I stood in front of the Rainsworth mansion.

The trip here from the Nightrays was indeed a long one, but it was worth it. The building, bearing a striking resemblance to the Nightray's, had a small flowerless square-shaped garden in its front with four trees in each of the corners. The building itself, painted a lovely hue of orange and blue, looked welcoming despite the evening hours.

There was a thick forest surrounding the area, which only added to its charm. Going for walks around here would be worth it.

I knocked on the door and in seconds, someone arrived to open it. The black-haired woman eyed me and gave a smile, so I assumed she was told of my arrival beforehand. She smiled, holding the door open for me as I walked inside.

I was already being reminded of the Nightray mansion, which made me feel the slightest bit worried.

"You're the new Pandora member, correct?" asked the woman courteously. "Alva-sama, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yeah, that's me," I replied, walking inside while looking down at my high-heel shoes to make sure they were still strong enough to bear my weight. I'd been walking around a lot lately.

"Cheryl-sama and Shelly-sama went over the details of your arrival but unfortunately they can't be present right now, so you'll have to see Sharon-sama and confirm your arrival," the female spoke in disappointment.

I didn't mind, but I really wished I could have thanked the two for letting me stay here. Guess it will have to wait until next time.

"Oh, and Sharon-sama is in the tearoom. I'll take you there, Alva-sama."

And with that, I once again followed the same pattern of walking after someone who did the honors of leading me to the proper destination. I couldn't wait to get the hang of this mansion so I could be the one leading others around.

Just as I did back at the Nightray's, I examined the glamorous mansion, only to find it bared a striking similarity to the one I used to live in, which caught me off guard. I lightly tapped my forehead to get myself back into reality.

"Here we are…"

"Finally," I told myself. "All this building hopping and following people around is annoying me."

I quickly bowed in thanks and let the woman leave. I pushed the door open by myself this time, making me quite satisfied as I didn't need others to do it for me, and stopped midwalk as I came face-to-face with a young, brown-haired girl sitting at the table.

"Excuse me…" I began. "Sharon Rainsworth?"

"Oh…!" she spoke, setting her cup of tea down. "You must be Alva-san. I'm glad to finally meet you. Please, take a seat."

What a sweetheart. She really didn't look anything like Elliot, so I quickly agreed to her request and sat down, fiddling with my hair.

"You look nervous," she laughed. "Please, don't be. I'm glad to accept you as the newest member of Pandora. Feel free to use this mansion for however long you need."

"T-Thank you… I appreciate it," I hastily said. "If it's not too much, can you please give my regards to Shelly and Cheryl Rainsworth? I'd like them to know how thankful I am, at least."

"Of course, it's not a problem."

"So…" I began, intertwining my fingers while watching Sharon ignore me for her tea. "…is there anything you need to know?"

She took one more sip before looking in my eyes, seemingly lost in thought. For a brief moment, there was nothing but silence; I braced myself for her reply.

"Well, this is more of my curiosity, but why did you decide to become a Pandora member?" said Sharon, bringing a hand to her cheek.

I took a deep breath; I knew someone would ask eventually, and apparently that time was now. Sinking back into the warm chair, I looked at the ceiling, gathering all the important information together to finally let it all out.

"Well…" I began. "Ten years ago, when I was sleeping, I remember having a nightmare where I ended up in a maniacal-like place with dolls, staircases, flowers, and other things too twisted to be able to explain in words. I remember being in chains… and drinking some kind of blood… when I woke up, it turns out I had made a contract with a chain in my sleep. I thought it was just a dream, but… apparently, it was reality."

She stared dumbfounded at me for a moment.

"To make an illegal contract during sleep… that's very surprising," said the princess, looking away to think. "So I'm assuming you want to use Pandora as a way to help you figure out how to remove the seal?"

I rubbed the back of my head, speaking out,

"No… that's not it. I actually don't have any memories of anything before that nightmare, so I'm hoping to use Pandora as a means to help me remember. I lived in a mansion myself for a while but don't remember having any parents… just maids. I'm not sure how it can be done, but… for some reason, I feel like this is what I should do."

"I see…" she spoke almost sadly. "I'm very sorry about your loss."

I was clearly bothered by telling her this whole thing, but at the same time, satisfaction swept over me. Since I was going to live here, the least I could have done was let Sharon in on one little secret. Lying could end up biting me in the rear one day.

"So, Sharon…" I looked at the other female at the table. "Where will I be staying?"

"You're free to use any empty room in the mansion. It should be all right, since you're a member of Pandora now…" she trailed off, gently taking a sip of tea. It felt almost strange to be here – Sharon and I were the only ones present in this glamorous room.

