"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm no good at this stuff?" I   flung my arms above my head as I stomped alongside my smiling teacher.

"You might not think so but that does not mean your opinion is the  same as another's would be. The desire of the young lord to have you  paint for him is a fine example of this differing of opinions, young  (y/n)." His deep, gentle voice was like a balm to most people but for  me, it was little more than another thing that bugged me, making me feel  even more out of place aside the ever calm father-figure he was to me.

I myself was nearly his polar opposite, uncomfortably quiet around  strangers while always being filled with too much energy around those I  knew and feeling hardly able to sit still long enough to finish a simple  painting, let alone the detailed masterpieces he created over the span  of several hours. If I sat still for so long, it left people wondering  what trouble I had planned or was in the process of planning, thus the  reason many tried to keep me busy with various tasks in hopes of keeping  me too busy to cause mischief.

Somehow, regardless of all that, it seemed the young lord had decided  he wished to not only meet me but have me paint for him. This left me  not only nervous about what would happen if I failed to meet his surely  very high standards but also curious how he had even heard of me before,  as I was little more than a student with mostly unknown talents. Or rather, in my own opinion, a lack of said talents.

"Why did he pick me? How did he even know about me?" Seeing the  gentle smile grow slightly mischievous on his face, I turned with wide  eyes to gaze at him in horror, my voice wavering as I froze in place.  "What did you do?"

Instead of stopping to answer me, he continued walking along the long  pathway leading to the large, sprawling building of the local young  lord who ruled over this part of the country. As he passed from one  tree's shadow to the next, I could hear him trying to muffle his  laughter with one hand, his shoulders shaking as he slowed down just  enough to allow me to catch up once I began moving again.

"If anything bad comes of this, it will be on your head," I grumbled  to my teacher, his head turning just enough to let me see the warmth  shining in his eyes before he turned towards the looming manor ahead of  us.

"Of course, young one. I wouldn't leave my favorite student to face  things alone, now would I?" I felt my frown vanish, replaced with a  large grin at his words, even if I didn't know why he thought so well of  me to say such things.

"No, sir. Of course, you wouldn't leave one of your students alone  when they need you, favorite or not." I felt his fingers curl around my  hand as he slowed down to walk beside me, a smile on his face as he  glanced down at me. The warmth of his hand worked to sooth my  anxiousness as the manor's gated entry grew near.

--------

"Lord Kagamine, the teacher has brought his student here, as you  ordered. Shall I bring them in now?" The young blonde continued staring  at the painting before him as he simply waved a hand towards the door  for his servant to bring them in, hoping that the person who had  captured the image before him onto canvas would be able to create more  such paintings of the world.

Instead of the usual paintings he saw, that looked so dull and  lackluster to his young eyes, the image before him seemed filled with  energy and an excitement that made him wonder what was beyond the fields  of flowers and grass that almost seemed to shift under his gaze. Every  day he had looked at this painting, he had picked out something new he  had missed the previous day. A small fox peeking out from behind a stump  to one side of the field, a snake slithering through the grass in the  foreground, even a deer that blended into the branches of the distant  trees.

Sure, the artist was obviously not as honed as their teacher but they  were still very skilled for a student and had painted something that  drew him in far more than their teacher's paintings could. It was almost  like he was sitting there at the same spot they must have been while  capturing the image on the canvas. Len could almost imagine himself  peering over his shoulder to look at the artist, ready to start a  conversation with them about the scene before them, and it left him  wanting to meet them even more in hopes of speaking with them in truth.

Pushing his blonde hair aside, Len finally broke his gaze from the  work before him when he heard the door open once more, his eyes focusing  in on the teacher he had conversed with the previous night when he  requested him to bring the student he spoke so highly of.

His breath caught for a moment when a young (h/c)-haired girl stepped  out from behind him, her (e/c) eyes remaining fixed on the floor as she  fidgeted in place.

"Lord Kagamine, may I introduce my prized student, (y/n). (Y/n),  please give our young Lord Kagamine a proper greeting." Len watched as  the girl shuffled forward, his eyes wide as he had expected someone much  older than the person brought before him. They looked closer to his own  age, barely into his teens as he was.

