Prince Veo de Illustrado woke up in the second week of his Queen Mother’s birthday-celebration-cum-matchmaking month to the gurgle of his hungry belly. The day was young and bright, like young children with so much untapped potential. In his good mood, he had breakfast sent up to his room and had it in bed. Later, Felipe knocked on his door and informed him that he had a lunch appointment with his mother. Veo’s acknowledged his valet and turned back to his Agatha Christie audiobook. He was only halfway through ‘And Then There Were None’ and Judge Wargrave had just been found dead. Yes, Veo could not have paused his listening for anyone right now.

Much later, having whiled away his entire morning in an extremely leisurely fashion, Veo dressed for lunch and made his way to the gazebo in the garden where mother had instructed him to be.

But when he arrived, cane tapping cheerfully on the ground, someone else—decidedly not his mother—was waiting for him instead.

It was Francesca Paulina Guez who awaited him at the table. Veo would have turned and left if she hadn’t already seen him and called out. He muttered rudely under his breath. Mother had tricked him.

His phone chimed with a message. Annoyed, Veo tapped the screen to play the message. With a cheerful tone, his mother’s voice played out. 

“Something came up. I took the liberty of inviting Ms Guez to join you for lunch instead. Play nice. She’s the Spanish ambassador’s youngest daughter. I’ll meet you for dinner instead!”

Veo silenced his phone and went to lunch with the dread of a pirate walking the plank. Frankly, he remembered his first encounter with Ms Guez. It had not been a pleasure. She had been extremely uncomfortable with his disability and her pity was a glaring neon light to him. That had made him uncomfortable.

Currently, they were having a very awkward conversation about the weather and how nice this morning had been. Very quickly, as all topics of small talk tend to last, each of them ran out of things to comment on. Veo grasped, a little desperately, for something to say. He couldn’t afford to be silent for the rest of lunch when they had barely gotten past the appetisers. 

“Do you like to read?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ms Guez answered. “I enjoy fantasy stories,” she offered hesitantly. 

Good enough. Veo latched onto this bit of information like a lifeline. “Like Harry Potter?”

She nodded. “Yes, that is one of them.”

From there, they discussed the topic of fantasy stories until lunch was almost over. Veo had even found out that Ms Guez wanted very much to teach young children. He supposed that’s where her love for children’s books had come from. 

Ms Guez was no longer the murky green colour that she’d shone when they first met. The colour was still there, but it had toned down a few shades. Veo supposed it was good that she had gotten less weird about his blindness.

They parted ways eventually and once safely ensconced in his room, he heaved a tired sigh of relief. A quick wash up and he decided to take a short nap before continuing his audiobook.

~

Veo ended up napping his afternoon away and only woke up when Felipe came to get him ready for dinner. 

“Sir,” said his valet, “your mother is waiting. Please get up.”

He rolled out of bed. Felipe refrained from any commentary. Veo allowed himself to be dressed before dragging his cane with him to the dining room.

In hindsight, he should have known something was up when he entered the room and his mother was, once again, nowhere to be found. If it was just them, they always took their meals in her private dining room. He was such an idiot.

Instead, here was one of the other omegas his mother had seen fit to invite.

“Hi,” purred the omega with a wine glass in hand, sashaying slowly over. Veo backed up a step at the overwhelming cloud of perfume. “Jaye Razif at your service,” he said. “In case you forgot.”

Veo hadn’t. Among the group, Mr Razif had stuck out as the most brazen omega he’d met. After their ten-minute meeting that day, Veo had asked Felipe to run back and get his gloves immediately. He could handle pity or sympathy or even disgust, but lust and desire from a complete stranger were too much to handle. 

He’d been pretty sure he would expire if another person touched him with that much sexual want again and the gloves stayed on very firmly until he was done with all the meetings. At least, up until the last minute addition from the fake Prince of Japan anyway.

Now, Mr Razif was seated much closer than he preferred and Veo tried to smile without looking like he was grimacing at the omega. He endured the looks and casual touches, reasoning that it wasn’t so bad, seeing as he had gloves on. And there had been a brief respite when Mr Razif had found out Veo’s profession as a detective and they spent a good ten minutes discussing the job. Mr Razif, other than being the sole heir of the largest Biotech company in Singapore, was also a part-time criminal psychologist. 

It was only halfway through dinner when oysters were introduced and consumed, did things start to get out of control. 

Veo jumped in his seat when a shoeless foot slid up between his calves. He blinked rapidly behind his shades, frozen and unsure of what to do. The foot slid higher and he caught it before it could settle between his thighs.

“Mr Razif,” He cleared his throat. “What are you doing?”

“What we’re all here for, of course,” the omega murmured lowly. “To find a mate.”

Veo stood up very quickly. His chair scraped across the stone floor. “I have a question and I need you to answer me very seriously.”

Jaye Razif licked his lips. But Veo could only see his colour flicker with interest and swirling with an excess of lust. “Ask me anything,” he said, sweet as honey and thick with intent.

“Are you in heat?” Veo asked bluntly. 

The question was direct enough to make him pause in genuine contemplation. Jaye Razif blinked. He looked down at himself and back at the blind alpha who had backed away to the other side of the table. “I think I might be,” he said. Veo did not answer. “Did I make you uncomfortable?” he winced apologetically.

Veo pushed a glass of water closer, but not too close. 

Jaye Razif gulped it down. “Sorry, I hadn’t realised. It’s a little earlier than I expected.” He patted the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “I should go. Um, isolate myself and all that.” The omega got up and moved towards the door. 

The Prince’s turned to follow as he watched the silhouette of an aroused and uncomfortable omega about to leave. “Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us,” he called out as Mr Razif was half out.

But his words made the omega turn back. “About that,” he said apologetically. “I’m probably early because we’re apparently biologically compatible. You might want to watch out for your own rut. I’d bet my shoes you’ll be early too. Especially with so many omegas here. And these shoes are fucking expensive.” 

It was a fair warning that Veo committed to memory. His own rut would be due sometime next week. He would have to be careful and make the necessary arrangements to sequester himself. Now though, he had a few things to settle. 

~

Felipe was summoned to his room.

“How was dinner, sir?” asked the alpha. “Did you and Mr Razif have fun?”

Veo chuckled humourlessly. “Sort of,” he answered. “Send someone to check on Mr Razif. Make sure he has everything he needs for a heat.”

“Ah,” was all Felipe said. “I shall see to that right away, sir.”

Alone, Veo couldn’t be bothered to call his conniving mother at this moment. So he sent a voice message instead. 

“Mother, you need to stop tricking me into dates.” Sent. 

“If you leave me and the rest of the omegas alone, I’ll plan my own dates.” Sent.

“But only one each.” Sent.

“Also, you sent an omega in pre-heat to dinner.” Sent.

“Just stay out of this!” Sent. 

“And no spying, I swear to god. I will know.” Sent.

“Plan a short date with Princess Latipha for tomorrow. And make sure it’s a short one like a garden stroll or something.” Sent. The last message went to Felipe.