Chapter Text
Virgil was just a boy in the village doing alright, his mother working as a shoemaker, and he was undergoing an apprenticeship with the luthier. His whole life was prepared… Until, ten years after his mother became single, she married the King. Yeah, the fucking king of the country. Making Virgil officially a sixteen-year-old prince.
When the carriage arrived at the castle the teen and his mother were met with the king and his two sons. Virgil’s mother ran to her husband of course, leaving Virgil facing the two teenagers that the tabloids loved. Prince Patton was the first in line, he had just turned twenty-one last January, and he was a ball of sunshine that attended the local schools for visits and organised charity events. He even owned his own animal charity to make sure there were no stray pets in the country. Prince Roman was second in line and acted like it, going to parties abroad and acting out. And while Patton was smiling and waving as Virgil walked over, Roman seemed to be hiding a scowl and crossed arms.
“Hi, new stepbrother! Do you do hugs?” Patton chirped, reaching out a hand when Virgil shook his head. “Your mom seems so nice, and she’s said a lot about you! Sorry for keeping you out of the loop though, we had to be safeguarded, this guy puts us in danger all the time already.”
Roman scowled when his older brother elbowed him, causing the cheery prince to snap ‘behave’ at him. “I was planning on going to France today, not perform niceties for Dad’s latest fangirl.” Patton was glaring his brother down, but the other prince didn’t seem to care.
“Never mind him, Virgil. I’ll show you around the place, come on!” Patton and Virgil went away from the cameras into the castle, Roman following close behind just to escape. The castle was bigger than Virgil had ever thought, and an entire wing belonged to Roman apparently. The dining room could house a hundred people and the ballroom was big enough to fit an Olympic pool. Eventually Virgil was shown to his bedroom. “My room is just around the corner, so if you want to chat my door is always open! But you’ll have your butler coming soon, should I wait with you until he arrives?”
A butler? Why did Virgil need a butler? He could figure out his way around the palace, he could dress in posh suits by himself, he could stay in this room the rest of his life to avoid cameras and journalists looking for a scandalous story. “I’m cool, thanks.” This room was huge too, even bigger when Patton turned and left. One side of this bedroom was a king sized bed, silk purple covers, along with a bay window across the wall. Next to the bay window was a balcony and opposite the end of the bed was a desk, an easel, and a new guitar. At least one thing was personalised in this room.
As Virgil was tuning the guitar, he wondered what his new butler would be like. He’d probably be older, very professional, had been butler-ing for twenty years. He’d probably expect Virgil to be as rebellious as Roman and treat him accordingly. Virgil’s mom probably didn’t have to do any parenting now she was a queen, this butler would take over, is that really what his mom wanted?
The double doors opened after a few minutes and hit against the wall, causing a painting to fall against the floor. “Oh, shit – uh –“ A voice came from the doorway just as Virgil turned, and then a flash of a blue suit trying to save the painting and hanging it up again. The suit-wearer seemed the same age as Virgil, dressed in a dark blue suit with tails and a black tie. He seemed preoccupied with the painting, too busy to watch Virgil, maybe he was just the castle janitor?
“Do you need help?” Virgil asked as he placed down the guitar. The other boy looked over and immediately apologised, bowing and spluttering a million apologies. “Hey, no need to say sorry, the king can probably pay for a hundred of these things.”
Virgil walked over to hang up the painting, as he was doing it, he was trying to drown out the background of the other man. “No, no Prince Virgil don’t touch, it’s my duty – it’s alright…” The painting was hung up in a matter of seconds and only then did the boy silence. “I’m sorry Prince Virgil.” The man bowed again… then again… then a third time for good luck. Virgil was going to have to get used to this.
“Just call me Virgil please, what’s your name?”
Instead of answering straight away, the man stopped bowing and grabbed some flashcards out of his jacket pocket. Then he started reciting a pre-written introduction. “Good morning. I have come to introduce myself as your personal butler and chief of house. You may refer to me as Logan DeCroft, my family come from the Crofters Isles and I can offer my services in organisation, communication and support during this demanding era of your ti…”
This was the butler Virgil was given? He seemed more nervous than the Prince of Anxiety. “Hey, look, Logan.” Logan silenced, straightening his back and looking at the new prince with hopeful eyes. “I don’t need a butler so I’ll just report to the king that you’re redundant.”
The half-smile on Logan’s face became a frown and his wide eyes looked down to the floor as he sighed. “Understood Sir… Virgil, sorry. The kitchen always requires extra waiters.” Virgil had his hand on the doorknob to try and find his way through the infinite corridors to wherever his mom and the king were hiding, but he paused watching this butler give another bow. He looked young – in the village people usually got their first jobs as teenagers – maybe butlers were no different? And if Virgil was giving up his dream job of a luthier to be a polished and polite prince he might as well check he wasn’t ruining the dreams of someone else.
“Actually – is this your first time as a butler?” Logan nodded, a smile coming to his face that quickly disappeared and his hands moved from his trouser pockets to behind his back. “What made you want to be a butler?”
Logan’s eyebrows furrowed and he hesitated. “I’m sure you don’t desire my life story…”
“I do. If you want to be a butler, I’ll help you out.”
Logan’s smile came back but didn’t break through completely just yet, his back straightened, and his hand crossed behind his back. He closed his eyes as if trying to visualise his story. “Um… There aren’t many opportunities in Crofters Isles. It’s a remote island mainly used for farming, you know that right?” Logan opened one of his eyes to check Virgil was nodding before continuing. “Prince Patton visited when I was young to increase literacy rates amongst the commonfolk and there… I saw his butler. They seemed to know everything, have everything prepared, and from then on, I knew that wanted that life. I’ve worked hard, I managed to get an entry level position in the kitchen around eighteen months ago to get close to the king and he’s just given me this opportunity of a lifetime!” The excitement escaped Logan’s voice as he said those last few words, but again he opened his eyes to gage Virgil’s reaction before clearing his throat and calming himself. “Butlers are usually inherited but it was decided a young face would support you in your new role. So, I understand your reluctance, but I would really appreciate if you considered me as your butler.”
Virgil brought out a hand to shake as Logan opened his eyes, letting his own smile show as Logan chuckled and his eyes widened. “That’s how you introduce yourself Pocket Protector, welcome to your new position.”
“Thank you, Sir… Virgil, sorry again.”