Butterflies & Dreams

"Ding dong, ding dong." The sound of door bell ringing echoed through the large yet elegant sitting room.

"It's not my turn, " muttered a girl with long red curly hair. She was lying on the sofa with a magazine covering her face.

"Not me either, " a girl with shiny curls yelled from her seat, frantically smashing on her computer. "Hit him, hit him... noooo."

"Then it's me again, " a petite girl rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine." She took her time to the front door. When she opened the door, she found an old lady with a basket.

"Would you like some bracelets?" the old lady offered. "I made them myself."

The petite girl smiled politely and looked into the basket the old lady was holding. She found four silver bracelets with intricate designs, all with butterfly charms.

"It's very pretty, " the petite girl answered politely, yet noncommittally.

"You see, young lady, I only have 4 bracelets left. Let me give you a deal! With only 30 dollar you get all four. A great deal, I'd say."

"Well..." The petite girl looked unsure. It was surely tempting, but still...

"I promise you, you won't regret it. My bracelets are very famous." The old lady gave the girl a large wrinkly smile.

"Alright. I'll buy them."

"You won't regret it, young lady. Wish you a good day." The old lady gave the girl a wave and walked away.

When the door swung close, the air around the old lady shimmered. After a few seconds, only a stylish lady with intricate braids and luxurious brown hair was left on the road. "Have a great time, ladies~" She smirked and clicked away on her stilettos.

It's cold. Ciel thought as she tried to drag her quilt closer. Why is it so cold? I didn't even switch on the air con!

She was again attempting to drag her quilt back when she realized something strange. She was lying on ice cold and muddy ground, not her bed back at her rented room. She snapped open her eyes to find snow fluttering down.

"I... I must be dreaming." Ciel laugh halfheartedly and tried to pinch herself with her fingers. "Ouch... It's real? Oh gosh... why was I here? This is literally in the middle of nowhere!" Ciel looked around to find herself surrounded by snow and trees.

"And it should be summer not winter! I was kidnapped and got thrown to the other side of the world? How did this happen? This doesn't even make sense!" Ciel ran her hand through her hairs in frustration when she realized her shoulder length ash gray hair has turned into waist length brown hair. She widened her eyes in surprise. At the same time, she realized she was wearing a dress with bodice. A dress you found wearing by Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

"Hello~ This isn't funny. Alex, Artemis, Irene? Come on! This isn't the time to play a prank! I'm freezing to death!" She shook her hands at thin air, hoping in any seconds her housemates would jump out and laughed at her. But all she heard were echoes of her own voice.

Dejected, she slowly began to understand what a dire situation she was in. It's no use sitting here, freezing to death, she thought to herself. She'd better walk out of this forest before she froze to death or the snow buried her.

Ciel brushed off the snow on her hair and slowly stood up with the help of the tree she was next to. That was when she found out the bracelet circling her left wrist. It looked really familiar. No, it was the exact copy of one of the four bracelets she bought from the old lady yesterday.

She kept one of the bracelets and distributed the remaining three to her three housemates respectively. They all put the bracelet on immediately, all taking an immediate liking of it, with the exception of Irene who was still locked in her room studying for her last final.

Ciel remembered wearing the bracelet to bed. So was this bracelet the reason she was transported to this weird place? She tried rubbing the butterfly pendant on the bracelet, but nothing happened. She tried taking the bracelet off for inspection, but she found out she was not able to! The clasp disappeared!

"What kind of magic is that? Where's the clasp?" She cried in frustration as she shivered in cold. "Let me get out of this freezing hell first."

She was trekking along the snow filled road for hours when she heard a sound other than her own footsteps. She turned around just in time to find a carriage driving towards her.

A carriage! Just where in time was I transported to? Ciel thought to herself. But whatever, let me find help first.

She waved her hand vigorously in front of her, trying to get the driver's attention. Luckily, after a moment, the carriage stopped next to her. A fit of coughing drifted out from the carriage. When the coughing died down, the door of the carriage swung open.

Inside the carriage were two men. The one who opened the door was obviously the valet of the other man in the carriage. The master had sculpture like features. His handsomeness was not only not marred by the dark circles under his eyes or paleness of his face, but gave him a fragile, vampire-like feel. Ciel was stunned by his appearance.

"Good day, lady, " the master said softly with a gentlemanly smile.

Ciel nodded silently, still blinded by his handsomeness.

"Do I have the pleasure to offer you a ride to town?"

The mention of a ride to town broke Ciel from her trance. She once again returned to her level headed self.

"That would be great, Sir. Thank you so much. But at the moment, I regret to say I don't have much to offer you back."

"That's fine..." the master broke into a fit of coughing again. "There's nothing you have to be sorry of, it's me who offered you a ride to begin with. Do come in, it's cold outside."

Ciel knew that she should be cautious at times like this. It's always dangerous getting onto a stranger's car, or carriage. But she had no choice now. It's either getting into a stranger's carriage or freezing to death. And at the moment this stranger looked pretty noble and gentlemanly.

You know most bad guys look like that at first, muttered Ciel to herself.

