His cold calculating eyes miss nothing. Not the looks of fear his henchmen exchange when given an order to carry out that they find particularly worrying. Not the withering looks the Queen throws at her son whenever he says something more pompous than usual. Not even the subtle longing in Humperdinck's eyes.

Rugen knows that the Prince wants him. Oh yes, he's known for years. Long before this whole ridiculous business with that damned Buttercup brat began.

The whole thing had been his idea, you know. It was supposed to be easy—the Prince would get engaged to the girl, the oafs would kill her, Guilder would be framed, a war would begin. Perfectly simple. But nothing could be simple for Count Tyrone Rugen, could it? No, of course not.

Simple would've been that Spanish idiot accepting one tenth of the money for that damned sword. Simple would've been Buttercup's supposed "true love" hearing that she was to marry another and killing himself out of grief. Simple would've been if the Prince's wanting had been unrequited.

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After Humperdinck kills the farmboy-turned-pirate, something stirs inside the Count. He feels…concern. In any other person, a perfectly normal emotion, but never let it be said that Count Rugen was just any other person.

It hadn't been the prince's words—he had never paid words much heed, far preferring deeds. No, what had done it had been the look of utter heartbreak on the sovereign's face as he turns to face Rugen. In the many years that they had known one another, he has never seen Humperdinck allow such emotion to show.

"Are you all right, my Prince?" he asks, coldly, calmly. Not for the first time, Rugen curses his inability to insert feeling into his voice. Actions really are his forte.

Tears fill the other's eyes, even as he nods his head yes. He makes his way slowly to the hidden door. Just as Rugen turns back to his work, he hears a quiet little sob—as though someone is trying to hide it, but really hoping that it'll be heard.

His eyes flick over to Humperdinck, who, to Rugen's surprise, is now collapsed against the door with his knees drawn up to his chest, head resting on them, like a child. "My lord…?" he says, unsure of how to deal with this situation, and frankly, quite alarmed.

Humperdinck looks up, his eyes red, tears streaming down his face. "They loved each other. They truly loved each other, Tyrone."

Rugen sits perfectly still, certain that any sudden movement could result in disaster. "Yes, my lord." He's not sure of where this is headed, and he's not sure if he should stop it from getting there.

Humperdinck attempts to smile bitterly through his tears, coming up with a grimace instead, "Y—no one would…I will never even have a chance to be loved like that."

Damn. He had hoped that they could just leave it be. Hoped that they could just ignore the aching between them. If only that brat hadn't said such things to his Prince, he never would have gotten so angry. So emotional. He knows that he can't ignore it now. Knows that it's out there, in the open, waiting to be addressed.

He stands up slowly and crosses the room to where Humperdinck sits, looking so sad. He kneels down carefully and cups the prince's cheek in his palm. Humperdinck looks up at him, eyes teary but hopeful. The last thing he wants to do is crush that hope, but he knows that he must. "It will never work." His voice is still cold, but he hopes that his action conveys some of what he is feeling.

Humperdinck grabs his hand as he starts to pull away. "Why not?" His eyes are pleading. "We could…we could make it work, Tyrone."

Rugen sighs, pulling his hand gently away, "No, we couldn't, Humperdinck."

"People do all the time! They overcome adversity every single day, Tyrone. Why couldn't we do the same?"

"Because we are not like them!" He's yelling now. He didn't mean for this to happen. The only time he ever shows emotion is when he's angry. "They overcome adversity, do they? The adversity of what, exactly? Their parents' disapproval? Fiscal dilemmas? The villain's attempt to break them apart? All of that is nothing compared with what we would be faced with."

"But if we were together, we could—"

"No," Rugen sighs, closing his eyes against the pain on Humperdinck's face, "we couldn't. We are the villains, love. We lose at the end of the story, no matter how hard we try." He presses his lips to Humperdinck's for a moment that's over too quickly. "I'm sorry," he whispers, still unable to call up any sorrow into his voice. He leaves the hidden torture chamber quickly. For the first time in many years, he tastes the salt of his tears as he walks away.

End Chapter 1

Author's note: So? Questions? Comments? Complaints? Declarations of love? If you want it, I'll write another chapter, all it'll take is one review, I'm not greedy. More would be nice, but one will do.