ミ 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 | 𝘒𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘩 彡

𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

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Your footsteps echo as you run down the stairs. The only light is the moon, spilling into the castle from the large windows. You should be asleep in bed, but your mind was too restless. Rather than forcing yourself to sleep, you slipped out of your room. Your destination was within view, causing you to sprint faster. You placed a hand on the two large, wood doors. With a gentle push, you let yourself into the castle's library.

The library was two stories, packed with books that lined the walls. Your legs brought you up the library's stairs. A smile plastered itself on your face as you arrived at the second floor balcony, which let you look over the entire room. From your vantage point, you could see the study tables in the middle of the room, which you and your brother would sit when getting lessons. You stepped back from the railing.

You weren't here to admire the library tonight, though, you were searching for a particular book.

A determined expression showed itself to your face as your (E/C) hues caught a glimpse of a navy blue book with gold details on its spine. You brought your hand up to it, gently pulling it from its home on the shelf.

"What are you doing here?" A voice asked. Quickly, your head turned in the direction of the sound. Your eyes met vermillion.

"I just wanted to read a bit, Diluc," you say with a sheepish smile. Your older brother only sighs.

"Don't you have free time tomorrow? You could always use that to read."

"No," you sigh.

"Maybe you should ask Father if you could have some time to yourself after our lessons," Diluc suggests.

"I'll try," you nod. "Wait, what are you doing here Diluc?"

"I had an interesting dream and I couldn't go back to sleep," he replies.

"Do you want to talk about it?" you ask.

Your brother turns his gaze away from you. He sighs, "It was about Mother."

A heavy feeling plants itself in your chest. The topic of your mom has always been a sensitive one. She died months after giving birth to you, leaving your dad and a three-year-old Diluc in shambles. Though she passed seven years ago, you knew how it still scarred them.

"Now, I know I don't remember too much about her, but I do know she wrote journals," your brother starts. "In this dream, she led you and me to the library and showed us where she hid her completed journals. I came to see if it was true."

"Can I help?" you ask.

"Of course," your brother grins. "After all, you were in the dream, too. I think Mother might be mad if I found her journals without you." You flashed your brother a smile.

"Alright, what did you see?"

"It was hidden in a bookshelf," Diluc says. "I think it's this one."

Due to the towering height of the bookshelves, they had sliding ladders built into them. The ladders allowed someone to reach the books on the highest shelf. Diluc climbed one of these ladders while you stood to the side. Your brother removed a few books from the shelf and handed them to you.

"Keep the books in the exact order," he instructs. "I don't want either of us to have an early death at the hands of Miss Lisa."

You shudder at the thought of an angry Miss Lisa. "Okay," you nod.

You take the books from your brother's hands and neatly place them in a pile on the floor. He stops when half of the shelf is empty. Diluc's vermillion eyes spot a loose wooden plank in the back of the bookshelf. He carefully pulls it out, thankful that the gloves on his hands prevent any possible splinters. Once the back of the shelf is removed, he sees a wooden crate and pulls it out. He hands the crate to you before stepping off from the ladder.

You both sit on the floor of the library with the crate between you two. Inside are numerous leather journals. Diluc takes one in his hand and dusts it off. He opens it to the first page, eyes immediately widening.

"What is it?" you ask curiously.

"This is a journal Mother started when she was ten."

"Woah," you say softly.

As Diluc sorted the journals in the crate, you returned the books to their proper place.

"What now?" you ask your older brother.

"We keep these."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," he replies. "I think Mother wanted us to find these for a reason."

"I have a spot in my room where we can keep them," you propose.

"Lead the way."

After hiding the journals in your closet, you and Diluc make yourselves comfortable on your bed. You laid down and stared at the ceiling while your brother sat next to you. Suddenly, you sat up with wide eyes, alerting the redhead.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, concern evident in his features.

"I think I know why Mother wanted us to find her journals!" you exclaimed while jumping to your feet. You ran to your vanity, sifting through a drawer full of random items. When you spotted a notebook and quill, you pulled it out with an excited smile.

"I think she wants us to keep our own journals too!" you beam. "We can put our completed journals with hers." A smile adorned your brother's features.

"Let's do it!"

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Buckle up because I'm planning for this to be a slow burn 😄

-daizie