A/N: We'll see some more familiar faces here =D!
Chapter 5: Unmei no Ittenki (A Turning point in Fate)
"All right!" a pale, muscular sapphire-eyed man with shoulder length spiky white hair exclaimed as he staggered out of one of the brothels downtown, his shirt unbuttoned to his chest, his loosened black tie dangling precariously off his neck, his suit crooked. "Let us venture into more brothels!"
"Leol-sama!" a dark-haired, dark-eyed, olive skinned, young Japanese with a relatively handsome face and a slender, tall figure shouted after him, his arms desperately fighting against the prostitutes who were flirting with him. "Wait, Leol-sama! We should go home now!"
"You should quit for the night," another similarly-built youth with long blonde hair and a mask covering the top half of his face agreed with the Japanese. "Leol-sama!"
"That's easy for you to say, Meister Kirisaki!" The clown-like man pouted at his two assistants, "You and Kuroyanagi-kun have one another!"
The two men blushed simultaneously, avoiding each other's eyes, and Leol cooed. "Aw, you're so cute! Now, now, you should let me find my own s-o-u-l-m-a-t-e!" he pranced off, dancing in the rain with his umbrella and getting comfortable with sex traders who were inviting him.
"LEOL-SAMA!" Kuroyagani yelled, frustrated, and chased after him, his lover following suit. Working for this man had certainly cut ten years off his lifespan. "You still have that thesis to finish, and-OOF!" He hit his face on the foreigner's back when the latter stopped dead in the middle of the road.
"Kuroyanagi," Leol pointed at a scene not too faraway, of a pink-haired figure donning a drenched prostitute get-up crying for help, a brown-haired boy's head on the figure's lap. "Onegai (I beg you)!" a pale hand was stretched out, the rain washing the make-up off the pretty face, while the brunet looked like he was suffering, red colouring his dark cheeks, his eyebrows furrowed. "Isha wo yonde kudasai (please call a doctor)!" the whore begged.
"That prostitute," Leol gestured at the pink-haired one curiously, "is a boy right?"
Kuroyanagi nodded offhandedly, not feeling compelled to lend a hand at all. "Japan is still such a country. Even now, a boy may have no other choice but to sell his body for a living," he said dismissively, "such is a common scene nowadays."
"Hmm," Leol made a noise with his throat, a somber expression on his pale face.
Kuroyanagi wrapped his fingers around the man's arm and was ready to drag him the whole way to his mansion. "Leol-sama, we really should go home now-"
"Wait!" Leol interrupted in a deep, calm voice and resisted. Kuroyanagi was fuming. "Leol-sama-!" he moved to catch the white-haired man when the latter set off on his own, but Meister Kirisaki stopped the Japanese and shook his head. "Watch and see," he whispered.
Leol took a few steps towards the two drenched young boys, and sheltered them under his umbrella. He smiled when the pink-haired boy looked up, fringe fastened on his temple, red tracks meandering around stunning violet irises, chapped painted lips gasping. "I'll call for a doctor," Leol offered sincerely, "but for now, we should get you out of the rain."
Kanmuri followed the white-haired man to his house unquestioningly. He knew this man could mean harm, his intentions might not be pure, and a myriad of ghastly fates could befall them, but he was short of choices, so what Kanmuri could do was praying to Inari-kami that they would end up safe. It helped that there were 2 other people in the carriage: the masked, long-haired blonde who carried Azuma – he seemed kind and honest – and a young, attractive Japanese male who looked annoyed at him. Kanmuri'd take annoyance any day; it was better sign than a lusty guise. The white haired man, his saviour, was gazing pensively at the dreary landscape over the window. Kanmuri himself was shivering, hard. He supposed he was cold; he was drenched from head to toe, but he only felt numb.
After a completely silent journey, the vehicle screeched to a halt in front of a gigantic, Athenian-style mansion, with columns reaching for the sky, green, flowerless vines twining around the structures. Kanmuri would love to appreciate the beauty of this place, if he wasn't so gripped in fear for Azuma.
Once the males stepped down from the carriage, what followed was a flurry of activities. The maids that greeted them were shocked for a split second before running about, making phone calls to find a doctor who might be available at this ungodly hour of the day, taking off Azuma's wet clothes and wrapping him in a dry bathrobe, before finally tucking him to a warm bed, the flame burning in the fireplace across the room, and placing a cold towel on his heated temple.
