Chapter 5: Shut Your Mouth, Please

"I'm home…."

The silence greeted Runa when she entered her little cottage. She dropped her bag on the sofa by the window, then she sat there. She looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes, letting the darkness slowly cover her as the sun set and changed places with the moon.

One day has passed safely. It had been a long time since Runa had felt the tension like today, and it was all because of a boy named Arden Whitlock. She couldn't imagine what punishment she would get from her father if he found out about the cigarettes.

Maybe he would take this little house and send her back to the main house, which, though big and luxurious, felt like hell. Runa's neck crinkles when she remembers the times of her life there, with all eyes watching her movements and reporting them to her father, as if Runa is an object of work and experimental material that always needs to be perfected.

Runa took a deep breath and exhaled through her mouth, then she opened her eyes. Darkness enveloped her, and in the distance, through two wide French-style windows, she saw a maze-colored horizon.

Even if she lived here alone, unsupervised, it would be impossible for her to keep forbidden items. Forbidden by her father's standards, of course. Every once in a while, two or three servants came to clean this place. But Runa knew they had come not only to clean up but also to carry hidden orders to search and find out what items Runa had.

Her Father is a psycho, and maybe he raised her that way, too.

She tried so hard to gain her place and her freedom. And she won't let anyone take it away from her.

Runa blinked when she heard the sound of the thick trees around her house. She pulled away from the sofa and turned to look through the window behind her.

The sound came again, like footprints breaking dry branches.

Are there wild animals? But the Crown family's property was so tightly guarded that it was impossible for wild animals or strangers to intrude.

Runa squinted her eyes so she could see more clearly through the darkness. Then she caught a flash of blonde and brown walking through the trees.

Runa held her breath. Her whole body was trembling.

Is that…?

But that's impossible.

She pushed the window frame wide open and poked her head out. The figure was standing there, close to her house, with all four legs and a wagging bushy tail.

"Bacon?" call Runa. There was doubt in her voice.

The dog wagged its tail again, but instead of getting closer, it moved further away.

"Bacon!" Runa screamed, then jumped through the window and ran after her beloved dog.

Runa continued to run, crashing into the mounds of dry leaves that the gardeners had swept and collected. She stepped on the damp moss-covered ground, nearly tripping over the tree roots sticking out. She kept running until her lungs nearly exploded, but Bacon seemed out of reach.

Until Runa unconsciously arrived at the edge of a pointed iron fence. She made a sudden stop so as not to hit the rusty iron line. Runa almost fell forward, but someone caught her hand and twisted her body.

"What are you doing here?"

It was a very familiar voice, which stir up any trauma within her, before she even looked at his face.

His father stood before her, towering like an angel of death who had come straight from the cruel darkness.

Runa's legs trembled, her lips parted but could not speak. Only the same faint tremor now took over her entire body.

"Didn't I tell you to sleep? Why are you hanging around here?"

Sleep?

It had been so long since he had freed Runa from the bedtime rule.

"You know what you have to accept for breaking the rules. Think about what you did in the darkroom."

After saying that, his father grabbed Runa's hand, forcing her to come along.

"No! Dad, no!"

Bang! Bang!

Runa gasped and glared. She was panting. She blinked a few times before realizing that she was still inside her tiny house.

That was just a dream, she said to herself. One of the many nightmares she had to go through.

There was another pounding on the door. It was that voice that had woken her up, and Runa had to thank whoever it was for coming to her place.

Runa rushed to the door and cracked it.

Sophia.

Seeing that face made Runa undo her intention to thank anyone that came to her place.

"Ms. Crown," said Sophia. "Mr. Crown asked me to pass on an invitation to dinner."

"With who?" asked Runa, still maintaining the small gap in the door as a sign that she did not welcome Sophia's arrival.

"One of Mr. Crown's colleague. Their son is also studying at Sunbrillo."

Of course. All the children of the city's upper-class families attended Sunbrillo.

Runa wanted to refuse it, but it was impossible. Reject it was the same as offering herself for a punishment or annulment of the agreement between her and her father.

"Okay," replied Runa. "In half an hour, I will come to the main house."

Sophia nodded, looking satisfied with Runa's answer. Of course she was satisfied, because her job became easier.

After Sophia said goodbye, Runa locked the doors and windows. Then, just as she was about to lock the window near the sofa, she paused. Her eyes roamed the surrounding forest, trying to find the figure that had appeared in her dream earlier.

