𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗡, luke hemmings.

𝐢. 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺

Her eyes were cold and her posture was proud, yet stiff. Every move she made was full of formality, but could he really blame her? She was in a foreign country, surrounded by strangers and people she didn't trust. The situation was uncomfortable for both of them.

He stepped forward after being properly introduced to her, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on the back of her hand, his lips lingering there for way too long. "Welcome to your new home, Princess," he greeted her, a playful smirk forming on his lips. He could feel his mother glaring at him for his inappropriate gesture, but that didn't stop him. After all, she had to know who she was about to marry.

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The prince craved a moment of privacy with his bride-to-be, but he was aware that it wouldn't happen anytime soon. After her arrival at the palace, the preparations for the engagement reception began. Guests filled the residence and the whole place was whispering about the European beauty. It was getting on his nerves to hear people talking about their future together, especially because most of them pitied the poor girl for having to share her life with him. They were pretty stupid if they thought their gossip wouldn't get to his ears, but it wasn't like they said something he didn't already know.

He was famous for his scandalous lifestyle. Every night, there was another party, another woman, another mistake that ended up on the front page of every newspaper. He was not one to obey the unwritten rules of being royalty and that was mainly because he was the youngest prince. He will never get to be king, neither did he want this, so why would he bother behaving himself? The royal PR team was desperate, they couldn't cover up everything he did, but they did their best. Tonight was supposed to be good publicity for everyone.

Prince Lucas was not a fan of small talk. He stood in a corner, glancing around to room. Searching for her. But she was nowhere to be seen. He frowned, wondering why she didn't leave her chambers yet. Everybody was waiting for her, himself included. As much as he hated to admit it, he was eager to see his little princess again. She woke up something in him. Maybe it was because of her reserved attitude, or the fact that he didn't know much about her.

All he knew was that she seemed to take her duty as crown princess seriously. Unlike him.

Once more, the room went silent. The attention drifted to the stairs as the foreign visitor decided to finally show up. It turned out that all this waiting had been worth it. Princess Lucrezia changed from her baby blue suit to a long, lavender silk dress that didn't fail to bring out her enchanting features.

"Holy sh-" Luke muttered, only to be elbowed by one of his brothers because of his choice of words. He shook his head before making his way through the crowd, stopping in front of the staircase to offer her his hand.

She smiled, but it wasn't hard to tell that she wasn't enjoying the attention. You'd think that she would be used to having all eyes on her, but she surely didn't act like it. He tightened the grip on her hand softly, before he returned her a sincere smile.

"You look lovely, Your Highness," he said. It was better for both of them if he kept her close to him. This way, she wouldn't be needed to chitchat with the curious guests, who started to whisper once again. They were now discussing her looks—some admitted that her beauty was surreal, definitely out of this place, some murmured something about being jealous of him, and some were rudely commenting on how arrogant she was for not introducing herself. But he knew better than to listen to what these people had to say.

"How would you feel," Luke lowered his head, his lips placed close to her ear as he whispered, "if I told you I'm getting you out of here soon? I don't like how they all look at you." If only his mother would've heard what he just said to her, she would accuse him of inappropriate behavior once again, but he couldn't care less.

The princess didn't reply. Instead, her eyes seemed to spark with curiosity for a moment, before returning to their usual coldness. God, he loathed this formality. He could understand it, but it wasn't pleasing at all. She was not the first foreign princess he met, but Lord knows it didn't take long until they gave up their etiquette and showed him their wild side. However, the Italian royal seemed to be harder to crack. But harder didn't mean impossible.

After guiding her to where his family stood and toasting for their engagement, Luke took advantage of his eldest brother's speech regarding the delicate political situation the world was in. He managed to find an opening, a moment to finally leave this place unnoticed. Grabbing Lucrezia by her hand, he gestured towards the nearest exit and soon enough, they were alone in the gardens.

He walked by her side, patiently waiting for her to say anything, but when she didn't, he decided to start a conversation. "I hate these events. Sorry if all the stares made you uncomfortable." He ditched the elevated vocabulary, hoping to get a little closer to her this way.

"It's quite alright," she replied. Luke sighed, noticing that she was still being formal. It was expected, though. "Thank you for worrying about me but I shall be fine."

"Look," he started, stopping all of a sudden. "It's just us here. I know this whole situation is troubling but we're stuck with each other, so we might as well drop this act and get to know one another. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be myself when it's just the two of us. It's not like I give a damn about behaving like a royal, anyway."

He might have been a little too straightforward, but self-control was not one of his virtues. Still, her face was unreadable. He wasn't used to not be able to tell what people think.

"I believe you're right, Prince Lucas," Lucrezia finally said, nodding her head once. "But building trust takes time, so please excuse me if I can't give you that just yet." Well, at least she was talking.

He was intrigued by her, that much he would admit.

"It's Luke," he corrected her with a smile. "You can call me Luke. Is it alright if I call you Lucrezia, little princess?" He stepped closer to her, a little too close for her own liking, and placed a finger underneath her chin, slightly tilting her head up. There was something playful, almost devilish in the way he looked at her, letting her know that he would dare to move even closer if she'd let him.

Their moment of privacy came to an end as soon as the voice of Ben, one of Luke's older brothers, interrupted them. "Brother, I'd recommend returning back inside, once you're done tormenting your poor fiancée."

A groan left Luke's lips as he turned around to face his sibling. "In case you didn't notice, Ben, we were in the middle of a conversation here. Would you be kind enough to leave?"

"Sure, I'll go. But just so you know, the next person that will interrupt your conversation will be our dear mother. She is already wondering about your whereabouts." That was the moment when Luke realized he stood no chance in talking privately to his fiancée. Not now, at least.

He offered her his hand one more time, before speaking in a defeated tone. "Shall we?"

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i'm so damn excited for this story! but first, let me tell you that this story is not historically accurate. in this au, monarchies are spread all around the world and australia is not under the rule of the great britain. none of these characters are based on real people, any resemblance is a pure coincidence and yes, lucrezia is named after the famous italian noblewoman. anyways, i really hope you will enjoy this story as much as i do.