At first, Kanmuri watched in a daze, relief radiating off his features that Azuma was being handled with care and efficiency. Then he tried to help, but he didn't know anything about this castle-like building and where things were located. Realising he was only hindering the maids, he sat by Azuma's side and held his hand. Even though Azuma's contrived breathing had evened out slightly, his face was still crimson, his skin ablaze, and the mere act of respiration seemed painful. Beads of sweat kept on sliding down the crease between his brows.
Kanmuri washed the towel in cold water in the basin on the nightstand whenever the cloth became too warm and dabbed the sweat off Azuma's face constantly. He stuck around the room when the doctor, an old, bespectacled man with a reassuring smile, placed a stethoscope on the brown-haired boy's flat chest, opened the patient's mouth and eyes and shone them with a torch before giving the diagnosis. "It's an acute fever," he stated as he scribbled some words on a note pad, "It's probably caused by exhaustion and malnutrition. Could have escalated to pneumonia, but the timing was pretty good, I should say. Saved him from going through a crisis." He tore the piece of paper, and gave it to the Japanese who had irritation perpetually etched on his façade. "After a few days of rest and consuming this medicine regularly, he should be as good as new!"
"I see," the dark-haired, younger male replied flatly, "By the way, sensei, it will be really helpful if-"
He hadn't even finished speaking when the doctor interpolated, "Hang-over pills, right? I've added prescription for aspirin as well, Kuroyanagi-kun."
Kuroyanagi nodded gratefully and proceeded to send the medical officer off. The two exited the room before Kanmuri could say thank you.
After roughly half an hour, one of the maids entered with a glass of water and a brown paper bag; it was filled with smaller folded bags, containing a pinch of white powders each. The old woman dissolved the powder in the warm water, sat by the bed, raised the Azuma's head a little and tried to make him swallow the medicine, but the liquid just welled out of his mouth and dripped off his chin. Exasperated, she pressed the glass harder to his mouth, and caused Azuma to choke and cough violently
"Stop," Kanmuri took the glass from the servant's hand, and calmed the sick by rubbing his chest. After the coughing had abated, the violet-eyed boy cleaned the spills before bringing the mouth of the glass to his own lips.
Surprised, the maid exclaimed, "What are you doing?" just before Kanmuri bent down, hand pressing Azuma's lips open, and kissed the tanned boy on the mouth, his tongue pushing the medication down Azuma's throat. The farmer managed to gulp the drug down this time, his Adam apple bobbing soundly.
Embarrassed, the maid turned her back on Kanmuri as he repeated the process until Azuma drank all the water in the glass. The violet-eyed boy struggled not to memorise the feel on the brunet's lips on his own, prolong or relish in the contact, his body staying as far as possible, but it was hard. It took him all of his willpower not to have a hard-on from the kiss. 'It's just a mechanical process,' he kept on reminding himself, his brain slightly muddled by the heat from close proximity to the boy he loved, 'after his recovery, I'll never see him again.'
"Well, then!" the maid cleared her throat awkwardly as soon as Kanmuri finished administering the medicine to the other boy. "You should change to dry clothes and stay away from this room! Won't want you to contract the disease as well, do we?"
She insisted when Kanmuri declined, and with other maids, scary creatures they were, forced him to strip, shoved him down the bathtub, washed him as though he was a piece of cloth, put him in a dry bathrobe, and hauled him to another room across this goddamned enormous building.
Kanmuri pretended to sleep until he made sure that the maids' footsteps had completely gone out of his hearing range before he sneaked out, tiptoeing from the West Wing to the East Wing, his petite form slithering in shadows. He had a few difficulties remembering which room Azuma was in, but he got it right after opening the third empty guest room.
Azuma was sleeping soundly when Kanmuri visited him. His breathing had turned light as feather, drool leaking out of a wide, open mouth, and the fire under his skin had dissipated. He was recuperating. The pink-haired boy watched patches of moonlight playing on the brunet's chocolate skin for a while, his fingers ghosting over Azuma's face, but stopping before they could touch him. 'If I hang about, I won't be able to leave his side,' he reasoned, his eyes rising to gaze at the clearing sky outside. 'I can't afford to love him. I should obliterate this emotion.' He then departed, as quietly as he came.
