Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74

~Chapter 9: The Sketch~

Leora sat impatiently in the art studio on the second floor, irritably tapping her foot. Twelve minutes late. She decided to put paint on her palette whilst waiting, he was taking that long. She soon heard the noise of bells, clearly signalling his arrival. The ghost burst in, wearing the clothes he'd worn when she'd met him in the séance, a little dazed.
"Where were you?" Leora hissed," It's already twelve minutes past!"
Kong Hun glared at her," Calm down, twelve minutes isn't so bad. Besides, I'm the one who's inconvenienced here, I should be in the Underworld. Not to mention, this manor is stupidly large, I got lost."
Leora's gaze softened slightly. Admittedly, she was being a bit aggressive, but she couldn't help it. She'd gotten riled up at his cheek back in the dining hall. Just thinking about it made her cheeks flush up, whether it was anger or something else entirely she wasn't sure.
"It doesn't matter," Leora sighed, setting her pallet down," What matters is you're here now and we can finally start this task. Go, sit on the sofa in a pose and I'll begin."
"Good," Kong Hun uttered, storming over to the sofa, the bells gently ringing with each step," The quicker we get this over with, the better. For everyone."
Leora sorted out her paints, getting everything set up comfortably; setting the canvas onto the easel. When she looked up, Kong Hun was staring off into the distance, his expression cold and sharp; icy in nature. It was the same expression he had the day he was walking her through the Underworld.

Leora's gaze softened, watching him. She'd told him to strike a pose yet she already had found the one she wanted to paint.
"Hold it, that expression I mean, that posture too; it's perfect," Leora stated.
His eyebrows raised, in shock," Huh, but I'm not-?"
"Oh, don't look so surprised, it'll ruin the original look. Can you try to go back to it? Ah, good boy! That's perfect, hold it right there."
Kong Hun schooled his expression back to the previous one, staring away from Leora as she got to work. He could see her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed so excited to sketch him out on the canvas as a baseline, trying to capture each of his features. They sat in silence for a while.
"I apologise," Leora hummed, sketching," I'm afraid that when I focus, I can do nothing but that one thing. I rarely talk, I find it hard to do two things at once. It must be dreadfully dull? Tell me, are you not used to big estates? You said you got lost in the manor."
"No, I'm used to it, I live in a palace back in the Underworld," Kong Hun frowned, thinking back to where he should be," And when I was human, I lived in a mansion too...but I was often in tents during war."
Leora had forgotten he was a ghost, that he must have had a living life before all of this.

"Did you have many battles?"
"Many."
"And is it true...that your head was-?"
Kong Hun broke his pose, slowly turning to glare at Leora, who quietened down.
"I do not like to speak of that day," Kong Hun hissed.
Leora nodded," I understand. My apologies. Please, go back to your pose? It will only take longer."
Kong Hun sighed, going back to his original pose. Leora sketched a little more, before deciding to start to paint. She started with the face, her brush strokes gentle.
Leora cleared her throat," Do you like the manor?"
Kong Hun stayed quiet for a moment longer, as if contemplating.
"It's alright," He answered, honestly," It's too gloomy for my liking, it's like a funeral here. My palace is much more bright and colourful, and that's in the Underworld, covered in the dead."
Leora glanced down at her palette," That's because this place is a funeral."
Kong Hun seemed confused. Leora sighed, trying to put it the best way she could.
"When I was young, my mother and father died in the room I summoned you. Gunshots from the window. My aunt, my mother's sister, also died here. She had tuberculosis, and as the older sister her only son was supposed to be the heir to this manor. But, he died here too, he fell in the river outside and drowned in the winter waters. In the past too, there's been other supposed murders, but it is an estate with status. And people with status use disgusting methods to make themselves better than anyone else."
Kong Hun nodded, meekly," I see. I am sorry for your loss."

"Don't be," Leora smiled," I can hardly remember those people. I've only truly been close with my brother, Henry. But even then, he's a little..."
"Bittered?"
"Yes," Leora sighed," I think if he wasn't my brother, I would avoid him altogether. Oh well, it's not nice to talk about him like this behind his back."
Leora dabbed her paintbrush in the water pot, and Kong Hun was lost in thought. He slowly decided to speak.
"So, have you ever wondered that this house may be haunted?"
Leora blinked in shock, before laughing and shaking her head," No, never really. I mean, it's just a big, dumb house, isn't it? Besides, ghosts aren't-"
She stopped herself. She nearly had said ghosts weren't real, but who was she painting? She'd forgotten herself for a moment there. Everything she'd reassured herself since young seemed to crash down around her. Ghosts were real. In fact, the house could very well be haunted. It wasn't a far fetch at all considering its history.
"...fond of this place..." Leora finished her sentence, briefly," With so much murder, it's too sad to stay."
"Then why are you staying?" Kong Hun asked.
Leora blinked in shock, looking at him," Well, I'm... um..."

"Henry, that wretched brother of yours, doesn't he want this place? It's got a lot of land."
Leora smiled, shaking her head," Henry says he hates it here. He's all into his fancy city places, you see. He's marrying a lady there too, she's quite fashionable. He's always miserable in the countryside compared to there, at least, that's what everyone else says."
Kong Hun raised an eyebrow," You don't know?"
Leora bit her lip," No. Ever since my parents died, I haven't even been allowed to step a foot out of the estate."
"Doesn't that make you sad?"
"Sad? A little, I suppose. But I'm the only heir they have now, considering Henry is living in London now."
"Who's heir? Your grandparents?" Kong Hun frowned.
Leora nodded, focused on painting. He decided she probably didn't want to be questioned anymore. Kong Hun was suspicious. Someone like Henry did not seem like a man who would simply give up such a valuable piece of land to his younger sister. Why didn't he want it? Was it invaluable? Did he feel uncomfortable in the place his parents died? No, he didn't seem like the kind of man to be disturbed by trivial morals. So, what were his motives? Kong Hun wanted to find out for Leora's sake.