The story will probably have about 3 or 4 chapters only.
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Hakuryuu liked dressing in fine clothes. It didn't matter to him whether those clothes were intended for be for men or women. As long as they looked good on him and he felt comfortable in them it did not matter at all. Unfortunately, his family had a different opinion on that. A prince had to wear the appropriated clothes for every event. Wearing women's clothes as a prince was not acceptable! When he had been a child it was alright for him to dress up as a girl because he was just playing with his sister. Now that he was a teenager it was not alright anymore. He was too old to play such games. Too old to play games in general. There were no excuses anymore to not be dressed appropriated. But Hakuryuu still loved wearing nice clothes. And so he decided to rebel!
He would sneak out of the palace and visit the market place. There he bought fabrics, makeup, hair ornaments, shoes and other things. Only so much as he could easily hide from the guards, servants and his own family in case they would find him when he returned to the palace.
Whenever his sister threw her old clothes away or sorted her jewelry out he helped her. Thereby he took a few things with him. No one would miss them. The palace was filled with beautiful stuff he was not allowed to wear or even possess because he was a prince. No words could descript how much he hated that. Not being able to tell or show what he liked, to keep such a secret from his family, to hide and deny a part of who he really was did hurt and made him feel so wrong. It felt as if there was something terribly wrong with him and that he should fix it. He was worrying his family.
Hakuryuu did not change and tried to ignore that feeling as good as he could. The time he was happy with doing what he liked was worth it.
Near the crown city was a forest. Inside said forest was a palace. As child he had heard many stories about the palace and the forest. A witch lived there they said. The palace was haunted by the souls of its former inhabitants. Those who entered the forest never returned. There were more fairy tales, but those were so far-fetched that he did not believe them, not even as a child. However, he still dreamed of all the possibilities that could have caused people to abandon their home. Maybe there really was a demon, a witch, a strange animal, a god or ghosts.
Once he had asked his big brother Hakuren about the forest. Hakuren told him that their father went into the forest and got lost in it. Of course their father managed to get out or else none of them would have been born. Their father hadn't found a palace, instead came across a few skeletons. Hakuryuu had then asked his father about it, but it had been in vain. His father could barely remember his adventure in the forest and Hakuryuu already heard the things his father remembered from Hakuren. In the end, all he could do was to dream about the things that might be inside the forest and the palace.
Never had he thought that he would pay the forest a visit. For a long time Hakuryuu had been able to hide the dresses, makeup etc. from his family – there had been a few incidents in which they almost found out –, but one day his father saw him in a dress and was far away from being pleased. What followed was the worst.
Hakutoku was a stern man. He had his opinions and believes. It was hard to convince him of things that differs from his point of view. One could argue with him and he took one serious but it was still hard to change Hakutoku. Hakuryuu knew that a lot of people were afraid of his father because he was powerful and merciless – Hakuryuu had saw his father as a man that was hard with himself and with others, but he was also fair –, but Hakuryuu never had been afraid of his father before. Towards him and his siblings his father had been kind, sometimes a little bit harsh, but all in all very caring.
The day his father had seen him in the dress was the day Hakuryuu started to be afraid of his father. It was the first time his father shouted at him, the first time his father hit him and the first time Hakuryuu saw his father as something else than a human. After that day Hakuryuu stopped looking up to his father, stopped seeing him as a human, answers his father's questions as short as possible and tried to avoid contact. The family dinner became awaked and unpleasant and Hakuryuu started to eat less at dinner. If he still was hungry afterwards he sneaked into the kitchen and took from the leftovers or cooked something himself. Cooking, another thing a prince should not do. Another secret.
Hakuryuu did run away from home that day. His family did not want him, so he left. Actually, he had not planned to leave home forever, just a little time out. The bag he had packed was filled with a few dresses, makeup, hair ornaments, jewelry and a pair of shoes. He also had put some food inside. He needed to hide his belongings better, so he had to get them out of the palace. His father would take them away from him otherwise.
