''Please open up, Mr. Claus!'' Yohiro pleaded as he continued hitting the door, his clenched knuckle starting to bleed. ''Jesus Christ, he's still at it...'' Rosa mumbled to herself as she exited her own room, realising he had been there for whole hours. ''Kid, are you that attached to that fox?'' she asked him as she walked up to him in her sleeping dress, her steps echoing through the quiet room, only overpowered by Yohiro's not-so powerful bangs on the door. ''Y-yes! I'm his slave, so I have to look after, Mr. Claus, Ms. Rose...'' Yohiro answered her question almost immediately, beginning to lose strength in his hands, with them dropping to the ground.

''You're gonna leave stains on the door, you know, so stop...!'' she ordered him, taken aback by his words. ''But...I feel horrible, Ms. Rose.'' Yohiro said as he turned around, sitting with his back against the door. ''The thing is, I don't like the sound of being a slave.'' he smiled openly, looking at his hands. ''I don't get your logic, kid; you're his slave, you have a choice of not being a slave, and you don't want to be his slave? Am i getting it right?'' she asked, rubbing her eyes in realisation of the fact she started a whole conversation. ''I guess that's right, but...slaves don't have a choice to be slaves, right? Mr. Clous told me I am, so I am. Right?'' he stared thinking aloud, annoying Rosa.

''Okay, listen here, Yohiro; he couldn't care less about you being his slave, so PLEASE go to Bernie's room and sleep!'' she raised her voice, putting a smile on his face. ''S-so, he won't be angry if I start acting as his equal?!'' Yohiro jumped up, full of energy. ''Uh, no, I mean--'' ''Thanks, Ms, Rosa! Sweet dreams!'' he said as he started walking towards Bernie’s room, yawning and ignoring his bleeding hands, which greatly surprised Rosa.

His overly-innocent and naive behavior kept her feeling uncomfortable and uneasy about the young boy’s future, if he had any to begin with. She retreated back into her room, closing the room as she laughed to herself. ‘’This is more interesting than concerning, to be quite honest…’’ she thought as she took the bedsheet she had thrown at the floor before leaving her room, hugging it as she jumped inside her bed.

‘’You find anything, Lheoh?’’ Daron asked as he and Lheoh walked down a long hallway, nervously expecting a clue. ‘’Unfortunately, there’s nothing concrete could find with just that one cigarette; whoever dropped it was either being careful or just didn’t leave enough fingerprints.’’ Lheoh answered, watching as Daron slammed his fist in the stone wall in anger. ‘’Not enough fingerprints, not enough fingerprints…’’ he muttered. ‘’Um, commander? Are you alright?’’ Lheoh asked, hearing his fast, repeated muttering.

‘’Lheoh, does the castle’s library have encyclopedias on other species…?!’’ Daron asked him, his voice shaking as he spoke. ‘’I believe so, yes…!’’ Lheoh pointed out, taking a small step away from Daron, slightly concerned. ‘’I will be taking my break a little early, so you can go on ahead.’’ he explained, regaining control of voice, prompting Lheoh to quickly strut away, giving him a quick, ‘’O-okay’’ as he left.

‘’I know it wasn’t dropped there days ago, or even weeks ago; that’s impossible, but them that only leaves a few options!’’ he smiled to himself as he began proudly walking in a different direction, leaving for the others around him to listen to his exaggerated theories, which he was uncontrollably letting leave his lips and fill the echoing hallways.

Reaching the library, he quietly pushed the door open, startling himself with creaks it was producing. He stepped in, taking a shortcut between a few bookshelves and stopping at a small desk made out of mahogany, the desk itself clean, with him almost being able to see his own expression in the polished wood, only with a piece of the desk completely ripped out on the side making it look ugly. ‘’Excuse me.’’ he whispered to the tall, thin woman reading a giant, hardcover book behind the desk, getting ignored. ‘’Ahem…’’ he let out, the woman groaning in frustration. ‘’Yes, young man, what could I do for you?’’ she asked, continuing to read the line she paragraph she was on. ‘’Would you be kind enough to direct me towards the...uh, the section that would let me learn about other races and species, please?’’ he requested, keeping his voice low, watching as the old woman opened the shelf to her right, pulling out a small paper card and giving it to him, not breaking her concentration, surprising Damon. ‘’Thank you, ma’am.’’ he bowed, starting to walk in the direction written on the small card.

‘’She IS the king’s most respected librarian, after all…’’ he thought to himself, intimidated by the woman. He looked around, finding a piece of paper attached to a long rope, high above him, with the same number on it as the paper he was given by the lady at the desk, starting to walk towards it with haste in his step. ‘’If i’m right, even those proud, overconfident bastards close to the king will be grateful to me!’’ he gushed quietly as he looked up at the ridiculously tall bookshelf, covered from top to bottom with books, inhaling and exhaling slowly. ‘’There’s no rush at all; in fact, I have a lot of time. I’ll find those encyclopedias and research it!’’ he whispered, preparing himself for a long night in the library.