'I'll leave before dawn tomorrow,' Kanmuri thought determinedly. 'Now, I need to find that kimono they took for laundry…'
The albino wandered around the mansion, but it was so colossal he was loath to admit that he had lost his way for the first time in his life. "Damn it!" he swore as he opened what seemed to be the hundredth door, "If I don't return before morning, that devil Yukino is so going to slaughter m-"
His grumble was cut short when his eyes were greeted by the sight of books, many, many of them, lining the shelves in the round, high-ceilinged room. Kanmuri entered the room, awed by the impressive collection of books and soaking in the musty smell. "Sugoi (It's wonderful)," he commented as he randomly took out a book from one of the shelves; to his delight, it was written in English, the language of his mother.
Not many knew this, but Kanmuri loved to read. He used to spend his free time going from one secondhand book store to another and read until he was chased out of by the owners. He'd finished reading every book in the community library when he was eight. Japanese literature, science, politics, cultures, foreign languages, religions, arts and design – he read everything he could lay his hand on. But then, Harumi fell sick last year and he had to give up his hobby…
For now, Kanmuri shook the thought out of his head, and read everything he could, his eyes hungry for words. He picked out books that caught his fancy, and carried them to the table in the centre of the study. The pale boy was about to devour the text one by one when his eyes wandered past a long, complicated, incomplete equation written on the black-board behind the table.
"Kore wa (this is)…" Kanmuri mouthed the variables as he read, fingers trailing on the wood, chalk gathering under his nails. He could recall that equation in a book he read years ago, only slightly different; this one was way more challenging. Piles and piles of chemistry books and reports were laid open next to the board. Interest piqued, he set out to finish the formula…
The sun rose, spilling weak, golden rays which were reflected on frozen surfaces of pools of water. Birds twittered as they left their nests and flapped to the sky, an orchestra of amethyst, indigo, and vermilion. It was a gorgeous, tranquil winter morning.
"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Kuroyanagi roared at the frightened maid, distorting the picturesque scene and the poignant ambiance. "You should have locked his door!"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" the girl apologized profusely.
"Calm down, Ryou," Meister Kirisaki said as he walked down the staircase leading to the dining room. His attire was flawlessly impeccable, his lithe form swathed in classic white pants and long-sleeved shirt. "It's still early. Why do you raise such a commotion?" the man snapped his fingers when Kuroyanagi's eyes glazed over, a smirk gracing the French's face.
"The pink-haired boy!" Caught staring at his lover, the dark-haired man blushed as he bellowed, "he's missing! What if he stole something from this mansion?"
The blonde blinked. "Is the brown-haired one still here?" he asked the maid, who was cowering in terror.
"Y-yes, Meister Kirisaki-sama," she replied immediately.
"Then the pink one couldn't have stolen anything," Meister Kirisaki concluded calmly as he sat down on the chair, cut his pancake to small pieces and raised one to his mouth with his fork.
"How can you be so composed?" Kuroyanagi slammed his fist to the table, "the prostitute may be deceiving us! The whole thing may be a conspiracy, a scam!"
"It can't be a stratagem," Kirisaki retorted evenly, "the pink one loves the brunet; that much is obvious. He won't pilfer and leave the brunet behind to get the blame. Besides, the doctor confirmed that the brunet was, indeed, sick."
"Then," the dark-haired man flailed his arms about, adamant of his stand, "how can you explain the fact that the prostitute wasn't in his bed?"
"He could have gone to the toilet at night and lost his way," the blonde's unruffled tone exasperated his lover. "It's not exactly easy to navigate around this place, you know," the French mused, his lips curling to one side, "I recall that you got lost a hundred times before you were able to reach the library from your room without anyone's help."
"Ninety-nine times," Kuroyagani corrected, his cheeks tingeing till they were red as tomatoes, and cleared his throat, "Anyway-!"
"Ohayou, my two least favourite people!" Leol greeted them cheerfully as he entered the dining hall through the door leading to the East Wing, before plopping down on his seat at the head of the table. "Kuro-yan, why is your face so sour when the morning is so beautiful? You scared Mary-chan here!" he winked at the maid, who blushed in response. "And you also woke us up! I am so annoyed! Your voice is like a hammer pummeling my skull!"
