Keep Your Fangs To Yourself!

@ Sweet.Persephone
Last night was a little odd for Giovanni, but he wasn't going to think too much of it. Arielle was scare of something, Gio knew that but what she was terrified of was kinda going past him. She was a Princess in the Castle, sure a human Princess but she was still technically a Princess. She should be protected, she is protected from what Gio could tell seeing as there are no odd people snooping around the castle or anything. His heightened senses haven't caught anything. Unless, it was something to do with Jax, seeing as how she had all of these bite marks all over her body. Was Jax hurting Arielle without her consent? Gio wasn't sure, but he knew she didn't like it when he bit her. That's for sure.

Raising his right hand, Giovanni rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He'd been up early making calls, he was starting the process of selling a couple of his cars for charity. The whole process was a bit more complicated than what he was prepared for. So many ways to go and negotiating over Prices. All of which, Giovanni wanted to make sure we're correct and the money going to the right places. After living in a dingy apartment for about a month, it really opened the Prince's eyes to the welfare of some of his people. How some struggled to make ends meet sometimes and those who weren't even able to make a living, who were dependent on those that are able to help them.

Lowering his hand, a small tired sigh escaped from Gio. Exhaustion was written all over his face and all he could really think about right now was a nice nap. Then, a sound caught the Prince's attention followed by the anxious thump of Arielle as the string that ties them together yanked at his heart. She was nervous and scared. Listening to the sound once more, Gio started to follow the direction the sound came from and soon stumbled upon Arielle being pushed against a wall by Jax. He was holding the Princesses hands in one hand and forcing her head to the side as he extended his fangs.

"Hey!" Gio yelled as he charged forward, aiming to knock his brother off of Arielle and to the floor. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Can't you see that she doesn't want you to feed?" Gio asked as the brothers fell to the ground and started to wrestle. Neither one giving up as they fought.

@ FallenHope95

Arielle had the best sleep of her life that she had in a long time. Not only had she been able to sleep in later than usual but she actually felt well-rested. The only thing she didn't like about it was having to leave, knowing that she would have to spend a normal day out in the castle. Especially as Gio had mentioned that he was going to be working on something... It just meant that he wouldn't be close by if she were to run into Jax. Though with a deep breath, the young woman reminded herself that it would not be the first time, and she had survived them all so far. So, it seemed best to go about her day as normal, and that meant making lunch with the King.

After showering and changing in her room, Arielle started to make her way out to the garden. That was when Jax caught her. This time, he didn't even bother to send her off to the room first. Clearly he was aggravated or hungry... maybe both. The fear in her small frame filled her up as he gripped onto her wrists and shoved her against the wall. Even though they had done this time and time again, Jax had learned that Arielle was never going to just take it. Even though he was so much stronger than her, the princess always tried to shove him off. So he had gotten used to just pinning her. "Jax, please." Arielle whimpered to him, begging although it never worked. "I don't want to do this anymore. I-"

Before she could even finish, Jax was ripped off of her. Arielle breathed in sharply as she stepped away from the two wrestling on the ground. She was shaking hard, the anxiety from the attack still sitting in her body. Though now she also had the way Gio felt sitting hard on her chest. God, she thought she was going to be sick.

"Stop!" Arielle yelled at the two fighting on the floor. Her eyes were wide as she watched, unsure what to do. As much as she wanted to run, she couldn't just leave Giovanni there. And the thought of yelling for help never came to her mind. They never helped anyway. With the adrenaline pumping in her, Arielle rushed over with the intention of kicking Jax in the side, hoping Gio could get the upper hand for a second. But they were moving so far that it was difficult to aim just right... She swung her leg forward and ended up swinging the tip of her heel right into Jax's face. Arielle could feel something crunch under her foot, causing her heart to sink completely... She was going to pay for that later.

@ Sweet.Persephone
The boys rolled this way and that as they fought. Throwing badly aimed punches at each other whenever they got the chance. Slurs escaping each other's lips as they rolled back and forth like kids in a scuffle. Neither side was letting up, ignoring the presence of the Princess. She was practically invisible to them at the moment. The only thing either of them wanted was to beat each other's ass and get the girl. Although, what neither of them expected was for said Princess to try and get in on the fight as well.

