i love you.

(TW: Angst and mentions of suicide)

roman sighed, finally escaping the crowd of people gathered in the ballroom downstairs. it'd taken a lot of work, but he found a moment to escape and took it. it had been a surprise to find another person leaning on the balcony, looking at the stars. the person in question was someone who roman had recognized as one of the servants, though he only knew that because of the typical uniform.

the person had purple hair, almost covering his matching eyes that looked as if tears would fall out of them. his outfit was, as mentioned previously, the common servants, which almost looked like a waiters. even with a plain outfit, the young boy's beauty was certain and the prince's heart had started beating a bit quicker. his palms got sweaty as he went to go talk to the boy.

"hello?" roman called, almost sounding like a question. the other boy sighed, looked at the prince, and looked back at the stars. and though it was only for a second, it was certain that the boy had been crying. "are you okay?"

the boy gave a short response, "yeah. im fine."

"are you sure?"

"yes."

"rea-"

"just stop!" the servant snapped, turning to face the older with eyes of sadness. it pained roman to see him like that. as soon as the younger realized what they'd said, he wiped his tears and muttered a small, "im sorry."

"there's no reason to be sorry," roman grabbed the purple haired man's arm, rubbing his thumb against the younger's sleeve. when he got no response, he asked, "what's your name?"

he muttered something that the prince was unable to hear.

"what?"

"just... call me v," the boy- v- mumbled. 

"hello, v... i'm r-"

"prince roman. i know."

"please, just call me roman. no need for formalities," the prince looked at v, smiling softly at the younger. 

"o-okay... roman."

"what are you doing up here?"

"i hate crowds. i needed a break from the people. what 'bout you?"

"same as you. crowds are stressful."

"ha. funny," v spoke, almost emotionless. roman looked at him in confusion. "you're a prince. the only thing you do is talk to crowds."

"v, i do much more than talk to crowds," roman raised an eyebrow. 

"whatever you say, princey,"

"princey?"

***

"another suitor?" roman rolled his eyes at his father. "i've had five this year and i'm not interested in any of them."

"you must marry this one. she provides allies in another kingdom," his father demanded. "now, return to the preparations. you'll meet her at the ball."

roman sighed, walking away from the demanding king. this was the same old thing, but roman felt more aggravated this time for some reason. v... his mind spoke. why had roman been so intoxicated towards v? was this...?

no. it cant be. his father would kill the both of them. it couldn't be. it just... couldn't.

"princey?" roman didn't even notice that he almost ran into the person he'd just been thinking about.