In the dark halls of the royal castle, where mold and cold penetrate into every crack of the wall, the proud adviser of the king was hiding, representing a gloomy semblance of a man. His face was distorted by sinister features: his nose, thin and curved, resembled the beak of a bird of prey, and his eyes, small and bright yellow, glittered with anger, like two sharp shards of glass. His beard, sparse and shriveled, scattered like the carcass of an unsuccessful actor, and his skin, dull and puffy, only emphasized his sinister aura.