Leo and I exchange a glance, both of us recognizing the strategic genius at work. “We’ll have it ready,” Leo promises.
Kit nods, satisfied, then her expression softens as she looks at her daughter. “This is what it’s all about, you know. Not just preserving the past, but securing the future.” Her gaze meets mine, then Leo’s. “For all our children, and their children after them.”
In that moment, holding the tiny princess, I understand what drives the royal siblings’ dedication to their heritage. It’s not just about tradition or culture or even duty—it’s about connection, about ensuring that the threads that bind past, present, and future remain unbroken.
And somehow, unexpectedly, I’ve become part of that tapestry.
Leo looks up, his eyes meeting mine over the sleeping infants, and I see in them the same realization—that what began as a complicated attraction has evolved into something deeper, something with the potential to weave our separate paths into a shared journey.
“For the future,” I agree softly.
“For the future,” Leo echoes, his smile containing all the promise of a new day.
13
RANGI
Iwoke to a note on my pillow from Leo asking me to meet him at the west service entrance. It’s there that I find him dressed in casual jeans and henley, leaning against a dark SUV. His hair is windblown and his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. He’s also grinning like a teenager with a secret.
“You’re late,” he says.
I blink. “Late for what?”
“Our date.”
I arch a brow. “We have a date?”
Leo pushes off the car and opens the passenger door with a dramatic sweep of his arm. “We do now. Get in.”
Chuckling, I step pass him and slide into the front passenger side seat. Leo leans in to steal a quick kiss before shutting the door, then he practically runs around the car before getting in and taking off.
“So, we’re alone?”
Leo flicks his eyes to the rearview mirror and lets out a long sigh. “Not quite. Security details is in the black sedan.”
I glance at the car tailing us. “Did you really think we’d manage to sneak off without anyone noticing?”
“I mean… I probably would have been successful but,” Leo takes a sharp right turn onto a narrow country lane, the car hugging the curve perfectly. “Victoria caught me grabbing the keys. Gave me the whole ‘royal protocol’ lecture. Apparently, even with a soldier as my companion, a prince can’t just vanish.”
I laugh, watching fields and hedgerows blur past the window. “Victoria is a mighty force to be reckoned with.”
His hand finds mine across the console, warm and familiar. “Victoria can lecture all she wants. Last I checked, I still outrank her.”
We drive in comfortable silence, the hum of the road lulling me, until Leo slows and turns into a small village nestled between two low hills. Stone cottages with flower boxes line the narrow main street, their roofs covered in weather-worn slate.
The village green has been overtaken by the market—rows of colourful stalls spilling out across the grass, bunting fluttering overhead in a soft breeze. Laughter rises from a group of children clustered around a woman handing out balloons, and somewhere nearby, a busker plays a lilting folk tune on a fiddle. It feels like we’ve stepped out of time.
Leo parks among a dozen other vehicles, then twists around to grab something from the backseat. He pulls out a canvas bag and offers me a flat cap and a worn waxed jacket.
“Seriously?” I laugh as he hands me one of each. “Disguises?”
“Not disguises,” he says, tugging on a beaten leather jacket that makes him look rugged in a way that’s deeply unfair. “Consider it camouflage.”
I shrug on the jacket then put on the cap. “You know this isn’t fooling anyone, right?”
He grins, excitement dancing in his eyes. “You’d be surprised. This get-up has saved me many a time from locals snapping photos for the tabloids.”
We step out of the car and into the bustle of the market, cobblestones warm beneath our feet and the air rich with the scent of baking bread, cut grass, and fresh strawberries. For a few minutes, I’m stiff, scanning for cameras, but no one gives us a second glance.
