𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐎 ↳ ⊹ ° . ᵐᵃᵗᶜʰᵃᵇˡᵒˢˢᵒᵐ

chapter 2.

The painter got up, dusting his clothes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, your honor." Kaoru bowed, his long hair hanging down as he did so. "I guess we're never too careful around here, huh?" He chuckled as he straightened up. His inner voice was screaming, livid, about how the king's behaviour was unacceptable and utterly disrespectful, but his reason took things into hands, knowing that this was the opportunity of a lifetime.

"Well, I sure didn't expect you to take it this well." Kojiro declared, approaching Kaoru. "Are you alright? Hurt anywhere?" He asked. He had already walked over to the painter by then, and he was now meticulously inspecting him, which put Kaoru through quite a strong discomfort.

"I'm fine, no need to worry about me." He simply said, offering Kojiro the same charming and peaceful smile he gave each and everyone of his customers.

"Well, surely you must be tired- let me show you to your room." The king replied with a polite yet cold smile, already starting to walk towards the castle's door.

"Oh, thank you, but sleeping won't be quite necessary. I'd much rather get familiar with the castle, if you don't mind of course." Kaoru explained as he followed Kojiro. They walked up a flight of sandstone stairs before reaching two elegant wooden doors behind which hid the little gardens, as the people there called it.

"Showing it to you would be a pleasure." Kojiro responded in a slightly annoyed tone. It made Kaoru quite confused, but he ultimately decided to let the king bother himself if that was what he wished to do.

"Well then, you have my thanks. I'm looking forward to working under your command." The painter declared, readjusting strands of his hair to put them behind his ear.

"To you as well." The king replied, sliding his hands in the heavy golden handles of the massive doors, pulling them open.

And what Kaoru saw behind those doors could make him put behind the weird tone, cold smile - hell, it could even make him forgive his king for the not so warm welcome he received. Because what stood behind those doors was truly, immensely beautiful. Breathtaking even, and so beyond words. Even the sharp shadow of the walls in the morning light, or the way the sun reflected on the windows, even such small things, were spectacular. Although they were nothing compared to the impressive shadow of towers which contrasted with the orange sky and the sun's traces along the eastern edge of the castle. The painter could feel his lips part slightly as his eyes widened, losing themselves in the astonishing view.

And Kojiro just walked in as if it was the most normal thing in the world, not even taking a second to look at his castle. His green hair was glowing, as if it were absorbing the sunlight. He turned around to look at the painter, a slight breeze lifting his hair.

"Hey, hurry up. We haven't got all day... well actually we have got all day but even that is too short so it won't make the cut if you keep up this pace." The king said, a hint of impatience in his voice. Yet Kaoru could only stand there, his eyes wide open at the scene which took place right in front of them.

See, Kaoru always believed that there were moments that couldn't be painted. Maybe because they weren't moments - they were feelings. Images that conveyed pure and raw emotions that couldn't be the same once on canvas. However, he aimed to, one day, capture one of these moments. It was his dream ever since he was a child.

"Are you coming or should I just close the doors?"

This was one of those instants. A brink of life so futile yet so unique - a fleeing feeling of beauty so ephemeral it couldn't be painted, written, or even lived to its fullest. Or, as he liked to call them, sparks. Bright, and fated to live an uncapturable life, and a short one at that. And that was the first spark he had seen in a while.

"I'm sorry." The painter chuckled as he hurried to the king's side. "So where will you take me first?"

"I think the inside of the castle is a good place to start. I'll show you around until breakfast and then we'll go outside, which is when your first task will commence, which I'll tell you more about later. Sounds good?" Kojiro explained, looking over to the painter for approval.

"Absolutely, and I'd like to thank you again for the warm welcome, I feel delighted to be received so well." Kaoru said with a small smile. He didn't mean it, but he had gotten quite good at pretending to like things and people when he still lived with his family.

"Well then, I'll lead the way."

—

"And this is your room. Your clothes are already stored in the closet on your left, and if there happens to be any issues concerning clothing, you can turn to Mikoto. They're in charge of mainly my clothing as well as my family's, but they aren't overwhelmed with work given that my sister has taken a liking to a tailor from Osaka. I'm sure they'll be enchanted to meet you."

"Wow, I- I don't know how to respond to this- I mean... I couldn't possibly accept such a gift from you, your honor!" Kaoru shook his hands frantically, his eyes wide open as he stared at the colossal room which had been assigned to him.

"Listen here, this is the smallest room in this wing of the castle, and the other one is reserved for the servants, cooks and other workers." The king explained, looking at the painter as though he were crazy.

"Well then just let me live with the workers, that's what I am anyways?" Said painter responded in an almost questioning tone.

"Oh of course not, how could I? You're my special guest, after all." Kojiro smiled, and his smile looked genuine for the first time that day.

'Special guest my ass, you almost murdered me a few hours ago.' Kaoru thought, although he didn't let his rude thoughts show, and flashed an angelic smile instead. "I'm immensely honoured to hear that, and if you insist, I suppose I should accept your gift. But how will I ever be able to repay you?" He raised his shoulders, his pink hair bouncing on them as he did so.

"Well, we can see about that later. For now, let's have breakfast. This way." The king headed towards a marble staircase, the painter following not far behind.

As they arrived in the dining room, which was situated on the ground floor, Kaoru was blown away for the nth time that day. On the long wooden table which was previously empty sat different types of bread, at least twenty different flavours of jam, a plate full of cheese, smoked meat and fish... there was probably more food on that table than what Kaoru ate in a month. But that wasn't all, all of the workers as well as the royal family were seated together, enjoying their meals.

"You may sit wherever you wish, and if you'd like my company, I'm usually seated near the left edge of the table." Kojiro smiled. "I do hope you find something you like amongst our selection of products, they all come from the neighbouring village." He explained, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh trust me, I will most definitely not have trouble finding something good." Kaoru chuckled. "Well then, enjoy your meal." He said as he headed towards a group of workers.

A/n: hey! I'm so sorry for the delay on this update, but additionally to the fact that wattpad was being an asshole and not letting me post, I caught a quite bad cold, and had to focus on recovering for a while (aka I spent my days in bed and didn't like it ;-;)... anyways I'm back to weekly updates, yay! I actually have a question for you guys, I've been thinking about renaming this book sparks... any opinions? (if so PLEASE SHARE THEM！！) Anyways, see you next week (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)