A sick crunching sound was what stalled the fight. Jax let go of Giovanni as his hands reached up towards his face to cup his nose, which was gushing blood. "You fucking bitch!" Jax yelled as he rolled to the side and pinched his nose. Doing his best to stop the blood flow, as well as wincing from the pain. Being a vampire, the broken appendage will heal quicker than humans but it'd still take some time to heal and stop bleeding.

Taking the chance, Giovanni rolled away from Jax and quickly got onto his feet. "Come on, we need to hide," Giovanni said as he reached out to grab Arielle's hand, then pulled her along with him as he ran towards the opposite direction he had been walking in. Gio did his best to keep at a pace that Arielle would be able to keep up at, but it wasn't fast enough for Gio. Which made him a little nervous. His thoughts moving in different directions as he tried to figure out what to do next. Seeing as hurting a royal was a crime, even if one is engaged to them. "In here!" Gio randomly shouted out of the blue as he pulled Arielle into a library. His eyes scanned the books that were held in the room and realized that it was the one where they kept all of the foreign language books.

Moving towards the wall at the back, Gio grabbed a random book and handed it to Arielle. "Here, go and relax on a couch and act like you're reading," Gio said as he finally let go of Arielle's hand. Just now realizing that they'd been holding hands this whole time. Moving towards a table that was near the couch that Arielle was to relax on, Gio grabbed out his phone and started to act like he was reading from his phone as he sat in a chair. Leaning forward, Gio rested an elbow on the table and placed his chin in his hand. His gaze on his phone.

Then, a couple of moments later, just as Gio had thought would happen. He heard the guard's loud footsteps in the hall. Closing his eyes he slightly picked up some stray words. Jax was going to need a doctor for his nose and they needed to find Ari and him to see if they really teamed up on Jax. "Shit." He mumbled quietly and went back to pretend to be on his phone as he heard more guards as they started to open up doors to find the two.

@ FallenHope95

As Giovanni grabbed their hand and they were suddenly sprinting through the castle, her heart was pumping like crazy. She definitely did not like the way that Giovanni was saying they had to hide. Was this not enough? They had gotten away from Jax... Though it seemed there was something that Arielle did not know so they continued to rush through the hallway until Gio pulled her into the library.

With confusion, Arielle took the book that Gio gave her. But she did as he said, leaning back into the couch and pretending to read the book that was given. Though as she glanced down at the words, Arielle realized that it was not even in a language that she knew. Her eyebrows furrowed together but nonetheless, she tried her best to make it seem like she was spending her time reading comfortably in the library. Luckily, the confusion that was swirling up in her chest was enough to stop Arielle was sobbing after a failed bite attempt from Jax.

Hearing the doors get thrown open caused Arielle to jump a bit and before she knew it, two guards were at the back where her and Jax had been 'relaxing'. Arielle glanced up at her book for a moment, looking at the two men before seeming to let out a little hum in displeasure from the disturbance before looking back at her book.

"Excuse me, Prince Giovanni and Princess Arielle but we have run into an issue." One man said before the other one chimed in. "Prince Jax has claimed that the two of you have attacked him in the hallway."

Arielle looked up from her book, glancing at Gio for a moment before looking back to the guards. "I do not have the slightest idea of what you are talking about. But is my Prince Jax okay?" She asked as she feigned worry. Arielle closed her book before standing up. "What happened? Is he injured?"

"He has suffered a minor injury, yes," The guard said before heading over to the princess. "But, more importantly, do you know why he might be claiming this?"

"No, not at all. I have been in the library since this morning." Arielle brought a hand up to her face in worry. "Oh, I should go see the Prince. Is it only a minor injury? Are you sure?"

"No, no I do not think it would be a good idea to see him, Princess." The guard said with a frown.

@ Sweet.Persephone
Hearing the door to the library burst open, Gio raised his head slowly and arched an eyebrow. Acting like he wasn't very amused by the fact that he was being interrupted. His gaze following the guards as they walked towards the Princess. Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly as he listened to the small back and forth that was going on between them. To be honest, he was impressed that they were falling for the Princes' lies.

