When I wake up in the morning, Liam is still there. He's sleeping, breathing loudly, arms and legs spread out every which way. I'm tempted to wake him up the same way I did last night, but I hold back for now. Slipping out of bed, I sneak open the bedroom door slowly, creeping out into the hallway.
The Castle mansion is... something else entirely.
I didn't really get to explore much when we first came inside. If I'm being honest, I was a little too excited to get into Liam's bed. I think he was, too. Also, you know, he lives here. It's probably not as exciting to him.
But to me?
I mean, oh my God, there's everything. I walk past what seems like a million different bedrooms in a million different styles and colors. All old-fashioned, with some kind of Victorian look to them, but different, too. Liam's bedroom is on the second floor, so I'm guessing most of the rooms like the kitchen, den, living room, and so on are on the first floor, but still, I want to see what's up here.
At the end of the hallway there's a huge, mahogany door with ornate handles carved to look like an angel and a demon. I don't think this one is a bedroom, but there's only one way to find out.
I grab one of the handles with both my hands and tug. It takes practically all my strength just to pull the door open enough so I can slip through, but once I do it's definitely worth it.
A library.
Split level, going from the second floor of the house down to the first via spiral staircases, with another loft section where the attic would otherwise be. Hundreds of bookshelves filled with thousands upon thousands of books. In the center of the library on the lower level is a huge table, perfect for reading at, and a million other little reading nooks and crannies. The large windows all around the room give plenty of light to read by on a sunny day, and cute little electric lamps fitted around the room are great for night reading or when it's rainy outside.
This place is:
Amazing.
Perfect.
A dream.
Pure wonderful.
All of the above...
As I gape at the library, trying to figure out where I should start first, what books I should look at, what I should--
"Excuse me," Liam says, startling me from behind. "What do you think you're doing?"
I spin around fast to find my Prince naked, which, um... I really shouldn't be surprised anymore. He stretches out his arms and lets out a lion of a sigh, trying to wake himself from last night's restful slumber.
"Um, I like books..." I tell him.
"You like books?" he asks.
"I really really like books?" I say, in case he needs further clarification.
"How much do you like books?" he asks, smirking at me.
"Oh, I don't know, like, a lot?" I say with a shrug.
"Do you want this library?" he asks.
"What! You can't just give me a library," I tell him.
"Why not?" he counters.
"I mean, people don't just... I don't know... it doesn't seem like a thing you can do."
"I'm doing it," he says, waving his arms around with a flourish of gusto. "It's done. The library is yours. Deal with it."
"By deal with it you mean...?"
"Go read a book, woman!" he says, swatting my butt. "I'm hungry. I'll make us breakfast. Pick a book out for me if you'd like."
"What, you'll read with me?" I ask, excited.
"I do like to read, Evie..." Prince Liam says, rolling his eyes at me. "I've been stuck in this castle for awhile. Reading comes naturally."
"Yay!"