In his search for a place to hide his stuff and to calm down Hakuryuu entered the forest. It was a normal forest. Trees on the left. Trees on the right. Trees in front. Trees behind. Trees everywhere. One could get easily lost in here, nevertheless Hakuryuu had already thought about how to mark his way so he would find his way back home. If he hadn't been so angry he would have paid more attention to his surroundings and enjoyed the many unknown plants. Some of them only existed in the forest.
Since Hakuryuu had no destination he wandered around while it got darker and darker. Soon he would not be able to see much anymore and it got colder as well. He had forgotten to put warmer clothes in his bad, he also forgot rainwear. Of course it started raining. Hakuryuu's mood got worse. This was all his father's fault! Hopefully the makeup would not get damaged.
It took Hakuryuu hours to reach the forest's palace. He was so happy to finally have found a place to hide from the cold and the rain. Unfortunately, the roof and the walls of the building were damaged so the wind and the rain could still get inside. Therefore, he searched for a room which wasn't damaged or at least not as much as the rest. Such a room was not found easily, but it existed. When he found said room Hakuryuu looked through his bag in search of dry clothes. Most things were wet or damp. However some were not. To make sure that everything could became dry he spread them out on the ground. Also he ate something because he hadn't done so since breakfast. His feet hurt and he was cold. However, he did not regret leaving home. He also did not think about his family at the moment. They probably had not realized that he was gone anyway. So why bother with them? Hakuryuu's thoughts were busy with thinking how amazing it was that the palace did really exist and that he found it. A part of him also thought about how cold it was and that he should search for a blanket. Freezing to death or catching a cold was undesirable. And so he started his scouting expedition through the palace with a new outfit – a few clothes were still dry and so he changed his clothes.
The building reminded Hakuryuu of the palace in Rakushou. However, it seemed that the walls were sometimes painted with unknown signs, maybe letters, and sceneries which looked like out of a book. The palace in Rakushou did not possess such walls.
Maybe the former inhabitants of this place had built the palace in Rakushou as well. Ancestors of them? Would be great. But his teacher never mentioned something like this. His teacher never mentioned anything about the origins of the Kou Empire and its people.
When Hakuryuu heard a loud sound which he couldn't identify he startled and turned around. Was someone besides him here? Or was it an animal? If so, was it a nice one or dangerous one? And if it was a human, was it a nice one? Maybe one that grow up here? The last of his kind? Or just a bandit? Whatever the cause of the sound had been it probably was better not to search for it. In the horror stories he had heard from Hakuren searching for the cause would led to one's death. Hakuryuu didn't want to die! His curiosity was not happy with that but before he could explore the palace anyway he needed some light. If the former inhabitants left their home forcefully than they might have left a few things behind and hopefully one of those things were candles. Soon he would not be able to see anymore because it would be too dark. With enough candles he could possibly warm himself up. Well probably not.
In the end Hakuryuu found some candles and candleholders which was great because now he didn't have to hold the candle all the time and didn't have to deal with the wax. Getting wax on one's hand wasn't nice. Now he only needed something to light the candles. Since it was really dark already, the search was more a "search with the hand and try to feel whether it is what you want or not" than a "search with the eyes". It was so frustrating! More than once Hakuryuu cursed and more than once he hit his feet against something.
After searching for a long time, a lot of pain and swearing he finally found what he wanted and lit one of the candles. The light was dim and Hakuryuu did not saw so much more than before, but at least he could see a little bit better and that was preferable to seeing nothing, right?
When Hakuryuu reached the room in which he had left his things he sat down on the floor, put the candleholders next to him and put the candles inside. As expected it didn't get warmer but brighter. Hopefully, his clothes would get dry and wouldn't smell like wood or anything.
He was freezing, but it was too dark to try to get home. Hence he had to stay the night and hope that no one would eat him or that he froze to death.
At some point Hakuryuu felt asleep. His sleep was restless and he woke up multiple times. As soon as the sun would rise he would change back in his old, hopefully dry, clothes and return home, hopefully without being noticed.
