Curtis
Curtis was not a very big fan of Edward, never had been and as he was dead, he most definitely was not planning to be. The dick was one of the most arrogant people he had ever met and was one of the few people in the school who made it their sacred duty to remind him of why and how he got to attend school with them in the Tower.
Sure he knew how fortunate he was to be in the Tower, it was the stuff many people from his background only dreamed of. As a peasant he knew his place, he might be more powerful than some of the rich fuckers in the Tower, but he was still and always would be a Peasant even if the King himself gave him a high position.
As a result of him understanding his place and knowing what he was allowed to do and say, he had sort of gotten used to keeping his mouth shut even when he had witnessed something illegal that should be reported to the authorities. It didn't matter if he had witnessed the Princess murder the son of the Prime Minister in cold blood, what mattered at the end of the day was that he was a peasant and the others were not, if push came to shove, they would pin their own crimes on him.
The look Prince Dominic gave as they had their very brief meeting was a reminder of his position. Sure the Prince was treated worse than a slave even by people with Curtis' background, but in the room were the Princess, the girl that held the lives of Derek, himself and Elswyth in her hands, he was highly advised to respect himself. After all, the three of them knew that the Princess had not actually killed Edward, it was instead one of them, and the Princess was somehow going out on a limb for them, something that could drastically change if he or the other two breathed wrongly around Dominic. That there was the reality of their situation.
Looking at Derek, he noticed that he was also keeping a close eye on the Prince who was not even trying to hide his suspicions any longer, perhaps of the belief that it didn't matter whether he hid it or not. Maybe he wanted them to shake in their seats and return to their rooms knowing without an iota of doubt that the Prince was unto them and was going to find out the truth and that once he did that, all bets were off. Curtis didn't need another brain to figure out that if the Prince found out the truth, he would indeed pin the crime on them in order to get the Princess out of her blackmail. This was one of the reasons why he had wanted to get the knife and use it against them should they turn on them; unfortunately for him the knife was with Elswyth who had been really adamant against betraying the Royal Twins or even having anything that could be used to protect themselves from them should they betray the three of them.
"Well, I suggest we all go to bed and get ready for tomorrow, it is after all going to be a big day." The Princess said with a nod as she came to terms with her new reality. She could say no to this Lady Clarence bitch, but at the cost of them being exposed. She would get away with covering the murder up, but she knew that her father would gladly use this as an opportunity to blame it all on the 'abomination'. that thought calmed Curtis down a little. At least at this point if they went down, the Royal Twins would go down with them.
"Can I have a moment of your time your highness?" He asked as they began to file out of the room.
"Uh… sure." She replied after a slight hesitation. Curtis nodded his head in acknowledgement only for her brother to stand up and walk towards her from behind her, eyes steady on him as if trying to decode him. "Relax Nic, he is not going to murder me." She said as Curtis looked back at the Prince unafraid of him, because at this point they all needed each other.
"Oh I know he won't dare to do you harm, after all he and his friends are doing everything within their power to protect you. I am just wondering whether he really wants to give you a pep talk." Dominic smoothly replied as he turned to look at his sister with the most gentle look Curtis had ever seen a brother give a sister.
Spending time with Derek and Elswyth had not really been a blast as one would expect it to be for a peasant who was spending time with noble blood, on the contrary; it was always a period when he spent most of the time they had together, keeping the twins away from each other, a distance reasonable enough to not get each other killed. The arguments were always violent and angry that it once got physical, he had to play the mediator every time. It was always for one reason or the other, Derek was too arrogant in his righteousness or Elswyth was too devious with her innocence, there was always a reason to fight and never a reason to come to a compromise unless if he suggested it.
Seeing the Royal Twins being all nice and sweet with each other was really jarring, so jarring that many of the students had a very open rumour that suggested that the two of them were in a very sexual relationship. They all decided that there was no other reason for the Princess to be so nice to her brother every single time. If they actually then made out in the presence of the entire student body, Curtis was certain without an iota of doubt that not only would it affirm the sick rumors, but it would tarnish the regal reputation of the Princess and then bring the rage of the King down on the Prince who dared to taint his precious daughter's name. All of that comeuppance because he and the other two had thought killing the son of the Prime Minister was a great idea. It was sad really but not so sad that he was going to turn himself in now; he was not going to die because of some dickhead after giving himself hope that he and the others could live.
"I'll be outside." Dominic said to her as he came close enough to kiss her on her forehead before sending a pointed look his way. They both maintained eye contact until the Prince was out of his sight and out the room.
"Your brother is suspicious of us." Curtis said as he walked towards the princess.
"Of course he is and he's going to be for a while longer, after all it does seem a little bit suspicious the miles you guys are willing to take in order to keep our secret safe." Dominica said as she got off the table to work towards the window of the classroom.
Staring out the window with the princess by side he began to consider the fact that if the princess hadn't lied to her brother about what really happened that night he and the other two would not be walking around free men and women. He knew for a fact that if the princess wasn't protecting them the three of them would've been on their way to the capital for their head to be separated from their body.
He still had no idea why the princess was protecting them when she didn't have to, after all they barely knew each other enough to be covering up a murder; but here she was protecting them and being blackmailed in order to keep their secrets safe. Looking at her he could see that she was worried, but why wouldn't she be after all someone else had seen them cover up a crime and that someone had just threatened to upend everything they had done in the couple of nights for Edward the worst person in the entire Tower.
"You do know that you don't have to do this right? You could just tell your brother the truth." Curtis asked even though within himself he was hoping she wouldn't renege on her decision to protect them. He might be entertaining thoughts of framing them for his crime, but he was still grateful for what she was doing. He was no fool, even if the truth of that night had come out moments after it had happened, he was the one that could be killed. Who would people rather believe, the Princess who said she and her brother were not in the room, or the noble twins that were with him when it happened? One wouldn't even have to think hard, Curtis' head would be gone before he even reached the capital.
"If my brother found out the truth, which was that I did not kill Edward and that it was one of you guys that actually did killed Edward, he would cease to protect you guys and in fact would pin the entire thing on one of you or all of you and ensure that he and I walked away from this without anything linking us to the crime. The truth is I do not want someone else to suffer for a crime that I myself would have committed." She said before turning to leave the room.
Seeing that the conversation was over Curtis followed the princess out of the classroom and into the hallway where he saw Dominic having a staring contest with Derek and Elswyth.
"Well, thank you all for coming out tonight, I really appreciate it." Dominica said.
"Sure thing your highness." Derek said with a nod. Curtis nodded his head as well even though in his mind he felt that it was actually he alongside Derek and Elswyth that really had to be grateful; the princess was after all about to put her reputation through fire for them.
Dominic as usual remained silent and observant as they all hugged the princess before turning to return to their dorm. "Uh your highness, the male dormitory is this way." He said to the prince, addressing him with respect for the first time. Perhaps it was because the Prince was also trying his best to protect them all, even though he was not doing it directly for them.
"My sister has a task that could ruin her tomorrow, I think it would be wise if I stayed the night with her." He said as if it was the most obvious answer.
Curtis turned to look at Derek who had to look down in order to hide his usual judgmental expression whenever he saw the prince being all chummy with the princess. For the five years he had known Derek, he had always hated the closeness the Royal Twins shared, he had even at one point told Curtis that their love was unnatural. To Curtis however he didn't care if the two of them were sexually close, there were far more important things for him to worry about. Things like his future once he graduate from the Tower, if he lived long enough to anyway.
"Okay then, good night you two and you too Elswyth." He said as he gave his lover a small kiss before they all departed for a good night's sleep.