"I-it's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Kagamine. I hope that I may  p-paint something new to please you on this day." Her soft voice carried  through the room, the slight uncertain stutter easily distinguishable  to Len's ears as he leaned forward in his seat, the painting almost forgotten as he stared at this person who had suddenly captured his attention with such ease, just like her painting had done.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss (y/n). The pleasure is all mine." The  feeling of her name passing his lips was almost equal to honey rolling  across his tongue, the sweetness leaving behind a strong desire to say  it again and again, something he would have done if not for a slight  worry that she might find him odd and not want to paint for him if she  heard him chanting her name like that.

Instead, he simply smiled at her and began explaining the idea behind  the image he wished her to paint for him, although not without adapting  it into a larger image than before. Anything to make her have to stay  longer to finish the image, giving him more time to think of other ways  to keep her near. Perhaps another painting, or a series of paintings!  Yes, that sounded like a grand idea!

--------

"Don't you have a bigger canvas?" I listened to Lord Kagamine ask  from behind me as I readied my supplies, the largest canvas I could find  in front of me in all its oversized glory, ready for the second  painting I would be creating for him since the meeting.

The first seemed to have pleased him greatly, the image of a flower I  had seen once in a book but done in colors seldom seen in the flowers  of our region. No, such colors were usually found in the lands far to  the south of us.

"My Lord, this canvas is taller than I am and twice as wide, how can  that not be big enough? What do you want me to do, paint the entire  wall?!" Realized what I'd said, I turned with a gasp and bowed low  before the one person who could end my life with a simple command to his  ever watchful and loyal guards. "I'm so sorry for my words! Please  forgive me, Lord Kagamine!"

The sound of soft laughter filled the air, my eyes widening as I  realized it was coming from the young teen before me. Feeling a  fingertip against my forehead gently pressing against it, I raised my  head up slowly to see the blonde lord smiling at me as he waved off the  guards that had started to move forward at my shouting.

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. A whole wall painted  just for me. Yes, I do like that idea. And I know just the wall you  could paint, too!" The smile on his face would have been worrisome, had I  been paying attention to that instead of overwhelming myself with the  thought of painting even just one of the smaller walls in here.

The smallest wall I had seen so far was easily over twice the size of  the canvas I'd found. I really doubted that he had that wall in mind,  the larger walls I had seen flashing before my eyes as I stood frozen in  place. I didn't even respond when the confused but happy young Lord  began poking me in the cheek.

I wonder how much paint it would take to cover one of those walls.

--------

It took me a week of climbing up and down ladders just to outline the  image I'd come up with when I saw the towering wall of his bedroom. It  was the longest amount of time I had spent focusing on just one painting  without becoming distracted or ending up planning some prank to play on  someone. Of course, that could have been due to the intimidating idea  of what the Lord would do if I dared to even think of playing such a  prank on him.

During the course of that week, I had slowly grown used to the  feeling of his eyes watching me work, responding quickly to any  suggestions he had for the image. Sometimes I would make the change,  sometimes I would explain to him why I felt the need to refuse it.  Whatever I did, he always seemed to respond with a smile, happy to be  taking part in the creation even if it was from the sidelines.

After carefully drawing the last line on the wall to finish outlining  the final branch of a tree, I climbed down the ladder and turned with a  smile to see Len staring at the wall with a look of slight awe on his  face. Watching his eyes slowly lower to meet my own, I noticed an odd  look in his eyes that vanished quickly as a smile appeared on his lips.

"We need to celebrate! You got the last bit of the outline finished  and that means you can start painting in the colors, so we really need  to celebrate! I'll let the servants know to start preparing for the  festivities! We'll spend the whole weekend celebrating and you can  invite your teacher too! He can see how amazing your painting is so  far!" The smile on his face grew even bigger at those words,  like he was happy at the idea of showing this off before it was even  done. "Besides, I have something I need to talk to him about, so this  will let me get things done with even more ease."

"The whole weekend? Do... Do I have to be here for all of it? I mean,  not that I don't appreciate the idea of such a big event for something  as small as this but wouldn't you rather I get started painting it as  soon as possible so that it can be shown off in a completed state?" I  asked nervously, wondering why he was making such a big deal of this.  Maybe he was just that desiring of an excuse to throw a party of some  kind?