My mouth hung open at what she said.

"Any room? Are you sure? I'd feel like a bother if I went around picking favorites…"

"Don't worry, Alva-san! It's not a problem, I assure you."

Despite what she said, it somewhat worried me. Even though I had been of royal status – keyword, had – I never felt like it was beneficial for any neighboring dukedom to be this gracious. "Oh, but-"

Before I could finish, I heard a thump from right underneath my section of the table. Blinking, I pulled up the tablecloth, only to be greeted with an unfamiliar face that freaked me out like hell.

"W-What the hell?!" I shrieked, falling off my chair. The white-haired man merely laughed, making his way out of the confinement and gleefully sitting on top of the table. I looked at him from top to bottom – strange white attire that gave off the feeling of a valet, white boots, a doll on his shoulder, and an absolutely full-of-yourself smirk.

I was afraid of where this was going. He seemed absolutely idiotic.

"My, how very amusing. Is this the one, ojou-sama?" he inquired, bringing a sleeve to his mouth and looking at me.

"Ugh, he's staring at me. He's creepy."

"Yes, she is the one. Break, please refrain from doing that," she sighed. "I do apologize, Alva-san."

"Break is your name?" I questioned the obvious, raising a brow. "That's… an unusual name at best."

"It's actually Xerxes Break. And you're very rude~" he pouted, looking over at the doll that was sitting on his shoulder. It almost looked like it would talk, but that wasn't possible… was it?

"Oh, please. You're the one that's rude. You're almost as rude as Elliot…" I trailed off.

"Oh, Elliot Nightray? You met him?" questioned Break. Sharon merely turned over to him, giving the man a soft smile.

"She went to the Nightray household to confirm her membership just before coming here, so that must be where the two met."

"Nightrays, huh…" Break mumbled while nibbling on a slice of cake that he pulled out of nowhere. "You didn't run into Vincent, did you?"

"Eh?" I shifted in confusion. "Vincent…?"

"Then you didn't… consider yourself lucky," he merely grinned icily, sending shivers down my spine. I gulped uneasily and tried to dismiss this sudden wave of fright. "But are you sure you want to find out about your past? It may be difficult to find out the truth. Bad things make little girls cry~" he sang, licking the icing off of his fork almost seductively.

Okay, scratch that. He was as bad, if not worse, than Elliot.

"Excuse you," I laughed uneasily. "But I'm nineteen, Break."

"Age is just a number and has nothing to do with whether or not you're actually mature enough to handle such situations," he smiled and waved his finger in front of my face. All this idiot had going for him was a nice-sounding voice.

"That's the same thing Elliot said, just reworded…" I sighed, holding my forehead in annoyance. "Please spare me, Break. I'm too tired for this."

"Alva-san, disregard Break. Just consider him as something that's part of the atmosphere. He doesn't exist right now."

"That's so cruel, ojou-sama~"

"Please be quiet, Break…"

I cried on the inside. I was thankful for Sharon – she was very sweet, and quite an adorable young girl – but Break ruined the scenery for me. His stupid smirk was getting to me.

I then grabbed my forehead and winced in pain; I closed one eye, holding myself back from throwing up. Visions sunk into me… visions I didn't even recall.

Blood, dead people, chains, the Abyss…

"Not this again…"

"Ugh… get out…" I coughed. Sharon and Break's eyes widened and they stared at me in confusion.

"Alva-san? Is something the matter?"

I expected this to be Sharon, but instead it was Break who was speaking. I looked up to him and noticed he now had a teapot over his head. Not to mention the plates of cake on each of his shoulders.

Goodness, how does he balance all that?

The lollipop in his mouth must be the source of this so-called 'talent'. Oh yes.

"I'm seeing things… they never go away…" I gritted my teeth together as I spoke, narrowing my eyes in pain while waiting for everything to subside. "It just never stops."

"O~ya? Seeing what?" Break merely asked, bringing his hands together.

"Everything," I said uneasily as the pain began to subside. "Ranging from dead people to the Abyss."

"Oh my… that's not good. Perhaps they're memories from the past you can't seem to remember? With the existence of the Abyss and chains, it doesn't seem impossible."

My eyes widened; how could I have not thought of that earlier? I mentally slapped myself for being such an idiot. This gave me even more of a reason to unearth what I didn't know.

"Break, will you please take her to the room we've prepared?" she gently requested. Break smirked and jumped off the table, setting his teapot down. "Alva-san doesn't seem to be in a good position to choose her own room right now, so we'll show her to one for the night."

When Sharon finished, Break swallowed up the remains of his cake. His lollipop had also mysteriously disappeared.

