Roman sighed and slumped down on a garden bench. So far, he had wasted two days trying to talk to the elusive Virgil. The only problem was, whenever Virgil noticed Roman, he would glare at him and storm off. Roman ran his fingers through his hair, trying to work out how to at least be in the same room as Virgil for longer than a second. The easy way, of course, was to ask Rose for help but Roman didn't know how much Rose would tell Virgil.

"Rough time?" A voice asked, the owner sitting down next to Roman. It was Rose, a sketch book in her hands.

"Basically, yeah." Roman sighed. "I don't want to be a pain but-"

"But you want me to help you talk to Virgil." Rose cut in, nodding knowingly. She laughed at the look on Roman's face. "Roman, come on. I live with four boys. I'm going to know what a boy wants to know and when he needs help."

"Four boys?" Roman repeated incredulously. Rose nodded.

"Two brothers and two dads." She laughed slightly. "None of them are my biological family but they're special to me. In the way your brother and the queen are special to you."

Roman nodded absently. "Is that yours?" He asked, pointing to the sketch book.

"What? Oh, no. Never. It's Virgil's but he lets me look through his drawings." Rose sighed and looked up into the tree above them. "I wish I could climb trees again. But, ha ha, dresses with long skirts." She said, indicating to her outfit.

"You don't like being a princess then?"

"Oh, I love it." Rose said sarcastically. "You know all the forced marriages to guys who you don't like, the restricting outfits, long and boring parties and the inability to do anything because you're 'weak'. Why wouldn't I love it?"

"Wait a second, guys you don't like?!" Roman asked, dramatically placing a hand over his heart. "My lady, you have wounded me!"

Rose laughed. "I didn't mean it like that, nitwit." She smiled wistfully. "I just mean that there's already this boy I like."

"Yeah, you mentioned him briefly."

Rose smiled and then laughed. "But you don't want to hear about all that, do you?"

"No, it's interesting." Roman protested. "Go ahead. If I can't fix my own love life, I'd much rather listen to someone else's."

Rose laughed slightly. "Well, his name's Eric." She said, sounding a little like a teenage girl at a sleepover. "And he's a tailor's apprentice. And I met him when father was getting a new coat."

"Oh, and? What happened? What are the details?!" Roman asked, making Rose laugh again.

"Okay, okay, calm down. He pulled me aside to talk about 'clothes' but instead asked me why I had been staring at him. I hadn't been and I told him that maybe the reason he thought I was staring at him was because he was staring at me." Rose laughed a little at the memory. "And he looked kinda impressed. He said that it was the first time his 'dashing good looks' hadn't stopped a girl from speaking."

"And?" Roman egged excitedly.

"I told him not to flatter himself. Then, we had to go. But, Eric slipped me a piece of paper that said 'Meet me in the town square, midnight.' And I did and that's how we met."

Roman let out an excited laugh. "Just like something out of a fairy-tale."

"I thought so too!" Rose said excitedly. "Now, you've heard my story, how can I help you?"

Roman laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... you might've already guessed that I want to talk to Virgil."

"Talk's an understatement." Rose received an embarrassed glare from Roman.

"But as soon as he sees me, he stalks off."

"Ah ha. So you want me to help you and him stay in the same room together for more than a second so that you can talk?" Roman nodded.

"I thought it might work better seeing as he will actually talk to you."

Rose nodded. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

***

Roman hid among the bookshelves in his library, just as Rose had suggested he do. He peeked around a bookshelf as he heard the door open and Virgil stumbled in as if he'd been pushed.

"Princess, remind me why I'm here again." Virgil said, looking around the room, his eyes skipping over where Roman was hiding.

"Because I said so." Rose smiled innocently while Virgil stared at her dead-pan.

"You are not normally like this. Is this some sort of scheme I'm not part of?"

"Maybe." Rose said before quickly shutting the door. Virgil ran over to the now-locked door and started rattling the handle.

"Princess, if you don't let me out now, I swear-"

"I don't exactly think that will be necessary." Roman cut in, startling Virgil.

"Where the Hell did you come from?" Virgil asked, now rattling the door handle even more.

"The Cave of Wonders." Roman said dryly. "Virgil, you can keep rattling the handle all you like but please don't break my library's door. It's the only room in the whole castle where I can get a little peace."

Virgil sighed and leaned his forehead against the door, giving up. "What do you want, your Highness?" He asked, spitting the last two words out as if they hurt him.

"Roman will be fine." Roman muttered. "And I just want to talk."

"I don't want to talk. I want to get out of here."

"The only way you're getting out of this is if you talk to me."

Virgil sighed. "Fine. Fine! What is it?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not." Virgil protested defensively. Roman raised his eyebrow, clearly not believing him. "Fine. Why do you think?"

Roman thought for a while. "Because of the whole Rule of Empat Belas thing?"

"Yes. Rose is my best friend and you've basically refused her. Why do you think I'd want to talk to you?"

"There are several reason why I've said I don't want to marry Rose."

"Really? Name at least three valid reasons without mentioning her looks or her attitude."

"Easy. One, she's already got a boyfriend."

"If you are talking about that tailor boy-"

"Two, I don't like girls. At all. And three, someone else's already caught my eye."

"Then go talk to them." Virgil said, exasperated. "And stop wasting your time talking to me. I want to go home."

"I already am talking to them." Roman mumbled, feeling a light blush creep up his cheeks. It took Virgil a few seconds to realise what Roman had said before his face also went pink. He started banging on the door with the side of his fist.

"Rose, let me out right now!" He yelled.

"Fine!" The muffled response came through the door and the door opened. Immediately, Virgil ran from the room.

Roman sighed and sat down in one of the armchairs by the grate. "Well that went well."