The Trickster's Test {Prinxiety}

Chapter 30

Third Person

The welcome home was different than Virgil was used to, although he supposed he shouldn't have expected the same subtle return he typically got after disappearing in the dead of night. Instead of the quiet entry to the castle he would have wanted, he had to walk up the path to the overwhelmingly large doors with guards and servants lining the sides, a custom his father had done away with for the most part years ago. Completely exposed to their acts of respect and well-wishes as he walked side by side with his father. Needless to say, he decided during the first five steps that it was the worst minute and a half of his life. If he didn't have a certain scholar he needed to talk with, he probably would have retreated to his room and ceased to exist.

Logan Smith wasn't a particularly hard person to find, no matter how little or well you knew him. On any given day, there were approximately four places he was most likely to be. Anywhere else was practically an anomaly. So although he knew that meant it would be easy to find him later, he also suspected that putting off this conversation would lead to him never having it. As such, he didn't let himself hesitate in knocking forcefully on the man's door, moving on when he didn't immediately receive a response. The hasty travel nearly left Roman behind, and resulted in him finding the scholar before the end of the hour.

The future advisor had been having a stressful week, largely due to the fact that any day now he could be out of a job. Of course, that was technically a concern at all times, but given the circumstances it wasn't as easy to write off as natural anxiety. Not to mention the emotional conversations he was far from equipped to deal with. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised at his own exhaustion as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes for the eighth time since coming to the library, but nonetheless pushed forward in his work.

"Logan, it's so good to see you!" And while the man couldn't say the visit was unwelcome, he wasn't sure if surprising was a very kind substitute, "Wow, didn't expect to be saying that sentence anytime soon, but why not add one more surprise to the list."

"Virgil?" Logan felt a figurative weight drop from his shoulders.

"Hello to you too, quera," Meaning nerd or dork, Roman uses the nickname lightheartedly, closing the library door behind him.

"Nice to see my disappearance hasn't kept you from being the most boring person I know. That's going to come in handy because I've got a job for you," Virgil tells him, tossing the honesty seal onto the table in front of him.

The advisor stared down at the enchanted red wax, raising one eyebrow. Honestly, he didn't know why he was surprised at the brushing off of his kidnapping, "What do you need from me this time?" He picked up the seal, carefully turning it over and quickly identifying what it was.

"How much time have you spent studying Harcshall?" Roman asked nonchalantly, taking the seat across from Logan.

"Not exactly what I planned on asking but I guess that works," Virgil shrugs, walking around and grabbing a couple books off the shelves.

"How were you gonna start? Ask him how his day was?" Logan used their bickering as an opportunity to put aside his papers.

"Well actually I wanted to see if it was possible for him to convince my father to let me outside," He had someone he needed to talk to, and while he had no idea if they would actually arrive on time, he didn't want to keep them waiting, "But I understand that wasn't really the point of this conversation."

Logan looked between the duo, "For starters, I have a general understanding of Harcshallian culture and history, although I haven't dedicated much time to studying the topic. And I sincerely doubt that the most silver-tongued person in the world could convince the king to allow you out so soon after your disappearance, and I am most certainly not them," Perhaps when he knew more about the situation, he'd have a chance, but with no context he couldn't make much of an argument.

"You might want to change your topic of choice for the next couple weeks, then," Virgil suggested, plopping down a stack of books on geography and Harcshallian history, "I need information on the Sidero family, because my kidnapping wasn't an accident or ransom case-"

"And those living iceboxes have basically painted a big red X on their backs with each suspicious act," Roman interjects.

"So you've come to believe that the Sidero's are behind your kidnapping, and want me to investigate?" Logan reiterates.

Virgil shrugs, "I wouldn't say investigate exactly, just see if you can figure out if there's any kind of history of shady business among the Sidero's."

Logan blinked slowly at him, "Virgil, respectively, every country in the world has a history of shady dealings, the only variables worth noting being frequency and recent history."

"However...?" He prompted.

A sigh, "However, I will see what I can find out."

An energetic knock brought an end to the conversation, the person on the other side of the door not waiting for an answer before shoving it open, "Virgil I don't know your middle name Lancaster, do you have any idea how worried I was for you?!"

"It's Elliot, Patton," Logan informed him.

"Not the time, Logan!" He turns back to the scholar, "Sorry that was rude of me and you have done nothing to deserve that other than not immediately come find me when you saw Virgil was back."

"I'm sorry?" Virgil wasn't exactly sure if Patton was mad at him or not, but regardless it felt safest to apologize.

"You should be! I spent days sitting on the sidelines, stressed out of my mind and completely unhelpful in figuring out where you were! I still don't even know what happened, the only reason I found out you had returned was because of Charles saying he saw you," So definitely mad, then, "And then you go and disappear too while looking for him!"

Roman raises his arms defensively, not ready to have the wrath of the typically cheery man directed towards him, "To be fair, I couldn't exactly leave to report back, and if I could, Virgil wouldn't have been with me which I assume you'd find worse."

Patton's glare doesn't waver, but his cheeks puff up slightly in a pout, "Fine. You have a good enough excuse. Now-"

"I am still utterly screwed, got it," Virgil cuts in, "Is there any chance I could make it up to you by introducing you to my new friend? I think you'll like them."

Patton's rant was thrown completely off track as he considered that. On one hand, that didn't really excuse Virgil's brushing off of his concern, but on the other, Virgil never made friends, or interacted with people he didn't have to, "That depends on when I can meet them," He decides.

He considers it for a moment, "How about two months from now?"

A/N: And we see the return of Patton and Logan, who will both continue to play little to no role in this book. Sorry