1 preface

The Thomas estate is lit late into the night.

The iron and brass gates of the manor were closed, but at times the sound of laughter was heard coming from within.

Outside one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, if your eyesight is good enough, you can see someone peering hard in through a gap in the baroque curtains. By the look of the figure, it would be a wonderfully beautiful lady, dressed in a dark blue antique court robe, looking catty-corner into the inner room.

Here was a group of people enjoying a nightcap (or dinner), and they were rather oddly dressed, one drunken man, dressed in a formal tuxedo but with his tie tied into a scarf and wrapped around his neck in a loop, was unceremoniously collapsing unconscious on the velvet back of a soft dining chair. There was also a handsome gentleman who was gracefully raising his glass of wine, and with a raised hand, he tilted his head and drained the deep red viscous liquid in a single gulp. He was dressed in a large, solid eighteenth-century court gown, which wrapped the whole man in three layers just like that, and the voyeur wondered if he was breathing through it. What looked fairly normal to that peeper was the mysterious man who had been sullenly silent, dressed in a clean black robe, still without his hood off even inside the house, and whose face could not be seen. Beside him was a woman who looked to love extremely gothic culture, no doubt, with a smoky make-up, dazzling black lips that seemed to still shine red - well, maybe it was burgundy - a lace necklace around her neck, and a hand equipped with the same lace ring. She was dressed in a black gown, accented with swan feathers, and she must have worn a girdle, for her waist was so abnormally thin. The voyeur thought this, guessing at her waistline, or imagining if she could still wear the gown with the girdle off.

Opposite the Goth woman sat the wife of "Mr. Big Dress," who seemed to be a conventional woman, with a round face, chubby hands, and a full figure. She wore the same gown as her husband, but she was rather courtly, sitting still in her seat like a dignified noblewoman, staring intently at the dark, smoky make-up on the goth woman's face. A hint of displeasure erupted in her eyes as if she was very uncomfortable with this hollow goth fashion.

The large tuxedoed couple was dressed in a way that boggled the mind as if they didn't belong in this century at all. Their gowns were so large that they forced the two of them to take up a spot that belonged to four people.

Robert Thomas, the owner of Thomas Manor, sat in the seat that belonged to his master, ordering something with his butler, dressed in a dependable suit that was downright normal compared to the man in front of him. The peeper who had been at the window had chosen it for him himself. The lady was now gleefully surveying the suit, exclaiming that it looked simply perfect on Robert. "Perfect!" She couldn't help but sigh softly.

Suddenly, with a loud clatter, the curtains were jerked open and the searing light of the room poured down on the lady like a downpour, exposing her hiding place to the dazzling light. Against the light she saw a man facing her through the glass, fully dressed and surrounded by the golden glow cast by the lamps. The moment he pulled back the curtain was so swift that it was too late for the comer to hide.

She couldn't see the man...