#thomico

Logan frowned a bit more. “I do apologize, Roman. I wish I would’ve gotten you free sooner and saved you from needless nights in the dungeon.”

“It’s- it’s fine. It’s in the past now, sire. I will recover,” Roman said quickly, he didn’t want the prince to be upset.

Logan just nodded, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

Roman looked around at the room as they entered. It was mostly empty, besides a rack full with clothes and a fold out privacy wall.

“I wasn’t sure your exact size or style, so I made sure to have a variety of things,” Logan said simply. “You can change behind the wall,”

“Thank you, your majesty. You’ve done so much for me already, I don’t know how to repay you,”

Logan looked down at him. “You have no need to repay me. This is the least I can do after my men made a mistake that almost cost you your life.”

“Truly sire, I understand,” He whispered softly. Logan was so neutral, it was impossible to tell whether he was upset or not. So Roman was in overdrive to keep him happy.

“Still, I will make sure a mistake like that is to never happen again.” Logan said firmly.

“Thank you, sire,” Roman picked out a simple red shirt and beige pants. He went behind the privacy wall and began changing.

“Of course, Roman. It’s my duty as prince to make sure all my people stay safe. You were almost an oversight and I give you my deepest apologies.”

Roman looked up in surprise, the prince was apologizing to him? “You did nothing wrong, sire, I am alright. You had no way of knowing,”

“Thank you, Roman. I was hoping that as one last treat, you could join me and my father for dinner? My father shares my regret of what happened to you. He would be fairly happy if he could apologize in person,”

Roman paused, a dinner with the prince and king? Sounded terrifying. “It’s really not that big of a deal-“

“His majesty cares deeply for his people, he at least wants to meet you,” Logan said simply.

“I don’t understand why the two of you care so much..” Roman mumbled honestly.

Logan glanced at him. “Because of our mistakes you almost lost your life. It’s quite possible that we have ruined your reputation, magic is a serious crime. Not everyone will be quick to believe you truly are innocent,” he looked down.

“I will manage, sire. I always do,” Roman hugged himself slightly.

-

The next morning, Roman woke up at the crack of dawn. He yawned and stretched as he got out of bed.

He was able to ask for more clothes last night and was able to change now. He pulled on a loose white shirt and a red jacket with stockings. He quickly went over to Logan’s room and knocked softly.

“Coming, coming,” Logan called back, sounding tired. After a moment he opened the door. The prince did not seem very prince-like at this moment. His hair was a mess and he was in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers. He wasn’t even wearing glasses.

“Oh- am I too early?” Roman asked, he’d known the prince for only a few days. But he never imagined seeing the prince like this.

Logan blinked and looked up at him. A slight blush came to his cheeks. “No- you’re just in time. I- I just slept in a bit late. My apologies. Come right inside,” he let Roman in.

Roman looked around in surprise. This room was beyond fancy. It was 5x the size of his bedroom, with much natural light and high ceilings. There was elegant furniture everywhere, a king sized bed, it was truly a room fit for a prince.

“Is something wrong?” Logan asked, pulling on a pair of pants.

“No- it’s just- I’ve never seen something like this, it’s so fancy,” Roman mumbled, the room just radiated.

“Oh.. yeah.. I guess so,” Logan said softly. “Anyways, we can start with you ironing my tunic,”

“Uh- what?”

“You’re my servant now. This is your job,” Logan glanced at him, putting up his elegant walls again. “You do know how to iron things right?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yes your majesty, of course I do,” Roman said quickly.

“Good. Get to it.” Logan took off his t-shirt and began looking through his closet. He pulled out a dark blue tunic and laid it down on the table.

Roman blushed darkly at how casually Logan walked around shirtless. “Yes- right away sir,” he quickly heated the iron over the fire then began ironing out the tunic.

“Just be careful, move fast with the iron or you risk burning the fabric,” Logan pulled on a white button up.

“What was that?” Roman paused, looking up at Logan.

“I said be careful. You can’t-“ Logan looked over at him. “Roman- no! Take the iron off!” He quickly went over.

Roman blinked, he pulled the iron off. There was a spot where the fabric obviously got burned. “Oh- Prince Logan, I-I’m so sorry-“

Logan stayed silent for a second. He took a deep breath. “It’s- it’s fine. It’s just a tunic… my favorite tunic... I’ll just fetch another and iron it myself,” he said softly, walking back to his closet.

Roman looked down at the tunic, then back up at Logan.

“Why don’t you go dispose of the tunic, then just wait for me to finish ironing this.” He went over to the table again then paused. “Wait- the burn… where- how-?”

“It’s an old method my mom used, able to basically reverse singes on clothes,” Roman said softly “The burn wasn’t as bad as it looked, so I was able to fix it, sire”

“How did you do it?” Logan asked in surprise.

“Family secret, I can’t say sire,” Roman smiled a little.

“Hmm, alright. Well thank you, Roman. I will finish ironing it, can you go fetch my belt?”

Roman nods, quickly getting it. “Here you go sire,”

“…like I told you, you don’t constantly have to call me ‘sire’ and ‘your majesty’. I cannot stand the formalities,” Logan mumbled.

“My apologies,” Roman said quickly, he didn’t want to stop using formalities with Logan.

“It’s fine,” Logan said softly. “Do whatever you’d like, I guess.” He mumbled softly.

