(Kouen x Fem! Reader)

Summary: Curiosity got the best of you and you went into the west wing. Meanwhile, your father is sick but still determined to get you out.

A/N: I still don't know whether or not this hiatus will continue but I've been feeling a bit stressed about these stories, not to mention I've been wanting to start another one (it's not for Magi) but haven't been able to with the number of stories I have... Also, to anyone who reads most of mine, I'm sorry for not updating as much. 

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O...!

Oji...!

Oji-san!

His whole body ached as he tried sitting up, he was in a bed, that was one thing he knew. He felt hands push him softly back down as coughs rocked his body, he was definitely sick, another thing he knew. The voice ringing in his earlier was shushed by someone as he tried opening his eyes, which proved to be difficult.

"You're sick, you shouldn't be moving."

Just as Sinbad was about to go back to sleep, his mind drifted off to you and where you were. He was soon wide awake as he shot up in his bed. "Where is she?! Is she here?!" He exclaimed, having some glimmer of hope that you had escaped. 

In his room, sitting by his bedside was Ugo and Aladdin. He was familiar with the two, after all, Ugo was the one that showed you all those books in the first place. You talked about the two a lot as well. Sinbad dismissed that for a moment and looked at the two to see confused looks on their faces. 

Ugo's brows were scrunched together, "when did she leave?" He asked. Apparently, the news of his lunacy back in Jamil's tavern hadn't spread yet. He sighed and buried his hands in his hair as he knew not even Ugo would believe him anyway, even he had to admit it was a bit crazy for anyone to believe.

Ugo soon grew concerned, "Sinbad, did something happen?" He asked, his anxiety beginning to grow.

Sinbad groaned and got up from the bed, he began shuffling around his room, looking for something. Ugo followed him, "wait! Wait! Sinbad, you shouldn't be up yet, you're still sick!" He exclaimed, trying to get the stubborn man back in bed.

Sinbad coughed into his hand, "no, I have to save her," he wheezed, shuffling through papers on his desk. He sneered, finding nothing, he began to walk to the living room and going through books he kept on the bookshelf. 

Ugo grew angry, "save who?! This doesn't matter now, you're still sick and too weak to be moving around!" 

Sinbad turned to him with a furious gleam in his eyes, "my daughter is locked in a castle with a beast! I am not going to wait for someone's help, I am going to go help her!" He yelled as he grabbed another book to flip through the contents.

Ugo grabbed Sinbad's shoulders, "what are you talking about? What beast? Where is Y/N?" He asked, trying to calm down. 

Sinbad sighed and sunk down into a chair, "exactly what I mean... Y/N is trapped in a castle with a beast... And I have to get her back."

*~*~*

You glanced back to see if Hakuei was still there, once you saw that she wasn't you glanced to the stairs that lead to the west wing. You felt curiosity grip your heart and your father knew as well as anyone that once you got curious you wouldn't be able to let it go until you were satisfied with what you found. 

It almost reminded you of that there were strange noises coming from the chicken coop your father once had, one night the curiosity of what the noises were happened to be too much for you to bear. You ended up leaving your bed and going to investigate, it ended with you finding a chicken in the mouth of a fox. The Fox ended up running away, but you were still satisfied and told your father the next morning. 

He was both impressed and fearful on account to your safety. 

You shook off the memory and continued up the stairs, you noticed one thing about the wing. The more you walked, the more things seemed to be either broken, dusty, or both. You rose a brow, "what happened here?" You mumbled to yourself. 

You finally reached a door and pushed it open, you cringed at the creaking sound it made but progressed nonetheless. The room seemed to be in the same shape as everything else outside, you resisted the urge to sneeze as you walked past a chandelier hanging low from the ceiling covered in dust. "Have Kouha's attendants been in this room?" You asked yourself on account to all the dust. 

You rolled your eyes as the dust was clearly getting annoying, you gave a glance to the room and saw something that caught your eyes. A portrait, you slowly walked closer to it, curious of who they had painted. You suppressed a gasp as the portrait had been clawed, 'by that beast no doubt,' you thought to yourself, 'but... why?' You asked yourself.

You wearily reached your hand out to smooth out the claw marks to get a better picture, from you saw there were two girls and about three boys. Two of them had black hair while the rest had red hair, you studied it further until you noticed one more person but they seemed to be oldest. You stood on your toes and smoothed out that piece to reveal a man with piercing red eyes.

You gasped and stumbled away from the portrait, you fell on account to that stumble but didn't seem to notice as your gaze stayed glued on the portrait. You knew those intense red eyes anywhere, "but that can't be..." You said to yourself, it seemed unreal. Although you had to admit, he was handsome. You felt your face heat up and you quickly got up to explore more of the room. 

