(Kouen x Fem! Reader)

Summary: After saving him you two had a lot of things bond over. Especially after he showed his library.

A/N: I know some of you are probably upset with me being gone for quite a bit but I'm actually pretty proud of myself for updating a number of things today. Anyway, enjoy~!

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You were back at his bedside every day after that to see the progress on his wound, every time you came to check on him you swore you saw the servants eyes light up. You thought nothing of it and just ignored them.

You glanced at the rose that the beast was so persistent on protecting, with the servants in the room you decided to ask them something. "What happens when the last petal falls?" You asked, "does it have to do with the curse?"

Kouha looked down to the ground, "En-nii will remain a beast forever," he said sadly. Not liking the idea of his brother suffering like that.

Your eyes widened, "what about all of you?" You asked, growing concerned.

Koumei then spoke up, "we become antiques."

Kouha's three attendants snuggled up to him, "lightly used house wear," they said as Kouha hugged them close.

You sat the foot of the beast's bed, guilt evident on your face. "And there's nothing I can do to help?" You asked. You had asked before but it didn't hurt to try again.

Hakuei chuckled, "don't worry about it. Like we said, it's our burden to bare," she said, trying to keep a smile for Hakuryuu.

You took a small side glance at the rose only to see one of the petals fall and the castle begins to rumble. The beast seemed to wake up to the sound and shuffled around in his bed.

You stood up and went to his side, "are you alright?" You asked, "do you need anything?"

He brushed you off, "I'm fine."

You nodded, "if you say so."

•~•~•

You giggled as you played with Hakuryuu and Vinea with the extensive amount of snow the castle has to offer. Even if it was cold it still felt nice to get out every once and a while.

As you played with the two in the snow you hadn't even noticed the beast looking down at you with Koumei and Kouha at his side. He gazed at you and almost felt guilty how were worrying about his injury, Koumei noticed.

He smiled at his brother's actions, "you know. You can try repaying her for fussing over you," he said.

Kouen sighed, "how?" He asked, "I don't even know anything about her," he said, leaning his head on his hand.

Kouha beamed, "you can give her the library," he said, "when she first came here she lit up when Mei-nii brought it up."

Kouen's eyes widened, he had never met or heard of a woman that had read books before. Those kind are rare. His brothers smirked at the look on his face, it was clear to see that he was interested and once Kouen was interested he never gave up on it until finding out more.

He nodded and set out to look for you, "alright."

"Good luck, En-nii~!" Called out Kouha.

•~•~•

You felt slightly wary as you felt his claws rest on your arms, you were slowly starting to think he might lead you into a wall. "Where are we going?" You asked, feeling around the air in front of you.

Kouen only stayed at your side, guiding you to your destination with the same stoic look on his face. It wasn't like he had much to give away from his expressions given that your eyes were closed.

You sighed and opted for staying quiet until you felt him leave your side. You felt anxiety creep into your gut until he reassured you, "you'll be fine. I'm right here," he said.

You nodded and heard doors creaking open, you rose a brow and resisted the urge to open your eyes to not anger him. After the doors quieted down you felt his hands on your arms once more and lead you into what could be a room.

He stopped you in what you assumed to be the middle of the room and walked in front of you. Kouen gave a small smile, "open your eyes," he said.

The moment you opened them you were greeted by the most magnificent sight in your lifetime. A gigantic library with dozens of shelves and possibly over thousands of books, you placed your hands over your mouth in surprise and kept in your squeals.

Kouen felt a bit smug at your expression, "it's free for you to use whenever you like," he said simply.

His statement fell on deaf ears as you only continued gazing at the endless stream of books in front of you. "Have you really read all these books?" You asked in amazement. 

He shrugged, "not all of them. Some of them are in the ancient language of Toran," he said simply.

You chuckled, "are you making jokes now?" You teased.

He shrugged again, "maybe."

You giggled and couldn't hold in the squeal that came when you gazed at the books. There were so many, it was like a dream you didn't want to wake up from.

•~•~•

Kouen gazed at you from the other side of the table as you read a book to him. His dinner went untouched as he continued staring at the way your lips moved with every word and the way your brows rose with interest. You ended up catching him and chuckled, "something wrong?" You asked.

He quickly shook his head and went back to his stoic demeanor, "nothing. Continue," he said stiffly.

You nodded, "and Mercutio spat back, "Alas, poor Romeo! He is already dead, stabbed with a white wench's black eye, shot through the ear with a love song, the very pin of his heart..."," you recited only for your words to fade away as his gaze landed on you once more.

The way you read almost felt like a soothing lullaby, he could've sworn he felt his eyes droop with every word that spilled from your lips. He almost felt like sleeping right then and there if it wasn't for you rousing him from his grogginess every now and then. 

•~•~•

You tugged your coat closer to you as you and the beast walked through the snowy grounds of the castle. You continued to recite passages from the book as you two crossed a bridge, you interrupted yourself as from the corner of your eye you noticed he stopped at the bridge.

You followed his gaze to see that he was looking at the frozen lake surrounded by white, fluffy snow and trees covered in white. "I feel as if I'm seeing it for the first time," he said wistfully. 

You gave a small smile as he began to shift from one foot to another, "is there any more?" He asked.