"He's probably upset that the Princess and I are friends," Gio murmured quietly, his gaze falling back towards his book. Not wanting anything to do with the guards or the Princess. His eyes roaming over the words on the book but not taking in anything that he was supposedly reading in the book.

Feeling the guards turning towards him, Gio raised a hand and just brushed them off. He was still a Prince, so he was still their boss. Only the heir could be full except of this though. "I was engaged to the Princess first, and we've spent more time together. He probably had someone ruff him up, and then is blaming it on us." Gio lowered his hand back to his book and slowly flipped a page.

@ FallenHope95

The guards turned to each other as Giovanni explained his theory before looking back to the Prince and Princess. It was clear that they were unsure of what to do at this point. Giovanni and Jax were telling different stories, and it was hard to think that the human princess was actually able to injury the heir.

"We will get to the bottom of this, Prince Giovanni. If he is framing you, we will find out." One guard said, standing up straight once again.

The younger of the two guards let out an amused smile along his face. "Prince Jax even said that Princess Arielle was the one who broke his nose. Seems kind of hard to believe if you ask me."

The older guard turned and glared at the younger one before smacking hum up on the back side of his head.

Princess Arielle frowned deeply at the two, her hand dropping to her face as her arms moved around her. "I really don't know how I would even be able to do that." She looked over to Giovanni. "Maybe I'll visit him after he has calmed down...."

As she slowly moved to sit back down and the guards shifted to bow to the both of them. "We will take our leave." The older one said before heading out.

@ Sweet.Persephone
A couple of moments passed once the two guards left before the Prince lowered his book and let out a tired sigh. His right hand raised and ran through his hair as Gio shook his head. His eyes closing as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happaned. Two guards just came to question them and it didn't even take the duo five minutes before taking their leave. While that was good news for Gio and Arielle, it also put unease in the Prince. If his protection was so lax with questioning for the Crown Prince's wellbeing, then what were they like for his father? Did the guards even care about the monarchy? Or, were they just not fans of Jax. Which was why they didn't put in that much effort? Royal or not, they could have pushed a little bit.

Releasing a small sigh, Giovanni opened his eyes and glanced towards Arielle. "That was close," Gio murmured as he turned in his seat towards his partner in crime. "An for the record, I don't dought that you could hurt any of us if you really tried." Offering his best smile, only for it to falter after a couple of moments. "We should wait here for a couple of moments more before we leave."

Standing, Gio grabbed the book that he had grabbed and went to put it back on the shelf that it belonged on. "Jax should be on his way to his room right about now, a doctor was probably summoned to take a look at him," Gio murmured quietly, his right hand reaching up to run slowly through his hair once more. Another tired sigh escaping past his lips. "We're going to be needing to tiptoe for a little bit." The Prince turned towards Arielle, the rest of the words getting caught in his throat as he took in the young Princess.

"How do you feel?" Giovanni asked quietly, slowly walking towards Arielle. The Prince slowly kneeled down and slowly reached out to grab the wrist that Jax was trying to bite. Pulling it towards him slightly to extend Arielle's arm, Gio allowed for his gaze to trail over the faint and obvious markings along the Princesses skin. His lips pursing into a thin line. "I'm sorry," Gio said quietly, his gaze slowly raising to look up at Arielle's eyes. "I didn't know it'd get this bad."

@ FallenHope95

Once the guards had left the room, Arielle let out a small breath of relief. There was a reason she had never really tried to hurt Jax up to this point. She knew the consequences of hurting the prince in his own land... Really it should be the same consequences that Jax faced for hurting her but clearly, the King did not care about her well-being as much as he should. Not that she would ever expect him to send one of his own sons to death for her but the man should at least command him to stop. Anyways, she was in an unfair situation where Jax could do what he wanted to her but she could not defend herself. Arielle had to accept that the items she brought to fight back with the vampires were not useful in her particular situation.

