Marix brought Eilownia to his study. It was a room he seldom came into anymore, not since the war between Viraaz and Sola broke out, but it was at one time, his favorite room.

Bookshelves lined the walls floor to ceiling; jam packed with books of practically every genre and any topic.

The dark wood of the shelves and flooring paired with the couch and chair that faced the large river stone fireplace made the atmosphere warm and cozy.

Despite the darkness of the wood, a chandelier hung down from the ceiling to shed light on the hundreds of colorful spines waiting to tell their story.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of it like a child in a candy store as she instantly ran up to the shelves.

"This study is open to you, Whin. Whenever you want to come in here, feel free to do so. You can read any book you want, spend as much or as little time in here as you please."

She looked at him with a serious look, more serious than he’d ever seen her. "Free?"

His expression softened, "Free. You are free now."

Tears filled her eyes as she smiled and flung her arms around him, hugging him tight. Those were words she never thought she’d hear.

It was like she’d been a bird trapped in a cage and this study, as silly as it sounded, was her open sky.

Before Marix could wrap his arms around her, she turned back to the shelves and began looking through the various titles.

"There’s so many!"

She trailed her fingers along each spine as Marix sat in the chair. He crossed his legs and rested his head on his hand as he observed her.

"Yes, so many, and they are all for you to read. No need to feel overwhelmed, start wherever you want. You have no time limit."

Eilownia let out a light giggle as she continued to browse. She pulled out a few books and examined them after being intrigued by their titles. Some she made a note of to definitely read and others she made mental reminders to stay away from.

"Oh?" She suddenly stopped and grabbed one of the novels, hurriedly pulling it from the shelf.

She let out a sharp gasp as her eyes practically bugged out of her head.

"This is my book!" She exclaimed as she bounced excitedly, "This is my favorite book!"

Marix stood and walked over to stand next to her. He craned his neck to look at the book she’d selected.

It was a hardcopy novel with a black fabric cover. Gold embossed lettering was splayed across the cover titling it, "Love Beyond Magic’s Spell." There was a design of a wand with silver sparks coming out of it that contrasted the gold lettering, and what looked like gold ivy framing it all.

"This one? Really?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. He’d read it maybe twice since he got it and then put it on the shelf to add to his collection where it lay pretty much forgotten.

Eilownia nodded eagerly and bounced on her heels, "Yes! Wow so this is what it looks like?!" She ran her fingers along the cover, committing each detail to memory and comparing it to its damaged counterpart back at home.

Marix couldn’t help but let out a laugh at her excitement over it.

She turned to him and tilted her head as she hugged the novel protectively to her chest, "Why are you laughing?"

He carefully plucked it from her grasp and flipped through it.

"This novel is about a powerful magician and a princess who fall in love. There was a stigma about magic at the time of its publication, rumors of witches and wizards who were practicing dark arts, and many people were in a panic. Not very many copies were sold, and it practically ended the author’s career."

Eilownia nodded slowly, "So Lord Harris is a magician...? Do people really practice those things?"

Marix shifted his weight to his other foot as he placed his hand on the bookshelf and stared at her, "Lord Harris????"

She nodded to confirm, "Lord Harris! The love interest!"

He thought for a moment and raised an eyebrow, "Lord Harris the antagonist?"

Eilownia tilted her head, "Antagonist?" It was a word so complicated even she couldn’t come up with a meaning for it.

Marix, shook his head and handed the book back to her. "Never mind. Here. Read it to your heart’s content."

Eilownia flipped through the pages and bounced even harder as her smile grew.

"None of the pages are missing!"

Marix nodded, both his eyebrows lifting as a small smile began to appear on his face as he watched her.

"Indeed. It’s a first edition, collector’s item at this point. It’s sat on this shelf since probably....the first few months I bought it."

She looked at him, "What’s a first edition?"

"It’s among the first that were printed and published. There was a second publication later down the line as the stigma slowly started to fade, with hopes they’d breathe new life into the novel, but, well, it still faded into obscurity."

Eilownia nodded and wiggled her mouth, "You’re using many words I don’t know."

He chuckled and took her hand in his to lift up to his mouth and brush a tender kiss against her knuckles, "It became unknown. But for you who seems to love this novel more than I’m sure anyone is capable of........Little Flower, I gift you this book. It’s yours, keep it."

She let out a shriek of joy and ran over to the couch in front of the fireplace where she flopped down and curled up to start reading.

Marix laughed and took a book of his own to join her.

Now that Eilownia’s condition had improved and she’d been given the all clear from Dr. Lein, she’d been moved to her own bedroom.

It was much smaller than Marix’s room but practically a mansion itself compared to anything she’d experienced before.

There was a large white iron framed bed with a blanket made of the softest material she was sure was ever to exist. It was white with purple flowers on it and reminded her of the Flower Festival. Her new ’Strawbunny’ sat against the pillows, waiting for her to join it.

Two nightstands stood on either side of the bed complete with lamps and matched the dresser and armoire that sat on the other side of the room.

She climbed into bed and slid underneath the covers before grabbing the book off her nightstand.

Marix had given her a simple wooden bookmark with amethyst and emerald-colored tassels on the end which sat within the first third of the novel.

Eilownia flipped it open with a grin so wide she was sure her cheeks would tear. Her eyes were glued to the pages as she read through the remaining pages.

The princess was on a quest to lift the curse and save her kingdom when she meets Lord Harris. Not only does the princess discover that his identity is fake but that he’s a Prince from the Magic realm.

As she continued to read, the drama between ’Prince’ Harris’ betrayal and the princess spirals into the reveal that he’s the main antagonist of the story, cursing the princess and her kingdom to take over its vast fortune.

The real protagonist turned out to be a powerful magician who came from a long line of the original magic casters who discovered magic and brought it into the world in ancient times. The novel ends with the Princess attending a Magic Festival years after her curse is lifted and after she’s stabilized her Kingdom, there she meets with the magician and the two live happily ever after.

Tears prick Eilownia’s eyes as she drops the book and her hand flies up to her mouth.

’This is just like me and Marix meeting at the Flower Festival.’

She tossed the book to the side where it landed against the pillow. The force of it pushed her rabbit plush to fall on top of it as if to protect it from further ’rough treatment.’

After reading that ending, she couldn’t sit still, she threw the covers back and jumped out of bed. Her slippers were waiting for her right when she sat up and she quickly slipped her feet into them before heading to his room.

Eilownia slowly opened the door and peeked in. It was dark but she could faintly make out a lump beneath the covers. Was he asleep already?

She snuck in slowly and closed the door quietly behind her before running into his bed and jumping on him.

In an instant he was on top of her and holding her tightly so she couldn’t move. She blinked up at him in surprise and confusion at how tight he was pinning her.

Marix let out a sigh after realizing it was Whin.

"Never do that again. Always make yourself known when you enter my room and I’m sleeping."

He said as he rolled off of her, his heart pounding.

She nodded before quickly recovering and sitting up as Marix checked her over for any injury.

When he found none, he relaxed, "What have you come in here for?"

For the next hour she told him all about the novel, even when his eyes had closed half way through.