Lenah was slowly walking down Eld street in her maid uniform with a few bandages on her head.

She had just finished talking to the doctor Patrik said to see. He gave her some medical salve to rub on her bruises and applied a few bandages and then sent her on her way. He didn’t say much to her while he examined her. The process was much faster than she expected, and now the rest of the day was hers. Except, she didn’t know what she wanted to do.

Patrik gave her money to go have fun, but she didn’t know what to spend the money on.

Lenah's idea of fun would have been to spend time with her friends, but she didn’t have any since moving to Graheel. Any attempt where she tried to make some friends and her aunt would get in the way. It felt to Lenah like her aunt was purposely doing this to isolate her, and it was working. So, she didn’t have any friends in Graheel.

She also felt that the money Patrik gave was more so to keep her occupied and out of the estate, away from her aunt. Something she could agree to, but knew she couldn't do in good conscience.

Aria would be verbally abusive with Lenah, but very rarely would she be physically abusive with her. The exception being today. However, this was not a pattern that extended to the maids and workers of the mansion. Aira would hit them when she was upset. Lenha was willing to endure a verbal barrage at her, if it meant her aunt wouldn't hurt the others living on the estate.

Lenha also couldn't leave her aunt.

Aira has legal guardianship over Lenah since her parents died in a car crash. She wanted to leave her for the longest time, but knew that her aunt would hunt her down and drag her back to the mansion. She had the resources to do that, and Lenah saw her do something similar to one of her staff that left and tried to tell of his experience on the estate to the media.

That whole experience with that butler that tried to get away was quite traumatic to her. She recalled the man being dragged back into the mansion with broken legs by two burly men. That was the last time she saw that man, and the look he gave her back then still haunts her. It was a look of helplessness and pleading.

Just one more year and she would be an adult, free of this nightmare she had fallen into. Until then, she would endure and do what she could to protect the people around her.

She decided to save the money Patrik gave her. It would be useful for when she was finally able to move out. Anything nice she got for herself now might get taken away by her aunt.

Lenah decided to take the long way home. Not in a rush to return to her cruel aunt. As she was walking down eld street, she noticed a strange store called the “Mystic Emporium”. From the thing in the display window in the front of the store, it seemed to be some sort of antique store.

“An antique store? Maybe I can find a mirror here to replace the one aunt Aria smashed.” Lenah thought to herself.

The longer that Aria didn’t get what she wanted, the more likely she was to have an outburst. So, Lenah decided to stop and pop in and look for a mirror.

Lenah took a step inside and was met with the sight of cluttered shelves and tables full of all kinds of miscellaneous objects, both exotic and mundane. The store was much bigger on the inside than it looked from outside.

There was a strange feeling in the space. Something about the store felt like she was stepping into another world.

Sitting at the back of the store was a man with black hair and red eyes in a black dress suit. He looked like he was the owner of the store and had an air of mystery around him. The man was writing something in a book when he looked and smiled at Lenah before greeting her.

Red-Eye Man: “Welcome! What can i… are you OK?” the man said concernedly.

Despite seeing a doctor, Lenah still looked pretty beat up with a black eye. Anybody who saw her would wonder what had happened to her.

Lenah: “Um, I'm fine. I just tripped and fell down some stairs earlier. I’m OK, so please don’t worry about it,” she said, lying to the store owner.

Red-Eye Man: “If you say so… Anyways, is there anything that I can help you with?”

Lenah: “Do you have a mirror?”

Red-Eye Man: “Like, a hand mirror?”

Lenah: “No, a body sized mirror, or something large enough that you can see your whole body with.”

Red-Eye Man: “I think I might have something, give me a few seconds while I look in the back.” The man said as he stood up and entered through a door at the back of the store.

Lenah was left alone, so she decided to look around a little and see if there was anything else of interest. There were all kinds of strange and exotic items in the store. The books on the shelves had weird titles she had never heard of before. There was also a case with a pair of wooden sticks the size of a pencil with intricate carving on them. She wondered if those sticks were the eating utensils she heard about from the east.

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After a minute went by, the door at the back swung open with the red eyed man carrying what looked to be an absolutely massive mirror. It was much bigger than an average mirror. The mirror was about as tall as a person and had the width of three people to it. The fact that this store owner could carry it by himself was impressive.

Lenah: “Um sir, do you need a hand?”

Red-Eye Man: “That’s alright. I got it.” He said as he shifted the mirror around to allow it to lean against the wall.

Once the mirror was upright, Lenah could get a better look at it.

