The Trickster's Test {Prinxiety}

Chapter 1

Third Person

The man hit the floor with a thud, ending the fight. He was the seventh one this month that Logan had introduced the prince to. Virgil left the man laying there in favor of putting up his own sword. It had been a few months since Logan and him came to an agreement, but so far, only two people had bested him in combat. One had turned out to be wanted in another kingdom which ruined his chances of keeping the job, while the other was fired after Virgil snuck out one day. He hadn't even gone far, only the forest, so he didn't see what the big deal was. He actually kind of liked that one, it was rare to see a female guard, but quite refreshing.

He followed the usual routine, thanking the man for participating and signalling for a guard to show him out. Having a glorified stranger roam the halls alone on their way to the exit could end quite poorly if he happened to pass by a hall with particularly expensive vases or paintings on display. The guard would make sure the man didn't steal anything, leaving Virgil to put the man's complementary wooden sword back up.

Despite his fair win, it seemed he wouldn't be getting even a minute's break from Logan on the matter, seeing as the future advisor was waiting right outside for him, "I believe that I have already found you another contender, one who has been trained in combat by a general. In fact, he is the son of your father's general," Virgil was familiar with the man, but he didn't know that he had a son. Granted, he had never talked to the general personally so he knew very little about him.

"Knowing you, more specifically your love for efficiency, I'm willing to bet he's already here," Virgil responded, tossing a teasing smirk over his shoulder.

Chances are the boy would end up being an arrogant fool who thought he deserved the job, whether he had the skill necessary or not. It was quite the common trait among the 'warriors' that he fought. Usually, some of that confidence would disappear when he informed them of what they had to do to earn the job. In most cases, the lost arrogance was replaced with fake bravado, but in a few the challenge alone was enough to make some of them quit. Those ones were too worried about being hanged for hurting him to care that he was the one presenting the challenge, and that he couldn't reasonably blame them.

"He is, I left him waiting in the throne room in anticipation of your arrival," Logan responded, "I had a suspicion you would best your most recent opponent. Now, if you would please follow me," He unnecessarily leads the way to the throne room, as it was customary for someone else to announce a royal's presence when they entered a room with guests, "Now presenting, Prince Virgil Lancaster of Ouranious," He always found it tedious for him to add on his home kingdom in the introduction, especially when they're in said kingdom.

The man bowed respectfully, never once losing his confident, toothless smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Roman Garcia."

"It's nice to meet you, Roman," Virgil nods towards him in acknowledgment, "If you'd kindly follow me, I would like to see if your father taught you anything."

The boy's expression faltered slightly, which was quite possibly his favorite part of the 'job interview,' if you could call this that. Even Logan got close to cracking a smile at him. Unlike most, he silently followed Virgil towards the training room, which already endeared him to the prince. Social interaction was his least favorite part about the idea of having someone get paid to follow him around. You could only ignore them for so long, and it was really easy to disappoint regular citizens who had built up the idea of the royals in their heads.

The walk to the training room was far from the most awkward he had faced. Roman had to literally bite his tongue to keep the questions he wanted to ask at bay, suspecting that the advisor would have been more likely to answer him had he joined them. Irritating the prince probably wouldn't help him get this job, but that wouldn't keep him from wondering what he meant.