"It's not fair," Arielle murmured softly, reaching up to rub her bite marks gently. "It's only his nose and they're all upset." She looked over to Giovanni, having not really listened to a word he was saying, at least not until he kneeled down and took her wrist in his hand. Her other hand fell from the bites on her neck and dropped down in her lap. Once he started to apologize, Arielle looked away, having a difficult time looking him in the eyes as he did so. It wasn't Gio's fault. Though she was counting heavily on him to try and fix this for her. Arielle knew that she couldn't and it was clear that she had no one else to turn to.

"It wasn't so bad this time," Arielle told him honestly. "Because you were here." Sliding her hand down from his grip, Arielle wrapped her fingers around his, holding onto Giovanni's hand gently. She wondered what Giovanni thought was happening when first told him what was occurring. Did Gio think that Jax was being gentle and she was just crying about it afterward? No, the man was rough with her and forcefully drinking from her. Arielle was convinced that he was heartless and devoid of any feeling besides pride, anger, and hunger.

"Can I stay with you the rest of the day?" Arielle asked him gently. She was supposed to go have lunch with the King like she did every day. But she supposed he would not be surprised when she didn't come after he heard the news of Jax's claims.

@ Sweet.Persephone
Crickets chirped quietly outside, followed by a light breeze that lightly shook the opened window. It was a nice night outside and Gio was quite glad that he had the window open. The weather was getting decent and that breeze brought in a nice change in temperature. Being as quiet as he could be, Gio turned a page of his book. His mind was about too busy at the moment to sleep. The girl sleeping next to him was on his mind and he had no idea how to help her.

Flipping a page slowly, Gio allowed for his eyes to slowly shift over towards Arielle. She was passed out from all of the shit that had happaned. Exhaustion must have been heavy on her because she had fallen asleep almost instantly after laying down on the bed. A small smirk slowly played along Gio's lips as he reached over the pillow and gently brushed some hair out of her eyes. Then, he pulled his arm back and wrapped it behind his head as he shifted up the bed slightly.

Since it was so nice out, Gio was able to sleep shirtless like he usually did. Of course, since the Princess was staying in his room for the moment Gio made sure to only take his shirt off once she was asleep. As he really had no idea how she'd react to finding him shirtless in bed. Probably get upset, smack him with a pillow, and then call him an idiot.

With his pillow propped up behind his back, an arm to prop his head. Prince Gio was as comfortable as he'd ever been. Even before having been expelled from his home for a month for something that he did not do.

@ FallenHope95

A little 'hm?' left Arielle as she started to shift against the bed. Not even a moment later, her eyes fluttered open and she let out a long breath of air. She had been woken up with a bit of a start. It was nothing to bad. But Arielle had felt like she was falling in her sleep and when she woke, it was like she had suddenly landed on the bed.

It had taken a moment to figure out what had happened and where she was. Though, once she did, Arielle let a little happy hum. Perhaps it was a bit odd, but she really was happy to wake up in Giovanni's room. It wasn't only because she felt safe here. Although she did and that was definitely a bit part of why she liked sleeping there over anywhere else at the moment. But... well she also had a liking to Giovanni. Although they had their past issues, Gio would never mean to hurt her. And, more often then not, he was kind.

Arielle's eyes lifted up to look over at the man, to see that he was sitting besides her, reading a book, while shirtless? It felt like an odd combination to occur considering it was the middle of the night. But it didn't really matter. Though as she looked over at him, a feeling started to swell up in her chest. Her eyes fluttered for a moment but she just felt it urging her, and it was too hard to ignore.

Taking the pillow that had been in between them, Arielle pushed it further down on the bed. She shifted over to his side of the bed before laying her head on his chest without a word. It took a moment but she was finally able to heard the very soft beating of his heart. Her eyes started to flutter again before closing.

@ Sweet.Persephone
It was probably nearing two in the morning when Giovanni noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. His first thought was that Arielle had woken up and was just rolling over to get comfortable. So, when he noticed the pillow shifting next. Things started to get a little odd to the Prince. His lips pursed slightly, not wanting to wake Arielle if she was asleep and just getting comfortable. As for all he knew, she could be trying to snuggle with the pillow or something.