Not only was it big, it looked old and extravagant. The polished surface looked untarnished without a single scratch. The frame looked of polished bronze with a detailed floral design to it. It definitely looked like something that you would find in an expensive home.

It was perfect. She didn’t know for sure if she would find a mirror nice enough for the mansion here, but she had. It was hopefully nice enough that her aunt Aria wouldn’t be able to complain.

Her aunt was so obsessed with presenting herself as someone of extreme wealth. She wouldn't let anything into her mansion that wasn't ostentatious in its presentation. Lenha was confident that the size of the mirror, let alone the actual quality, was enough to please her.

Lenah: “It’s beautiful.”

Red-Eye Man: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” the man said, chiming into Lenahs comment.

Lenah: “Huh?”

Red-Eye Man: “It’s what’s written on the mirror. Here look,” The man said as he pointed at the top of the mirror.

In the bronze frame, there was a phrase carved into it that read: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so reflect upon yourself to achieve true beauty.”

Lenah: “Oh, I see what you’re talking about. Um, what exactly does that phrase mean?” She said while confused about the phrase.

Red-Eye Man: “Well, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ is just a simple saying to express that beauty is subjective.”

Lenah: “Oh, I know that. I was talking about the second half, ‘reflect upon yourself to achieve true beauty’.”

Red-Eye Man: “Well, it’s kinda self explanatory. If you want to find something beautiful, you need to do a bit of self reflection.”

Lenah: “Oh, um OK. Um, I'm sorry. I’m a bit of an idiot and still don’t really get it.” She said still confused.

Red-Eye Man: “Don’t put yourself down. Everyone comes to an understanding in different ways. Let me try and put it another way. See this,” he said as he picked up the pair of wooden sticks that Lenah was looking at previously.

As he did this, Lenah nodded her head.

Red-Eye Man: “What do you see?” he said while gesturing at the sticks in his hand.

Lenah: “Um, a pair of wooden sticks?”

Red-Eye Man: “OK, and what do you think others see when they look at this?”

Lenah: “Um, they also see a pair of wooden sticks?” She said, unsure if that was what she was supposed to say.

Red-Eye Man: “Perhaps, but they might also see a tool, a historical artifact, a piece of craftsmanship, or something that is a beautiful piece of artwork.”

Lenah: “Ooh, so that’s a piece of art.”

Red-Eye Man: “It’s actually just a tool used for eating, but your point is still correct. Someone might still see this as art. So, ask yourself why someone can see a quality in something you can’t, and in doing so you might begin to see the world through a different perspective. Remember, beauty is subjective and only you can find the beauty in something, and that can take a bit of introspection to do so.”

Lenah: “Ok. Um, I still don’t get it,” she said, still confused.

The red-eyed man let out a disappointed sigh.

Red-Eye Man: “I'm sorry, I'm not doing a good job explaining. Let me put it like this. Achieving beauty is more complicated than just appearances. That is kinda at the heart of what that phrase means.”

Lenah: “Ok, I think I get that.” she said, finally understanding the phrase.

Red-Eye Man: “So, is this mirror to your liking?” he said, trying to change the subject of conversation.

Lenah: “Yeah, it’ll be perfect for my aunt.”

Red-Eye Man: “Oh, so this is a gift?”

Lenah: “Well kinda, but not really. Um, it's to replace a mirror that was broken recently,” she said, trying to avoid giving details about what happened.

Red-Eye Man: “Sounds like you got some bad luck.”

Lenah: “Huh?”

Red-Eye Man: “The broken mirror. Breaking mirrors is said to give you seven years of bad luck.”

Lenah: “Then there must be centuries worth of bad luck in that mansion then,” she muttered under her breath.

Lenah recalled the countless times her aunt had smashed many mirrors in her anger.

Red-Eye Man: “Excuse me?”

Lenah: “It's nothing. Do you deliver?” she said, trying to quickly change the topic of discussion.

Red-Eye Man: “Um, yeah. I can get someone to deliver this to you.”

They both continued to talk about the details of purchasing the mirror, until Lenah bought the mirror and gave the shop owner the address where to deliver it.

Before Lenha left the store, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The black eye and damage done to her face wasn't as bad as she thought it was. She was always told she was pretty by her parents when they were alive. However, her confidence in her appearance had been undermined since she started living with her aunt years ago, but something about looking at her reflection restored a sliver of that confidence today.

Her day started out terrible, but she somehow felt like everything was going to be ok.

She then left and made her way back home to her aunt's mansion to tell Patrick about the mirror she had just gotten.