It was not too long after Lady Edna left did her butler show himself.
"Sebastian?" he called from the other side of the door. "I've brought you some clothes you can use. May I come in?"
"Yes," I replied as I made a vain attempt to comb the tangles out of my hair with my fingers.
From the reflection of the mirror, I saw the butler step in with a set of clothes. He was a very charming man, with raven black hair and a soft looking face with dark brown eyes that could pierce into anyone's soul. Similar to Lady Edna, he too resembled someone who I should know, yet I could not remember. Though unlike her, I found it very odd how I found myself blushing at the sight of him, another man, who I couldn't help but think was beautiful. Luckily, he did not notice, but for a second, I could see him giving me a queer look.
"I hope these clothes are to your likely, as I'm afraid we have very limited options to give you," the butler said, who I think Lady Edna said his name was Daniel. "Once you feel well enough, Lady Edna said she will bring you into the city of London to get your own clothes."
He gave a friendly smile, which for some reason brought chills down my spine.
"Anyways, let me properly introduce myself. I am Daniel Knight, head butler to Lady Edna Redwood."
He gave a small bow. I turned to face him, forcing myself to smile.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm...well, for the moment, Sebastian."
"Ah yes, your memory loss that our lady spoke about," Daniel said, sounding sympathetic. "I'm truly sorry for you."
"...I'm fine, really. And it could be a lot worse. I could have been found by a gang of thugs or something horrendous like that."
Daniel gave a small laugh.
"Indeed. That would be the worst of fates..."
He cleared his throat.
"Now, do you feel well enough for a tour of the manor or do you prefer to rest?"
"To be honest, I would do anything to get out of this room for a while," I answered.
And it was true, as this blank room was making me feel a little stir crazy. More importantly, I wanted to keep myself distracted and not think about the giant hole in my memory.
Daniel nodded.
"If that is what you want. I'll just wait outside the room so you can...change."
Again, he gave me a weird look. Pretending I didn't see it, I agreed and he stepped out of the room. The clothes Daniel gave me were a simple white shirt, black pants, a belt, black socks and shoes. It was obvious they were part of his black, dull butler uniform, but I told myself I shouldn't complain. After all, it was better then having no clean clothes at all.
When I was fully dressed, I was about to leave the room when I suddenly stopped myself. I turned back and looked down at my red coat that I causally laid on the floor. I stared at it, as it felt wrong to not be wearing it.
...What was this? Am I really attached to a stupid red, bloodied coat? I sighed, letting my instincts get the better of me and putting it back on. When I stepped out of the room, Daniel was waiting for me. And he looked surprised that I was still wearing the red coat.
"...Are you really that chilled, Sebastian?" he asked, clearly trying to keep the politeness in his voice.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Look, I don't understand it myself, but this coat means something to me and a part of me can't bear to part with it."
I crossed my arms and turned away from him, feeling embarrassed.
"I...I did not mean to offend you," Daniel finally replied after a small silence. "It is just...it looks like a woman's coat and your..."
He cleared his throat to change the subject.
"So, shall we get started on the tour?"
He began to go down the hallway. I followed closely, taking in every detail of the manor as we went along.
"The Redwood Manor is comprised of three floors," Daniel explained as we walked. "Right now, we are on the second floor which is the living quarters for Lady Edna, the head of the manor, and any guests. You were in one of the many luxurious guest rooms that our lady's manor has to offer. They each..."
He then began to go into large, and I do mean large, amount of detail about the quality of each of the bedrooms' furniture and the interior design of them. While the man had a very nice voice to listen to, I did not find it hard to space out when he became long-winded like this.
"Of course, all of these fine guest rooms are on one wing of the manor," Daniel was saying when I started paying attention again. "So it should make it easier on you when trying to find your room again on the west wing."
"Uh...okay," I replied. "So, you said Lady Edna sleeps on this floor as well?"
Daniel nodded.
"She does. Her chamber is on the far edge of the east wing. Obviously, us and any of the other male servants are not allowed there. Besides her private chambers, our lady's study is there as well."
"Ah, I see..."
We then reached the end of the hallway, where a grand staircase laid connecting the other two floors and leading across to the east wing.
"So, can you tell me a little more about Lady Edna?" I asked. "From what I've seen, she seems to be quite wealthy."
Daniel chuckled softly.
"Yes, she is. She is connected to a large number of trading businesses throughout Great Britain. She is a brilliant woman, always able to get herself into good deals with the right people and knows how to present herself."
His face suddenly changed from an admiring look to a tired one.
"However, she may just be too brilliant for her own good..."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?"
Daniel sighed.
"Might as well inform you, as you will be staying with us for a time."
He paused for a moment.
"You see, Sebastian, Lady Edna is...fairly different then most aristocrats. She is overly stubborn, wild, and is no way the lady she present herself in public. And while investing herself in large deals and businesses, there are times were she is...known for making small disappearances every few months. But despite it, she is also clever enough to play off any attempts accusing her of being mad or ill fit of her class, leaving her reputation to not yet be damaged."
He sighed, meeting my gaze.
"Being in the same house as her, you will soon begin to notice Lady Edna's odd behavior. So I hope that telling you in advance will not alarm you."
I gave a small smile.
"Don't worry, I'm fine with it. In fact...something tells me that I've seen stranger things then whatever Lady Edna can come up with."
Daniel gave an uncomfortable laugh.