Then, his heart skipped a beat. The Prince looked away from Arielle for not even a second before he felt her closer than ever before. Finally shifting his gaze from the book he was reading. Gio looked down and saw Arielle's head resting on his chest. The confusion was written all over his face as he debated on what the hell he was supposed to do. The pull that they shared together told him that she was content, but the logical thing inside of him told him that he needed to push Arielle away. To set her back onto her side of the bed, but. He couldn't do that. Gio couldn't find himself moving to do that. He couldn't, she was too scared to sleep alone as it is.

Shifting his gaze away, Giovanni just laid there for a while. Allowing himself to stare at his cieling as he listened to Ari breathe and thought about what the fuck he should do. "Fuck." Gio murmured quietly, snapping his book closed quietly before setting it aside. The arm that was bent behind him moved to slowly wrap around Arielle's shoulders as he pulled her a little bit closer, not wanting her to wake up with a kink in her shoulder. His own head rested back on his pillow as he just thought about how head he was going to be in the morning if Jax or his father found out about this.

----

The next morning, dressed casually the Prince sat across from his father in his office. His older brother Jax sat next to him, a scowl on his face and a bandage across his nose. Truth be told, Gio had no idea what this meeting was about, but judging from Jax's and his father's expression. Well, it couldn't be anything good.

@ FallenHope95

"I am glad that you are both here." The King turned in his chair, turning on the TV behind him to the news. "I would like to think that both of you have been watching the news and are already aware of what is occurring. But in the off chance that you are not..." The man waited a moment until the segment he wanted was brought up on the screen. An image of Giovanni came up on the screen as the reporter spoke.

'Prince Giovanni had been in the news recently regarding the allegations of an addiction to drugs. The allegations had caused the Prince to fall from grace, his position as heir being taken away and being kicked out of the castle. Though, after a thorough investigation done by the castle, it was determined that these allegations were false and he was welcomed back to the royal life. However, despite it all being shown to be untrue, the title of heir still remains with his brother, Prince Jax. This has caused many people in the Kingdom to start a petition, requesting that the King give Prince Giovanni his position of heir back. It is one of the fastest growing petitions the world has ever seen. The -'

Before the reporter could finish the segment, the King turned off the news and turned back to both of his sons. Jax, having grown more irate by the second was completely tense.

"The people have started a petition, requesting that Giovanni be given his place as heir back... And I wanted to let you both know that I am considering it. As the allegations were proven false, there is no reason that Giovanni should not be heir again. What I am trying to say is that if either of you want to become King, you should prove it to me over the next week or two. I will make my decision and, at that point, this will be finalized. Whoever I deem to be best for the country will be chosen - natural heir or not." The King looked to Giovanni before turning his head to Jax.

"Do you both understand me?"

"Yes, Sir." Jax said through gritted teeth.

@ Sweet.Persephone
Slowly bringing his hand to cover his mouth, Gio slowly rubbed his stubble as he leaned back. Looking towards the television, Gio listened as the news person spoke. He was not expecting people to want him to become the heir again. They didn't even know what was going on in the castle. Why were they petitioning for him to become the heir again? He was a party addict, Jax was the one who was doing or rather did some charity work when he first became heir. It was odd.

Once his father started to speak again, Gio slowly lowered his gaze back towards his father. His eyebrows raised even more as he listened to his father. The man wasn't swayed easily, so this was a surprise. A very big surprise to put it nicely. "Yes, sir," Gio said quietly as he slowly lowered his hand from his mouth. His lips pursed into a straight line as he tried to wrap his head around the possibility to get his title back. To have the ability to become the future king of not just his country, but to also soon become the King of Ari's when he takes it over once they wed.

"May I be excused now, sir?" Gio asked as there seemed to be a long pause in the room. Nothing was really being said about what was just seen online. Hell, Gio's been an internet magnet since he was a kid and even he hadn't heard about what he had just seen on the TV. It just goes to show that Gio's mind's been a little too preoccupied this morning to look around at random news articles lately. He just got home and was trying to adjust as well as trying to keep from going back to his playboy ways.

