The couple walks side by side, the chime of Seren’s anklets, which had been tucked away in his slack’s pockets during the feast and before, is ringing through the empty halls as he walks. The dinner ended a few minutes ago but Darien chose to spend time with Seren. He must, otherwise he would be a bad fiance. Their feet guide them towards the library where Seren had spent most of his time. Darien was pleased to hear this.

“My lord..”

Seren is better now, his hands are not trembling nor is he on the verge of puking. He eyes the blood on the coat, now dried and stained, with a frown and one of his hands was wrapped around Darien’s scarred one. His lord’s grip was light and Seren was the one gripping tightly. He needed it even if he hated it. He wants Darien’s warm hands to neutralize the cold in his.

“Yes?”

Darien looks down at him, pulling him gently so that he is walking ahead of him.

Seren’s frown deepens and he stops, causing Darien to raise a brow.

“Your coat has blood, my lord..”

Seren scratches one of the blood drops on the black coat as if had cursed him.

Darien looks down, his fingers tugging on the smooth coat’s chest and he scowls.

“This is indeed unacceptable.”

“Did you not see it before?”

“No.”

Seren raises a brow, such a formidable man yet he doesn’t know there is blood on his coat? That makes his scratching quicker, the smell of copper releasing itself in the air. 

Darien scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest as if to shield himself.

“What are you doing?”

Seren’s face is all scrunched up and he lets his hand fall. When Darien looks at him, he schools his expression yet a small frown remains.

“It won’t come off.”

Darien’s hand also comes up and he scratches a different spot… it won’t come off. 

“You speak truth.”

“It doesn’t look good..” He mumbles, holding onto Darien’s hand. His finger traces over one of the scars and his expression sours even more. How can one hurt such a strong man..? He clenched his jaw.

Darien leans down to look at the two toned gaze for a few moments. One was like a Tiger's eye (the jewel) and the other a bright sapphire. Then he straightens and gently pries his hand away from him to unbutton his coat. He shrugs it off his shoulder to the ground and a crisp white undershirt is revealed.

Seren’s gaze immediately snaps up, his throat going dry. He swallows.

“Oh my.. why must one hide such muscles behind a coat? I would be flaunting it in everyone’s face..”

Seren touches the white shirt, his feet bare against the cold floor.

“It is hot here, yet you wear such a heavy coat.”

Darien hums, looking down at Seren’s hand. It had felt soft in his own one. He had expected the patches to be rough like his scars. His hand then goes to his waist and turns him around to face the direction they were going.

“It is expected for a Duke.”

Seren sighs, but he doesn’t respond. He had taken etiquette lessons and he knows Darien is correct.

“I suppose..”

Seren’s grip holds Darien firmly in place even though Darien is the ‘War Demon’. His scarred lips twitch as he rubs circles on the back of his fiance’s hand with his thumb.

Seren doesn’t seem to notice it as his gaze remains on the white roses near the windows.

“They are quite beautiful..”

Darien only glances at the roses once and his grip tightens on Seren’s hand before he controls himself.

“They are.”

They turn a corner and Seren hears faint footsteps and turns to see a maid picking up Darien’s coat. He gives her a smile and again feels Darien’s grip tighten. But it doesn’t last long as the familiar doors to the library come into sight.

“My lord, I can’t wait to show you the books I’ve read.”

Seren pulls Darien with him, yet it was not forceful or harsh, and the guards immediately open the gates, their gazes down.

Darien’s eyes widen as he is pulled but he doesn’t pull away as the soft lights of the lanterns, the smell of the old parchment, and the ceiling high bookshelves come to his view. 

Seren lets go of Darien’s hand and the Duke immediately reaches out but he’s a second late as Seren is already walking away on the wooden floor, the soft chiming of his anklets ringing. Darien clicks his tongue, grumbling as he walks after him.