"Don't fool me," Kuroyanagi scoffed, "The fact that you can be chirpy means you've already consumed the aspirin." He then chided his master, who ignored the Japanese's droning nagging.
Meister Kirisaki, though, turned to the thin brown-haired boy who had sat quietly next to the ivory-haired man and was rubbing his eyes. "Ohayou gozai masu (good morning)," the blonde smiled, "are you feeling better?"
"Y-yes," the innocent caramel eyed boy nodded sheepishly, "I can't remember much, but it seems that you have taken me in when I collapsed from fever…I'm sorry I've caused much trouble for misters," he bowed his head in gratitude.
"I told you, we weren't bothered at all," Leol remarked as he reached for his cup of coffee. "Kinishinai de (don't think about it), Azuma-kun."
"Arigatou, Pierrot-os'san (old man)," Azuma replied enthusiastically, but faltered when Leol's gaze turned cold. "E-eh, I mean, Pierrot-oni-san (young man)," the farmer corrected himself.
"Don't mention it at all! Now, please tuck in!" Leol gestured at the vast selection of breads, eggs, milks and juices laid on the dining table. Mouth watering at the sight of so many delicious cuisines, Azuma proceeded to stuff his mouth with food, before he noticed something was off. Looking around, the brunet inquired, "Where is Shigeru?"
"If you mean the whore," Kuroyanagi interjected before Meister Kirisaki could say something nicer, the Japanese's clipped voice filled with skepticism, "he'd disappeared; most probably, he'd stolen something from the mansion, and leave you here as a black sheep."
The blonde shot his lover a glare. "Ryou-"
"Shigeru isn't like that!" Azuma rose from his seat indignantly. "He's not cunning! And stop talking about him like that!" he defended his beloved. Deep in his heart, Azuma was happy that the violet-eyed boy was concerned enough about him to ensure he was cared for after he fainted in the rain.
"Don't speak to me in that holier-than-thou attitude!" Kuroyanagi shot back, "That pink-haired boy is a prostitute! He is no saint!"
"But it's not a reason to deprecate him!" Azuma was ready to jump at the taller, dark-haired man, but he was held back by Meister Kirisaki.
"Futari-tomo yameru (you two, stop)!" The blue-eyed white-haired male commanded somberly. Immediately, everyone in the room was still, moved by the charisma radiating off the normally ridiculous man in near-visible waves. "Mary," Leol turned to the maid. "Pass this instruction to other maids: check every room in the mansion, every nook and cranny, even the closets. You mustn't stop until you find the fair-skinned, violet-eyed, pink-haired youth, you get it?"
"Yes, master!" the young female bowed before running out of the dining room, her shoes tapping on the marble tiles. "Well, then," Leol glanced at the three other males, "what are we waiting for? Let's look for him!"
"H-HAI!" they chorused, and rushed into action.
An hour had passed, but the maids could see neither hide nor tail of the pink-haired boy. Meister Kirisaki truly found it weird; no one knew the mansion better than the maids, not even Leol, its owner. He loathed admitting this, but could Kuroyanagi be possibly right? 'He can't be,' the blonde shook his head; he fancy himself a good judge of character, and the pale violet-youth was undoubtedly morally upright, just unlucky to be trapped in that occupation.
Meister Kirisaki was too deep in his thought he found that he was strolling down a slightly unfamiliar territory. Calmly, he looked around and assessed his surroundings.
The French wanted to hit himself in the head. He was in the corridor leading to the library! It just showed how long Leol hadn't been serious with his work. The maids never enter the library for fear of messing up the piles of research notes there. One maid had accidentally discarded an important piece of paper months ago; she was thoroughly butchered by Kuroyanagi, and from then on, no one but Leol, Kuroyanagi and Meister Kirisaki could enter the archive. The latter could imagine just how thick the layer of dust motes gathering on every surface might be.
"I'm nearly finished!" Meister could hear a baritone voice exclaim enthusiastically. Surprised, the blonde looked for the source, and he concluded that the echo must have originated from said library. Hand turning the knob uncertainly, Meister Kirisaki frankly didn't understand why he was afraid of finding what was happening behind the huge mahogany doors.
His fear wasn't ludicrous. The sight that greeted his eyes nearly stopped his heart: the pink-haired boy was finishing Leol's major project, a formula he was developing that got stuck for weeks. Yet the youth was scribbling furiously, chalk covering parts of his face, not showing signs of confusion. Occasionally, he'd refer to books Meister was sure were not written in Japanese, flipping through pages furiously, eyes going back and fro.
