Eepop stared up at the ceiling of her room as she laid down in bed, recounting the past events of the previous day. Somehow, she couldn't find herself to fall asleep..

She remembered when they first arrived at the front gate of the manor. Her servants, upon perceiving her, recognized her immediately despite her dress being in tatters and her appearance being somewhat disheveled and covered with blood. They thus gained entrance, and Ipap received them within the resplendent foyer of the chateau. All that she could remember upon their meeting was that her mother was in deep distress, frantically overreacting about the situation; pelting Eepop with questions about why she ran away. This concern towards her daughter was mostly expressed by her explosive raving and ranting, overall making a scene to the embarrassment of the guests and those watching. Ultimately, the entertaining display was only over her being overly concerned about her daughter, it was no doubt that she was genuinely perturbed that Eepop put herself in danger without her knowledge.

Soon after, Ipap discerned the weary and wounded young man who happened to be leaning on the servants behind her, and sternly inquired why he was present. The servants explained what Eepop has related to them at the front gate, to which Eepop ashamedly looked down at her feet and hid her face behind her hair. Agitated, Ipap put the man under her appraisal further, and discovered that he was the infamous and frigid fellow who was behind all those bizarre inventions in the 'shire. She was about to banish him from her sight, but an unlikely idea was placed in her head before she undertook her initial decision. Why not take this man in, regardless of him being an outcast in the community; nurse him back to health, and thus increase her status by saving such a cold-hearted, delusional man? Perhaps he can somehow 'change' by his unprecedented stay within the mansion. And in the meantime, while he is confined to bed, she can teach him how to behave like a proper, polite gentleman should, whether he liked it or not. He was her guest now, and so he didn't really have a say in the matter.

In spite of this, the young man was too fatigued by his throbbing right shoulder wound to argue with the woman. He accepted her offer to stay within her home with a half-hearted nod, and was escorted away by the manservants, who showed him to his room and was attended to by the maids. Ipap sent a servant to bring a message to the family's own personal doctor, who promised that he would come by the morrow for a checkup, to see to it if the man is in need of a surgeon or a barber.

Now both were confined to their respective rooms, an equally just punishment for the two of them in their eyes. Eepop and that mysterious man was the highlight of tonight's gossip, don't they know that it is scandalous for a man and a woman to be alone, when they didn't even have the proper connections to meet? It seemed as if their lives were only tied through this one event, and it was unspeakably appalling. Ipap set herself against all this contagious talk between the nobles and trudged through with her plans.. Surely this will glorify her household's name, and she was very confident that she could set this young man straight. Her motivation was to keep him around in order to teach him to be an upstanding citizen, the result being that his entire outwardly repulsive character would vanish without a trace. She could be thus credited for bringing about this positive change.

But Eepop didn't know this. All she knew was that Ipap was upset that she had to take that man in as a sudden guest, without a doubt.

However, her thoughts now drifted off from thinking of her mother to the young man now. Eepop breathed more calmly now, with her left hand clenched as a fist on her chest, which was heaving up and down in accordance with her heavy breathing. She glanced at the dark wine red colored divan from across her high canopy bed curtained with white cloth and tried to distract herself from thoughts of him with the decorations in the room, but she couldn't. As tantalizing as it seemed, she felt that she had formed some sort of attachment to his complexion. She couldn't stop being plagued by the feel of his coarse skin, his fair blonde locks which she previously caressed so gently with her smooth fingers. And finally she thought of his eyes, which she obviously couldn't get enough of. Those eyes used to look at her with contempt when they first met, how come she couldn't feel it after he had rescued her from Onomadek? His vibrant blue eyes underwent a significant change; they were now dull and heavy as if this pale blue sky was gradually riddled with adjoining storm clouds collecting themselves together as they prepare to leave an enormous downpour upon the poor, unsuspecting world below. And yet somehow, Eepop felt that these grey, foreboding, and stormy clouds in his dark blue eyes could be parted, revealing a blinding sunshine and light seeping through tiny openings. She believed that she alone saw this light in his eyes while he glanced up at her for a second, while he laid there in the alley pitifully, nearly dying.

These thoughts of him eventually tormented her throughout the night, till she realized that the day was already bringing a rising dawn to her single wide window. The sky has now turned from a bright vibrant yellowish-orange to a slightly fair pink, with some purple and blue hinted here and there. It's no use trying to sleep now, so Eepop got up from her bed and walked across the large bedroom as quietly as she could. Opening her bedroom door, she felt her mind form an unseen path from her room to the guests' room just by one of the many interconnecting corridors of the mansion. She could find him there, and perhaps these impressions of him would be put to rest.