Seren stops before a familiar bookshelf and climbs the ladder, his feet light against the rungs. Darien grips it, looking up at the section. The sign was old and wooden, leaning down from a silver chain, and said ‘Romance and Erotica’ in cursive writing.

His eyes linger on the sign and he exhales through his nose.

“What are you looking for?”

Darien calls out, squinting as Seren goes higher. 

“I’ve recently read this book!”

Darien grunts, a scowl on his face.

“I won’t catch you if you fall!”

Seren rolls his eyes yet a small smile comes to his plush lips.

“I won’t fall!”

After a moment, Seren grabs the book with a smile, waving it at Darien.

“Aha! I got it!”

Darien squints again, trying to see the cover but as they section suggests it will be something with physical intimacy between people. He has seen it, even read it because his older sister forced it onto him. The.. pictures stayed burned into his mind. And Joseph and Genevieve giggled. But of course, Darien snitched. 

The thought pulled Darien’s scarred lips lift upwards. He wonders what Joseph would’ve thought.. about his marriage. He wishes that mother hadn’t married her away at just 16 just because she had a lover.

His smile falters at the thoughts but then he hears the chime of the bells attached to the golden chains. He looks up and sees Seren holding a.. Innocent book? He looks back at the sign. Oh, it also said Romance.

“You took your time.”

Seren was standing a few rungs up, looking down at Darien while the book tucked under his armpit.

“It was behind another book.”

Darien’s eyes linger on it before he meets Seren’s two-toned gaze.

“You read romance?”

Seren shakes his head and gets down from the ladder, Darien shifts aside as one of his hands comes to hover over the small of Seren’s back.

“I read one from every section.”

Darien nodded, his hand falling once Seren was on the floor.

“My lord, you must have a favorite genre..?”

Darien hums, looking around the library.  

“...History.. is interesting.”

A smile once again tugged at Seren’s lips, he grabs the book under his armpit and holds it in his hands. It only had a painting of flowers and the title, ‘Love beyond Death’

“If you’d like, then we can read together, my lord..”

Darien stares at Seren before he leans down, their foreheads close but not touching. His cheek was slashed to his eye, the stitch  marks were now visible when he came close.

“You will read with me.”

Seren nods and Darien’s lips twitch again before he takes one of Seren’s hands, feeling the softness. It was good that he had taken off his gloves during the feast.

“I will.. Can we go to the history section now?”

Darien turns wordlessly and the chime of the bells follow him as the soft grip on his hand tightens. The Duke doesn’t understand why Seren is holding on so tightly but it feels so.. Nice. It doesn’t make him forget where he is. It makes him remember the beautiful Mosaic face. 

The history section, like the rest of the library, was lit dimly but it was enough to read comfortably. Darien’s gaze skims through the bookshelves before he stops, the chiming stops a second after and he feels a hand on his back. He turns his head and sees Seren peeking at him.

“My lord, are we there?”

Darien looks around for a few more seconds and then turns right, the sound continues. After a moment, he stops again and grabs a book from a shelf. He was 9 inches taller than his fiance who was just 175 cm tall.

Seren stood beside him, opening his own book’s cover to see the beautiful artwork painted inside.

“This one. It is about a law decree passing and the rebellion that came after.”

Seren looks up from the haunting pictures of a fiery red place and at the book cover depicting a gruesome killing of a man dressed in a red shirt, blood pouring out of his head and staining a crown with the title, ‘Ferocious’ written in a bold, white letters that seem more gray than anything even with the dark background.

Seren inched closer to Darien, craning his head forward to look at his fiance’s book. The artwork was beautiful and hopeless, there was not a single ray of light painted on the picture. It was brutal, but he had heard the story from his textbooks before. The man in red earned what he deserved and Seren never wishes to advocate for Satan himself. 

For Lucifer he will as it isn’t a crime to have a want for freedom that another has.

“The art is beautiful..”

Darien hums again but this time it was more relaxed.

