Page 3673

Victor eyed the vehicle. “I-I don’t know... I have a deposition in a couple days that I haven’t finished prepping for...”

Oh? Hmm. “Let me think. As I recall, your boss is... Senator Leoric, no?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m sure she will understand if you need to take some time off, right now. In fact, she might well force you to do so.”

“Ah... I very much doubt that, sir.”

The Prince tilted his brow. “Truly? I’ve heard the stories about her, but surely, she is not that much of a...” The words on the tip of his tongue were ‘slave-driving witch,’ but he changed them in favor of some new ones. “...Of a stern boss. Time off should be a matter of course after something like this, no?”

Victor gave him a look. His lips didn’t move, but his face said everything.

David didn’t force him to elaborate. “Well, in that case, you absolutely must come with me. You can make use of the embassy’s facilities to conduct your prep work, and if they prove insufficient, the greater castle around it has plenty more to offer. Including some quite luxurious spots, I must say.”

Victor still wasn’t saying anything, but his expression spoke of temptation.

The Prince started toward the car and opened the door, offering to let Victor get in first.

The kid looked like he was finally about to say something, but then he just hopped in.

David followed suit, told the driver their destination, and then they were off.

The tinted windows offered a now-very-familiar view of Andeyal, the Intarian capital city, as they sped down the road. The highways here very much lived up to their name, rising so far up into the air that entire office buildings could fit beneath--and often did. Many of the skyscrapers that filled the cityscape were nestled up right alongside the elevated roads, sometimes offering a surprisingly clear view into their mid-level offices.

The boy was still being quiet, so David had to be the one to revive the conversation. “These Intarian buildings of yours are something else,” he said as he craned his neck, staring out the window. “Every time I find myself on these roads, I’m tempted to bring a pair of binoculars and do some proper snooping. Perhaps try to discover exactly how many floors up we are.”

“...Depends on the building,” said Victor, “but this area’s about thirty. Highest I’ve seen was about fifty, I think.”

Next page on the 10th

Thanks for reading, as always.

Page 3672

Prince David’s brow twitched at that reaction. “But perhaps his loss can be your gain,” he said. “I’ve just finished eating, but what say I buy you lunch, instead?”

“S-sir... that is a generous offer, but I feel I should inform you that... Charlie Rogerson is, um... well, he passed away this morning.”

Somehow, David did not feel nearly as shocked by this news as he probably should have. But appearing too calm here would do him no favors, either. “What?! What do you mean? What happened?”

Victor sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I’m still not quite sure I believe it, myself. But, um... he was in his bed, and he just... didn’t wake up. Which, I suppose actually means he passed away last night, not this morning... agh... I don’t know. It’s all been too much for me to process.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” said David. “I saw him not two days ago, and he seemed the very picture of health. Full of youthful zeal. I can hardly... imagine...”

Victor nodded. “I know, right? The paramedics said he was already gone by the time they arrived, but they couldn’t be sure of the cause of death yet and didn’t want to speculate. Our guess was... some freak aneurysm or something in his brain.”

“...Our?”

“Ah. Me and the other roommates. We were all in total shock. Hell, I think I still am.”

“Understandable. You’ve had one heck of a morning.”

Victor didn’t say anything and just kept rubbing his head with a distant look in his eyes.

Wow. Talk about a tough conversation to maintain. He did his best, though. “I didn’t realize you and Charlie were roommates.”

“Yeah... been that way since university...” Victor gave a solemn shake of his head. “He was just talking about moving out the other day, actually. Not anytime soon, but just as a future goal. I thought maybe he’d found a girlfriend or something...”

Oh boy. David looked around. The street was rather busy, and his car was still waiting for him. What to do here...?

Simple enough, he decided. He couldn’t just leave the poor kid here, not without at least offering something more elaborate in the form of condolences. He bumped the young man on the shoulder with one of his gloved hands. “It sounds like you might need a bit more than just lunch, right now.” He motioned to the blue-and-white sedan on the curb. “I was just headed back to my little embassy at Livingston. Would you like to tag along? See some of the sights? And I’ll still treat you to lunch, too, if you like.”