The Classic Tale of You and Me

Chapter XI: The Man behind the Mask

The Classic Tale of You and Me:
The Man behind the Mask

"Sir Rei, what about this mask with red feathers? You will surely look enticing with this!"

The corners of the knight's mouth bent down, his lips formed a perfect curve for the most disagreeable mask showed to him the third time. He would not attend the gathering tonight to meet a lady of the night, or a potential lover, since he already had a plenty of admirers wherever King Yohio would send him and his knights. Fists curled against his cheeks, Rei winced at his squire -- a redhead from the outskirts of Green Fields, Fukase -- and expressed his disagreement with his choice of garment.

"What about this butterfly-like eye mask? I have heard from the drunkards of the fleet that women are attracted to anything with touch of femininity!"

Rei sighed audibly and turned around, rising from his seat to glance at the heap of people seen through the glass door of that shop they visited downtown. Since he woke up to find Fukase reading the invitation the blond man had given Rei earlier, the boy never stopped blathering about his curiosity to these kinds of social events -- that were mostly for aristocrats alone. Even if he had attended plenty of balls, Rei never had been in a masquerade. He learned it from His Majesty, King Yohio, that masquerade balls were long banished, because people attending open celebrations like this disregard taught values.

"Alright, Sir Rei. This is the last one the shop can offer you--but it's plain and boring, unattractive, if I may add."

Fukase stood next to his mentor, whose hands were kept behind him, and showed the plain white full face mask to Rei. Other than the holes for the eyes and the below the mounted nose of the mask, none of the plain mask's feature could reveal its wearer's identity. Rei smiled and nodded, then gave the redhead enough shillings to pay for that mask.

"What about yours, Fukase? Buy another one suiting your taste, or perhaps take that butterfly one. You wish to find a lover, do you not?" Rei handed another couple of shillings to Fukase, allowing him to buy a mask of his own. This made the young attendant happy, for he skipped around the shop to find a good mask of the amount Rei had given him.

Rei and Fukase went back to the Old Oak, carrying their purchased masks wrapped with old newspapers. The redhead was humming as they walked, smiling gleefully with his black mask. 'How peculiar,' Rei told his attendant when he paid for the masks, 'I thought you were wishing to attract women?' The redhead grinned at him, claiming that black was charming enough. When Rei brought the idea of his lover left in Portia, so-named Rana, Fukase's triumphant grin fell.

"A knight should not carry the image of a Casanova," Rei told his squire as they walked into the market, the uproar of vendors beckoning the strolling people disturbed the two. "Howbeit inevitable it was for a knight to get a lot of admirers--"

"Which is your case," Fukase inserted.

"Fine, which is my case, but you should be loyal to only one woman." Rei patted the young man's shoulder, turning him to the right. "You're only seventeen, you will find love deeper as time goes on."

"And to whom do you give your loyalty?" Fukase turned the knob of the Inn's door, and swung it open for his mentor. Rei flashed him an ephemeral smile and walked ahead of him.

"To my motherland, Kingdom of Portia."

"How patriotic! I want to have the same zealous devotion for Portia, too." The redhead trailed his mentor as he walked upstair to his room, keeping an eye on Rei's graceful movements, distinctly his -- full of glory unstained and mighty. Fukase was more than glad to be taken by this knight when he was found in the outskirts of Portia. He was smiling at him, extending his hand to help a poor fella like Fukase.