Chapter 5

"He's here."

I looked to see if they would explain it to me, but they just started scrambling to come inside and clean the room as best as possible. I just stared at them with one of my eyebrows raised at their change of attitude when Julian suddenly popped out of nowhere, panting and out of breath.

"He's outside already. Don't tell me that I will be the one to welcome him."

When no one answered him as they were busy, he said frantically, "Alone?! Come on, you guys! Takeshi was already hiding when we got the message. And all of you are here as if Colette is a fragile thing when she is not. Seriously, sis. Are you going to let your cute little brother face him alone?"

He then started acting like a sad and pitiful puppy, trying to get his sister's attention, but to no avail. He then just clicked his tongue and said something before he left.

"If I die, my blood will be on your hands."

After he said his piece, he glared at everybody, well, except for me, and left with a slam of the door. I chuckled softly at what I just witnessed, but I am now intrigued at who is coming to have Julian cowering in fear for their life. But I am more curious because Ian was so high and mighty when we met, but he has now transformed into a boy who is scared of being scolded by someone older.

I sighed in boredom before making myself more comfortable on the bed. I went back to inspecting my pocket, not caring about whatever was about to happen. No one is telling me anyway. I tried to measure the depth of the space I've made, again.

I reached the ends of the sides but I can't seem to reach the bottom. I continued down the rabbit hole until I finally reached it. So it seems that the depth of the space I made is about five to six floors of the imperial palace, while the sides are about as wide as my old room. Wow, I made this. Not bad for a first try.

While I was nodding my head at my achievement, I didn't notice that the room went deathly quiet. I looked up, just my eyes, to see another Ian. Only, this one looks more stern, more experienced than the Ian I met on the road near Targhee forest. And he's looking down at me, amused, for some reason.

That ticked something in my head that irritated me. I finally raised my head to look straight at him with the same intensity that he is giving. The tension inside the room is palpable and somehow, I can see sparks forming between us. Not the romantic kind that is just used as a description, but real electrifying sparks. And it is beautiful to look at. The contrasting colors of bright electrifying blue that coming out of me and the deep striking green that are coming from him are beautiful to watch and I started looking at it rather than looking at him.

The sparks are dancing with each other. They are wrapping around each other, just like watching two people waltz on the dance floor of the ballroom. It is mesmerizing to watch. I am not the only one watching it. I can see from my peripheral view that the three who were with me inside the room before were just staring at it as if they had seen a couple of ghosts coming back to life.

I looked at the person in front of me again and was stunned to see that he had tears running down his face with an indescribable expression. I had the sudden urge to comfort him but I did not act on it, simply because I do not know him.

He saw my hesitation and his facial features suddenly hardened again. He wiped the tears on his face and continued to look at the sparks just dancing in the space between us with a distant look of longing that is masked with a stoic look. A look that most people would think the person is not capable of feeling anything. And now that I am properly looking at him, he did have the ethereal beauty of Ian, but his eyes were a beautiful deep shade of emerald with swirling colors of brandy and honey. His eyes enhanced his beauty to a whole new level.

I felt embarrassed for staring at him, so I looked away from him and looked at the sparks. What does this mean? I know that everybody in this room knows what these mean. I looked at everybody again and saw that they are still looking at the sparks with great caution, or maybe they look like that because of the person standing in front of me. I shook my head from all these scenarios and that's when the sparks died down. It somehow made my heart clench. Clench from what? I've yet to find out.

Once I was back to myself, I looked up again and faced the unknown person standing in front of me and asked,

"Who are you?"

He just examined me and my question. Seconds turned to minutes. I waited for him to make a sound but he stayed silent. When I have had enough of his silence and could no longer handle the silence, I sort of snapped. Like literally snapped my fingers in front of him.

I snapped it several times, in case he did not see it, until he had to hold my wrist just to make me stop. I took my wrist from his grip, iron grip to be exact, and massaged it so it wouldn't bruise. And because I am petty, I said,

"Wow, you can move. So, can you now speak and answer my question earlier? Because I'm pretty sure that you don't have a lot of time to kill. Considering that everybody here scrambled to clean everything before you came in, I'm guessing that you are of high status. Ian is a prince and you look like him, so am I correct to assume that you are his older brother?"

I gave a saccharine smile while tilting my head to the side. Then I remembered that I was filthy. I schooled my features before getting out of bed and asked them where I can take a bath and change.

"Can someone answer me? Or am I allowed to turn this whole building upside down so I can clean myself?"

"I'll take you there myself."

"And he speaks. Took you long enough. I don't have any clothes to change in though." I mumbled to myself when Rose suddenly said,

"I'll look for something that can fit you. I'll bring it to you there."

She then ran outside the room, making sure to avoid us. I raised an eyebrow at her before looking back at the man. He gestured for me to go out of the room first. I obediently followed and he immediately walked in front of me, guiding me to where I could bathe. He took me to a wide open space bath and left. He then said,

"I'll be here outside if you ever need anything."

I didn't answer as I did not know what to say. Instead, I nodded, even if he could not see me. I started by looking at whatever is at the table. I could see a rag that can be used to scrub the body, and there's soap. Oh, how I needed this. I saw a small pool just a few steps away from the table with a bucket and a small chair beside it. I got excited and started to undress myself, grabbed the rag and soap on the table, and went straight to the small pool.

I splashed myself with the cool water from the pool and started to lather up the soap and scrubbed myself with the rag until there was not a single speck of dirt left on my body. I rinsed myself one last time before slowly descending into the large bath.

It was a hot spring. The moment my body was submerged in the hot water, all of my fatigue and exhaustion started to melt away. I let out a huge sigh of relaxation before fully submerging my whole body for a few seconds. The moment my head broke out of the water, I saw Rose's shadow outside the curtain that is the door to this bath.

I saw her giving something to him before bowing and leaving. He then said,

"Your clothes are here. Just tell me when you're finished so I can give it to you."

I looked towards the door and answered, "Okay. But when will you tell me your name?"

I waited for his answer, and it finally came.

"My name is Nikolai, Tristan Nikolai Kasmira. Brother of Sebastian Dominic Kasmira who you call Ian and Emperor of Kasmira."