The ride was quite long from the big city to this small town at the edge of the country. It took around 7 hours by train, which successfully made his butt sore because of the hard seating of the carriage. Damn, why didn't they change the cushion of the seat or something? It's already so thin that he can literally felt the plank underneath it. Well, not that it matters now anyway, since he already arrived at his destination. Well not really, since he still needs to take another transportation to reach the final destination.

The weather is a bit colder since the location is quite near to the ocean. The cold breeze made him shivers, urging him to fold his hands in an attempt to hug himself. The sky is visibly greyed, indicating a storm might come. The young man stands in the lobby area at the entrance, where most people are waiting to be picked up and the rest are waiting for arrivals. His old leather bag is swung on his shoulder and his right-hand carry a small duffel bag containing his clothes and several brushes and paints.

Noi puts down the duffel bag and begins to look around, trying to find the vehicle that supposed to pick him up. He frowns as he briefly glances at the watch that wraps on his thin wrist. His beaten-up wristwatch shows 2.37 time with its arrows. The car is late on the arrival. He supposed to travel by 2 hours in the said car and another 2 hours by coach to reach the small village, which is his final destination.

He's contemplating whether to call the chauffeur's superior or not because of the delay, but his intention is beaten by his eldest brother, who has just called him, making Noi smile at how protective he is to him. He immediately answers with a smile still plaster on his face, "Hey, Al. I've arrived already. Just waiting for the car to come and pick me up."

"Ah, glad to hear that. How come they're still not picking you up? Didn't they say the car will be there around 2 pm? Now it's already 2.40 pm. So unprofessional!" Allan complains on the other line.

Noi laughs at how impatient his brother is, "It's just 40 minutes, Al. There's no need to grumble. Although, it looks like a storm is coming. I hope the car will arrive soon." the younger replies while looking at the greyed sky.

The other line sigh, "Sometimes you're too nice to other people, Noi. You should inform Sir Balan later that the chauffeur is late. That way he won't repeat the same mistake again."

Noi chuckles and was about to answer back when a black sleek car arrived in front of him. The vehicle looks so luxurious with a Mercedez-Benz logo standing proudly at the hood. Noi mouth slightly gaping at how fancy the car is, ignoring the blabbering voice that is still talking on the phone. The other line notices the lack of answers and begins to call his younger brother, "Hello? Earth to Noi! Oi! What happened?"

His eldest brother voice breaks his reverie, "Ah, sorry I was distracted. The car is here. I'll call you back when I reach there." he replies and cuts the line.

A man in his 30s comes out and opens the rear door for him while bowing politely. Noi approach the man who smiles politely at him, "Good afternoon, Mr Anson?"

The painter nods, "Hello and yes, that'll be me. Is this from..."

The driver nods back, "Yes, my name is Oliver and I came from the Blackburn household. Master Balan sends me to fetch you. Apologize for our lateness, Mr Anson. There was a little bit of a problem along the road because of the storm last night. But we'll assure you that now is everything is under control."

Noi smiles and nods again. He was about to take the small duffel bag that he carried earlier when Oliver beat him to it, "Allow me, Mr Anson. I will put this at the trunk. You can go ahead and sit inside the car."

Noi blinks, taken aback at how fancy their service is. He nods and gets into the rear seat. The chauffeur shuts the door behind him and not long after, goes back behind the wheel. Oliver immediately stepping on the gas as he realizes the storm might come. Along the way, the chauffeur looks at Noi through the rear-view, "Good news for you, Mr Anson. The village now has a paved road instead of a dirt road. Now we won't need to take the coach to reach there. It'll take 2 hours and 45 minutes by car."

The information makes Noi smile, relief that he won't need to take another transportation and shorter time to reach there, "Really? That sounds great. Now people can go back and forth easier because of it."

The driver nods, "Yes, Master Balan wants to open the village to the others. He thought there might be potential in tourism development. You can see how beautiful our sceneries inside the village is later on when we arrive."