"If that's your wish, ojou-sama."

I wondered: was he Sharon's valet? The way he spoke certainly gave off that feeling.

"This should be fun. Don't you think so, Emily?"

"…Emily? Who the hell is Emily?"

I nearly passed out when my worst fear was confirmed:

"We can tease her, we can tease her!" mumbled the doll on his shoulder.

This was just too ridiculous. I watched the doll with my mouth wide open, hand frozen in midair.

"You… are a freak."

"I'm glad you think so~" he joked.

"Oh, this all reminds me of some romance books I read…" Sharon closed her eyes and fantasized, clasping her hands together. "You can't have hate without love or vice versa; otherwise there would be no meaning for either of those words. As a result, in romance, it's said that love for a person can be born from hate."

"So Sharon's a romantic…" I told myself. "She… looks like the type."

"Seems she's drowning in her fantasies again. I apologize in ojou-sama's place, Alva-san," Break says. "As you can see, her romantic side has finally come out. This happens from time to time~"

He covered his mouth with one if his sleeves, laughing sneakily.

"From time to time? More like too often!" squeaked Emily.

"Break…" Sharon began, smiling at him as he smiled back. I expected the two to share words of sentiment or to give each other a big bear hug but instead, Sharon pulled out a fan-like weapon in under a second and whacked him over the head.

He fell down onto the floor, practically bleeding from the head.

Suddenly, I missed the Nightrays.

I ran over to Break as an impulse reaction, feeling if he was all right.

"H-Hey…" I choked. "You okay?"

"…just dandy~" he lied and pretended to be perfectly fine, getting up and dusting off his pants. I smirked. I was worried for a second, but he did deserve that after talking so rudely earlier.

"All right, Alva-san," Sharon said as if nothing ever happened. "Break, please escort her to her room and stay with her for a little while to make sure she settles in properly. I'm going to sleep since I'm quite drained at the moment. Oh, and by the way… I could tell from the way you first looked at me that you were curious about my age. I'm actually well over twenty; my body just stopped aging due to my contract."

My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

"She's older than me?! But she's so short…"

"As you wish, ojou-sama," Break waved her off. "Have a good night!"

"Sleep well, sleep well!" chirped Emily.

"Uh… good night?" I added, feeling somewhat out of place next to Break and his freak of a doll. She smiled and bowed – which I assumed was her way of saying thank you – and exited the room, leaving the two of us alone.

"Well, please follow me, Alva-san~ I'll take you to your room," Break practically marched out of the meeting room we were in while flapping his sleeves around, which gave him endless entertainment. He picked up a candelabrum and put it on his head, leading the way as it lit up the dark hallway.

I stared at the back of his head.

"Um, you're not going to stalk me, are you, Break….-san?" I coughed to get that last part out, wanting to see how he'd react.

"Oho, no need for formalities. Since we'll probably be seeing each other often from now on, you can just call me Break, Alva-san," he said, bending his head to the left and right while still maintaining the balance of the candelabrum.

"I'll only agree if you stop calling me Alva-san, then," I retorted, amused at my own reply. I wanted to win this damn debate just like I'd won against Elliot.

"No can do," Break said, finally arriving at a door. "Ojou-sama will scold me if I don't show you respect. Oh, as I'm sure you've noticed, we're here~"

"What strong-hearted loyalty," I thought to myself as Break pulled the door open. I looked at the side of his face as he pried the door open, getting lost in thought in regards to his hair. Why did he constantly keep his left eye covered?

The room was, like the rest of the mansion, gorgeous. A circle-shaped table sat neatly in the middle of the large area, two chairs on both sides eagerly waiting for someone to sit on them.

"She must have used this for tea parties," I admitted to myself. Ever since I saw Sharon, I couldn't get the thought of tea parties out of my head.

On the right side of the room was a king-sized bed… no, more like double king-sized bed. It was probably large enough for about six people, if not more. In the middle of the bed, I noticed, was an orange satin dress along with a bag of something that I assumed to be clothing.

This room seemed like too much for me; I suddenly felt guilty for accepting Sharon's offer. Albeit it did resemble my own room back in the old palace I lived in, it was still too much of a good thing. My bed had an opened window standing to its right with the wind gently blowing around the lovely violet-colored curtains.

"This is an amazing room…" I drooled, eyes glistening. Break blinked at me.

"No need to thank me. I didn't do anything to help, you know."

He put on a happy face and finally placed down the candelabrum from his head. He took a seat in one of the chairs sitting next to the circle-shaped desk, leaning his head against his palm and watching me. I did not look back but instead examined all the clothing found inside the plastic bag. There were so many outfits – I picked out my favorite color and turned to Break.