"But why rush this when we have a chance to show your teacher how far  you have come in so little time? I mean, this is a huge endeavor and  you have gotten so far already. I was thinking this would take far  longer to complete so why not spend some of the extra time we have in  celebrating your amazing abilities?" The cheerfulness in his voice was  almost enough to hide the hint of disappointment.

If only I could figure out why it was there in his voice.

--------

The music was amazing, listening to the stunning sounds of violins,  cellos, and flutes among the other instruments being played, Len sparing  no expense to hire an entire orchestra to play for the party. The  sounds they made floated through the air, charming me into a silent daze  as I listened raptly to every note.

I barely even noticed when the young Lord walked up beside me, only  coming out of the daze when I felt his hand gently grasp one of mine.  Turning me towards him, he placed his other hand carefully upon my  waist, giving me a gentle tug towards the open area nearby.

"Do me the honor of a dance, (y/n). Please?" In shock at his request, I simply nodded in acceptance.

The next few hours were spent in a mix of dancing, laughter over some  surprisingly humorous jokes the young blonde shared and a sampling of  exotic foods from every land, many that I had never even seen before but  found myself excited to try.

Well, maybe not the one that looked like it was still moving...

--------

Ever since the party, my teacher came to the manor with me every few  days, meeting up with Lord Kagamine while I headed off to his bedroom to  work on the painting. I found myself wondering what he was working on  but dared not to ask, not wishing to upset him by prying into his  private affairs. If he wanted me to know, he would tell me when the time  was right.

Wouldn't he?

--------

Months passed, one bedroom wall finished and moving on to the next  until finally all four were completely covered in paintings. From the  forest to the ocean to the mountains to the plains, every surface caught  a different region for Len to enjoy.

It had taken much persuading on his part but finally, the Lord had  convinced me to call him by his first name, although I still used his  title in front of others. It was only when we were alone that I would  relax on the formalities as he had asked of me.

We had grown closer as the months had passed, celebrating each  completed painting as well as birthdays together. I guess we could even  say we had become good friends, sharing our pasts with each other and  hinting at secrets we didn't want to tell anyone else but maybe, just  maybe, we could tell each other at some point.

It was almost like I imagined having a brother would have been like,  if only Len hadn't made it obvious to me that he did not see me as a  sister. I had grown used to his slightly odd way of showing me his  affections and I couldn't even count the times I had wished that I  returned his feelings.

If only I hadn't fallen for the young gardener instead, with that  gentle smile they turned my way whenever Len wasn't paying attention.  Maybe then I could have returned his feelings and things wouldn't have  turned so tragic.

--------

"What have you done?" I asked, horrified at the sight before me.

So much blood, pooling in the grass around the bodies strewn about  the lawn. The party had started so peacefully but shortly after I had  accepted the hand of the young gardener when he requested a dance, I had  heard the screams begin. Guards had surrounded the area, spears  stabbing at the panicking people as they fell to the ground, left to  bleed out.

I'd began to back away, only to be pulled from my almost lover's  grasp and dragged from the circle of death. Pushed into the waiting arms  of Len, I had nearly stumbled to the ground before he righted me,  looking up to see his eyes staring at me with the look of one who has  lost their mind.

After the last screams had finally died away, he'd released me and  watched as I had stumbled back to the place where I had once stood with  the man I'd imagined my future with. Death was the only thing I'd found,  his body already growing cold as his blood stained the edges of my  dress, mingling with the blood already there.

Feeling arms wrap around me and pull me against a warm chest, I heard Lord Kagamine whisper into my ear.

"Now you can be all mine again since all the people who distracted  you from me are gone. The man who tried to steal you away, the servants  that stole the smiles that should have been mine, even the courtiers who  dared look at you for too long. Now you can be mine and mine alone,"  the insanity in his voice caused me to shiver in fear,  wondering when  the time would come that he would bring my own death about.

