Few hours had already gone by since our gang left Mistvale. Adrian, still on the roof, was asleep. Having the bag as his pillow and wind as a blanket was enough to keep him calm despite the occasional bump on the road. The vast landscapes of Clendine were being observed by Ricard looking through the window. Riya on the other hand gave all of her attention to the floor of the carriage. Nervousness and uneasiness alone were on her mind. Tybalt, sitting near her, patted her on the head and smiled. Riya’s negative emotions faded a little but remained lingering none the less.

As the road lead them around a big hill, it later revealed a fence made with combination of white stone and metal railing with a luxurious design. Behind this structure was a forest of trees standing in a coordinated lines. The seemingly never ending line of trees and fencing lead them to an already opened gate with a similar design. After the carriage crossed the opening, Ricard noticed a guard standing nearby, as well as another on the opposite side. Adrian woke up when the usual bumpy feeling of the road suddenly changed for a smooth one. When he sat down he met with a symmetrical spectacle. Crowns of trees were kept identical to one another with lush dark green bushes dividing the garden and the road. At the end of it stood a two floor white mansion in front of which was roundabout surrounded by a flora of all colors one could think of.

The carriage arrived right at the steps leading to huge wooder doors of the mansion. The messenger, who drove the horse powered vehicle, stepped out and walked towards the entrance to open it. Spacious interior of dark wood and white concrete spelled their eyes as they entered the building. Their feet walked on a red carpet which laminated the floor making it stand out from the other sides of the interior. Soon another pair of feet appeared before them.

“I can’t express enough how happy I am that you’ve accepted my invitation.” Announced the person before them with a smile.

“I bid you welcome to the Leybough estate. My name is Cedric Leybough, your fiancée.”

He looked at Riya and bowed with one hand on his chest and the other behind him. Judging his choice of words, Ricard gazed at him angrily.

“Sorry for my manners, that was but a characterization of mine. I invited you here exactly because of that matter. But of course I don’t want to settle it in few words and minutes at the door.”

“Please, you and your friends are free to feel like at home. Our staff shall be available to you for the remainder of your stay and of course you are welcome to stay for as long as you like.”

“Our head maid will show you to your rooms. I ask you all to join us at the dinner which will be in an hour and something, you will know by the bell’s ring.”

“Now, let me excuse myself for I can’t attend you now but you will have my full attention at and after the dinner. And again, it’s nice to see you.”

Cedric seemed to have a complete control over the conversation, or rather monologue in this case, as no one found any opportunity to even say “hello” back at him.

Suddenly a statue, near where Cedric stood, started moving. It happened to not be a statue but in fact the head maid who stood there motionlessly. A beautiful tall black haired woman wearing a puffy black and white dress. Her mannerism was elegant and humble as she did not point her eyes on the guests.

“Please, follow me this way.” Said the maid after which she finally opened her eyes of deep sea blue color to navigate them through the corridors.

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

Ricard and Adrian responded in sync due to their eyes being starstruck from her beauty. Riya rolled her eyes and started following her too along with Tybalt.

Afterwards they were lead onto the upper floor where they entered a hall, which had a seemingly never ending number of doors on one side and never ending number of windows on the other. Each one of them were designated a single room all to themselves. All of them were identical and contained a desk, a tall mirror, a wardrobe and bed big enough for almost four people with only singular pillow on its end.

After each of them entered their respective rooms, Riya and Ricard went towards the balcony door on the opposite side of the entrance where they waved to each other. Looking around, they saw another outdoor area in middle of which was a giant fountain surrounded by more flowers. The estate was built around making it look like as the garden was another part of the interior, accessible from the bottom floor.

The gang gathered in Tybalt’s room to discuss what to do next.

“What a nice young man. My first impressions of him are quite positive I must say.” Tybalt shared his thoughts.

“I want to punch him in the face.” Grunted Ricard.

“As much as I hate the spacious rooms and all the... wealthy stuff around... it’s up to Riya what will get resolved throughout our stay.”

Riya dodged Adrian’s gaze.

“Yeah...”

They remained in the close proximity of their rooms until they heard the dinner bell. Meeting together in front of them, wondering where the dinner takes place. Out of nowhere, the head maid appeared once again.

“I hope your stay has been a pleasant one so far. Please, if you are ready, follow me to the dining hall.”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

Riya sighed.