As soon as the King dismissed him, Gio was out of his seat and was exiting the office. His father had called for an early meeting, meaning he had to leave a sleeping Ari in his bed. Glancing at his phone, Gio saw that it was barely nine, so hopefully, the Princess wouldn't wake and freak when she doesn't see him in bed.

@ FallenHope95

As she started to wake, Arielle turned slightly in the bed. Though when she realized that she could no longer feel Giovanni underneath her, she started to reach an arm out for him, searching for him as her eyes were still closed. After a moment, the young woman started to give up her search, a little sigh escaping her as she started to rest against the bed once again. Arielle just assumed that he was somewhere else in the room, perhaps getting ready for the day.

It was not too much longer as her eyes fluttered open and Arielle slowly sat up in the bed. She took a moment to rub her tired eyes before glancing around, looking for Giovanni. It really wasn't that surprising that he was not in the bed. Vampires didn't see nearly as much as humans did. Besides, Arielle had been feeling exhausted lately which was leading her to sleep an unusual amount for a human anyway.

But she was surprised to find that Giovanni wasn't in the room at all. A small frown came along her eyes as she glanced around. She didn't like the fact that he had left without waking her up. Perhaps he was only meant to be gone for a moment? It just made her a little uneasy.

@ Sweet.Persephone
Arriving back at his door, the Prince let out a small sigh. His head was spinning and Gio wasn't quite sure what he should be thinking right now. He wasn't even expecting to ever get his place at the heir back, ever. He thought that the people would hate him. Want his head on a silver platter before being allowed in the Palace once more, much less become their next future king. Releasing a small sigh, Gio turned the knob and walked into his bedroom. A surprised look appearing upon his face as he saw that Arielle was sitting up in the bed.

"You're up?" He said, sound a little bit surprised as he stepped in and closed the door quietly behind himself. Walking towards the bed, Gio slid the jacket he put on off of his shoulders and then tossed it onto a nearby chair before sinking down onto the edge of the bed. Leaning back, Gio laid back at the edge and looked up towards the ceiling, and raised his hands to rub at his tired eyes. Although, they weren't tired from the lack of sleep. They were tired because his head was spinning. Everything was being turned upside down once more on him.

"My father summoned me to his office this morning," Gio mumbled, lowering his hands from his face and moving to rest them on his stomach. His head turned to the side as he looked up towards Ari who was at the top of the bed. "There's a petition going around to make me the heir again." He paused, to let that sink in for Arielle. "He's considering it as well." He let out a small forced laugh. "So now, it's turning into a competition between be and Jax for the throne, he wants to see who'd become the best future ruler."

Looking away from Ari, Giovanni slowly moved so that he was sitting up before leaning forward slightly. His arms resting against his knees. "I don't know if I'd be a good King, Ari. Hell after everything, I'm surprised the people even want me to be the heir again. I haven't done anything to gain their trust like this. I have no idea how to handle this. It's all happening so fast."

@ FallenHope95

As Giovanni walked into the door, Arielle immediately started to relax. A bit of a smile came over her face as she looked at him. The young woman was just glad that he was back and close to her again. It just made her feel better, considering everything. Though, she also liked the way that Giovanni looked in his suit... He was nice to look.

"I am up." Arielle responded to him. "Though why did you leave? And what are you dressed up for?" Her head tilted to the side as she looked over at the man. But as he started to explain what had occurred this morning, pure excitement was rising up in her. Although she was aware all of the mixed feelings from Giovanni sitting in her chest, all the young human felt was excited and hopeful. This was exactly what she wanted! What she was hoping for. Arielle was unsure if it was ever going to be a possibility but Giovanni being heir again would resolve everything.

"Why do you seem so conflicted about this Gio?" Arielle asked as shifted in the bed to make her way over to him. "This is fantastic! It literally could not be any better." Once she was besides him, Arielle kneeled down on the bed and glanced over at Gio. As he leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees, Arielle laid a hand on his back, wanting to calm him down. "I know you are worried about being King but you're not thinking about this in the right way right now. We know that Jax will be a bad king. Actually he's probably going to be terrible."

