The Trickster's Test {Prinxiety}

Chapter 32

Third Person

It was easy to forget just how much perspective could impact the way you view someone. So, it was nice to find that Virgil didn't feel as nervous when everyone that entered the ballroom looked much smaller from the top of the staircase. It almost felt like he was merely an observer, not actually a part of the event, invisible. It made him dread having to go down, once everyone had arrived and had settled. From up here, everyone's happiness seemed so genuine, if he squinted he thought he'd be able to convince himself it was real.

He mentally checked off people in his head, tallying who had arrived so far. Not many royals would be in attendance, the journey not typically being worth the pile up of responsibility the trip causes. Even still, representatives from across the world were common enough, mixed in with the nobility of Ouranious. He noted Janus's entrance, and caught the questioning tilt of his head from afar when their eyes met. With a small nod, and Janus's acknowledgement, the exchange was over. He didn't think they'd get a chance to actually talk before the proceedings began, so while Virgil wanted to speak with him, he knew to some degree it wasn't necessary.

"She's here," At Roman's quiet remark, he turned his attention back to the entrance, where Princess Melanie and King Henry had just entered, "Ready?"

Virgil snorts, "Good one," Before his brain could catch up with the situation, he grabbed Roman's good hand tightly. One of these days, he was bound to mess up and hit the broken one, that wouldn't be very good, "I don't want to do this."

"And yet you're going to anyway," It wasn't a question, and his smile could only be described as resigned. He didn't want to watch Virgil do this. His hand tightened around the prince's, soon to be king's, he figured.

"Damnit," He blew out a harsh breath, most likely messing up his bangs as they flew up from the force. Though, with his anxiety being thoroughly diverted to thirty-two other matters, he was having trouble finding the energy to bother with it. So naturally, it took him a second to react when Roman let go of his hand to fix it, shoulders hiking up a solid second after the contact had ended.

"Your tact and grace know no bounds, Your Highness," And Virgil couldn't tell if he looked embarrassed or proud, "Now come on, you probably have to talk to a lot of those people before we'll get a chance to approach Melanie."

Virgil tried to ignore the eyes that flocked over when he began to descend the grandiose staircase, sparing a glance at the throne he would be expected to sit on as he went. It was easy to think he could put it off for a while, since he likely wouldn't be crowned right after they exposed the crimes of royalty. There would surely be a lot of unhappy people so there was a good chance that Edrick would remain in power until things calmed down.

As soon as they reached the floor, they were approached by several important people Virgil vaguely recognized, having long since memorized the names out of necessity alone. It was a blur of people trying to get his attention long enough to get their pitch across or win his favor, and Roman was, respectfully, annoyed by most of them. They seemed to have little concept of personal space, and contentfully ignored his existence and role. So, while he tries to stick close to Virgil while remaining respectful, he couldn't avoid pushing past a few of them.

"And I'm sure that the caulk will be just the thing you need to establish a strong rule," It was truly surprising how unbothered the entrepreneur was by the fact that Virgil was leaning as far away as he could without putting his balance in jeopardy, glancing at their latched arms awkwardly every three seconds. Or, perhaps he hadn't noticed, more occupied with trying to remember his exact pitch. An armband that sheathed a blade didn't seem overly complicated, but Virgil could pretend to admire how long it took him to explain the product.

"Excuse me, you two," Roman butts in, looping his arm around Virgil's open one, "But the princess of Persaya wishes to speak with his Highness. I'm sure you understand that I have no right to go against such a simple request," He lathers on the sympathetic tone, tugging Virgil away before he can formulate a full response.

"There is no princess of Persaya, the royal couple can't have kids and they haven't decided if they want to adopt or get a surrogate," Virgil points out as they walk away.

"I know, but you seemed uncomfortable and I found the guest of honor," He walked them towards the front of the room, where a certain kidnapping suspect was gazing admiringly on the intricate banners hung up on the walls.

He didn't feel exactly ready to talk to Melanie, but he doubted he ever would. It appeared that she had foregon the gloves for tonight's event, probably to further show off that thanks to Janus, she no longer had anything to hide. The blatant display of the purple scarring might have been more impactful had Janus and Logan not predicted this exact thing. He quickly reached into his pocket, double-checking that the seal hadn't fallen out. With that worry settled, he approached her with Roman at his heels and what hopefully looked like a confident stride.

He moved to stand beside her, paying no mind to the people around them who moved as if they weren't there, "The fourth king of Ouranious was the first to start hanging banners with the symbols of every country in attendance, claiming it was more welcoming. Over time, they've been updated, replaced, and even the colors have changed since some preferred them to match the rest of the decorations over the actual national colors."

"An interesting story, to be sure," She drawled, voice laced with faux intrigue, "Do you tell that to all people you don't know how to talk to, or just the ones that haven't heard it before?"

"Only the ones that don't like me," He responds, voice steadier than he could have hoped.

She snickers behind her hand, turning to face him with a snake-like smile, "Who said I didn't like you?"

Chocolate brown eyes met ice-cold blue. Virgil turned to face her more directly, Melanie copying the gesture likewise. He offered her a hand, which after a playfully questioning stare, she accepted, bringing up her other to rest in the air. He placed his hand in hers, and to everyone else that may happen to gaze upon the moment, it would look as though they were about to dance. However, the slight, rubbery texture that met Melanie's left hand kept her from taking the first step.

"I'm not sure, but I don't tend to indulge in rumors, so I figured I would ask the source."

A/N: Got everything sorted for the last 1-2 chapters of this story, and like usual I already made the epilogue before finishing the rest of the story XD