"I believe you."
He clasped his hands together and smiled.
"Now, enough about our dear lady. Let us continue the tour with-"
"Simon you bloody idiot!"
A furious scream echoed throughout the manor. I gave a confused stare while all the color from Daniel's face drained.
"Oh lord...don't tell me."
He quickly made his way down the stairs.
"I apologize for the interruption," Daniel said. "But I must attend to this. Go find Christine if you want to finish your tour properly."
Once on the first floor, he ran off towards the west hallway. Curious, I followed him, for what could have happened to cause a man to shout like that?
The further down the hall I went, the shouting grew louder and louder, and Daniel made a sharp turn to the right to a room. I stopped at the doorway, my eyes widening to see a disaster of a kitchen.
It was utterly filthy, the floor covered with dirt, flour, and other powdery ingredients that I couldn't identify while pots, pans, and other kitchen supplies littered the counters, stove, and sink. Inside, there were two men, one a cook with untidy brown hair standing calmly while drying a spoon, the other a gardener with well kept dirty blonde hair glaring at him, shaking uncontrollably. Daniel quickly approached them, as they looked like they could get into a fight at any moment.
"Simon, Jasper, what is going on here?" he questioned, his voice firm. "And Jasper, I could hear you scream from the other side of the manor! Explain yourself."
"Isn't it obvious?!" Jasper exclaimed, his wild green eyes moving all over the place. "Just look at this kitchen! It is absolutely filthy, and if you think I am about to work with a room this out of order, you've got another thing coming!"
"How would it effect you?" Simon questioned, his gray eyes showing no concern for the matter. "You work outside and only come in when it's night or for meals."
"And yet to prevent myself from getting overheated or get a source of water is from the kitchen, which means I will have to go inside this pigsty!"
Simon rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I can clean up shortly."
"You couldn't clean anything even if your life depended on it! That is why you are not the butler!"
"Is there a particular reason why you are yelling at me? I'm standing right in front of you."
Daniel sighed heavily.
"Gentlemen...please. We have a guest in the manor and the last thing I want to happen is for him to stumble in and see...this."
Simon glanced over to the doorway to see me standing there, completely bewildered at the scene I was witnessing.
"Oh, you mean that redhead fellow over there?"
He pointed towards me. Jasper and Daniel turned to my direction as well, in which the butler groaned and rubbed his forehead.
"Sebastian..."
Jasper's eyes widened.
"What...what is the meaning of this?!"
Before I could really respond, the overly emotional gardener ran up to me and took a hold of my hair. He gasped.
"How can any man have such uncared for hair?!" he cried, feeling it with the tips of his fingers. "Not only is it unnatural for a man to have such long hair, but to have it this messy?"
He glared at me.
"You, sir, disgust me with such horrible presentation! If I am going to stay in the same house, you must do something about it!"
I stared down at him. What was with this guy?
"Jasper..."
Daniel stormed up to us and pulled Jasper away from me. He looked up at me and smiled, though his mouth twitched as he laughed uneasily.
"I'm sorry you had to see that... As you can see...our cook and gardener do not get along so well."
He turned to them.
"Our cook is Simon Pattison, and he is...a bit unorganized, to the say the least. The other is Jasper Forrester, he keeps our grounds in perfect condition as is-"
"Of course it is in perfect condition!" Jasper shouted, cutting Daniel off. "If it wasn't for me, Lady Edna would be lost in a filthy manor with a garden and yard that would seem to be a jungle!"
I could feel my ears ring with his loud, loud voice. I didn't know whether to feel extremely irritated by it or be amazed on how a man could be such an emotional train wreck.
"Well, it is nice to meet you," Simon said, offering me his hand. "I hope you enjoy your stay here at the manor and that you fully recover from those injuries of yours."
I smiled back, taking his hand and shaking it.
"Thank you. You may call me Sebastian."
Simon nodded in reply. Jasper crossed his arms and tapped his foot.
"Yes, likewise..."
Making a swift movement to my side, he took a hold of my hair again, much to Daniel's dismay.
"Say, Sebastian...would you mind if I cut your hair for you?" Jasper asked. "I'm sure this thing weighs a ton and will make you look ten times neater!"
"Here we go again..."
Simon rolled his eyes. Daniel glared at Jasper.
"No, absolutely not! Sebastian is our guest, and we are not in the right to come up to him and demand that he-"
"Daniel, it's fine," I said before more yelling and arguing could presume. "I actually wouldn't mind if my hair was cut a bit."
Everyone turned their gaze on me.
"Sebastian, I can understand if you want to make Jasper quiet," Daniel said gently. "But really, you don't have to."
"No, no. I'm doing this under my own free will."
I took a hold of the ends of my hair, studying it.
"Besides, I agree with him that it looks awful right now. The best thing I can do for it is to cut it just a tad."
A giant grin slithered away onto Jasper's face.
"Yes! Yes it would!"
Taking a firm hold of my wrist, he dragged me out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"H-hey, where are you taking me?" I demanded, dragging my feet a little. "Hey, are you even listing to me?!"
"I'm taking you to my room so I can begin cutting it," Jasper answered, sounding like he had a million things going through his mind at once. "With hair as thick and long as yours, it is going to be awhile, most likely hours, and I want to make sure I cut it to perfect length, form, and other details!"
I felt my eyes grow wide and my heart stop. Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?