As you got further things started to feel different, the room got colder, the air felt still, and it seemed like moonlight was seeping into the room. At the edge of the room, you noticed there was a section that seemed circular with moonlight illuminating it. When you got closer you shivered as it felt cold and it showed with a glass case covered in frost. 

You walked closer despite the cold air and looked into the glass case, inside it, was a rose. Your brows scrunched as it glowed and whithered petals covered the bottom, "a rose...? Why...?" You asked, you slowly reached your hand out to the case. 

"What are you doing in here?!"

You gasped as you turned to see the beast stalking towards you with his fierce red eyes directed towards you, next thing you knew you were being pinned to the wall with his claws on your shoulders. "What did you do to it?!" He asked firmly, growling with each word he spoke. 

You whimpered, your eyes shut tight as a reflex, "n-nothing," you said, it was more of a whisper as you could barely get a word out with fear written all over your body. 

He didn't seem to like that answer as he still had you pinned against the rough wall, you wearily opened your eyes to see his staring into yours. You couldn't even dare close your eyes as they widened with fear, tears came to your eyes. 

Kouen didn't even seem to know what he was doing, the more he stared at you the more he felt something gripping at his heart. He studied your face as he got a closer look at it, his fierce look didn't waver but his eyes seemed to have as you stared into them. Even if yours were still filled with fear, his were filled with something you never noticed before. 

Fear.

It didn't make any sense to you, why would a beast like this have any sense of fear? If anything you should be the only one fearing the situation. As you both stared at each other, you felt your shoulders tense as he neared his head towards your neck. You closed your eyes tightly as you felt his warm breath against your neck, oddly enough, you didn't want to stop him. 

Kouen soon stopped as he realized what he was doing, his look stayed stone hard as he shoved you against the floor. "GET OUT!" His voice echoed throughout the entire castle almost making the walls shake as you ran out of the room. 

*~*~*

Kouha examined the chess board that he was playing against Koumei, he felt frustrated as he couldn't find his next move. Any move he makes now might lead to a checkmate and there was no way he was letting Koumei win again for the tenth time in a row.

He grumbled and leaned his head against his candle, "damn you Mei-nii," he mumbled to himself. 

Koumei, who had his arms crossed, smirked, "something wrong, Kouha?" He asked smugly. He shot a glare and was about to tell him off until he saw you running down the stairs in a hurry. 

"Mademoiselle, where are you going?" He asked worriedly as they both dismissed the chess game, he had never seen look so frazzled. You didn't even look that way on the first day you got here.

You were heading straight for the door, "I'm getting out of here!" You yelled as you ran. 

Kouha's and Koumei's eyes widened, they immediately leaped to action and tried to reach you in time. They beamed as Vinea came racing by, "Vinea stop her!" Yelled Koumei, only for the footrest to bark in response and use her doggy door to get out. 

"No!"

You ran to the door and grabbed your cloak along the way, using the doggy door which was surprisingly big enough for you to escape you were out of the castle. You raced down the stairs to evade them for as long as possible and got to Baal, you didn't have time pet him before you mounted him and raced out of the castle grounds while leaving a trail of snow. 

All the servants burst through the doors hoping to catch you in time only to see that you had already left, Kouha watched your back as you rode farther and farther away. He felt a gaping hole in his heart as if you were taking their future right from under them. "No..." He whimpered. 

*~*~*

You panted as the cold air began to make your throat sore, you couldn't stop, you had to get back to your old life. Tears came to your eyes as you remembered his fierce gaze and his claws digging into your shoulders, you clenched your eyes shut to try and get rid of the memory but they soon widened as you remembered the look you saw in his eyes as you stared into them. The fear.

Unfortunately, you didn't notice the wolf getting ready to pounce as you rode Baal. It growled and jumped, knocking you off the horse. You yelped as your body met the cold ground, you looked to see Baal still running away from you, "oh no..." You whimpered as the wolf still had you under its paws. 

'This is the end... I'm gonna die here...!' You thought to yourself as the wolf's growl got louder as it neared your face. 

Just then, something flashed in your mind, your father's face as he told you words that would stick with your forever. 

Remember Y/N, you always have a choice.

'He's right I can't choose to die here!' You soon began to look all around and saw a stick sitting not too far from your reach, with the wolf only able to pin your shoulders you slowly reached out and grabbed it. You then drove it into the wolf's side causing it to yelp, you stood up and dusted yourself off. 

You held the stick up in a defensive stance as more wolves started coming in, you heard trotting and noticed Baal had come back to your aid. You shot the horse a smile and turned back to the wolves, 'I will not die here!'