Arielle reached over, laying her hand on the side of his cheek before gently bringing his face up so he could look at her. "Look at me. He's been abusing me for weeks, Gio. He doesn't care that he's been hurting me, that I've been telling him to stop. And no one has been willing to stop him either. If he's willing to do this to me, what do you think Jax is going to do to my people? Or Hell, even to his own. That man has no heart nor does he care about others."

She reached over and laid her head on his chest. "But you do, Gio. You have compassion, and you care about your country. I know this is happening fast but you need to do this. I know you'll be a better King than him. I know it. And we will figure it out once you win, okay? I'll help you to become a great king. I promise, Gio. But in the meantime, please try. You doing this will be better for both of our homes. You can't just let him win or take over like this."

"And you need to do this for me." Arielle tugged gently on the front of his shirt. "I did what I had to in order to get you back into the castle. I spoke to the king every day, kept my head down. I endured so much when I just wanted to run away or die. You promised you would help me with Jax. This is how you can do it."

@ Sweet.Persephone
Not a word escaped from Gio as he listened to Arielle give him a little pep talk. He really needed it at the moment, because his head was a jumbled mess. One moment, he's the heir, the next he's tossed out like the trash. Then, he's brought right back to where he's started. It's all amazing actually, a whirlwind of things happening that he hadn't expected and it just felt so unreal. Like he was trapped in a dream of some sort or something like that. It was weird, really weird honestly.

Slowly, without really thinking about it. Gio moved the arm closest to Arielle and wrapped it around her waist as he leaned back on the bed. Pulling the young Princess backward with him so that she could lay with him. Not looking at the hopeful look in her eyes was a bit easier on his ragged mind right now, but having her close still helped him feel relaxed. Like he wasn't the dead human that he was born as. He wasn't ever going to say it, but he was glad that this mortal human was thrown into his world. Maybe one day he'd thank her, but not now. He couldn't, that would be a line he wasn't really sure he was ready to cross. An he wasn't sure when he'd ever been if it'd come up.

"I guess-" Gio stopped, his lips pursing into a thin line as he tried to figure out what's going on in his jumbled mind. "I just I'm just in shock, you know." Gio slowly turned his head so that he was looking towards Arielle. "One moment, I'm getting frames for something and having my reputation destroyed. Then, I'm back here again and am being told that I have to fight for my technical birthright. It's just so strange, Ari. It's really a lot to take in." Giovanni shifted his head forward once more and looked up at the cieling. Taking in the little granulate's of the plaster that he could see. The chandelier that was hanging above him as well, was all so familiar yet different in the same sense of things.

"I feel like this is a dream or something." Turning his head towards Ari, Gio couldn't help but exhale a small sigh through his nose. He really had no idea what else to say right now. The Princess was so excited and here he was, a jumbled mess of thoughts and disbelief. He wasn't sure he'd ever been in the castle again once his father kicked him out without finding out what the hell actually happaned. "Life is weird."

@ FallenHope95

One moment, Arielle was kneeling on the bed beside Gio and in the next, she was suddenly getting pulled back onto the bed. It caused her to be quiet for a moment, to actually take a moment to breathe since Giovanni came in with the good news. Her head turned slightly to look up at the man before her eyes shifted down. Perhaps she was putting too much pressure on him in that moment. Though what she had said was true, Gio would be a much better king than Jax. But, also, she needed Giovanni to do this for her. Otherwise, what was the point of everything she had done up until this point? If Giovanni was just going to give up, why did he have her try so hard to get back when she could have run away to safety?

Though she bit her tongue on that thought, for now. And instead, Arielle turned until she was laying on her side. She pulled a pillow down and laid her head on top of it. Her eyes shifted back up to look over Giovanni's face, waiting for him to start speaking. And, once he did, Arielle listened.

"Everything that has happened to use has been so strange, Gio. Since the day that I landed here." Arielle whispered to him. "I know it's a lot to take in, that any of this has happened, that you were even kicked out of the castle in the first place. And it's fair for you to want to take a moment and figure out how you got here, into this position. Or to figure out why any of this needed to happen in the first place..."

