Roman was able to successfully hide his secret from Virgil, with great help from Patton. December had arrived, meaning his time was slowly running out, but he'd almost finished.

That meant his other plan needed to be put into action. So here he sat in his father's office. He was looking at his son with wide eyes, but was smiling. "Are you sure, Roman?"

The prince nodded confidently. "Absolutely certain."

The next morning the kingdom went into full swing of winter. Decorations of the season covered the village and the palace, and snow had begun to fall. Roman was rushing around the palace, talking to several different people at once as he made plans for the ball. He wanted everything to be perfect.

The prince sighed as he took a short break from planning, thinking worriedly about Virgil. He hoped the artist didn't take his absence as sign of any kind. He'd been unable to get a moment to go down to village, and he fell asleep as soon as he returned to his room, even if not intending to. He was starting to fear his actions would cause him to misunderstand.

Unfortunately for him, Roman was correct in his fears. The artist boy was starting to doubt everything that had happened between them over the past couple months. They weren't technically together, they'd only kissed twice... could that have been a spur of the moment? Had Virgil done something wrong? Had he overstepped? Whenever the artist visited him at night, he never came out to meet him. Virgil had sat outside on the balcony for almost two hours, shivering as he waited to see if Prince Roman would come out. He hadn't. He wasn't visiting him at the market place anymore, and to his knowledge, he wasn't visiting his home either. Why was the prince avoiding him?

He sighed as he sat at the booth, things seeming to go back to the way things were before he'd met the prince. He doodled away, not surprised to see a reoccurring theme in his drawings that day. He'd drawn a broken pencil lying next to a broken crown, making him stop for a moment. He looked away from the drawing, folding it up and tucking it in his jacket. The artist didn't want to look at it or see it for the rest of the day.

"Morning beautiful."

Virgil's heart dropped, wishing he'd heard the prince's voice speak those words but knowing it wasn't. "Piss off," he muttered, scribbling away at another drawing and ignoring him.

"Now now, is that the way you should treat your customers, Virgil?" Barry asked with an evil grin in place.

The artist glared at him before smiling wide like a doll, becoming very animated. "Good morning sir! How may I help you this fine morning?" he said cheerfully. "We've got drawing on the subject of pissing off, and commissions open for people not being an asshole!"

Barry glared at him for a moment before slipping back into his normal self. "I noticed your little prince friend hasn't been down here in a while? Did you do something wrong, I wonder?"

"His Highness can do what he wants," Virgil replied monotone. He was used to hiding his feelings, especially from him. "How long are you guys staying in town?"

He smirked. "Awww is wittle Virgil gonna miss me?" he teased. The artist glared at him with all the hate he could muster.

"I wouldn't miss you if you were thrown into the sun," he snapped. "I just wanted to know how much longer I was going to have to put up with your shit."

Barry chuckled, not bothered by his hatred. "We're planning on hitting the road sometime after Christmas."

Then Christmas really can't come soon enough, he thought as he continued to draw. 

Christmas could really wait right now, I'd love to have a little bit more time to make sure things are perfect! Prince Roman thought to himself as he sneakily made his way to Virgil's house. He'd requested to meet Patton one more time to make sure his gift was flawless. He knocked on the door, sighing in relief as the familiar man opened it. 

"Your Highness, please come in!" he greeted, ushering him inside. "The suit looks fantastic! I know he'll love it!"

"Good, because I want to give it to him today," Roman said, allowing Patton to pick it up gently. "And by give it to him, I mean leave him a note with it. Today is his birthday correct? I've been so busy with preparations that I've lost track of the date." 

He nodded as they took it and the matching mask up to his room. The prince pulled out the not he'd prepared, and placed it on his bed next to it as well as a special black rose. The two of them went over it once more before they heard Virgil enter the house. Patton quickly ushered him into the tunnels before he could see him. As the days had gone by, the prince had learned how to get to the servant's quarters like he'd done the first time he'd gone down into the tunnels. He was curious about where the other paths lead, but he crushed the curiosity with the reminder of what Virgil had said about getting lost. 

The artist sighed as he entered the house, feeling extra disappointed that the prince hadn't shown up on his birthday. However when thought about it, he wasn't sure he'd ever told him when his birthday was. 

"Hey kiddo! Happy Birthday!!" Patton exclaimed, hugging him tightly. 

"Patton *gasp* too- tight!" he managed, making his father quickly loosen his grip a little. "Much better, thank you, but you already told me this morning. You gave me my new art supplies."

His father smiled. "I know, I'm just excited because they may or may not be a surprise in your room," he said giddily. Virgil's eyes widened and he tore away from the hug to run toward his room. Patton sighed happily as he went, gasping as a small flyer was waved in from of his face. He smiled as he felt an arm wrapped around his waist as he read the flyer. "Logan, the ball?"

His husband nodded, burying his face into his neck to hide his blush. Patton was confused for a moment until he caught on. "Lo, are you trying to ask me to go to the ball with you?"

"Maybe..." Logan mumbled, smiling despite being embarrassed. Patton giggled turning around to peck him on the lips. "I'll take that as a yes."

As they exchanged a longer, more passionate kiss, Virgil opened the door to his room. He gasped, seeing the suit, the gold envelope, and the black rose on his bed. He made his way over to it, taking in the beauty of the suit. He recognized some of his father's work, but most of it was foreign to him. It was a gorgeous black and purple suit, the collar and label having hand embroidered roses that seemed to drip with ink. The mask was purple and looked like half of it had been dipped in black ink. It was was splattered across the whole thing as well. 

The artist was in awe, having never seen something so beautiful in his entire life. He picked up the black rose and opened the golden envelope. 

My dearest Virgil,

Happy birthday! I hope you like your gift. Your father helped me make it. He said your favorite color was purple and that it had to be in black or you wouldn't wear it, which I thought was very amusing. You know of our kingdom's tradition of the ball I hope, as this is somewhat an informal invitation despite it being open to everyone in the kingdom. I hope to see you there Virgil.

~ Prince Roman <3