Yue felt awkward as he sat at the large dinner table. He sat beside Viktor who sat at the head of the table. He was a bit scared as he looked at the utensils being placed down in front of them. He was terrified of using the wrong utensil as multiple spoons and forks of varying sizes were presented beside his plate.

He was about to pick them up when a servant presented him with a wooden box, He opened it and found that it had a pair of chopsticks. He bowed a bit and murmured a ‘thank you’.

After their meal, Viktor led Yue to the guest room that had been prepared for him. It was a very large room, much larger than his dorm room. It fit the manor’s theme of white with bold blue accents but the canopy and light blue bedding made it look much lighter and girlier.

“I hope it’s to your liking.” Viktor murmured, a bit worried that Yue would hate it.

Yue nodded and smiled. He almost mentioned how anything was better than the streets he slept on as a child but he remembered his persona of Xia Yue was a sheltered rich girl. Viktor seemed convinced so he started to leave the room.

“I don’t really know what clothes they chose for you but if they don’t fit or aren’t to your liking just call.” Viktor said and went toward the door.

“Alright, Thank you.” Yue said, bowing.

When Viktor left Yue went and looked at the clothes that were laid out on the bed. There were three options for dresses and nightgowns, all in a European style. He chose a simple white nightgown to wear after he bathed, he had already asked to bathe without assistance as he noticed the maids that had been following them as they walked to the room.

Yue kept on trying to remember the bedroom from his dream but he couldn’t remember anything but the light blue sheets which made him think that it was in fact in this manor. It wasn’t the bedroom he was currently in however, he didn’t remember a canopy on the bed in the dream.

After taking a bath he put on the nightgown and looked at himself in the mirror. It was a bit too big but it only really showed in how the neckline slid down his shoulders a little. He felt a bit uncomfortable in the new style of clothes but he wore it regardless and set his clothes down near the vanity before going to lay on the bed. It was still pouring and thunder could be heard once in a while. He laid and stared up at the canopy for a while, anxious before he sighed and tried to sleep.

-

Yue’s dream that night was weird. He only knew it was a dream because it seemed to be in third person. He saw his younger self cutting down a spirit trap that had caught some humans by accident.

“How could you get caught in a spirit trap while being human? Are you shapeshifters?” The younger Yue said with a light and amused tone. Yue couldn’t help but think that he was awfully carefree for someone with a million targets on their back. The younger him wore a round straw hat that covered the glow of his eyes and very simple clothes.

The dream was especially weird because it was in black and white and the background and the faces of the people who were in the spirit trap couldn’t be seen. It was as if someone had scribbled over them. The people didn’t seem to understand him and spoke in what Yue assumed was a European language. This seemed to confuse the younger Yue.

“Can you not understand human language? I guess I should probably get rid of you then, shape shifters aren’t really what I’m looking for..” Yue said and pointed his sword.

Yue wanted to punch himself, that was something the 15 year old Yue would think when hearing a language he’d never heard before.

“W-Wait don't kill us!” One of them said in a language Yue could understand. It only really served to confuse Yue even more but he did lower his sword a bit.

Despite knowing that it was a dream Yue wanted to see what happened so he didn’t think to force himself awake.

-

He was unfortunately awakened by a knock on his door. He almost went to open the door without thinking but he caught himself and fixed the loose neckline of the nightgown and hid his body mostly with the door as he opened it. He had been hoping that it was a maid but he immediately realized it was Viktor and turned red.

“Ah..did I wake you?” Viktor asked and apologized a bit.

“I-It’s fine..” Yue murmured. He hadn’t checked the time and assumed it might’ve been late into the morning already since Viktor was fully dressed in his usual attire.

“It stopped raining a couple hours ago so I wanted to have us test the spell again after breakfast..” Viktor murmured.

“Oh okay..I’ll get dressed..” Yue said and tried to make himself seem less embarrassed.

-

Yue had already chosen the dress he would wear the night before. It wasn’t a dress but rather a shirt and a skirt. The shirt was a white dress shirt with light blue buttons and a ruffled collar and cuffs. The skirt was a high waisted long white skirt with embroidered light blue flowers. It was pretty comfortable but the shoes were heels in a color that matched the buttons of his dress. He didn’t know how to walk in heels so he stumbled a bit. His hair was tied back in a loose updo with a light blue ribbon.

“That looks beautiful on you.” Viktor said as he watched Yue enter the dining room. Yue’s cheeks turned red and he thanked Viktor quietly before sitting down.

“You can keep them if you wish, they were bought for the purpose of being given to guests who didn’t anticipate their stay.” Viktor said with a smile.

“Oh..” Yue murmured, he was about to say that it was okay and that he’d return them until Viktor explained. He at first thought they were someone else’s clothes.

After breakfast a maid gave Yue a light blue coat to wear over his clothes as it was still a little chilly outside and looked like it would rain a little more later on. He wore it over his shoulders as he went over to the courtyard with Viktor to test out the spell.

Viktor had finished engraving the fully improved spell onto the magic crystal so they moved on to adding some magic power to the crystal together before testing it. Yue tried to keep his embarrassment from showing as their hands were right over each other’s since they both needed to transfer energy to the crystal. They moved on and tested the crystal. A tower appeared and it looked almost exactly like the first one they had made.

“I think that’s a success.” Yue murmured, looking around the tower.

“Yeah, It looks good.” Viktor said, checking the inside.

“Would you like to at least take a look around before you leave? The carriage won’t be ready for a little while.” Viktor asked as he dismantled the tower and carefully put away the magic crystal.

Yue nodded, he was curious about the manor. They went all around the manor until they ended up at the Library. The library was almost as big as the school library and was full of all kinds of books. It also featured a lot of artworks and some sculptures.

“Most of the books are in Russian or French..” Viktor murmured, noting Yue’s wide eyed look.

“Teach me.” Yue said, very curious. There was a very powerful looking grimoire at the center of the library and he wanted to read it really badly.

“I’ll try.” Viktor chuckled. He led Yue over to the grimoire just so he could look at it.

“What even is this grimoire?” Yue asked as he looked over the glowing silver and blue grimoire.

“It‘s my grimoire from when I was younger. My family is a prominent mage family in Russia so traditionally the future family head has grimoires made out of their hair from when they’re very young.” Viktor explained, opening the grimoire.

“Hair?” Yue asked, surprised as he saw the glowing pages and all of the writing in Russian.

“Yes, the shiny tone of the paper is because of my hair. All the children born in my family have hair like mine, the first mage in our family was stuck in a dungeon for 10 years and it changed his body and genes so our hair is full of magic, it’s an ideal material.” Viktor explained, showing Yue how part of the pages would gleam a little with the light.

“I’m making another one soon.” He added as he flipped through the grimoire for Yue to see.

“Is that why your hair is long?” Yue asked, looking at Viktor’s hair which was almost as long as his own.

Viktor nodded and closed the grimoire. Yue blushed a bit, he was once again reminded of the dream/prophecy. He found himself thinking about the ticklish sensation Viktor’s hair left on his skin in the dream and he quickly and subtly pinched himself.

“Are you alright?” Viktor asked, noting Yue’s red cheeks.

“I-I’m fine..”