Of course, that was impossible, she thought in her mind. After convincing herself once more, Runa locked the window.

---

Half an hour later, Runa appeared at the main house, as she had promised. Even a minute late could be a problem for her. Runa pushed through the waist-high gate that led her to the garden beside the house. A renaissance-themed garden with a fountain, pond, neatly trimmed patches of shrubs and a domed gazebo made of carved gypsum. The round garden lights gave off a faint golden glow. This park was once a beautiful place in Runa's mind. Now, this place was just like any other part of the main house, which only brought sadness and emptiness to her.

Two maids greeted Runa at the side door of the house. They bowed and said hello, then one of them said, "Mr. Crown is waiting for you in the dining room."

"Has the guest arrived yet?" Runa asked as she took off the light coat she was wearing to ward off the cold and gave it to another maid.

"Not yet, Miss."

Runa nodded, then walked across the side hall to the main dining room. There, at the very end of a large oval dining table, sat a man in his early fifties. He wore a long-sleeved gray shirt. Her brown hair was neatly slicked back. A beautiful face with a firm jaw, high cheekbones, a perfectly sharp nose, and a pair of brilliant gray eyes. Make any woman will bend her knees to him easily. It was also the charm that had melted her mother's heart, thought Runa.

"Good evening, Father," said Runa.

Christopher Crown looked up from his cell phone. He must have known that Runa had arrived. He just pretended not to care. His seemingly indifferent attitude only made Runa even wary.

"Good evening, my daughter," Chris, Christopher's nickname, returned Runa's greeting. Chris looked at the dress Runa was wearing, a simple gray A-line dress.

"Your dress really matches your eyes," he complimented. It was an empty-sounding praise.

And Runa hated being reminded of her eye color being the same as her father's. If only she had green eyes like her mother….

A maid who ushered Runa into the dining room, pulled a chair on the left side of the table, which was closest to Chris. Runa sat there.

"How's your day?" asked Chris, having turned off the phone and tucked it in his shirt pocket. He supported his chin with the back of his hands and looked at Runa without blinking. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Great," replied Runa. "Who are the guests who will have dinner with us?"

"My colleague. And I believe you know their son. He's on the same campus as you."

"Who?"

Chris had yet to give an answer when a maid came in and announced that their guest had arrived. Chris and Runa stood up from their chairs and headed to the entrance of the dining room to welcome the guests.

Runa arched an eyebrow for a moment when she saw the figure of a boy she knew. The boy who had expressed his love for Runa many times, but Runa always rejected him. Edmund Hale.

"Mr. Crowns!" Mr. Hale, Edmund's father, greeted Chris in a cheer tone while holding out his hand. Chris welcomed the hand with a gentle handshake while patting Mr. Hale's arm with his other hand.

"Mr. Hale. It's a pleasure to host you in my modest home."

Her father is doing humble bragging, Runa thought. No sane human would call the Crown residence a 'modest home'.

Mr. and Mrs. Hale were silent for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Ah! Your house is enchanting, Mr. Crowns! I wouldn't call this place modest! Absolutely charming!"

"Thank you," said Chris, nodding politely and gave a brief smile. Chris then invited his guests to enter the dining room. While the parents went first, Runa was left behind, along with Edmund.

"H—hi, Runa," said Edmund. He wore a long-sleeved plaid shirt tucked into black cloth pants. The freckles on his face were clearly visible under the crystal chandeliers in the hall.

"Hi, Edmund," Runa replied, giving a polite nod before stepping slightly out of the door. The atmosphere was so awkward, and Runa couldn't shake the memory of how pathetic the effort Edmund had put in confessing his love to her.

They walked side by side towards their respective seats. Edmund sat on Chris' right, opposite Runa's. When everyone has sat down, dinner begins. The parents started talking about some things that Runa didn't care about and dinner became boring, until Mr. Hale said, "You have a really wonderful daughter, Mr. Crowns! She's always ranked first and she's active in various organizations. Oh, I wish our son has an achievement like her!"

"But lately she is no longer in the first place," said Edmund. And the information he gave caused a sudden silence in the dining room.

Runa, who was cutting the steak, stopped and glared at the meat on her plate. Can't Edmund just keep his mouth shut and let this dinner pass in peace?

"Is that so, Runa?"

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