Approaching the mansion Ian's face grew increasingly twisted with each step he took

"There is something really unique about this place, emphasis on the unique" Ian thought grimly

Walking through the door Ian was welcomed to a brightly lit entrance way with mahogany stairs leading to the upper floors and soft carpets covering the floors of the entrance and the upstairs halls

Walking up the stairs Ian began to get a strange feeling

"It feels so plain its suspicious, no hunting trophies, no busts, no paintings, no excess furniture. This barely feels like a home" Ian thought whilst looking around the halls of the house

Walking into a room which should have been the study Ian was welcomed an empty desk and bookshelves

"There is definitely a noble living here, he was seen coming in not less than 3 hours ago" Ian thought

Sighing Ian thought of something he regretted coming to his mind

"He's probably one of those people who like to live in "secrecy" due to eccentric tastes in whatever he/she is into. I should probably look for a "secret" entrance or whatever" Ian thought feeling the odd emotions in the air

Connecting with his inner reality Ian searched for a path finding treasure, soon Ian searches led to him attaining a copper compass with a blank face and a long green needle

Brining the compass out to his body Ian lifted the compass and injected some of his energy inside

Suddenly the needle twitched and swung around to the exit of the study, following the needle Ian was soon led to the kitchen of the mansion

The needle then pointed towards one of the floor cupboards within the kitchen

"Here? In the kitchen?" Ian was actually quite bewildered at the thought of a secret entrance being in the kitchen of all places

"The study I could understand, same with the master bedroom or a storage room but the kitchen?"

Suddenly Ian thought of something that made him increasingly worried about what he was about to see

"I just realized this but, there is no staff here. No maids, butlers, cooks, nothing."

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Shuddering Ian opened the cupboard and discovered a trapdoor on the bottom of the cupboard

Waving his hand, the trapdoor unlocked and slowly opened. Turning to climb down the ladder Ian slowly began to climb down, the trapdoor and cupboard door closing behind him

____________________________________________________________________________________

Climbing down the ladder Ian was welcomed to a well-lit hallway with lavish decorations on the walls. Stepping onto the carpet Ian felt a strange sensation on his feet, an odd springy sort of feeling. It did not have the texture of fur, fabric or any common place carpet material.

"Hair?" Ian thought looking down at the carpet.

"A carpet made of hair? I'm about to experience something way out of the norm, aren't I?" Ian questioned in his mind

Continuing down the hall Ian concealed himself, gently approaching and opening the nearest door

Peering inside Ian observed the contents of the room. "Storage? For food and the like? How did it get down here? Unless there is an entrance I am unaware of"

Closing the door, Ian continued down the hall and searched any form of sound to investigate

Looking down to the very end of the hall, which lied quite some distance away large amounts of chatter, movement and a single source of laughter emitted from the door

Approaching the door Ian slide inside and was welcomed to an odd scene

A bald man looking at his staff with schadenfreude as their hair was cut, both men and women none were spared.

Only a few who seemed to only keep their hair for public showing got to maintain their normal hairstyle and they were kept in the corner of the room to stay out of the bald man's sight

"Yup, I walked into something odd..." Ian thought heavily

Disguising himself as a bald man Ian hid in a shaded corner of the room before revealing himself

"My lord uhh..." Ian suddenly stopped his sentence

"I forgot his name didn’t I" Ian thought with self-loathing

"My lord I have some wonderful news!" Ian announced in false joy

Having been in his blissful schadenfreude the lord in question was quite displeased to have his moment ruined

"What is it" The Lord growled

"I have heard news that the princess has acquired some sort of concoction that promotes hair growth, for anyone!" Ian informed in happiness

"WHAT!?" Standing up immediately the lord gripped Ian's shoulders with a mad glint in his eyes "Are you telling the truth! If your lying..." The Lord said with an odd mixture of warning, joy, and insanity

"Never my lord!" Ian swore

"However, she said it would only be given to those who needed it and were sworn to allegiance to her by contract" Ian said with increasing disappointment

"Is that it? That's all she wants? My loyalty?" The Lord said with glee and madness

"I would kneel to anyone who get help me get my hair back, do you know how much the court mocks me for my condition because it was rumored I have no hair...ANYWHERE. I've lost contacts and good subordinates because they couldn’t take the mockery and distain affiliated with me." The Lord began to shout

"My lord it is true I swear my life on it" Ian said with absolute confidence

"This man must bend under pressure easily if all it takes for him to fall this far is a bit of mockery, or he is a madman with high EQ" Ian thought

"Get me the contract page! I will sign and send it in today!" The Lord shouted in glee

Soon the contract was sent in and the lord got back his hair and "hair" striding back into the court with pride and his mad obsession calmed, for now.

And the princess, well she was staring in awe at the contract in front of her

After all she had tried to capture this lord's loyalty before and never succeeded

"That man works in mysterious ways" The princess thought