On their way to the dining room, Ricard whispered:

“I must say I’d rather be in Mistvale right now. This place is so big that it’s scary. And I am not even that hungry.”

When they entered the dining hall, their eyes met with a spectacle in form of several plates filled with all kinds of food which Adrian didn’t even see before. Fresh fruit, roasted pig, side dishes unheard of along with a giant pot of soup.

“Please, have a seat.” A voice was heard coming from behind the hills of food stacked on top of each other. Cedric was sitting behind the table, with the view being obscured by the meal set. And as soon as he said those words, the head main and three more maids who were standing beside him, walked towards the chairs near the dining table, pulling them away.

All of the visitors sat behind the offered seats after which the maids kindly and softly pushed them back behind the table and left.

After a while of doing nothing and sitting in silence, Cedric announced:

“Well, what are we waiting for, let’s eat... we can talk after.”

“How about we talk now.” Adrian Insisted while throwing a demanding look at Cedric.

“Yeah... let’s... talk...” Joined Riya but when Adrian looked her way, she had a waterfall of saliva under her mouth as she was fighting the beautiful aroma overwhelming her senses.

“Fowy huf h hoof if heawy hooh, fhy fome Ahiah.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t hungry?” With a sigh, he replied to Ricard whose mouth’s content kept falling out.

Adrian caved and joined the feast.

Eating such a diverse, warm and delicious meal made the mood of his and everyone else much better. Tasting the juiciness of the meat, the texture of the potatoes and the sweetness of the deserts after years of eating food of low quality, painted his eyes with a gloss.

Afterwards a man dressed in a suit came to them offering beverages.

“Dear gentlemen and a lady. Hope you liked the dinner? Most of it was made by Master Cedric himself.”

“Hey, stop it!” Cedric insisted embarrassingly.

“Credit needs to be given where it is due Master. But now, what would you like to drink? We have Ale, Wine but also a fresh apple juice from our local garden.”

The boys picked ale while Riya wanted a juice. But when he came to him, Tybalt said:

“Hmm... interesting offer, but what would you recommend I drink.”

The man inspected him and after a moment went away to get everyone their desired drinks.

“Two ales and a juice here, and for you a wine. If you’ll excuse my rudeness, I sometimes play a guessing game with guests that request this beverage. If you want that is.”

Tybalt took a sip from his glass, played with the liquid inside his mouth and proclaimed:

“Sour and sweet... I taste grapes? This I believe is a pomace wine, age inside an oak barrel.”

“You seem to be an expert.”

“Well, I’m glad I seem to still have it in me, despite my age.”

“If you don’t mind, could I invite you for a tasting session? I have a giant collection from all around the world.”

“Lead the way.”

“Well it seems that Tybalt will have his hands full. Now we can hear you out, Cedric.”

He sighs and starts explaining:

“I am supposed to be an heir to... all of this. Since I am coming of that age, Mother of mine is trying her hardest to wed me. Ever since my father died in a war, she has been even more desperate. She wants to make sure the lineage continues.”

Cedric looked at Riya and continued:

“Your parents were the only ones that accepted out of the few she asked. Mother was happy.”

He stood up from the chair.

“But my mother’s proposal to your folks doesn’t matter anymore. I refuse to marry someone without their consent, and moreover with how it worsened your relationship. Therefore the marriage is cancelled. I also invited them all here, they should arrive tomorrow, so I’ll explain it to them.”

Cedric walked away from the table.

“It will be a rainy night. But try to get some sleep, I have something planned for the next morning. It’ll be fun.”

Riya noticed as his overconfident smiling ceased for a moment.

Thunderstorm fell upon the mansion. Heavy rain and lightning was seeping through the windows even with the blinds they were covered with.

Everyone except Tybalt were already in their beds looking up at the tall ceiling when Riya started to feel the urge to go to the toilet. Thinking about what Cedric said, she didn’t even take into consideration the scary dark and wide corridors of the mansion. After doing her business she returned to her room but immediately froze as she saw something coming her way. All of a sudden a lightning bolt illuminated the entire hallway revealing a monstrous being of eight limbs shambling and getting closer. She screamed which made the monster disappear.

Adrian and Ricard ran out of their rooms to discover what was happening.

“M-Monster, t-t-there.” Riya in tears barely could describe what she saw.

All three of them retreated into her room and spent the rest of the noisy night with Ricard and Riya sleeping together in the bed and Adrian sitting by the door with his wooden sword in hands until the morning sun shone through the windows.