Young Prince Roman was no older than sixteen. He was handsome, kind, and curious. He'd never been outside his father's palace before, and had only truly seen other people during meetings or from afar. This was normal for him, as it was a tradition among their family's bloodline that the prince, princess, or undefined royal child, would be allowed to leave the palace the day they turned seventeen.

For Roman, today, was that day.

Prince Roman was nervous to say the least. His normally still hands now fidgeted, and his typically calm and collected smile was now an anxious frown. He jumped a little when his father approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Son, there's nothing to be nervous about," he assured him with a smile. "Go, enjoy yourself! See the village!"

The young prince smiled gratefully at the king, nodding as he walked with fake confidence toward the palace doors that lead to the outside world. As a royal, he had two guards with him, but they were just in case something were to happen. Everyone loved the royal family within the kingdom, but they just wanted to be sure. Not to mention, Roman really didn't know where he was going.

The guards lead him down to the village, where his eyes immediately swelled to the size of saucers. There were shops and stands, and the streets were bustling with people talking and buying the things they needed or simply wanted. Whenever people looked his way, they would smile and nod to him respectfully. He'd smile and nod back, pretending not to be overwhelmed by all the new faces.

Roman looked around at all the stands and shops. He took a deep breath in through his nose, eyes lighting up as he smelled something sweet. He looked to see a bakery, filled with delicious looking loaves of bread, muffins, and pastries. He passed racks of fresh produce, fish, and other meats. There were several artisan stores as well, drawing his attention with their simple but gorgeous jewelry, pottery, or art. Musicians played that he happily applauded and gave coins to, who thanked him with large smiles. Roman was quite enjoying his first trip to the village.

As he continued along the streets with a smile, he found one stand that caused his heart to race. A boy who looked no older than himself, was drawing. He was sitting alone behind a booth that was partially fabrics, and the rest of it being artwork. As he watched the boy's hand move, he figured that he made the artwork that appeared to be for sale. When the boy's raised his head for a moment, Roman's breath caught in his throat.

The boy was breathtaking in that Roman literally felt like he couldn't breathe. He stared at him with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. His hair fell messily over his eyes, but even through the strands of dark hair, he could see the boys chocolate brown eyes. When they met his own, the prince gasped.

The artist boy smirked at him as he held his gaze. "See something you like, your Highness?" he asked, a slightly flirtatious tone in his voice. Roman blushed dark red in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck. He hesitantly approached the stand, unsure of what to say.

"My apologies for staring, it was quite rude of me," he said avoiding eye contact. The boy let out a chuckle as he rested his chin on his hand.

"You're quite the tall drink of water yourself," he mused with his smirk still in place. "It doesn't bother me."

The prince's face was completely red as he looked anywhere but at the boy. "Oh stop flustering the poor prince," a voice said. A older man came over swatting the boy gently with a scowl. "It's his first day out of the palace."

Roman nodded for no reason as he rubbed the back of his head. The man looked at him with a wide smile. "Afternoon, your Highness," he said with a nod. "I apologize is my son has given you any trouble. He's a handful sometimes."

The boy's father smiled affectionately at he son before extending his hand out to the prince. "My name's Patton, I run this little stand and my son here helps watch it in exchange for me letting him sell his art. We've got some soft fabrics here for making custom clothing out of, and we also commission clothing requests," he explained excitedly to him, releasing his hand after shaking it. "As aware I am that you're the prince and surely have people in the palace to make your clothes, it would be an honor if you ever considered to have us commission something for you."

Roman smiled widely at the man, with a nod. "I'd love to sometime! I'd love to support my future subjects and I'd love to see your work," he said, completely genuine. The prince did truly want to commission a piece from him. Looking at the fabrics, he could tell he had skill, and Roman had no problem with expanding his style.

"It would be our pleasure, and our honor," Patton said with a smile. He nodded respectfully to him as the prince told him he'd need to be heading back to the palace soon as the sun was getting low. His gaze lingered on the boy, who'd gone back to drawing, before finally turning to go with his guards.