Meister Kirisaki was rooted on the spot for a long time, still as inanimate object, afraid that if he'd breathed too hard this, this miraculous scene might disintegrate. Indefinite amount of time passed before the door behind the man creaked open, Kuroyanagi's voice drifting in, "So, you're here, Meister Kiri-"
Upon seeing the prostitute in front of Leol's board, Kuroyagani bellowed, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" He grabbed the youth by the back of the collar of his bathrobe, away from the equation, and slammed him to the table nearby. "DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU'VE JUST TAMPERED WITH OUR SIX MONTHS' WORTH OF EFFORT?" he spat to the younger male's face.
"Kuroyanagi Ryou!" Meister Kirisaki tried to get his lover to release his grip, "Calm down! He didn't do anything wrong!" his voice rising in volume when the Japanese didn't listen.
Soon, sounds of footsteps could be heard reverberating down the hallway, louder and louder as the people those feet belonged to were getting closer. "Why are you always so noisy?" Leol complained as he entered, Azuma trailing after him, but both of them stopped in their track. "Shigeru!" the brown-haired boy yelled and charged at Kuroyanagi. "Let Shigeru go, old man!"
"Old man, you said?" The raven-haired man turned his anger to the farmer. "How dare you? I'm only 22! AARRGH! I'm going to shave all your hair off!"
Meanwhile, Leol's blue eyes were glued to the equation he'd neglected, the one that was resumed by a sex trader, nevertheless. "Meister Kirisaki," the ivory-haired one called his assistant, "Can you prove this reaction over here?"
The blonde looked up. "Wait," he got off Kuroyanagi's back, "Let me find the reference text first…" he scrambled to the pile of books, scanning through small prints hurriedly.
"Dehydrating agent…" The pink-haired boy, who was still sprawled on the table, his chest crushed by Kuroyanagi's hand, managed, "Based on its dehydrating property, sulphuric acid can be used to catalyse reactions that produce water, as equilibrium shifts to the right. This will enable separation of the natural scent, which is essentially an ester."
"Huh?" Azuma tilted his head in confusion, while all three adults turned sharply at the pale youth, mouths agape. Seconds ticked away loudly before Leol commanded his assistant again. "M-meister, please check."
"There is no need. It's based on Le Chatelier's principle, something I had been introduced to at university." Meister Kirisaki placed an English book in front of his boss, opened to the first page of a chapter entitled "Effects of Catalyst". The French bowed his head. "To think that I've never thought of applying that concept to our project…"
Leol blinked, his eyes staring at the paper before he addressed his houseguest. "Y-you can understand English?" he inquired.
"Shigeru's mom is a British," Azuma answered the question on his beloved's behalf.
"So you're a half too," The expression on Meister Kirisaki's face softened.
The pale boy nodded, his eyes avoiding Azuma's caramel ones. "My mother left Japan when I was four, though."
Leol and Meister looked at each other. There was a vast difference between a science textbook English and a regular four-year-old English. The blonde had a suspicion. "Did you cross-reference the text?" he asked.
The boy nodded, still pinned by Kuroyanagi, and pointed at a pile of books next to the black-board. "The second from the top, page 325."
Leol waded through a sea of papers to retrieve the book. He was surprised when it was written in German. "You can understand German too?"
"And French," the pink one added.
Leol's jaw hit the floor. He himself could speak almost ten languages, but that was because he was an aristocrat; his parents could afford sending him to Oxford. He didn't expect a local prostitute to know four languages to the extent that he could read complex reference books. "H-how is it possible?"
"Eh…I learned them from books in the community library when I was seven," was the reply.
The white-haired man was shaken. "Kuroyanagi," he spoke his assistant's name with a severe tone, "let him go."
The Japanese blinked, eyes widened as though he forgot that he was holding down the boy, and obeyed immediately. The pink-haired boy stood up, muttering 'thank you', a sour look on his face. His plans were completely screwed up; he failed to leave before dawn. Leaving Yukino's punishment aside, he couldn't avoid a confrontation with Azuma. Just as the prostitute was about to ask where his kimono was so he could leave ASAP, Leol gripped his left upper arm with his right hand, swept the table clean with his left one (knocking everything on the surface onto the floor), and made the boy sit down. "Meister Kirisaki-"
"Yes," the blonde handed Leol an IQ test book even before the white-haired man finished his order. Leol put it down in front of the pale youth, and gave him a pencil and an eraser. "Do as much as many as you can in 20 minutes," he instructed.
