2 The Mansion

"I'm home!" A young girl about 16 years of age shouted after she closed their front door.

"Eclaire, it's already ten. How was your date?" Her mother asked.

"Date? No! I just went to a bookstore to find a book like the one I'm reading and looked if there's a sequel for it." She said while she was untying her shoes.

"So… did you find it?"

"Unfortunately no, they don't even have the book I'm currently reading. It's strange, I find it very good and it's nowhere to be found."

"Maybe the production team was shut down or the author died? Well just maybe? I don't know much about books, how about your dinner?"

"I'm fine, I already had mine." She said as she hurriedly ran to her room upstairs.

In her room, she then grabbed the book, lied down, and opened the bookmarked part. She had the habit of reading the very last page of the book to absorb it and then she turned the page for the next chapter.

"What?!" she shouted to her surprise.

She then fanned the unread pages of the book and all of it was –

"Empty?" Her face frowned as she fanned the pages repeatedly.

She closed and flipped it then stared at the cover of the beautifully hard bound book.

"Emperors" she whispered.

"I at least wanted to know what the Empress' name was." She frowned as she walked to a tidy bookshelf at the corner of her room.

A book that had ''II'' caught her attention - it was another beautifully hard bound book. Without even thinking twice, she stood up, grabbed the book, and went to her reading position.

"Tears in a mansion" she whispered as she read the front page of the book containing the book's title.

Once upon a time,

This line again? There are very few books today that start with this line. Is this a coincidence? – She thought.

Yesterday, the first line sparked her interest, but today it was curiosity that made her want to read the book.

Once upon a time, there was a forest that had a big mansion at its center. The forest was so wide that you can place a whole city in it. In its core, the very big mansion had numerous windows but only had a single door and nowhere was a room there. Tales say that a rumored beast was living there and it takes lives mercilessly whenever someone invades its territory.

One day, a boy with an age of ten was lost inside the forest. Without a map, a compass, food nor water, he gambled and walked straight believing he'll reach his' or the next town on the other side of the forest.

After walking for four hours straight, he shouted, "Water!"

He then approached a small stream of water. He drank and continued walking in the same direction he was in. He tried to find food and there were apples and all kinds of fruits around him. He felt that the forest was warm. It accepted everyone – the complete opposite of what the townspeople were telling everyone.

"Maybe it was just a story to keep children like me away from the forest. How can this place be dangerous? This is paradise!"

He then continued walking for hours and he finally saw a structure.

"Help!" he shouted

"I'm lost! Can anyone please guide me to my town?!"

It was getting darker and no one seemed to be answering his call for help. He then found a gold plated door and hesitantly, he opened it.

"Hello? Is anybody home? I'm sorry I entered without permission I just want to—"

His words halted as he saw someone inside the very big empty mansion. His brown eyes and his jaw dropped in awe as he saw a man with a noticeably different aura compared to a human. He had short, pure silver hair, a pale complexion, and as the man noticed the young boy entered his mansion, he raised his head revealing a pair of blue eyes.

He wanted to run but he soon felt that the man will not do anything bad to him so he asked,

"Uh.. Hello? Can I ask for directions?"

Wearing a raggedly torn brown cloth revealing his lean body, the mysterious man stood up slowly showing no hostility to the young boy.

The boy made two steps back.

"Uh.. Can you hear me? Can I ask for directions?" The man slowly walked staring at the boy's eyes as if he found a thing that was lost for centuries.

"A human." A deep, airy voice that was just right for a man in his teens came from the mysterious man.

"Ah.. What? It seems like you're also lost. Anyway, it's getting cold so let's go to where you were a moment ago. It looks like you have a warm place. Are you kind enough to share it with a homeless boy like me?"

He said with an expression that was seemingly impossible to decline. The man then nodded in reply.

"OK! Let's camp here for the night. By the way, I'm Alex, what's your name?"

His expression didn't change a millimeter as he looked straight at the boy's eyes.

"Hmmm if you're not going to tell me your name. I am really going to call you names."

The man continued staring.

"Still not?"

"Okay, I'll name you after my dog. You should be proud! He's a very intelligent dog and he can do tricks like uhm.. sit, jump, and.. and.. beg for food! It's an honor to have his name!

So 'Sen', do you like apples?"

His blue eyes gave a surprised expression as memories flowed through him after the young boy randomly gave him a name.