That evening after the sun had disappeared and the sky was littered with stars, Roman was in his room, smiling to himself as he thought about all he'd seen that day. The music, the art, the food, and the smiles of the happy people of the kingdom. It simply made his heart soar; but as he thought about it, nothing made it soar like that boy had.

He'd forgotten to ask his name, and Patton, the boy's father, hadn't said it. He frowned as he looked walked out his balcony. The prince leaned on the railing as he looked up at the sky. He let a smile slip onto his face as he felt the cool night air on his skin.

"Well, if it isn't his Highness."

The voice was so sudden, Roman jumped in surprise. Across from him on the railing, balanced a familiar looking boy. "You," he said quietly, taking a step away. "W-What are you doing here? How did you even get up here? I-I'll call the guards if you do anything."

He shrugged, that smirk he'd seen earlier still there and still breathtaking. "I've been around, and you can relax," he said in amusement. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, I was just curious."

"About what?" Roman inquired. The boy smiled, shrugging cryptically, causing the prince to frown. He turned away. "I think you should leave, before somebody sees you and assumes your some criminal."

"Alright, as you wish," the boy said, turning to climb back down the roof. He was about to when Roman looked back at him.

"Wait!"

The boy was frozen, a small smile on his face. Roman's hands were fidgeting again. "I-I wanna know how you draw the way you do..." he said softly. "Do... Do you think you could show me?"

He nodded, climbing back over the railing and stepping foot on the balcony itself. The prince lead him into his room where they sat down on the floor in front of a low table. It was covered with pieces of paper. A few of them contained little failed doodles Roman had attempted after coming home. "So, how do you draw a person?" Roman asked curiously. "Like, if you were going to draw me, what would you do?"

The boy stared at him for a moment before sketching guidelines of a bust drawing on one of the pieces of paper. "The first thing I would do would be to sketch the guidelines, like I just did," he said, gesturing to them. "Then, I would draw your nose, like this."

As he said something, he would do it for Roman to see. "I normally do the mouth next, like this," the boy said, sketching in a smile for the drawing. "Next up is those pretty eyes of yours."

Roman's breath hitched in shock as he took in the fact that he'd just complimented him. He looked at his face as the boy remained neutral. He drew in the eyes before moving on. "Eyebrows, nice and easy, and then that flawless, only-a-freaking-prince-could-achieve-this-gorgeousness hair," he said, sketching in the strands of his hair perfectly.

The prince's cheeks were bright pink as he watched him finish up the drawing by add the clothing and sign it with his signature. "And there," he said.

"Could I try drawing you?" Roman asked timidly. The boy looked shocked for a moment before shrugging and nodding. About twenty minutes later, there was a gorgeous drawing of Roman beside a fairly decent drawing of the boy. "For my first try, I don't think that went that badly."

The boy laughed a little, nodding in agreement. The two of them continued to talk and joke with each other for another hour without realizing it. When Roman finally did, he gasped. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot," he said, face palming. "You should probably go now, it's getting really late and I'm supposed to be asleep."

The two of them walked out to the balcony where the boy climbed onto the railing once more. "Thank you, for teaching me how to draw," Roman said with a small smile. The boy nodded, returning it.

"It was a pleasure," he said as he started to climb. Roman bit his lip, watching him get half way down before calling for him to wait. He climbed back up, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, your Highness?"

Before the prince could chicken out, he leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly to the artist boy's. His eyes widened, taking in the fact the prince was kissing him as he moved his lips in response. When they slowly pulled away, Roman looked into his eyes, cheeks flushed from their kiss. "What's your name?"

"Virgil," he replied with a small smile. The prince look at every detail of his face, feeling hopelessly lost with love.

"Will I see you again?" he asked him. "Like this, I mean..."

Virgil smiled sliding a hand under Roman's cheek as he leaned in to to kiss him again. It was short and sweet but left butterflies dancing in his stomach. "Just say the word, your Highness, it would be my pleasure."