Janus hit the ground hard, knocking all the air out of his chest. Wiping away the blood from his bloody nose, he scrambled back to a standing position, pissed off to say the least.

"What the Hell?" He yelled. "Why would you do that?"

"Because, bastard," Daniel hissed, "it's your fault I need to leave this Goddamn country if I don't want to lose my head."

"No, I'd say that's your fault for trying to poison the Crown Prince!" Janus shot back, now checking that his nose wasn't broken. Daniel opened his mouth but Janus cut in. "And don't come out with some shit like 'it was my right' because we all know that it wasn't and the only reason you're trying to kill me is because I did what was right."

Daniel hissed at him, his black eyes now slits of hate. Janus smirked.

"Now, I need to get back to work. If you don't want me to dead-head you like you're a fucking rose, get out and don't ever come back. Have I made myself clear?" Janus asked, picking up his shears and making sure his voice had an edge to it.

Daniel nodded, his face a mix of repulsion, fear and hate. He turned on his heel and took off. Janus smiled a little before checking whether he'd stopped bleeding or not.

"You okay?"

Janus nearly jumped a mile before turning around and seeing that it was Remus. "Um, yeah. I'm fine, your Highness."

"It's a shame that you're doing that." Remus said, pointing at the basket of dead rose heads. "They'd look so much nicer if the dead buds stayed on the flowers."

Janus sighed and pulled his hair back into a ponytail. "Have you and Prince Roman made up yet, your Highness?" Janus asked, almost immediately regretting it. He hadn't meant to say that.

"Yeah, actually. And that's why I came here." Remus smiled in a way that made a strange blush rise on Janus' cheeks. "To thank you."

"Why?" Janus asked, faking confusion and crossing his arms.

Remus laughed, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the ground. "Because I know that Roma could never do that on his own. And you're the only person I told about us being in a family feud and he apologised for that."

"It could've just been Prince Roman being a good brother." Janus said, smirking knowingly. Remus laughed.

"That's the thing. Roman isn't a 'good brother'. He tries but... well, his ego often gets in the way of his intentions." Remus laughed again. "Why am I being so truthful with you? You're just a gardener."

Janus smiled sadly. "I don't know. You're right. I'm just a gardener. You're a prince. There's no need for you to even talk to me."

Remus nodded and, apparently finding nothing else to say, turned on his heel and left. Janus sighed and shook his head, trying to focus on his work. There was no use in pining after a prince when you've just told him that you two shouldn't even be talking.

***

"Virgil?" Someone asked softly, making Virgil jump.

"Oh, hello Pr-Rose. Sorry, still getting used to that." Virgil said, smiling slightly.

"Virgil, why are you avoiding me?" Rose asked, sitting down next to her childhood best friend.

"What? I'm not-" One look from Rose cut Virgil off. He sighed. "Okay, I may be possibly avoiding you because your father lied to me about my brother."

"What do you mean?"

Virgil looked down and laughed slightly, feeling tears spring to his eyes. "Rose, my brother is dead. Why else do you think I came back after, what, five days?"

"Oh Virgil." Rose's eyes were filled with horror and sadness. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. No, really. Sorry isn't going to bring my brother back." Virgil scrubbed at his eyes, smudging the black make-up underneath them. "And neither are tears."

"Virgil, it's okay to cry." Rose said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You don't need to lock everything away inside of you and mask it with anxiety. Just because you're nervous most of the time, doesn't mean you can't feel other emotions."

"But I'm used to anxiety. It's my day-to-day. All this... grief." Virgil wrapped his arms around himself, as if trying to keep himself together. "It makes me want to tear out my heart just so I won't have to feel anymore. And I hate it!" He yelled.

"It's going to get better, Virgil. I promise."

Virgil laughed slightly, the sound humourless. "How would you know?" He sneered. "No offense Princess, but you haven't exactly felt the impact of someone dying."

"Actually, I have." Virgil looked up, surprised, and Rose sighed. "Before I became a princess, I was in an orphanage for about... five years? During that time, I had seven roommates, four of which were adopted. The other three died. I know how you feel, Virgil. But it will get better. You won't ever forget them but," Rose smiled slightly, her eyes clouded with sadness, "you'll learn to live with what happened. It will go away soon."

"But when?"

Rose smiled again, this time her face was full of sympathy. "I don't know. But something that stops grief is by talking to your friends. There are people here who care about you. There's me, you can always talk to me if you need to, and there's Roman." Virgil felt his face flush slightly. "He cares about, Virgil. He really does."

Virgil looked down and Rose fell silent, just letting the silence hang in the air.