--------

It was centuries later that the couples's  legend would come to light, a young couple staying at the  manor-turned-inn while traveling on their honeymoon. They found a hidden  room, filled with scrolls telling how the young lord and his lover, a  female he had trapped inside his manor and forced to accept his  affections, painted each wall of their home.

As they read about the life she was forced to live, they wandered the  huge building and gazed at the carefully restored painted walls,  looking at the images that seemed ready to come to life and move. Trees  and flowers almost seeing to wave about in a gentle breeze, birds ready  to take flight while foxes and small cats were frozen midstep as they  prowled about nearby. The paintings were beautiful, enchanting in their  ability to capture so much in one moment of time, each on more  astounding than the last.

It was when they got to a single room, a sign claiming the room to be  off-limits, that they read the final passage of the last of the scrolls  they had taken from the hidden room. It was covered in dark blotches,  the few readable passages describing how the now grown woman had  murdered the Lord before taking her own life.

Filled with the excitement of forbidden adventure and morbid  curiosity, they entered the roped-off room to find the walls covered in  paintings even more detailed than those before. The light shined in from  the windows, casting odd shadows in the corners of the room and casting  a pale beam across the white sheets of the ancient bed that stood in  the center of the room.

The mountains of one wall were covered  in snow that had yet to melt, waterfalls visible in places where the  trees thinned out. They could almost hear the wind whistling across its  surface, a pile of rocks gathered around its base where they must have  fallen over the centuries.

On another wall, brightly colored  flowers spread through a field, small animals peeking out from a distant  treeline as butterflies flew lazily about the clearing. When the young  wife got closer, she could almost swear she smelled the sweetness of the  blossoms and heard the soft buzz of bees.

Yet another wall had an ocean, the waves frozen  in place as they crashed against the shore, but the young couple swore  they could almost feel the spray of the water as it hit the rocks  scatter along the sand, the faint scent of salt in the air when they got  close to that wall.

The final wall was the one that caused their hearts to stop,  the forest scene breathtaking in its detailed images. They could make  out every leaf and needle of the trees, the branches almost seeming to  sway gently in a hidden breeze. Squirrels and rabbits peered out from  under bushes and wolves seemed ready to jump out from behind thick tree  trunks and caves. A bear stood on it's  hind legs as it stretched up to bat it's paw at a dangling beehive,  honey dripping from the broken surface as the bees buzzed angrily about  the area.

But the real shock was the young couple  standing in the middle of the scene, an elegantly dressed lady with  (h/c) hair pulled into the braids that the nobility of the area would  have worn in centuries past, her fingertips stained various colors as  she held a brush to the surface of an almost finished painting beside  her. The young lord beside her looked at her with eyes that seemed to  burn with emotions best not thought of for long, one hand reaching out  towards the female like he was ready to pull her close, an odd red  shining on his own fingers.

The longer the young couple  gazed upon the pair, the more the red seemed to spread across the image,  first spreading to his wrist and then his elbow, spatters of red  appearing across the rest of his clothing and pooling beneath him in the  grass as screams began to rip through the air. In the short time it  took them to let out a horrified gasp and take a step back, the forest  of the painting had burst into flames, the wolves tearing into the  smaller animals of the scene as the lady stood cackling in madness, the young lord appearing dead at her feet.

Turning to the mountain they saw the top blow off and molten rock seep  out of the now revealed volcano, the trees catching fire as ash filled  the sky. The painting of a field of flowers was gone, in its place a  gathering of dead bodies as the grass was turned into a mess of red mud  and toppled chairs, a haunting melody filling the air along with the  screams of the dead. Turning towards the ocean wall that held the  doorway leading out, they were horrified to find the ocean turned into a  maelstrom of angry water, footprints in the sand leading to a newly  formed cliff where the lady from before now stood.

They  watched in shock as the lady took a knife, stabbing it into her chest  as she took the last step off the cliffside, falling into the churning  waves below. Seeing blood begin dripping down the walls, covering the  now horrifying paintings, the couple ran from the room. Behind them, the  once white bed grew damp, red splotches forming across the sheets as  Len's voice echoed about the room.

"I don't care how  many times you kill us both in this afterlife, I will never let you go.  You are mine (y/n) and forever mine you shall stay."