[Based on my wish that if I ever shall be in a relation turn that I'm just going to call them 'M'lady all.the.time.]

Royal AU [And lets go and break the standard of Prince x Maid just a TAD bit, tad bit]

"There- it's right there." Roman pointed to the window where the spider crawled.

"Roman...as the head of the knight guild, you've slain dragons, and witches- and dragon witches." Virgil frowned.

"And as the head of the royal labor staff, you've slain spiders and cobwebs, so I should hope you can do your job." Roman crossed his arms.

Virgil sighed and crossed the chamber's room towards the window, taking out a piece of papyrus and smacking it down on the spider, then turning around to go fetch some water and cloth to wipe up the smeared remains of the spider, "Honestly, I come here nearly every other day with how many spiders I kill. Can you not, I don't know, deal with it yourself?" He paused as he heaved open the metal-gate door.

"I work hard enough protecting this kingdom all day, a simple spider or two is a burden to me, so why kill it myself when I have a castle who's in debt to me, and a whole cleaning staff at that, so for me, ringing a bell is easier than crossing the room." Roman shrugged.

"That is the single most laziest sentence I have ever heard." Virgil exited the room.

Roman sighed with a small smile creased on the edge of his lip as he leaned back in his feather-bed. He chuckled fondly as he looked to the window that was protected by a few bars, one of the bars still having the spider remains there. He leaned against the stone brick-wall to support his back before training his eyes on the door. It was true, he probably could kill the spider himself, and he would have, and used to, that is, until Virgil.

***

[A few weeks back]

Roman sighed contently as he opened his eyes from a pleasant dream. It had been a heroic dream as well, of course. He had saved a young lad from a vicious dragon-witch and found his dream self living happily ever after With said lad afterwards as well.

Contrary to popular belief, Roman had no care for saving and winning the hand of princesses. Nor females in general. It was a strange feeling at first for him, especially considering the consequences of such feelings.

Roman glances out at the pole outside that had scorch marks from its last victim of a witch hunt.

However, Roman couldn't find a way to conceal these feelings, so he simply kept them at bay until he could day dream about what might be, or might have been, if such silly rules of love were to be bound on those who lived under the law of thou Majesty. He saw it as something interestingly wrong, he knew it was wrong and taboo to love the same gender, yet he didn't see why. Of course, Roman's parents had always taught him of the disgusting manors that should never go on between men. But, he failed to see how manors of love could be called disgusting? If a girl could like a boy...why could she not also like a girl...? If a girl were to like a boy for who they were and then love them...and the boy then confessed that they were a girl in disguise, which Roman had dealt with plenty in the royal guard, would it not still be love? Despite their gender? Wouldn't love...be love?

It was absolutely stupid to Roman and left him feeling quite empty in the morning. Empty when he opened his eyes from a world where love was indeed love. "Absolutely stupid," he would say- in his mind of course.

In his mind, of course.

"Who...me?" A voice came from the entrance of the room.

Roman looked up, quite startled to see a boy around his age at the entrance to his chamber, assuming it was a knight's apprentice he fixed a confused look on his face, "These are...private chambers, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave..."

"Well, excuse me, I'm simply an absolutely stupid boy of the royal staff then." The boy crossed his arms.

"Royal staff...? Oh- pardon me! No!" Roman sat up from his bed, "I wasn't calling you absolutely stupid! That was- simply something else- nothing at all- staff you said? My word, I apparently must have gotten you mixed up!" Roman got to his feet immediately and hurried over to the boy, bowing graciously, "The honor is mine," he looked up at the boy who looked utterly confused, "What tank of staff did you say you were?"

"I...didn't...are you...okay?"

"Arth thou not royal blood...?" Roman blinked.

"...No...?"

"Why are you on the royal staff then?' Roman frowned.

The boy smirked and let out a snicker, "Royal staff. As in, Royal labor staff."

Roman instantly felt his cheeks heat up and turn bright, bright red in embarrassment as he straightened up from his bow, he felt in raged but also a bit bashful as he made such a fool of himself.

"It's...fine..." The boy crossed the room, "I'm simply here to remake your bed and dust around a bit..." He sighed.

"Patton usually does that...you're not Patton I assume though? You sure don't look like him." Roman bit his lip.

"No, I'm not. I'm Virgil, I replaced Patton as the head of the Labor Staff." Virgil began wiping a cloth at the bars of the window of the chamber.

"Oh dear, what happened? I should hope a promotion and nothing terrible..." Roman sat down on the edge of his bed, a bit confused as to why he was making small-talk with that of a lower-class.

"Yes...well...he- you haven't received the news?" Virgil's voice quieted down.

"...News?" Roman cocked his head.

"He's been exiled." Virgil stated simply.

"E-exiled!? For what, exactly? I knew that boy and-"

"Apparently he ran away with some other staff member by the name of Logan." Virgil looked out the window he was cleaning.

"I see..." Roman thought, he wondered before daring to ask, "...Were they, in any form, having a romantic sort of dwelling going on?"

Virgil flinched, "Why would you ask that?" He turned his gaze towards Roman.

Roman stiffened up, "I've just- heard of it...happening..."

"Well, if I told you yes, you'd simply hunt them down like all the rest of the townsfolk are." Virgil frowned as he got back to work.

"What makes you say that?" Roman turned towards Virgil.

"It's against the royal law, of course."

"Well...if they're outside the kingdom gates, and over the border, which I'm sure they would be by now, what would it matter to me? They're not breaking the law anymore if their so no land owned to have law." Roman blinked.

Virgil stopped his work once again to turn towards Roman, "You have awfully strange thinking, Knight..."

"How So?"

"Well, it seems to me that any knight who could get their hands on some form of justice would do so, don't you think?" Virgil tapped his hand on the window sill.

"Unfair murder is not justice." Roman spat out dryly.

The look of confusion increased on Virgil's face, "How is it unfair?"

"I-" Roman shrank back a bit uncomfortably.

"...No reason, murder is simply- I don't value it."

"Yet you're head of the guild of knights, huh?" Virgil squinted his eyes suspiciously, "Your whole job is to enforce death threats, isn't that right?"

"I suppose, Yes, but-"

"It's okay." Virgil interrupted.

Roman blinked in a bit of surprise, lower-class members were not supposed to interject in that of a higher-class' member, however, he found himself rather intrigued.

"I understand that...death can get a bit much sometimes." Virgil shrugged.

Roman stayed silent as he willed Virgil to keep speaking, he could hardly explain why, he could simply say...Virgil reminded him of that of the boy he had dreamed of the prior night, and it filled that hollow feeling just a bit, "Is...that what you believe- as well,
That is?"

Virgil chuckled, "You want to hear my opinion?"

"Why would I not?"

"Have you forgotten that I'm just a labor staff member?"

"No, but you're still human."

Virgil furrowed his brow as he turned back to Roman, "You have a complex way of thinking, knight...it's interesting...you're thinking beyond..."

"Standards and beliefs?" Roman put in.

"...Exactly..."

"Is that bad?" Roman challenged.

Virgil thought a moment before smiling, "Not at all."

Roman returned the smile.

***

For the following weeks, Roman couldn't get the boy off his mind, and so, he would occasionally leave a small bit of pastry at his window sill so perhaps a single spider may come along. Which, most of the time, it did, and with the spider came Virgil.

And speaking of;

Roman looked up from where he sat when Virgil entered the room, back from getting cloth to clean up the remains of the spider.

Roman tipped his head in greeting, "M'lady-"

Both of them froze at this.

The name had simply slipped out, and Roman felt a wave of regret crash over him.

[To he continued... Part 2 coming soon...]