As she passed by the windows of the corridor, Eepop hears the tweeting of the birds within the trees, as if they were greeting the day with a smile of their own, which came in the form of a song as they cheerfully uttered some birdsong with their beaks. She stopped and regarded them for a while. Why can't she turn into a bird, so tender, wild, and free? Not once in their entire lives they would think about suitors or whatnot. They blissfully lived in their own ignorance and chose whom they loved as they pleased, whether it be through hunger or pain. Animals were simple creatures compared to humans, who overthink and fret over the course of the day to come. Humans were more complex, and therefore more anxious about what is to come- they were worried about whether or not they ate or drank would be enough, or perhaps they would be worried if they were housed or sheltered properly, or concerned if the amount of money they possessed would be enough for them to be accepted as a productive citizen in their society. Because humans.. They were not ignorant, undoubtably. But they unknowingly lived in sorrow by stressing over these little things in life.

Eepop sighed, and went along the halls on her way to his room. She soon reached the door, and stared at the silver coated handle by the grand white door. The door was coated with white paint and some gold strokes and curves from a skilled painter's brush here and there.. No matter how magnificent it seemed from the surface, it was intimidating to look at. This was his room.

Taking courage, she reached her pale white hand towards the door handle and turned it. She opened the door with a crack and peeped through. Once she perceived his blonde head, she was now fully aware that he was asleep.

Silently closing the door behind her, she took in all the little details that surrounded the guest room. There was two narrow yet wide windows with wine red curtains by the sides that were close to the nightstand and the mahogany bed, and the bed was decorated with a decent mattress covered with a fair plum purple quilt that was sewn together with such tender love and care where the guest has comfortably lain. The bed was now bathed in partial morning sunlight now seeping in through the windows, which the parted curtains failed to halt. Eepop went closer and closer to the man. She could now observe him at a closer range, without him knowing, she thoroughly convinced herself. Eepop regarded his features, altogether fair but not as attractive as she thought of him in her mind. His eyes were closed, and he had pale lashes that she first noticed on his face, his blonde hair was tussled and messy due to the bout with Onomadek from yesterday, but can be remarkably straight and clean-looking if combed properly. The young man was now dressed into striped pajamas, the shirt unbuttoned halfway due to his slightly dirty bandages covering his injury.. There was an unconquerable feeling of mixed pity and guilt as she considered the pains he had gone through while coping with his injury. She then looked right off the bandages and to his unbuttoned shirt, revealing his broad torso, heaving up and down still. Eepop blushed for looking at him so intently, and leaned away from the bed. Being content by what she saw and thoughts now quelled by her subject, Eepop now focused her gaze upon the blood-stained white shoulder sleeve ribbon upon the wood polished nightstand. Her ribbon. She let her arm reach towards the nightstand to retrieve it, as she wanted to wash it and take it back.

Then quite suddenly, a great hand reached over from under the covers of the bed and grasped her wrist. It was him. He was already awake, and yet she didn't know it.. He was only pretending to be asleep. Eepop felt the blood rush into her cheeks as her skin became acquainted to his touch, as if she was a burglar caught red-handed for stealing something valuable. In this case, she was caught... Simply for looking at him so that she can stop her own unsanitable curiosity.

"What are you doing here?"

Eepop looked back at him, still blushing. He was still holding her wrist, and her arm was still awkwardly stretched towards the nightstand. It was obvious that he didn't want to let her go.

Instead, the flustered blushing immediately turned into heated anger in her face at the thought of the man holding onto her so firmly. She tried shaking his hand off twice, but he was too strong. Then she thrusted her hand from his staunch grip, making him finally let go.

"I just wanted my ribbon back!"

"No." The young man replied contemptuously. "You were obviously here for something more. And you deliberately stared at me while I was supposed to be asleep."

Eepop felt as if her face was burning with outward shame. Silently entertained by her glowering, he scoffed at her expression as she attempted to explain herself or at least apologize profusely, but all she could do was stutter. He allowed his icy stare, which showed no love nor emotion, penetrate the walls of her entire soul, and it was as if she could freeze over in submission from those eyes. Eepop felt like she was about to break down and cry at that very moment, but the man's heart softened a bit once he found out that she couldn't take his roguish teasing and his intense leer. He decided to reiterate his introduction and approach her much differently.

"I'm sorry. I meant to thank you earlier. You were the one who actually saved me back there, and plus your mother let me have a place to stay."

Eepop looked up, sniffled, and began wiping her tears. "Y-yeah..?"

"Yeah."

"B-but you were the one who saved me..!"

"We could've both been dead if we were on our own." The man said as his pale blue eyes looked away from her. "If we both weren't there, then it would be the end for the two of us, really. Onomadek kills anyone who tries to get into the alleys. No negotiation nor tactics would be necessary."

He drearily stared off at the wondrous morning scenery that was presented by the window. "She can never spare, nor ever be spared."

Eepop stared at him thoughtfully. So they both could have been dead if they haven't stuck up for each other? This came as a huge surprise. She saw him as the big, strong man who saved her from the bloodthirsty wolf, but here he acknowledged that her kindhearted care towards him and his wounds in the end had a significant part in his recuperation.