“R-right,” Roman said softly, he handed Logan his belt. “So- uh- do you have any plans for today, sire?”

“I have an important meeting at noon, but that is it. The rest of the day I’ll spend training you,”

Roman tensed a little. “J-just me and you? Alone?”

Logan looked at him. “Yes, that’s how this works.” He said simply. “Sometimes we’ll be out in the halls or around the knights and Nobles, but for the most part it will be one on one training,”

Roman tensed more, “O-oh! That’s- that’s fun!” He forced a smile. Being alone with the prince all day? Sounds terrifying.

Logan looked at him confusedly. “Yes… I suppose so..? I’m glad you find this so enjoyable.”

“Yeeep, fun as can be,” Roman mumbled softly, keeping up his smile.

They continued training for hours. Logan didn’t go easy on him and wouldn’t allow him any breaks. Roman polished Logan’s armor, cleaned his floors, sharpened his sword, fetched his breakfast, and more. It never seemed to end. Roman was relieved when Logan had to go off his meeting. Virgil was also going to be attending the meeting so Roman had to stay in his room alone.

Roman flopped down on his bed, he was so tired and it was only noon. He wished he could just quit and go home.

A small knock on his door brought him away from his rest. “Who is it?” Roman called nervously.

“It’s patton! Can I come in?”

Roman relaxed and smiled. “Yeah, of course!”

Patton opened the door with a bright smile. He had a small plate in his hands. “Hey kiddo! I heard logan was in some meeting so I figured you were here,”

“Yeah, Virgil had to attend it as well so I didn’t have anyone to stay with me,” Roman chuckled. “Wait- is that what you’re doing?”

“Well… Virgil did ask me to keep an eye on you, but I would’ve come by either way” Patton smiled warmly. “And I brought cookies!” He held out the plate to Roman.

Roman smiled happily “Oh you are the best!” He took one then flopped back into bed with a dramatic sigh.

He giggled softly. “Has Logan been working you hard?”

“Yes, he insisted we not waste time since I didn’t work yesterday. I haven’t had a moment to catch my breath. I don’t mean to speak ill of him, he just really needs to understand limits!” Roman huffed softly.

Patton looked at Roman then sat down next to him. “Well he wants you to quit,”

“He- what??” Roman frowned, sitting up.

“A few years ago Logan had a servant who was his best friend. They were inseparable for years. But then it was discovered that Logan’s friend knew magic and he was immediately taken into custody and sentenced to death,” Patton frowned. “After that Logan refuses to accept another servant. He shut himself off and shut everyone out. It isn’t your fault, Logan just… it’s complicated,”

Roman blinked “oh… I- I had no idea…”

Patton smiled sadly. “Logan was so happy back then, but now…” he sighed “I think you remind him of his friend, it’s why he wants you gone. You remind him too much of the past. But he can’t fire you because the king wants him to give you a chance. Just don’t take it personally, ok kiddo? And don't mention that I told you this,” he whispered.

Roman nodded. “Yes, of course,” he looked down as he processed this information. A part of him desperately wanted to prove himself to the prince, now more than ever. He’d just have to work extra hard to satisfy the prince.

It was a couple of hours before Logan came and fetched Roman. They got right back to work. Roman tried his best to go above and beyond with whatever Logan asked of him.

At the end of the day, Roman was beyond exhausted.

“Goodnight Roman, today you have done… adequate. I look forward to tomorrow.”

That single comment caused romans confidence to waver. Logan didn’t seem impressed in the slightest! He seemed just as annoyed as ever! “Thank you, sire. I look forward to seeing you as well.”

Logan nodded and closed his door, then he went over to his closet and began changing into his night clothes. He moved slowly, his brain was full of thoughts. Roman seemed like a decent person, very different from the other servants he’s had. He also seemed a lot like him.

Logan shook his head, trying not to think about it. He took a deep breath and went over to his bed. He laid down and closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax enough for sleep.

-

Things continued like this for about a week. The more monotone and plain Logan was, the harder Roman worked to impress him.

In romans mind, if he could make Logan happy just once, he could do anything. It was a challenge for sure, but a welcome one.

Logan had quite honestly been looking for reasons to fire Roman. But Roman never gave him a chance. Sure he made mistakes, but he was trying so hard. Logan couldn’t help but respect that. A small part of him enjoyed Roman’s company, even though Roman was usually tense and nervous, there were little moments where the true Roman would shine through. It was something quite enjoyable.

Roman was accompanying Logan to the market. Logan really wanted to be alone, but Virgil was busy and he didn’t want Roman to be left alone.

Roman looked around curiously, he hadn’t been to such a lively market before. There was a small one in his village, but this one was quite grand.

Logan looked down at his list. “Alright, Roman. It will be quickest if we split up,” he tore the list in half and handed Roman a pouch full of coins. “You get everything there, and give me all the money left over. I will know if you have stolen anything,” he said seriously.

Roman was slightly hurt that Logan still had so little trust for him. “I wouldn’t dream of stealing from you sire,” he said honestly. He looked down at his list then veered off from Logan to get the things.

Logan watched as Roman walked away. A part of him was hesitant to leave Roman alone, he knew that danger still lurked for the young servant. But he needed space away from the latter, Roman had been by his side all day for a week and Logan had missed being alone with his thoughts.