Virgil raised an eyebrow. "I don't think anyone could convince me I'd be a good prince but I'm interested." He said. "Go ahead."

"Well, princes have to be courageous and brave." Roman said. "And, from what you've told me, you're very brave to have lived through everything you have. And princes are kind and believe in those different and lesser than them. You believe in me."

"Princey, you are by no means lesser than me." Virgil said. "You're a prince, for Heaven's sakes. You're one of the most important people in the world."

"Yeah, well, who cares for importance?" Roman asked.

"You're only saying that because you were born above everyone else." Virgil said. "Believe me, if your life was the same as mine, you would care for importance so much. Importance is power and power brings you respect, respect means you don't get hurt."

Roman smiled. "That's why you'd be a good prince." He said. "You don't have a skewed world-view like so many princes - especially me - do. You see things as they are and you recognise things. You'd be a wonderful ruler."

"I don't think I'd be able to handle the pressure." Virgil said. "It must be scary, knowing you've to rule one day."

Roman shrugged. "Just because I've come of age doesn't mean I have to rule right away, though. Which is a God send. Nah, father's still got a good couple years left to rule."

"What are you going to do? After this is all over." Virgil asked.

"Read up on law or have Logan read it to me." Roman said. "He insists I need to learn my histories through auditory memory because they're 'important' so maybe I'll get him to do the same for laws and customs and things like that."

"What's all this for?" Virgil asked. "The ball and everything."

Roman shrugged. "Beats me. Father said it's for me and Re to find partners or whatever but it's really a whole lot of nothing." He said. "Just a time, as far as I can tell, to sneak off to random rooms or brag about how rich you are."

"Well, you've got the worst pick of the bunch." Virgil said, laughing. "You're wondering around the gardens with a servant you don't even know the name of."

"I wouldn't say that's that bad." Roman said. "I could be out here with someone who likes me for me or I could be in there, getting overwhelmed by sound and not being able to talk to. I wouldn't say you're that bad."

Virgil laughed. "Thanks." He said, sarcasm rising in his voice. Letting his guard down was dangerous but maybe it didn't matter so much with this prince...

"You could call me Vee, you know." He said quietly.

"Vee?" Roman asked.

"Mhm. It's close enough to my name but won't, you know, be suspicious or anything." Virgil squeezed Roman's hand. "It could be our little thing."

Roman smiled and raised Virgil's hand to his mouth, giving his knuckles a gentle kiss. "Well, nice to officially meet you, Vee." He said, grinning.

Virgil looked up at the sky, blushing pink. He started to say something when clock chimes floated over from the town.

Midnight.

*tries not to scream*
They're so fricking cute.
Bye,
Blaize