The village is placed in a very secluded area that is originally connected by a dirt road, hence why they needed to take a coach to reach there since cars won't be able to go through. Now that the road is already paved, it will be easier for the villagers to come out and explore other locations.

Noi never went to the village before, but based on what his grandfather said, the village is a very beautiful place. Grandfather went there once for a job when he was around his father's age. Too bad he forgot to brought a camera at that time so he didn't have any records of the said place. But Noi can still appreciate the beautiful medieval style of the village that is recorded in one of the paintings by their great-great-grandparents.

Noi also heard that the said place has become far more modern than before, but still maintain its rural and thick culture. For a village that consists of around 250 inhabitants, mostly old residents, their area is not small. Some even regard it as a small flourishing city if you subtract how secluded the place is and how closed off the villagers are from the outside world. Others even dubbed it as a small country within a country because of how independent they are. They provide their own need, not needing any help from the outside to thrive.

The village stands on a wide patch of land owned by a family of high standing who is also live there on the highest peak of the village. Noi saw it before in the paintings, the dominantly black and medieval-style castle at the top of the hill. He can't help but think of how the darkness of their home is so fitting for their family name that is almost eerie.

The Blackburn. Rumour said they have a power similar to the Royal family in this country. The head of the household is even rumoured to be more powerful than the King himself, controlling the true ruler behind the shadow.

Noi remembered his father's message to be mindful and polite to Blackburn and to not pissed them off. He has come to replace his father's job to paint a portrait of the head family of the Blackburn household.

Noi's family, The Ansons, originally stayed in the village before their long great-great-grandparents decided to move out to stay in the big city. They have promised The Blackburn to keep on painting the head family every 50 years. hence why Noi is here to fulfil the promise between the household. It has been Anson's family tradition to come back and give their service to Blackburn. They had been doing this job for 500 years.

astonishing.

Noi himself is actually not the biological son of the household. Anson's is a Caucasian household that dominantly has pale skin, blue eyes, and golden locks. Noi however, is an Asian dark-skinned boy with dark brown eyes and black locks. But despite him being different, The Ansons still love him the same.

Noi's mother met Bruce, his now step-father when the man was travelled to Thailand for a solo exhibition. They've decided to get married and bring 6-year old little Noi along with them to Anson's home country. The small Noi took interest in his step-father's job as a painter and immediately became his disciple for 12 years. Bruce has 2 other sons from his previous marriage and all of them are older than Noi. Allan, the oldest of the siblings has an 8 years old age gap with Noi while the 2nd oldest, Aidan has a 6 years old age gap with him. Both of his older brothers love to spoil him and pampers him to the fullest.

Between all of the siblings, Noi is the only one who follows in Bruce's footsteps to become a painter. The youngest is currently on vacation, waiting for his university to start. In fact, this trip will also mark the first time Noi's going to paint on a request and be alone, far away from his family. If not because of his father's hand injury, he might not have had this chance to experience what it's like to travel alone and paint someone.

His small reverie suddenly breaks by the chauffeur's voice, "Forgive me for asking, sir. But what I know is the Anson's is a white people's family. I notice you're very much ...different from them."

Noi smiles to the driver through the rear-view mirror, "Ah I'm actually the step-son of Bruce Anson. My mother married him when I was little. So that's why I've become one of them."

Oliver nods, "Ah, I see. Well, Master Balan would be so ecstatic to meet you."

Noi blinks, "Why is that?"

The driver chuckles, "Master Balan loves everything that is dark and beautiful. He will for sure appreciate your graceful appearance."

Huh? What?

Noi asks the driver with a frown, trying to find more information from the random statement, "What do you mean by that?

But the man doesn't answer his question and keeps on driving. Noi bit his lower lip and try to think nothing of it, try not to be weirded out by such random information. It seems this the head of Blackburn is a weird man. He noted himself to be cautious around the man later on.

He let out a sigh and continues to look out at the window to avoid such an awkward atmosphere caused by that weird conversation. He blames it on the chauffeur for saying it. His dark brown eyes start to catch the sight of trees that passed quickly, in an attempt to fill his time and hopes the drive won't be too long.