III

Jasper had prepared the very things Vincent would need for his date, from his suit to his shoes. His wallet and keys were arranged on the table beside the entrance so he'd remember to take it on his way out.

He even helped Vincent with his hair. Vincent was more than prepared for the date and when the time came, they waved goodbye to each other with Jasper wishing Vincent luck, as Vincent drove off in his expensive car.

Jasper smiled cynically to himself, then went back into the house, tidying up the guest room. Placing a fresh set of toiletries and after confirming the pack of condoms in the bedside drawer was empty, he placed a new box.

Vincent often brought home his dates, depending on his mood and whether he liked them or not. It was never anything more than a fling with them. And although he slept with them, he always did it in this very guest room that Jasper was tidying up. Jasper's room wasn't a guest room. And it was the room right beside Vincent's, in case he needed something. Jasper had purposely picked that room to tend to His Majesty.

Thankfully, the rooms were soundproof, so the moans of the two lost in the throes of passion never reached the ears of Jasper, who should have been blissfully sleeping in his room, but never did whenever this happened.

He only spent all night wondering when His Majesty would be serious and find someone to settle down with.

Vincent would see the bags under Jasper's eyes the next morning but would never call him out on it, knowing that the rooms were soundproof and both Jasper's and his rooms were the farthest rooms from this guest room, so it wouldn't be the sounds that were keeping Jasper from sleeping. He could guess along what line Jasper was thinking, but he wouldn't bring it up.

He would think to himself. "It's not my fault they don't interest me. If they did, I'd have settled down already. Maybe even the curse would have been broken." But they never spoke about it. Jasper only kept pushing him on date upon date in order to find the right person for him while Vincent only indulged him.

Jasper having made preparations, ate dinner alone and went back to his room to continue the book he was working on.

While Vincent was the owner of Vendetti, an enterprise that started out with designing (all forms of design) and was now invested in everything there was in the world that needed any form of design (which was basically everything), Jasper was a fictional history writer. His books were very realistic based on his experiences from century to century which was what made his readers love his books. Some times he wrote a series based on one of the many centuries he lived or he wrote about characters and their descendants over many generations so the readers felt they were following the generations of that very first character.

He very quickly became a renowned writer because of it. The first person to congratulate him at his first fan meet was Vincent. He also gifted him a car as a reward later when they got home.

Jasper was very touched and although he never wrote dedications previously, he dedicated every book that came after 'to my friend, Vincent.' Although, what he originally wrote was 'to His Majesty, Vincent.', somehow his editor had told him that she could not publish it that way and had to modify it to 'to my friend, Vincent.' by her boss' request.

Who else could that boss be except Vincent. Jasper's publishing house happened to be Raise, a subsidiary of Vendetti. So Jasper's books definitely had to pass Vincent's hands at some point.

Jasper worked on his book and went to bed, only for Vincent to come home not long after with his conquest.

*

The next morning was the same as every other morning Vincent came home with his conquest.

Vincent was once again in his study, and Jasper was cleaning the house.

Vincent's conquest of the last night left the guest room, almost running into Jasper on the way out. Jasper took a step back and smiled at her. "Good morning, miss."

"Where's Vincent?" She cut to the chase ignoring his greeting.

"He's busy in his study at the moment. He doesn't want to be disturbed. He asked me to see you out."

"I only asked you where he is. If you won't take me to him, I'll go see him myself then." She stubbornly insisted, walking past Jasper as though she was in her own house and she knew where she was going.

"Miss, it's unadvisable to do-" Jasper started.

She stopped abruptly, turning to Jasper with a disgusted look.

"I don't remember asking you for advice. Did I?" She cut in and turned around with a flip of her hair walking past him. Jasper didn't try to stop her anymore either. He simply went back to cleaning what he was cleaning before she came out.

She walked around for a while before she found the study. The doors of the study were closed this time. She knocked lightly before pushing the doors open and walking inside, not even bothering to close the doors.

Vincent looked up from his work to see the woman walking up to him. His face was neutral as he watched her. When she got to the middle of the room, he spoke, making her freeze in her spot.

"What are you doing here?" His tone was neutral too.

"I wanted to see you. You weren't there when I woke up." She replied coyly, taking a step forward. However she stopped in her steps again at his next words.

"I asked Jasper to see you out on my behalf, so I don't understand what you're doing here. I showed you courtesy by asking him to see you out as I'm busy." His tone grew frosty.

"Jasper!" He called out.

Jasper came running to the study and stood at the doorpost. "Your M- Vincent. You called?"

"V-V-Vincent? You let him call you by your name? Why on earth would you let your servant call you by name?" The woman chuckled.

Jasper gave Vincent a meaningful look but said nothing.

Vincent ignored that look and replied her. "He's my best friend. Why can't he call me by my name?"

"B-b-b-best friend? E-even if he's your best friend, he has no business with our relationship." She stammered in disbelief.

"Pardon? Our? Our relationship? We have one?" He asked.

The conquest stood with her mouth open in shock.