"Break, where can I change?"

"Just do it here," he retorted.

My face turned red.

I picked up the nearest pillow and smacked him straight in the face. He froze for a second before pulling it away, twitching like a madman. I couldn't help but laugh at how messy his hair got from that impact.

"I'm joking, I'm joking~" he laughed, rubbing his cheek. "There should be a changing room on the left side of the closet over there."

I turned around – he was right.

I gave him a small hmph and went in, dragging my favorite outfit with me and changing within a few minutes. I admired myself in the mirror – I now wore a light green dress that wasn't too fancy or too depressing. It had tufts of fur lined along the sleeve and neck line, which I felt was the perfect touch.

Break smirked at me as I came out.

"Why are you smiling like that?" I asked him, raising a brow. "But anyways, can you tell me where to put my dirty clothes?"

He crossed his legs, not making direct eye contact.

"Mm, could you put that in the wash basket over there? I'd rather not get near it…"

"Break's afraid of female cooties!" Emily suddenly called.

Break picked her up from his shoulder and nearly strangled her, smiling as if he were totally innocent.

"Emily, please watch what you say~"

I sweatdropped.

"Eheheh… all right, whatever you want," I said, happily obeying. "I'll take a shower first thing in the morning."

Suddenly, we heard noise outside the door. Break quietly got up to open it, hearing mumbles from the outside.

"Huh? Why did it suddenly get so quiet?"

"Hey, are you sure you should be listening in? Why don't we just knock?"

"Shut up, seaweed head," said an irritated female voice. "Learn how to have fun."

"Oh my, I know of only one group of people who this could be," Break said, opening the door and allowing a blond-haired boy as well as a brown-haired girl to fall forward. Behind them stood a taller man dressed in black, his mouth wide as he stared at his fallen comrades.

"I-I told you this wasn't a good idea, Oz!"

I blinked.

This Oz was an adorable-looking boy who looked to be around fifteen years of age: his clothing consisted of plaid pants combined with a white shirt and a black vest over it. The female next to him, who was slowly getting back to her feet, whore a dress mixed with red and white with a skirt under it.

"B-Break! What are you doing?" the blond boy asked, looking a bit nervous since he was caught. I laughed.

"I should be asking you that, Oz-kun. It would've been better just to knock, you know."

"We came to see Sharon-chan and tell her about what happened when we left to search for the guy responsible for those chain attacks in Reveille. After we told her, she told us to report it to you and mentioned there was someone new staying here. I just got curious, that's all!"

He put his hands on his hips, closing his eyes and giving off a proud smile as if he had just won a game. Then he seemed to realize something, allowing his eyes to meet mine.

"I'm Oz Vessalius," he introduced.

"Vessalius? That's one of the groups Leo told me about…"

I threw the thoughts aside and proceeded with the matter at hand, giving the blond boy the best smile I could muster.

"Hey there, Oz. You're a really cute boy," I said, smiling.

"H-Hey, what did you say about my manservant?!" Alice spat. I sunk back a bit. Her words were strong.

Oz blushed like crazy in response.

"Oho, I didn't know you fancied little boys, Alva-san!" Break giggled. "How adorable."

"I don't mean it in that way, Break…!" I inched close to his face, giving him a death glare. He laughed at me, mimicking my gesture and inching his own face to mine, allowing our foreheads to touch. I pulled away, embarrassed.

"Th-This is Gilbert or G-Gil, and Alice. B-Break, does she-" Oz mumbled.

"No need to worry, Oz-kun. She already knows about chains, the Abyss, and illegal contractors," Break cut off Oz's sentence. "It's safe to tell her the information, so don't worry that you blurted out important info without thinking that obviously should've been kept to yourself~"

Silence.

"Oz? Oz! What's wrong!" Gil shook Oz with all his power, showing obvious signs of worry. Oz practically had drool coming from his mouth.

"She called me cute…" he mumbled under his breath.

Gil and I sweatdropped.

"Hey, manservant!" Alice threw a punch in his face, knocking him back against the wall, blushing out of jealousy. "Wake up!"

Gil panicked, rushing to Oz while Alice crossed her arms in fury.

My eyes went wide. Were those two really friends…?

"My. Seems like you've still got no manners, Alice-kun," Break said, watching Oz cringe in pain.

"Be quiet, clown! I don't need to hear that from you! ….by the way, where's the meat?"

"Ojou-sama had prepared some food for you in the dining hall. Why don't we all go there and have a chat? I'm sure Alva-san is as curious about you as you are about her."

I thought about this for a while but promptly agreed.