"Where are you staying at the moment, Miss Vincet?" Lord Lambert, whose title was generously supplied by his lord's valet, asked.

At that moment, there's one painful second Ciel wished to tell Lord Lambert that she had lost her memory in some fateful incident like how those heroines did when they got transported to another world. Then maybe Lord Lambert would offer to help her out and they would fall madly in love just like what would happen in stories. And turned out she's his fiancee he had never seen who had lost her memory.

Of course all that were just wishful thinking. One could dream!

Ciel, who prided vain and dignity above anything else, said, "My lord, I am planning to seek apprenticeship in town. I am an art student."

"Apprenticeship?" Lord Lambert asked good naturedly. "I might know a place that's suitable for you." He smiled mysteriously.

And that began Ciel's life as an apprentice mask maker.

Ciel was once naive enough to think that all these was merely a dream, but now after a year she had lost all hope. She had tried whispering to the bracelet, rubbing the charm of the bracelet, searching for a witch's grimoire or people who had the power to travel to different universes. But so far, her bracelet remained sealed, the clasp disappeared. And she remained in this world.

She did not understand how those heroines in stories can settle in so quickly, forgetting their pasts and their family. Maybe those heroines led such an exciting life that left them no time to think about stuff such as this.

Maybe she should follow their lead, try not to think about her past, her other world and try to focus on the present and this world.

"Are you struggling between using blue or ...blue?" A voice cut through Ciel's contemplation. Ciel looked up to find Lord Lambert smiling intriguingly at her. "Maybe it's something to do with my eyes, but I don't find any difference between these two types of blue."

Ciel looked at the palette in front of her, seemed like in her melancholic contemplation, she dabbed the same type of blue twice on her palette. Ciel laughed embarrassingly and tried to change the subject, "Are you here for your sister's mask?" Lord Lambert visited this small town which was famous for masks three times each year. Every time he's here for masks he had ordered for his sister.

The teasing smile on Lord Lambert's face disappeared and turned to his usual subdued quiet smile, "Yes. Is Master Rita in the shop?"

"Master has just gone out for her daily afternoon tea." Ciel left the chair she's sitting in and dragged out a chair from the corner. "Do take a seat, my lord. You'll have to wait for at least an hour. Would you like some tea?"

After bringing out some cookies and a cup of tea for Lord Lambert, Ciel settled back down into her chair behind her working desk. She was midway through a simple mask before she drifted off to day dreaming. It's her task to prepare masks with simple design, like plain color masks with some drawings as decorations. Those masks were sold at a much lower price, unlike those tailor made and designed masks made by Master.

Even though the masks she was responsible for were just mass produced products, that didn't mean she didn't have to put in effort into thinking of their designs. Currently she's making one stylized like a midnight sky. Different shades of blue together with twinkling stars.

"That's a very pretty mask, " Lord Lambert praised.

"Thank you." Ciel replied with a shy smile. "I have the pleasure to take a look at the one Master made for your sister. It is totally stunning. I'm sure your sister will like it. You're such a great brother, going across the country for your sister's mask!"

Masks had a special status in this kingdom. This kingdom was famous for its masquerade parties and festivals.

Lord Lambert returned with a wistful smile.

"Are you unhappy here?" he asked suddenly after a few seconds of silence.

Ciel was taken aback by this sudden question. Her first instinct was to shy away from the bright piercing gaze of Lord Lambert. "Why would you ask that?"

"Your art... they give me a feel of loneliness and sadness."

No one had ever found out this. Not Master and of course not the customers.

"I... I miss my family." Ciel didn't dare to look up, she's afraid he might notice her slightly wet eyes. "But I have decided to stay strong. It's inevitable for someone who has to work far from home."

"There's nothing wrong with missing family. I understand the ache and hollow in the heart when you realized the one closest to you is now far far away from you." Ciel looked up to find Lord Lambert looking out of the window with hollowness and despair in his eyes.

Has someone close to him passed away? Ciel thought.

Lord Lambert took out a handkerchief, placed it to his mouth and burst into coughing.

"Are you alight?" Ciel asked worriedly. Come to think of it, Ciel thought, Lord Lambert looks pale and sickly every time she meets him.

Lord Lambert took a deep breath and said with his usual smile, "Never been better."

He leaned forward across the desk and took hold of the paint brush left on the desk. "Hope you don't mind, " he said.

He added a few strokes on the mask Ciel was drawing on. In just a few strokes, a cute fat cat appeared on the edge of the mask. The melancholy feel disappeared and the mask gave off a warm and fuzzy feel.

After drawing, Lord Lambert leaned back and gave Ciel a wink. "Sometimes tiny things in daily life are the light in life."

Just then the door to the shop banged open and Ciel's master came sashaying in. She cried, "Lord Lambert you have arrived! Always on time. Ciel go get the box in my room."

With a nod Ciel disappeared into the deeper part of the shop in search for the box holding Lord Lambert's sister's mask.

After Ciel disappeared, Lord Lambert chuckled softly and muttered to himself, "Who knows I'll be the one cheering someone up? It's usually your job, my dear sister."