a few paces behind them, well within earshot if they were actually having a conversation. And while Veo did not handle abuse cases, he’d seen some of the victims when he was in the precinct. They were often quiet and wary of anyone they perceived to have authority. Her colours were a little similar for his comfort.

“Would you like to see ducks?” he asked offhandedly. As if this was a perfectly normal garden stroll, which he supposed it was.

Princess Latipha hesitates, but nods once, almost shyly.

“This way then,” he leads. “Don’t worry, I know where I’m going,” he assures them lightly. Veo rolls his eyes when he turns away and they cannot see his face. No one ever trusts the blind guy when he says he knows where he’s going. Honestly.

They make their way to the sizable pond somewhere in the centre of the gardens. The ducks are exactly where he expected them to be—bobbing in the water. Yes, they are very happy ducks. 

“Give me a moment,” he tells the duo. “I’ll give my valet a call and ask him to bring us some grapes to feed the duckies,” Veo says and steps away to make the call. 

He calls Ella. “I need your help,” he says immediately when she picks up.

“Who’s this? Veo?” she answers breathlessly. 

Veo frowns. “Ella?”

“Yes, yes, I’m here. Wait, I need to take this—” she says to someone. Veo waits. There is a brief sound of shuffling and Ella answers properly. “What’s up?”

He blinks. It sounded like—never mind. He had more pressing issues. “I need your help,” Veo repeated. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks, immediately serious. 

Veo glances in the direction of the duo he’d left and speaks quickly. “I need you to come to the palace gardens. I’m with someone and it doesn’t look good.”

“Ooh,” she winces sympathetically. “Bad date, huh?”

“No, well, yes. But it’s a different thing. We have a chaperone.”

“Ah,” she says in understanding. “I’m on it.”

“Bring grapes!” he adds before she can hang up. Veo returns to Princess Latipha and their annoying shadow. He smiles vaguely in their direction. “The grapes are on the way.”

They spent the next ten minutes in relative silence with the occasional sound of splashing from the ducks. Ella didn’t disappoint, though Veo was surprised to see Hisahiko and his valet with her. 

“We brought the grapes,” she called to them. “Though I don’t know why you wanted them.” Dimitri held the bowl. Hisahiko waved. 

From the corner of his eye, Veo saw Princess Latipha’s guard look wary, his colours flashing red and blue. As he turned to Ella to take the bowl, he pointed a finger at the guard, blocking the gesture with his body. 

“Ah,” said Ella. “Can we feed the ducks too?”

“Sure,” said Veo. “The more the merrier.”

Whatever happened next occurred in rapid succession. Ella grabbed two handfuls of grapes and picked her way delicately to the edge of the pond, heels sinking into unpaved soil. She smiled brightly at the guard and reached out to share her grapes when she tripped and fell over with a tiny scream. Dragging the man into the pond with her.

By the time Dimitri and Hisahiko fished them both out, the ducks had scattered, and they were both sopping wet. 

“It’s so cold,” Ella moaned dramatically. Dimitri rushed to wrap his shirt around her shoulders. Ella smiled appreciatively at him. 

“You should get changed,” Veo told the man. “Angkova’s weather will have you sick in no time if you stick around in wet clothes.” The man glanced uncertainly at his charge. 

“I can chaperone if you’re worried,” Hisahiko said. “Don’t worry. It’s a competition. I won’t let them do anything.”

The alpha said nothing. But with one final unreadable look in Princess Latipha’s direction, he stalked off. 

“Now that we’re alone, what are you doing?” asked Hisahiko dryly. 

Veo turned in the Princess’ direction. “Are you alright?” he asked gently. 

Both omegas’ colours were flickering uncertainly. 

Veo tried again. “He’s not here now. If there’s anything you need to tell me, you can do so safely. If you’re uncomfortable, you can tell Hisahiko. He’s an omega too.”

The Princess is clearly too dignified to shuffle uncertainly, but Veo gets the sense that that’s what she’s doing anyway. 

“I’ll give you guys some privacy. You probably have a few minutes before our chaperone returns.” He steps away, popping a grape into his mouth. 

Veo thinks about staying close enough to listen, but that would be a breach of the privacy he had promised, so he stays out of earshot, but within eye line. He tosses a couple of the fruit into the water, watching the scattered ducks come back. The Princess and Hisahiko are talking. It seems she had gotten over her earlier wariness. 

He comes back when they both glance at him. Well, he assumes they looked at him based on the angle of their head turning. It’s that, or they were looking the other direction.

“Good talk?” he asks lightly.

Hisahiko looks at Princess Latipha and she nods. 

“Excellent. Because your chaperone is back. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me,” he whispers the last bit just as the other alpha returns with a frown, looking suspiciously between the three of them. 

~

Veo doesn’t get a chance to ask about Princess Latipha at dinner. Because while most nights, he and Hisahiko are sequestered at their little table in the corner of the palace kitchens, tonight he has a wine and cheese tasting date with Saul Balba, heir to the biggest distillery of Argentina and a known alcoholic amongst his closest friends.