1 Prolong

What do you do when the first thing you see when waking up is a dead body lying next to you? The fact that we are outside in the cold, under the heavy pouring rain is not helping at all. When you search for help or some sort of explanation, but your only source of comfort or answers is a child's corpse lying in the middle of what looks like a deserted dirt road or pathway, that has been muddied up by the rain. It is pouring so heavily and the striking thunder is so loud that I can't hear myself think. I look around at my dark and blurred surroundings for some source of light or life. I exhale in frustration as I brush back my hair since it is loose and was swept into my face by the rain. 'GOD, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!' No one would be able to hear me even if I shouted or screamed for help... The perfect conditions to kill that someone... I turn back to look at the body-! 'I swear it wasn't me!'

I last remember publishing a chapter of my novel, 'Her Cold Beast and Her Dark Beauty'. After releasing my last chapter for the week, it was a Friday evening. I had been busy the whole week and decided on a rewarding bubble bath. I had gone to the bathroom to take a bath since I planned to go to bed, it was around 7:30 pm when I entered the bathroom. Since it was a weekend and I had no plans, except to Otaku my way through the whole weekend before going back to school on Monday but... I didn't get to see the end of my bath or the sunrise of the next day. Since while I was soaking in the bath, I started feeling drowsy and then decided to take a short nap. Resulting in my current situation - a dead boy, lost, cold, most definitely going to jail, wait-

'Why am I even outside? How did I get here? Where is this place? What am I wearing? If I recall correctly I was in my bathtub taking a bath so why-.' I think to myself while crawling closer to the body and then lifting it, dragging it out of the dirt road and in the direction of the trees that had some shelter. Though they basically did nothing to stop the rain from pouring down on us, at least it is something. However, just as I was about to move the body out of the pathway or decide on my next course of action. I'm struck by a sharp pain at the back of my neck, the pain is short but impactful. Enough for my vision to begin blurring, and soon feeling in my body numbs out as my senses fade. My body is losing strength by the second as I feel my body giving in to gravity and falling to the ground. No pain registers in my numbed senses, and my eyes feel heavy. They shut as the world around me fades right before my eyes as I lay helplessly. 'Wait! I can't- I don't want to die like this!'

As the person holding said 'dead body' crashes to the ground after being struck in the neck by a man dressed in all black, his seen standing over the unconscious bodies of the two children. He stares at the bodies till one of them coughs then he proceeds to take off his coat to use it as a makeshift cover/umbrella for the bodies laying on the wet, muddy ground. Rain still poured down heavily on the trio, for a while nobody moved but soon the person that coughed earlier. Who was presumed 'dead', who is now laying next to the girl, opens his eyes. He sits up and looks at the person laying next to him, he examines her body but can't seem to see her properly due to the lack of light and the mud covering her from head to toe. However, he can tell it is a female due to the clothing she is wearing

Once having confirmed that she is female he rises to his feet and then signals for the man in black to carry the girl. He walks away wordlessly in the rain. The man quickly picks the girl up without harming her and then slings her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then he uses his makeshift umbrella coat to cover the little boy's small frame, to provide shelter from the rain. Under the man's coat which provides shelter from the rain. Since the girl was on the man's shoulder without any cover from the rain, she took on the full force of the downpour. The duo walk away from the deserted dirt road, entering the forest. Once confirming that the coast is clear they push aside a few branches that are hiding secret basement double doors that lead to an underground passage. Once open they enter it going down a fleet of steps, also making sure no one saw them before closing the doors. Rainwater, mud and leaves wash down the steps as they close the doors. The older male removes his coat, and the younger male of the two takes the girl from the older before walking away into the dark. The man lights a torch then goes after the boy. They disappear into the passage, reemerging from behind a secret wall that turns out to be a sliding door. The room walls are of wooden make - Asian style. They walk to a couch where the boy puts the girl to lie down. Ten minutes later three females enter the room, they address the boy as a young master. Nonchalantly the boy orders them to clean and dress the girl, at first the maids look around in confusion. But they don't look for long since the boy directs them to the girl laying on the couch. Once again the maids hesitate as the person in question has no origin and is filthy

They don't want to be the reason why their master doesn't marry the princess that the old madame and master have arranged for him recently. But they serve the young master directly and their job is to do as they are told, not to worry or think about things that don't concern them. Thus the maids clean and dress the girl prettily. However, when they leave the room their faces are pale and look distressed. The young man goes to change his wet clothes in the guest room instead of his bed chambers, which the servants in the courtyard found weird but none dared to ask about. Returning to his room the young master meets the maids he had assigned the unconscious girl to, he notices the discomforted look of the maids, can only raise an eyebrow then questions them, "Have you done as I have asked?" The maids nod their heads as the two scurry away, one remains and opens her mouth to ask a question but is summoned by one of the other maids. She closes her mouth and bows before scurrying away like the two from earlier. The boy shrugs his shoulders, not taking their strange behaviour seriously, before walking away in the direction of his room. The older man dressed in black walks over to the bed, where the girl was laid after the maids had finished dressing her. He just wanted to check on the girl's condition

He walks to the bedside to get a proper view of the girl but freezes once he does. The girl-?! The other boy finally enters his room but sees his guard standing with little to no care for his surroundings. This was strange cause his guard is always conscious of his surroundings and has never let his guard down before. The boy comes to his shadow guard's side to find out why he is staring at his bed like he saw a ghost or something scarier laying there. He had better not allowed the girl to escape, this would be the third time now. He grabs the guard's forearm, gaining his attention. The guard looks at his master with a complicated expression, the boy furrows his brows then turns to the bed to see the girl laying on it. His body jolts as his eyes become as wide as saucers, 'The girl laying on the couch had brown skin!?'

Pacing up and down in front of the bed, the guard looks at his master, then back at the bed again. He squats down pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. What is going on? Is this some kind of prank being pulled by the old master and madame, to force the arranged marriage on his young master? No-' He looks at the bed then straightens up to pace up and down the room. In the meantime, the boy is rolling out a piece of paper with a painting on it. The guard runs to the boy's side to what he's painting, and once he sees it he questions his master's intentions. "Young master whose the painting for?" The boy grins as he blows the page, "Of course, it's for my bride-to-be! She has no wedding gift so I should at least do this much for her right?" The boy's ever-so-proud and confident smile never faded from his lips. "But young master those paintings are worth a fortune?!" The boy only brushes off the guard's comment, but the guard suddenly gets a revelation, "Isn't this the painting the empress bestowed on you to gift to the princess so you can solidify your marriage with the princess?" The boy nods while he replies, "Yes, she did give me this as a dowry gift for my bride... But she said it is for 'my bride', not the princess her daughter". "But young master-" the guard tries to reason with his master but a voice speaking a unfamiliar language cuts him off

"*Ouch... my neck hurts- wait where is this? This is not my room?*"