The Veiled Crown

Chapter 2

Someone grabbed your shoulder from behind; you were startled and looked up behind you. A young man was standing there with his hand on your shoulder, he had pure white hair going down to his shoulders, his eyes were dark red, and he had a scary smirk on his face. You turned around to face the person grabbing your shoulder. You took a step back and bumped into Shiro, you took a step to the side and turned to get both of them in your field of vision.

Shiro’s face turned grim, he pushed the blonde-haired person against the wall as soon as you stepped aside. It looked like he stared him directly into the soul, that is how intensely Shiro looked at the other person. It gave you chills.

The other persons face changed, he seemed more calm and peaceful now, he chuckled slightly, then looked over at me and bowed; “I’m sorry Princess, I’m Taro.” His scary face turned into a charming and alluring one, how?

“You don't have a name?” Taro asked due to the lack of my response. He was smiling, but something felt off. You didn't know what made you feel like something was off, was it the way he smiled? Or perhaps cause he changed his demeanor all of a sudden?

You felt the urge to get out of that house, but what about the thing running after you? It was dark out now, so chances were not good out in the forest, but something in this cottage was weird.

You still did not say anything, you just stood with your back against a wall, listening. You did not have a chance to look where you ended up, so you started looking around without moving from the spot where you now felt like rooted in place.

You were in a living room, right at the door there is a coat hanger, with only a black fedora and a black umbrella on it. The fedora looks like it was made for the coat that Shiro wore, it looked to be made out of leather and had a dark red silk band on it, on the left side there was this cross again, embroidered with black thread into the silk. It looked very expensive. The umbrella did not look cheap either, it was black, and the handle looked to be made of silver, with the same engraving as the buttons on Shiro's coat, it also had a weaved dark red band around the handle. The band was woven with a silver pattern, and right before the end, there was woven a cross into it as well.

You are standing next to a vintage sofa, it had a silver frame, the armrests were kind of curled with a silver rose in the frame connecting it to the armrest, and the backrest was asymmetrical, with a high curve to the right. To the left of the back piece was curved downward and in that curve was a round cushion framed by Silver, and connected to the high curve on the right by vines and roses, it looked like it could be long enough to seat five people. In front of the sofa was a beautiful rectangular coffee table, it was made purely out of white marble, with gray marbling. On the other side of this coffee table, was another identical sofa. Below this furniture was a bright wooden floor, without any sort of treatment, just raw wood. It looked like it could be birch.

The first sofa had the backside all up to the wall, while the second one was in the middle of the room, with nothing behind it, apart from a painting. The painting was of a landscape, the forest. This very forest that you just ran through, eerie and without an end.

You were interrupted by Shiro; “Please, take a seat.” - He said while stretching his arm towards the sofa with an open hand gesture. You did not look at him, you just took a seat at the very edge of the sofa, and you did not want to get too far away from the door out of here.

Shiro left the room as soon as you sat down, but you did not get a chance to see where he went, before Taro sat down on the same sofa as you, uncomfortably close. You looked over on Taro as he sat down, he was wearing a very old-fashioned white shirt, with gold embroidered thread along the edges, on top of the shirt, he was wearing a black vest, with the same style of gold embroidered, and it looked like vines running along the edges of the shirt and vest, with occasional roses. His pants looked like they belonged to a suit, wide and black with a clear mark of being ironed.

You noticed Taro had a smirk on his face, it made you feel uncomfortable, and you looked away again, fiddling with your hands and looking at them, trying to avoid eye contact.

It felt like Shiro was gone for ages, when he came back to the living room; he had a pot of tea, some cups and biscuits. The pot and cups looked very elegant and old, white porcelain with blue flowers painted on them and a golden rim on the cups. The tea smelled very fragrant and fruity, it was tempting.

Shiro poured a cup of tea, and put it in front of you, before pouring for Taro and then himself. He then put the pot down, took a biscuit and sat down right across from you. No one spoke a word, the two people just sat and drank their tea, and it was peaceful. You finally had a moment to think, who were you? What was your name? You could not remember a thing, no matter how hard you seemed to try. “Uhm.. Excuse me, but where's the toilet?” You did not even think about asking that, you just did. You felt a little embarrassed, but looked at both of them waiting for an answer. Taro had a smug look on his face, which made you uncomfortable, and you turned to Shiro, whom explained where the bathroom was. “You go through the kitchen, then it’s the first door to the left.” He said calmly with a slight smile on his face. You hesitated a little, but it still did not take you long to get up and make your way to the bathroom. You went through the kitchen, it was almost all made out of wood, the cabinets were dark raw wood, with silver handles. All the handles were round, and old school, and they all had an engraving, much like the buttons on Shiro’s coat. Though on the handles there were also engravings of a crest; a shield, with a bat on it and thorny vines and roses behind it. Then there was an engraving of a moon, wrapped in thorny vines. The cabinets on the floor had a beautiful white marble plate on top. And the floor was made out of white tiles, with silver edgings. You did not notice more by just walking through, you did not stop; you wanted to get to the bathroom. You needed to think about how to get out of here.