For Eternity II: Clandestine Preceding (Vampire! 2p! Italy x Reader)

Chapter Seventeen - A Little Bonding

        Luciano linked his arm with yours as he walked you to the castle library. You were excited since you loved books, though you weren't the best reader in the world. Luciano, once at the library, opened the doors and let you in first. You smiled and gave him a curtsy as a thank you before heading in. He followed you in and closed the doors behind the two of you. You stared in awe at the amount of books that stood before you. The bookshelves weren't completely full, only about half of them having books. There was a crate of newer books sitting on a wooden table with chairs at all of its sides. You ran to one of the shelves, picking up the skirt of your dress so you wouldn't trip over it. You lifted one hand up to run your fingers over the spines of the books. A smile crept onto your face as the pads of your fingers traced over the words imprinted into some of the spines.

        Luciano joined you after grabbing a pile of books from the crate and putting them on a shelf. He wrapped an arm around your waist and pressed his chest against your back. You hummed as you took a book off the shelf randomly and read its title to yourself in your head. Your eyes widened quickly as you realized what piece of literature you were holding in your hands. Turning around quickly in the prince's arms, you held the book up to his face in excitement. He gently pushed the book down and towards your chest so he could read the title and author better.

        "Divine Comedy by Dante, eh? I assume you like his work by your reaction?"

        "I've actually never had the chance to read any of his works, but I've heard so much about this one from Gilen that I've always wanted to get my hands on a copy."

        Luciano smiled and picked you up, causing you to squeak out of surprise. You questioned his actions, to which he told you that he was taking you to his favorite place to read a book. You nodded and quieted down, letting him whisk you away to only he knew where. He navigated the many shelves, all full, half full, or empty until he came to a small window with a cushioned bed-like area and pillows below the window sill. Heavy, red curtains were pushed to the side to reveal the night sky turning a light pink off in the distance, signaling that daylight would soon break. A wall mounted candle holder sat on either of the two walls connected to the wall with the window.

        The prince set you down before kneeling on the cushions and closing the curtains the block out the rising sun. He then went under one of the pillows that adorned the cushions and produced a small box. Luciano pulled out a piece of flint and steel, using them to light the candles carefully. You smiled as you watched him put them back in the box and under the pillow. He turned to you after they were replaced in their original spot and motioned for you to sit down. You did so and waited for him to join you. He quickly sat down and pulled you close. Your hip touched his, causing you to blush a bit. He chuckled and pecked your cheek softly. Your blush softened in hue at his actions. Finally, you opened Divine Comedy and began to read it silently to yourself.

        During the process of reading, Luciano had fully moved into the bed-like structure. He had positioned you in his lap so he could read over your shoulder. His hands rested in a folded position in your lap as his chin sat on your shoulder. He would occasionally leave kisses on your cheek or neck when he had finished reading a page ahead of you and was waiting for you to turn the page to the next set. You would have been lying if you said that you didn't find this moment with the man you loved most relaxing in same way, shape, or form. Once you had finished reading the book, you moved off of Luciano and went to put the book back. He didn't get up to follow you and never made a sound or a comment about you leaving without him. When you returned to the small reading space, you found that the young prince had fallen asleep.

        "That would explain why he didn't move when I got up to return the book," you muttered under your breath with a small smile.

        You hadn't the heart to wake the peaceful looking man up, so you crawled in next to him after blowing out the two candles. You laid down since he had shifted to a laying position after you had left. He moved a bit again, this time to wrap an arm around you in his sleep. Your smile remained soft as you snuggled into his side. You looked at his sleeping face, taking in every detail you could of him as your eyes glowed a soft (e/c) in the darkness of the room. He looked every bit as handsome as he did when he was awake. His facial expressions were much more relaxed in his sleep, which was natural for most people. His dark auburn locks swooped across his forehead from gravity, but the odd curl on the side of his head stayed upright, defying the forces of nature.

        Eventually, your eyelids fluttered closed as the need for sleep consumed you. It wasn't long before a seemingly dreamless and serene sleep enveloped you. Luciano and you remained in the small reading area until the next night had came. This happened to set the castle into a bit of a panic considering that neither the youngest prince nor his bride-to-be were to be found anywhere. Luckily, Anna and Lauren had seen where the two of you had went the previous night and never emerged from when morning arrived, so they woke the two of you up and presented you both for breakfast after they took the prince back to his room and you back to yours to get freshened up and changed into clean clothing.

~Author's Note~

DreamsForDays here! I'm so, so sorry I didn't update last week! I've been working two jobs this summer so far and haven't had much time to work on chapters. Plus, I had Writer's Block, but I think I'm over it now. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know it was rather short and maybe not that interesting, but I promise some good stuff will be coming up in future chapters (probably in the next chapter or the one after that). This chapter doesn't have any translations, so I'll end this update her. Thank you for reading! Feedback in the comments is always appreciated! Until next time!