"B-but," the youth argued.
"The 20 minutes start…NOW!"
Sighing in defeat, the youth opened the book and finished the first question in a matter of seconds…
"U-unbelievable…" Leol muttered, blue eyes wide, the IQ test book slipping from his hand.
Meister Kirisaki was in a similar dazed, awed state. "We have just discovered a rough diamond…"
Curious, Kuroyanagi picked up the book. Thunder struck when his eyes landed on the score. "H-hyaku hachi juu (180)?" he stuttered, "Baka na (it's impossible)!"
"What's all the hype, Pierrot-os-oni-san?" Azuma blinked in puzzlement, "was it some sort of test? Is Shigeru's score good?"
"We've been in each other's presence for quite sometime, but I haven't introduced myself," Leol ignored the question, loomed over the pink-haired boy and offered him his hand. "My name is Sir Leol Pierrot Bolneze. I'm a scientist-cum-aristocrat from Monaco, in Japan for my research on Japanese cuisines' nutritional values. These two," he gestured at his assistants, "are my assistants: Kuroyanagi Ryou, a Todai (Tokyo university) graduate, and Meister Kirisaki, a friend of mine from France."
"Kanmuri Shigeru," Kanmuri took the proffered hand unsurely, not used to such greeting, and bowed at the other two men, "Osewa ni nate arigatou (Thank you for having helped us)."
"Kanmuri-kun…right? I'm going to be frank with you," Leol placed his hands on Kanmuri's shoulders, "Anata wa tensai desu (you're a born genius)."
"Huh?" Harumi and Tsutsumi had said that Kanmuri was smart for more than he could count, but a genius…this was the first time he heard it. "A-are you sure?"
"Positive," Leol's eyes were steady on him, "The test I gave you just now can measure an individual's potential intelligence quite accurately. The result has proven that you're a genius. Now…" the grip on his shoulders tightened a little, "I want you to be my assistant in my research."
Both Azuma and Kanmuri gawked in shock. "W-what?" Kanmuri's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, "B-but…"
Leol plunged on. "I'll send you to Todai for foundation, then you can start working with me. How does that sound?"
"Whoa!" the grin on Azuma's face was so wide it split his face to two, "Todai! That's great, right Shigeru?" the tanned boy turned to his beloved expecting him to look as ecstatic, only to find that there was a frown marring Kanmuri's pretty face. "Shigeru, what's wrong?" his hand reached out to touch the other boy, but the latter recoiled.
"Please don't be joking," the violet-eyed boy replied steadily, declining the offer. "I am a prostitute."
"On the contrary, I'm serious," Leol countered, "I'm willing to buy you off your pimp today, if you can arrange it."
"I-I…" Kanmuri shut his eyes tightly. The ticket for freedom was dangled in front of his face; the temptation was so great, but he couldn't, shouldn't take it. "No!"
Leol paused, his eyes narrowing, before he asked again. "If it's because you're addicted to the black dragon-"
"I never touch the black dragon!" Kanmuri interrupted, shaking his head vehemently. "I know many pimps are able to chain their prostitutes by getting them hooked on the black dragon. Yukino-sama is involved, too, but I refuse to touch the black dragon."
"Then," Leol opened his arms in a gesture, "What's holding you back? You can't actually like selling your body. Even if you're a sex addict-"
"I'm NOT a sex addict!" Kanmuri glared at Leol, cheeks tingeing pink, "That's so sick!" he grunted, before letting out a long breath. "There's another…more personal reason."
"What is it?" the aristocrat pressed, "I won't let you out until you convince me."
"Yes, Shigeru, why?" Azuma joined the conversation, his large caramel eyes begging. "Why?"
Kanmuri was quiet for a while, his head bent down, shoulders slumped. Minutes passed before the pink-haired boy lost the internal debate in his mind. "Very well," he sighed again, and gestured at the chairs cluttered around the library, "You might want to sit down, because it is going to be a long story…"
TBC
