The prince looked around at the bathroom, running his fingers through his hair as he stood in front of the mirror. If he was going back into that place, he needed to fell as confident as possible, otherwise he was going to have a break down. He stripped down and stepped into the shower. The water wasn't warm like the showers back home, but he frankly didn't mind as he washed himself after several days out at sea.

It was when he dried off and stepped into the suit that a thought crossed his mind. Roman looked at his reflection, feeling more like his old self. His eyes widened and landed on the window to his left.

I could try to escape... the prince thought, looking toward the closed bathroom door. I could get away, go to the palace and get help. This isn't some deserted island, this is an actual city. I could get my old life back.

He looked back at himself, feeling a swirl of disappointment in his stomach. The old Roman was rarely ever truly happy, he was arranged to be married, he wasn't living. The person he was now was more true to who he really was, and that was thanks to the pirate, who kidnapped him.

He worried on his bottom lip. There was no denying his attraction to Virgil at this point; he didn't even try to, but wasn't it wrong? It had to be wrong for a prisoner to fall in love with the man who kidnapped him.

"And yet..." he mumbled to himself, looking toward the door again with a wistful expression. "I don't see him as my captor, just as he doesn't seem to see me as his prisoner."

Roman sighed heavily, pacing a little as his thoughts continued. There was something different about him. The first time their eyes had met on his ship he'd felt a jolt go through his whole body, like a piece of the puzzle of his life had just snapped into place unexpectedly. Surely that was ridiculous, they'd never met before, how could meeting him be a crucial part of his life? It didn't make sense, but he felt like he knew him... that Virgil wasn't some stranger.

He jumped at the sudden knock at the door. "Princey? You okay in there?" the pirate called, slight concern in his voice.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good," he replied, feeling strangely guilty for thinking about escaping.

That guilt just made him more confused. Shouldn't he want to escape? He glanced at the window again. He should want to get out of here, and this was his chance to do just that, and yet...

Roman opened the door, greeting the captain with a small smile. "It's all yours," he said casually as he continued to towel off his hair. Virgil nodded and went into the bathroom, leaving the prince alone yet again. He swallowed, feeling weird for not taking the opportunity to leave. It wasn't regret either. Shaking out his head, he called to the pirate through the door in an attempt to distract himself . "So are we leaving for the ball once you get out?"

"Preferably, yeah, it's already getting late," he called back.

He nodded to himself, fixing his hair and straightening his clothes a little more as he waited for him to come back out. Hearing the water running, the prince knew that he'd be preoccupied for a while. I could still escape, a voice murmured in his mind. Just run, just run for it.

Roman bit down on his lip again reaching into his shirt to pull out the key. He ran his fingers along its shimmery gold shape, the ruby glistening in the light of the room. If he chose to escape, he could leave the key with Virgil couldn't he? Isn't that what he wanted? Surely he could find another way into the palace to get the emerald key, he was a pirate.

Looking down at the key in his hand, his eyes widened a little. Why did he have this? He couldn't remember when or how he'd gotten it. Virgil had clearly been looking for it for years, so what did he have it for? Subconsciously, he reached for his wrist, staring at the mark staining his fair skin. Did this mark have something to do with it?

The prince jumped as the bathroom door opened; he hadn't realized how long he was sitting there. The captain was toweling off his hair and was incredibly shirtless. "You okay, Princey? You've been acting weird," he said, offering his signature smirk.

"Yeah, just... just a little tired," Roman replied, his cheeks red as he couldn't help looking at his shirtless chest.

Virgil noticed, smirking even more. "Like what you see?" he asked flirtatiously, earning incoherent stammering in response. He laughed, grinning at him. "I was just kidding, relax!"

He turned and went back into the bathroom, the prince watching as he pulled on his suit shirt. It was then that he realized as he watched him button it up how much calmer he'd felt once the pirate had come back into the room. His breathing had evened out and his heart had slowed down once he saw him, like just his presence was enough to make Roman relax.

"Okay, ready?" the captain asked, closing the door the bathroom behind him.

A chill washed over him, as if he'd been thrown into an icy ocean; he'd forgotten that he'd be going back into that palace. Swallowing, he nodded.

"Let's go," Virgil said with a smile, leading the way out of their room and out of the inn. The prince just trailed after him, following him nervously as more and more people started to walk the same direction as them. The sun was sinking low. It was clear that the ball was about to begin, and Roman could feel his hands trembling as they neared the castle stairs. The pirate looked at him again, a more serious expression on his face. "Seriously, are you okay?"

He exhaled, puffing out his chest and raising his chin with fake confidence. "Yeah, let's get that key.