Divine || Prinxiety AU

Chapter Eight

!Trigger Warning!
Deceit being a manipulative prick

Feelings are Fatal- Mxmtoon
—————
The past couple of weeks had been some of the happiest memories of Roman's life.
Who knew that some demon could shift the prince's world so much just by being himself?
The angel was at dinner with his father and brother, picking at his food at the end of a long, glass dining table. Remus was discussing nothing of importance to his family, rambling about arson while King Romulus nodded and ignored him. His brother's words echoed off of the stone walls and marble flooring, filling the room but not drowning out Roman's thoughts.
The dining room was so empty that a draft filtered through and ruffled his hair, making him shiver as the cool evening air danced on his skin. He couldn't stop wishing that Virgil was with him, if only to make Remus shut up. Nothing particularly romantic had yet to ensue between Roman and the demon, at least according to himself, but he enjoyed just being with the other, platonically or otherwise— it didn't matter much to him, he figured. It was easy to catch himself thinking about being more than that, but how could he not? Virgil had deep, violet eyes that shone like amethysts in the sun and reflected lavender in moonlight. They always held that soft sarcasm that Roman had come to like about the demon, and perhaps it was just the angel's imagination, but when Virgil looked at him he swore they held warmth that he hadn't noticed before. The demon was just so—

"Roman?!"

Said boy jumped in his seat, kicking his shin into the leg of the table with surprise and then cursing quietly while he rubbed his injury gently.

"Yes, Father?" He sighed, looking up at the ragged man across the table.

"Did you hear a word I was saying?" The angel king hissed, making Roman squirm under his sharp gaze. There was something about his dad that just made him feel ashamed of himself with one look at the man. The prince only looked at the ground in answer, which made Romulus scoff in contempt.
"You're meeting with one of our nobles' daughters tomorrow morning. This will be a chance to win her hand in marriage, and I expect that you'll meet with Emile Picani before you see her to revise your etiquette."

"Nobles' daughters?" Roman repeated, his heart dropping to the floor and shattering with each word he processed. "But what about Virgil..?"

"I've decided that after this past month, he isn't the kind of person I want my son to be romantically involved with, much less run the Midworld with someday."

The angel prince slumped in his seat, mentally preparing himself to let this girl down when he had to tell her that women weren't really his area. Couldn't the king have at least picked a son if he was going to be forced to marry someone? Then he had some sliver of a chance to be happy, though he wasn't sure he ever would be if he couldn't see Virgil.
"Yes, Father," he murmured, defeated. He could try and argue, but he had tried that about one thousand times over, and King Romulus's decision never changed. The three ate in silence until the prince excused himself to go sulk in his room, flopping on the chaise dramatically. He rolled over and huffed a sigh.
The prince had one night before he had to meet this stranger and condemn himself to a loveless marriage for the sake of the rest of the Midworld. What was he meant to do?
~
Meanwhile, Virgil was sitting in on a meeting with the rest of the small rebellion— about ten or twelve demons, men and women, who all were hungry for change, some even wanting vengeance. They were deep in the forest that surrounded the village, all chattering and shouting while Virgil hugged his knees and stayed quiet. Of course, each of the demons has shown interest in his "fake" relationship with Roman, all buying the idea that he was doing it for them, which he supposed was at least partially true. Though he had grown to enjoy Roman's company, seeing the people that had been wronged by his family made him feel bittersweetly toward them. Sure, they had the kind prince. But they also had his flirty jerk of a brother, and a stone column for a king, plus a dead queen. Maybe Virgil could convince the rebels to spare Roman when their final attack came to pass, but he wondered looking around at the spite in their dark eyes if he really could do such a thing.
Virgil glanced at the demon to his right, Logan, who was even quieter than him. Since he had returned from spying almost a month prior, he had been reserved— or more reserved than usual, at least. Something was off about the demon, Virgil was sure of it, but when he had confronted his friend twice, both times he had been shot down. Not only was he shutting the rest of the rebels out, but he was disappearing often, too. He hardly ever took missions anymore, and there was more than a few days when Virgil had come to wake Logan up only to find his bed empty and abandoned, still made like it hadn't been slept in.
Virgil caught the other's eye for a split second before Logan turned away, ignoring him.

"Virgil?" The familiar voice sounded in his ear. The demon looked in the other direction, to his left to see Dee there, a little too close for comfort. There was a smile on his face that would have been warm and pleasant on anyone else, but on the snake it just looked deceitful. "Have you heard all the talk about you? You're a hero to them," he purred. Virgil hid his frown with the sleeve of his hoodie and glanced at the other reproachfully.

"Great," he muttered, curling even more in on himself as Dee cocked his head, feigning ignorance to how Virgil was feeling.

"Why the long face? Everything is going exactly how we wanted, isn't it?"
It really wasn't. Virgil was seeing the little bit of goodness in the monarchy and it was flooding him with sympathy instead of hate. He didn't want Roman to be as good to him as he was, he wanted a reason to despise him like his brother.
Why couldn't things be black and white?

"I'm just worried about Logan, I guess," Virgil replied with a shrug. It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't what was primarily eating at the demon. Dee narrowed his eyes.

"That isn't all, is it?"
Shit.
"Why are you lying to me, Virgil? Aren't we friends?" The other said, gesturing to himself. His words made Virgil's blood run cold.
How could Dee always tell when he was bluffing? He had noticed it before— the man was freakishly perceptive, and yet lacked any of the empathy that made such a thing an admirable trait. Virgil pulled away from Dee's side, eyeing him warily.

"Well— I-" he stammered, stomach turning over as he stared into the other's eyes. They were a pale yellow, something that was usually a color an angel might have, giving the species an essence of purity.
But like most things, on Dee it looked wrong. The man appeared like a snake watching prey, waiting to strike at any vulnerability.
"When we attack, could we- could we spare Roman?"

Dee was silent, and Virgil bit his lip and looked down, feeling his own breathing hitch.

"Goodness, where is this coming from?" The demon smirked, raising an eyebrow. Virgil felt himself shaking and took a deep breath before he answered.

"He's not- he isn't like the rest of his family. He's actually— good," he protested.

"You really believe him? He's toying with you, Virgil, can't you see?" Dee hissed, suddenly looking cross, "you think he really likes you? He wants you. For his own benefit." The demon clasped his hands together, batting his eyelashes.
"I'm Prince Roman and I just love everyone! I don't care about superficial things, I'm so different from all the other angels!" He mimicked, then his face dropped back into pure hatred.
"He's deceiving you, acting like he actually tolerates you. Angels are all the same, they all think we're inferior, end of discussion."

Virgil was wide-eyed, face full of hurt. He just nodded and looked away, sighing. Dee's expression returned to a sickening grin.

"Come now, Virgil, don't be upset. There's plenty of other people out there that would truly appreciate you," the demon said, simpering. "Believe me."
Dee placed his hand on the other's, and Virgil just complied, too numb to fight it.
"When this is all over, you could live in the palace with me. It'll be all of ours for the taking. You'd be happy, I assure you."

Happy?
Virgil thought, suddenly jerking his hand away and standing up without a second thought. Dee peered up at him, slightly alarmed.

"I— need to be alone for a minute," Virgil spoke sharply, pulling his arms around himself before turning heel and walking away, leaving the other demon glaring after him.