You giggled and continued to recite the passage. He continued gazing at the frozen lake as you did, like always, your words felt like the sweetest lullaby that began to paint a picture in his mind. He glanced at your lips and quickly looked away, coughing slightly. 

You glanced at him with slight worry and finished the passage. He brushed off anything you might be thinking when he walked past you. You two ended up going to the stairs outside of the castle to see Baal at the foot of them. 

You smiled and ran your hands through his soft mane when the beast approached he began to grow frantic, but soon calmed down once you rubbed his nose. You softly grabbed the beast's hand and guided it to Baal's mane, he seemed wary at first but calmed down once he felt your thumb rub against his knuckles. 

He looked to you and you gave him a soft smile. You didn't know if it was only you that felt this but you swore there was a small spark between you two when you held his hand the way you did. 

You felt him to pet Baal and climbed up the stairs, you put the hood on your head and let your mind wander. 

"There's something sweet, and almost kind 

But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined

And now he's dear and so unsure

I wonder why I didn't see it there before."

You stopped at the top of the stairs and grabbed a handful of snow. You patted it together in a ball and giggled to yourself as you let it fly, it struck him on the side of his face causing you to burst out laughing. 

He didn't seem to like that as he grabbed his own wadd of snow and sent it your way. It struck you right the face with such force that caused you to fall back flat on your back. He laughed and tried his best to keep his composure. 

•~•~•

"She glanced this way I thought I saw 

And when we touched she didn't shudder at my paw."

You smiled up at Kouen to his end of the dinner table and watched how tried his best not to blush, at least it seemed that way to you. Kouen quickly grabbed his plate and stood up, he shook his head, thinking he imagined that smile you had on. 

"No, it can't be... I'll just ignore

 But then she's never looked at me that way before."

To your surprise he sat down next to you, you had thought he was going to the kitchen for a certain reason. You held back another smile as he glanced at you. 

•~•~•

Almost all the feather dusters were busy cleaning the dusty ballroom while you were in the library for more books to read. You gazed out the window as he strolled through the courtyard with Baal at his side, you held back a giggle as it seemed he was talking to him. 

"New and a bit alarming, who had ever thought that this could be

True that he's no Prince Charming

But there's something in him that I simply didn't see."

Soon after he was at your side, helping you carry books you picked out from the shelves. He seemed to be happy to help as he received an entire stack with no complaints. His siblings, along with Kouha's attendants, looked at you two with hope in their eyes. 

"Well, who'd have thought?" Asked Kouha's three attendants. 

"Well, bless my soul." Said Hakuei.

"Well, who'd have known?"  Acknowledged Koumei. 

"Well, who indeed? And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?" Kouha nudged Koumei.

"It's so peculiar wait and see!" Exclaimed Hakuei.  

"We'll wait and see a few days more. There may be something there that wasn't there before," they all said in unison.

Koumei walked next to Kouha, the siblings deciding to leave the two alone, "and here's a thought... perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before," he reflected. 

Kouha chuckled while his attendants giggled and went to sweep up more dust around the castle. Meanwhile, poor Hakuryuu was confused as to what they were talking about and looked to his sister, "what, sister?" He asked. 

Hakuei responded with the same phrase, "there may be something there that wasn't there before," she sang with a giggle. 

"What is it? What's there?" He asked, looking for some form of an answer. 

Hakuei giggled, "I'll tell you when you're older," she said softly. 

Hakuryuu nodded and went silent for a moment, he then spoke up. "Okay, I'm older," he said cheerfully with a victorious smile. 

Hakuei began to laugh, "Haku... You are a one." 

•~•~•

You had been walking through the gardens for quite a while in search of the beast and smiled when you saw him reading under the vines of roses while sitting on a bench. "What are you reading?" You asked, giggling as he quickly covered the book.

"Nothing," he said, a bit too quick for your taste. 

You rose a brow and sat down next to him, catching a glance at the cover's words you smiled. "Guinevere and Lancelot," you said with a raised brow, you smile still there. 

Kouen tried to cover it up when he saw where this conversation was going, "well, actually... King Arthur and the Round Table," he said, fidgeting, "knights and men and swords and things."

You rolled your eyes at his terrible cover-up, "still, it's a romance," you said in a teasing tone after exposing his lie. He had teased you just a day ago about liking the romance of Romeo, and Juliet. He had called it drivel. 

"All right."

The two of you went quiet until you spoke up, "I never thanked you," you started, "for saving my life," you said, trying to get rid of those memories of the rabid wolves. 

He hesitated a bit before speaking, "Well, I never thanked for not leaving to be eaten by wolves," he said simply before you two went quiet at the sounds of his siblings playing outside in the snow. 

"They seem to know how to have fun," you said with a small smile. 

Kouen scoffed, "yes. But when I enter the room, laughter dies," he said, remembering all those times they'd all grow quiet when he walked by. 

You hummed in acknowledgment, " the same thing with me... The villagers call me a funny girl," you said, feeling a pang of hurt in your heart, "I'm not sure that it's a compliment."

His tone went disgusted, "your village sounds awful," he said, remembering the few times you had slipped a few things about it in your conversations. 

"Almost as lonely as your castle," you acknowledged.

Kouen nodded, "what do you say we run away?" He asked, taking your confused expression for a yes and grabbing your hand to go to the library.