Hours began to pass by, slipping faster than the minutes, or so it seemed at the very least. Yohiro’s eyes began to twitch inconsistently, opening them uncomfortably and letting out a long moan of exhaustion. He sat up, scratching his puffy hair with his hands, his widening suddenly, letting out a loud scream, filling the entire building. Quiet, quick footsteps came from outside his room, opening the door and leaving to hit the wall, waking up Bernie, who was sleeping on the floor next to the bed Yohiro was sleeping in. “What happened?! Who got hurt?!’’ Claus shouted at the top of his lungs, panting as he entered the room, a white apron wrapped around his neck.

‘’M-my hands! It’s my hands!!’’ the boy shouted, causing for Claus to run over to his bed, stepping over the half-asleep Bernie’s large hand and grabbing Yohiro’s hand, finding it completely clean and soft. ‘’There’s nothing wrong with your hands, you fucking crybaby!!!’’ Clous yelled, blushing at his sudden outburst. ‘’No, you see-- Ms. Rosa saw them, wait here!’’ Yohiro yelled, jumping out the bed after stepping over Claus’ head and running out the room in a nervous sweat.

‘’What...did you think he was screaming about…?’’ Bernie asked as he pushed himself off the ground with both his hands, groaning in pain. ‘’W-well, I yelled like that the first time I got a boner, you never know!’’ Clous yelled, looking away. ‘’Then, to ask something else, why were you that worried about a boy getting his first erection, Claus?’’ Bernie grinned. ‘’Don’t you fucking dare! I know what you’re thinking there, pervert!’’ Claus screamed, his voice cracking in the middle of the sentence. ‘’It was a question, Clous, not an accusation; learn the difference, for once.’’ he replied, standing up and cracking his fingers.

‘’Ms. Rosa, Ms, Rosa, look!’’ he yelled loudly, running into what he considered to be the lobby of what he considered to be their house, finding her sitting down with a cup of coffee in her hand and a little plate she was holding under the cup as she took a sip from it. ‘’What is it this time, ki--EHD?!’’ she stumbled with her words as he ran over to her, immediately putting his hands in front of her face, giving her an eyeful. ‘’They’re fine?! Where’s the blood?!’’ she started questioning him as she slammed the plate along with the cup on the table, spilling a bit of it on the table, surprising Claus and Bernie who were just entering the room.

‘’You were banging on his door for over two HOURS; this isn’t right, dammit!’’ she said as she kept turning his palms around, running her fingers along them. ‘’Banging on whose door?’’ Claus asked, walking up to them and pulling Yohiro away from her. ‘’Don’t pretend now, retard!’’ she raised her voice at him, scaring him and causing him to step back. ‘’I went in my room and there was knocking, which I ignored, and I fell asleep almost immediately; I was tired, unlike you!’’ he began rambling, trying to turn the tables on her.

‘’Both of you, we have a bigger problem than that!’’ Bernie walked in grabbing Clous by the left armpit, picking him up. ‘’Oh, fuck off, second in command!’’ Claus yelled as he poked his eyes, annoying him. Bernie gently put Claus down, taking both of Yohiro’s hands. ‘’You’re saying they were bloodied yesterday before you went to sleep?’’ Bernie asked him in a friendly voice, Yohiro nodding in agreement. ‘’Then maybe it’s this little guy.’’ Bernie suggested as he pulled up Yohiro’s oversized shirt, pointing at the little gem in his chest.

‘’You’re saying it fixed him up overnight?’’ Claus asked, sceptical to the idea. ‘’Not like we have anything else to go by, do we?’’ Bernie asked, dead serious, making the atmosphere in the room slightly awkward. ‘’How about...he tries to touch that gem himself?’’ Rosa suggested, snapping her fingers confidently. ‘’Yeah, we haven’t tried that yet!’’ Claus smiled in agreement. ‘’Are you okay with that, Yohiro?’’ Bernie addressed him, watching his confused expression as he nodded. Bernie stepped back, watching the boy take of the T-Shirt, throwing it at Bernie, landing it on his shoulder, with him taking it and folding it, then placing it on the table.

‘’Just...poke the thing, got it?’’ Clous said. Yohiro raised his hand up to his chest, pointing out his pinkie finger, moving it towards the gem, suddenly stopping right before placing his finger on it. ‘’What happened? Yohiro?’’ Clous asked, all three of them watching Yohiro lean forward before quickly losing balance and falling off his feet and straight onto his back. Bernie rushed forward, putting his head next to his heart, hearing it beat soundly, while also seeing his lifeless-looking eyes.

‘’The hell happened to him, Bernie?!’’ Rosa asked, taking a small step forward. ‘’I don’t know, honestly, he didn’t even touch the thing!’’ he replied as Clous watched, bewildered. ‘’One, two, three, line up all of ya!’’ they all heard a loud yell a cordor behind a door, footsteps getting nearer. ‘’H-hey, you’re kidding, right?!’’ Rosa asked Bernie, finding both him and Clous frozen on their feet. ‘’It’s master…?!’’