Arielle was quiet for a moment but she then shifted her arm underneath her and hovered over Giovanni s she was looking into his eyes. The intense hope and joy in her eyes had softened significantly, now just looking at Gio gently. "Life is weird, and wonderful and horrible and stress-inducing and it's lovely too. But no matter what life has decided to be today, or in the future, you have me. I am on your side. And we can lay around for the whole day and talk about how weird and fucked up this is or how frightening it is to one day be King. But remember that you won't be leading alone. We'll lead together. Even if the peace treaty falls through and our countries aren't combined, I will always be your ally and help you when you ask it."

Arielle reached down, lightly took the side of Gio's shirt, and tugged on it twice gently. "But I have to ask you to do this to me. Please Gio. You have to be the heir."

@ Sweet.Persephone
Whoever created Valentine's day really knew how to put pressure on a guy. Especially ones who were of higher status. What is Gio supposed to do? He can't go out to multiple stores without people noticing that he was shopping for a valentines gift for a girl. He'd be in the papers and online news sites. Before even leaving the first shop, everyone would know that he was shopping for a gift. Which was actually why Gio played it smart. When it was near his mother's birthday, which was at the beginning of the month, he told people he was just buying her presents and stayed away from those overly loving heart-shaped shit that couples pushed at each other.

Allowing one last small smile to display along his lips, Gio looked down at the cute necklace that he had gotten for Arielle during his mother's birthday celebration. The press was too interested in what his mother would be wearing to the party that they'd be throwing for her to notice that Gio was shopping for someone other than his mother. So, closing the box with the necklace in it quietly, Gio placed the container under Arielle's pillow before quietly moving to slip out of his bedroom.

Walking down the halls casually, Gio offered the servants small smiles. A couple of happy valentine's days to the lovely female staff and then looked ahead as he walked into the garden. He loved that they didn't often have cold weather because it meant they could enjoy the outside more often than usual. The fresh air always flowed through the castle and brought a nice clean scent into the place. The flowers that bloomed shined brightly as they soaked up the sunlight once more. Smiling slightly, Gio looked away from the plants as he headed towards the gazebo where his father was at a little over an hour ago for his tea break.

Moving up the steps, Gio moved to the little bench that was near the railing and sat down. Wanting to just relax. He needed to act casual because if he gave any notice of wanting to give someone a gift, rumors would start flying and he didn't need anything going around right now. He had too much to deal with already.

@ FallenHope95

Ever since Arielle had learned that the King was putting the two men in competition with each other to become heir of the country, she had picked up the consistency of visiting the King at lunch. She had never stopped to begin with but had been a little more willing to skip one here and there when Giovanni was brought back. Though now that the man was going to make a huge decision that would have a major impact on her life and her country, Arielle never missed a single one. Although she was quite sure that the King didn't actually care about her mental or physical wellbeing at this point, Arielle wanted him to see her every day and look at what Jax does to her. And, on top of that, Arielle wanted to be around if it was ever possible for her to lean the man one way over the other.

Though today was different. It was Valentine's Day and she had one of the servants tell the King she couldn't make it. In truth, Arielle had found herself in the kitchen, baking. She had gone back and forth on whether or not it was a good idea to make something - to acknowledge the day at all. Though she figured if she was smart about it, Arielle could get away with what she really wanted to do. So when she was finished baking the dessert, Arielle had one treat sent to the King and the other to the Queen.

Then she picked up the last one and set it down in a platter, along with her lunch. Now this was the part that could get her in trouble. But, honestly, it seemed worth it. After a little bit of searching, Arielle managed to find Giovanni sitting in the gazebo. A bright smile moved over her face. "Good Afternoon." Arielle said before walking past him to the table. The young woman set the platter down on the table before motioning Giovanni to come over and sit with her. Arielle sat down in one of the chairs, her eyes softening as she looked at Giovanni.

For a moment, Arielle stopped to glance around, to ensure that no one was around. When she was reassured, she nodded to the platter. "You should open it." She whispered to him, waiting for Gio to see his Valentine's Gift.