“I thought you might dislike it.”

Seren shakes his head and rests his book aside on a small table before he stands on his tip toes to open Darien’s book.

“Of course not, I appreciate every art, especially the ‘othered’ and the ‘scandelized’.”

Darien smiles this time and gives the book Seren.

“That is a good quality to have, Cloud.”

Darien wasn’t sure on why Seren’s face reddens and he leans down.

“Seren?”

Seren’s cheeks burn brighter, "Angels, why am I embarrassed? I had wanted this!”

“Ah..” He looks down at ‘Ferocious’ and holds it up, partly hiding his red face. 

“The Book!” His voice louder than it ever should be in a library, he winces and whispers even if no one but them is surrounded by thousands of books, “We found it, lets read..”

Darien’s lips twitch again but he decides to straighten up, reaching out to grab ‘Love beyond Death’.

“Very well.”

They walk together, not hand in hand this time but now no one is pulling the other with him. The only sounds in the library remain the chime of the golden anklets.

Oh how Seren loved that sound, it is so pleasant. He would’ve worn it to the feast if he had not seen Matilda taking off hers.

Their feet guide them, or Darien to a small alcove, Seren just follows him. It was aligned with a window that was open. Seren raised a brow but didn’t say anything as he was unrushed to sit on the cushions stitched into the seat.

“We will read then… what?"

Seren lifts his face and he hums thoughtfully, unbothered by his lord’s broad figure dwarfing him. 

“My lord?”

“Hm?”

“Can we discuss afterwards?”

“...if that’s what you wish.” Darien sits beside him, his posture as straight as a soldier's.

Seren stares at him, “My lord is so hard to.. read.” One moment he is lashing out and in the other he behaves as a Man. Just a man.

Seren’s cheeks heat up again as he realizes he loves the Man side of him. His lord, Darien, not the Duke of Wystan. Yet he opens his book, the spine cracks slightly and he immediately looks up at Darien. But the Duke seems to be staring at the depictions of Hell in the book. Seren smiles before he buries himself in the smell of ink and parchment.

The alcove significantly felt more compact than earlier when Darien sat inside. The couple reads in silence, only sounds being the soft rustle of paper and occasional chime of tiny bells when Seren shifts.

The body was hanging from the castle gate, the blood from its torn neck dripped down in oceans as the corpse waited for its family to come and pick it up. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours. Then only after the next day, the corpse’s father stepped out, eyeing the flesh with a wrinkled nose. 

A small child also follows him but the old man covers their eyes.

“Go inside, child.”

The child grips the grandfather’s hand, about to protest but the horrid smell of the rotten corpse invades their nose through the cool air.

“What is that smell!”

Their high pitched voice displaying dramatic displeasure, having no idea that their abusive parent is now disfigured.

The old man exhales through his nose but then picks up his grandchild, leading them inside the castle.

Seren shifts on the cushions, his bare foot beside Darien’s hand. Most of the paragraphs in this retellling were sucked out of life yet the interaction between the grandchild and the grandfather, while accompanied by the horror of a family member dying, was  still wholesome to him. These lines show that the rebels had family and that they too were not bathed in milk. 

Seren’s eyes then travel to Darien, then to the scarred hands holding the Novel he was in love with. He smiles and sits up, scooting closer before he pulls himself up on his knees to peek inside ‘Love beyond Death’.

Darien glances at Seren at the sound of the chime, it's so fast that Seren doesn’t even notice it.

“90? Here am I, at page 23.”

Seren thinks with huff despite himself and Darien turns his head to the side to face him.

“Is something wrong..?”

Seren schools his expression and smiles at Darien, he places a hand on his right and lowers both his legs down from the alcove.

“You read very fast, my lord.”

Darien looks back down at the page number, an eyebrow raised at the large number.

“It seems so..”

Seren nods with a smile but Darien’s stomach churns uncomfortably. “What will I say in the discussion..?”