He now faced her and gazed back at her so intensely, making Eepop shyly look away from him, covering her face in her hands. The young man smirked at her reaction, and then looked again towards the window. "Well I'm going to be here for a while." He remarked. "Do you have any books?"

"A-ah, why yes we do. Is there a certain one you'd like?"

"I don't have a preference. Any book will do."

Determined, Eepop marched from the room with an energized stride, leaving the door to the room wide open. "And don't forget to bring me a pipe to smoke!" The young man called out.

She returned to his room from the library with two large volumes which caught her eye, and a polished black and dark brown corn cob pipe from the parlour. She put a tin can box of tobacco by the nightstand, just by his reach. "You got a pipe tamper?" He enquired, already setting the tobacco in place within the pipe and the matches at the ready. Eepop handed him a tiny brass stick which was to be the pipe tamper. The young man grunted, satisfied, and started to smoke while reading the very first book he placed his hand on. Initially, Eepop seated herself upon a nearby velvet stool waiting there and intending to go into further conversation with him like before, but it didn't happen. After half an hour, the smoke became unbearable to her within the room and she felt like she couldn't breathe, plus her eyes began to sting due to the smoke so she was about to head out, greatly discouraged about dropping all of her hopes of getting to know this callous and unemotional young man.

Glancing straight up at Eepop, and disregarding the aloofness she felt towards him, he began to put out his pipe and stopped smoking. "Wait."

Eepop perked up, and delighted to know that her leaving caught her companion's attention. "Do you know how to read?" He asked her.

"I have read just.. A little. Mother taught me a bit at first, but then she stopped teaching me at some point."

"You.. Want me to teach you how to read... Sometime? I.. Could read to you initially, if you'd like." He remarked, surprised at all the words flying out of his mouth.

Eepop too, was surprised at his kind gesture, and was exceedingly elated at his offer. "I would love to." She breathed, gazing back at him with deep admiration and new-found affection.

He gasped, abruptly turned his face away from her and up at the wall, uncertain on how to react to her warm acceptance of his invitation. Never before was he welcomed in such a way by anyone honestly, and it was making him anxious. He liked it, her friendliness and eagerness to get to know him better despite his external coldness that he was inadvertent of. Startled, Eepop giggled at his bashful and timid response to her conjecture, making him blush even more. Soon after, she partially realized the reason of why she came for him.

"Oh, wait! What is your name..?" She asked as she peeped her head out of the door.

The boy stared at her tersely, rather reluctant to give her a proper answer.

"I'm.. Popee. And you?"

"My name is Eepop. And oh-" Eepop replied with a bright, warm smile, "I-I hope we can be great friends someday." She sheepishly added.

She bursted into playful laughter as she watched Popee from afar as he was trying to comprehend the pleasant and good natured greeting she so lovingly bestowed on him. Excited, she finally left the entrance of his room, skipping away happily and finally increasing her joyous stride into a run.

Once he was convinced that Eepop was out of earshot, he continued on reading his book and turned to the next page.

"Eepop, huh? Well Eepop.. You are something."

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Dinner was being served in the magnificent dining hall. It has been several days since Popee has arrived, and he appeared to be healing considerably well. He was rather reserved at the table, only answering questions from Ipap if necessary. Ipap was overjoyed at the inherent diffidence of her guest, as she could control the discussion to her every want and whim while having the attention that she always wanted. Eepop remained silent too and stared affectionately at Ipap, letting her bursts of laughter and chatter be the background noise to the scenery she held about her. She would exchange glances with Popee every now and then, to which Ipap noticed and delved herself deeper into their current newfound friendship.

"So.. You have been having my daughter around quite recently, aren't you now Popee?" Ipap probed. Before Popee could answer, Ipap said, "Yes, yes- you two have been getting along famously!"

'And in a matter of time she and I will turn you into a proper gentleman..!' Ipap thought to herself.

"Yes, Lady Ipap. I've been teaching her how to read as well."

"Ahh, how great, how grand! Now what have both of you been reading..?"

Popee gestured to the couple of volumes seated by the edge of the table. Ipap went over to that side of the table and began appraising them. "Why, these are too large! Be careful about how much knowledge you feed her, yes? Why this, this is fit for a man, but for us women, we would prefer to have dainty, fair things, of course! Don't you agree, my boy?"

"But of course."

"Good." Ipap said, thoroughly satisfied by Popee's reply, stopping the conversation then and there.

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"Oh Popee, you won't let her make me stop reading won't you?" Eepop said pitifully as she tugged at his good arm. "I've.. Never felt this happy or accomplished about anything else I've ever done before." She mumbled.

Popee listened to her quietly, regarding her sad tone and facial features as they walked side by side, together.

"How I wish I was a man, like you! I think I would love that, and then perhaps Mother would stop bossing me around and let me live my life."

"But you would still be a noble." Popee maintained, looking straight forward as they walked through the corridor, "That wouldn't change anything. You have to live by her rules, because she is your mother."

"That.. Is no fair." Eepop cried bitterly. "And all I wanted to do is read!"