From the east of the mansion, within the tangle of the deep forest.

  On a hill nearby stood a solitary man, draped in a tailored black suit, a three-piece ensemble with a tailcoat and white bowtie. His tailcoat fluttered faintly in the winter wind; the immaculate white bowtie at his throat stood out neatly.

  A top hat crowned his head, lending his silhouette the dignity of a gentleman. White gloves covered his hands, one tugging at a pocket watch that hung elegantly from his waistcoat, the other fussing endlessly with his cufflinks.

  He buttoned them. He unbuttoned them. Then buttoned again, as though unable to decide which state was more fitting.

  His gloved fingers hovered indecisively at the cuffs restlessly, as though caught in an internal debate. Stay buttoned? Or stay undone? He was absorbed in the trivial act as if it were the most significant choice in the world.

  On his shoulder, a bird of ethereal presence perched silently. Its feathers shimmered with countless colors shifting and rippling through its body as though the creature were made of pure, flowing light refracted through a prism. The bird’s vibrant eyes fixed on the direction of the mansion, mirroring the man’s own toward the distant attic window.

  The man removed his pocket watch from his waistcoat and clicked it open. Within its case, the dial was unlike any common clock: the hour hand pointed upward, not to a numeral, but to a strange symbol, a cross intersected by a triangle, an image reminiscent of an archer’s bow with the cross as its arrow.

  Above him, the winter sun still lingered bright and high, spilling its warmth across the chill landscape.

  At some point, he raised his cane, tipping his top hat slightly with its curved handle to get a clearer view of the attic’s closed window in the distant mansion.

  “Dead?”

  His quiet voice, edged with puzzled curiosity, slipped into the open air. There was no anger in his tone, only bewilderment, as though something had deviated from his expectations.

  He stared a moment longer and absentmindedly unbuttoned his cuffs yet again.

  “Is this your plan? How intriguing.”

  In the shadow of the tree, the man crouched down without disrupting his elegant composure. With a gloved hand, he brushed aside some dirt, exposing a small worm burrowed beneath the icy soil. He held it aloft before his shoulder, offering it to the colorful bird.

  The bird, however, refused the offering. The creature cocked its iridescent head with an almost humanlike disdain, then pecked at the man’s cheek with its beak.

  It flapped its radiant wings, lifting from his shoulder and into the air. As the bird ascended, its vibrant, kaleidoscopic body began to dissolve like paint rinsed from the winter canvas before vanishing completely.

  The man stood still for a moment, saying nothing. Then, with deliberate grace, he removed his top hat and bent at the waist. His boots shifted elegantly, one foot stepping slightly back and lower than the other, completing the gesture with practiced elegance. He delivered a courtly bow to the empty air where the bird had vanished.

  As he took off his top hat, it revealed none of his features. Or, it was to say, there was nothing on his face. His face was empty. He had no eyes, no nose, no mouth, and no ears. His pale skin was smooth and blank as white paper, like a fresh-painted canvas untouched by a brush.

  A distorted chuckle leaked from his faceless form. He straightened his posture, replaced the top hat on his bare head, re-fastened his cufflinks, and turned back toward the forest’s depths.

  “It’s almost time,” his cane tapped softly against the ground as he disappeared further into the shadows.

  —

  Isidora awakened from her slumber.

  The world around her remained quiet and dark, bathed in the calm of the deep night. She wasn’t sure how much time had truly passed, but judging from the blackness outside, it couldn’t have been long, half a day at most.

  That was a small relief, all things considered. Just the thought of waking up to yet another unpredictable lunatic standing in front of her, introducing themselves as "the Herald" was enough to send her thoughts spiraling into grim places.

  If things had come to that, she suspected she would’ve been forced to resort to even more extreme measures.

  ‘What measure?’ Isa stirred groggily within their shared mind, her curiosity piercing the mental fog of awakening.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  The sensation of Isa’s reemergence made Izzy blink curiously. Even though they were one and the same, it seemed they didn’t need to wake or sleep together. If Isa’s mind had temporarily shut down, the mature side of her mind could operate freely, and vice versa.

  It made her wonder again what the true nature of their duality was. Were they truly halves of a whole, or something stranger altogether? What was the actual nature of their fractured mind?

  Thinking much wouldn’t help, so Izzy pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She would think of it later, since it was not an emergency question that needed to be answered.

  ‘Well, beg for their mercy, I suppose.’ she answered with mock seriousness.

  ‘...’ Isa was silent for a moment, unimpressed.

  Izzy chuckled faintly at her young self’s reaction. That was what her past self was good at. Exceptionally well, enough that people almost exalted her for her silver tongue. It usually backfired, though.

  Her gaze shifted downward, settling on Benjamin’s body. The grotesque corpse was still there. His corpse hadn’t disappeared, unfortunately… or perhaps fortunately?

  She narrowed her eyes. If it had vanished, that would have been unsettling in a whole different way. At least this was ordinary, grotesque but ordinary.

  ‘Now, how do I clean this corpse up?’

  Did she even need to? From a practical standpoint, the corpse didn’t bother her. She couldn’t smell it, after all. The grotesque sight wasn’t pleasant, but unless it started becoming a problem, it hardly felt like a priority.

  And in their way, they even promised more benefits. A carcass like this would soon attract scavengers, like flies, worms, and mice. All the free food would soon wander straight to her door.

  Wasn’t that a good thing? Free food was the best food.

  ‘Don’t be lazy, Izzy! We must clean this up!’ Isa’s small voice rang out in protest.

  ‘No, weren’t you supposed to be my younger self? Why are you opposing me now?’ Izzy groaned in exasperation, complaining in her heart.

  Already, the urgency of survival was gone, and the young one returned to fussing. How typical of her.

  With the immediate threat dealt with, Izzy felt herself reverting to her usual, more laid-back attitude. After the chaos of the past few months, it felt like she hadn’t had a single moment to relax.

  For now, Izzy just wanted a moment to rest.

  ‘Then how do we move this?’

  Izzy threw the question at her young mind, certain Isa had no proper answer. Sure enough, Isa hesitated, not sure how to answer back.

  ‘Right? It’s not like I want to ignore it. We simply can’t do anything about it, after all!’

  Smug satisfaction rippled through her mind as Izzy folded her mental arms and sent the thought straight to Isa, expecting that would put an end to the conversation. Victory, as always, was hers.

  But then she caught a glimpse of Isa’s intentions. Her smugness evaporated.

  ‘W… Wait, let’s talk about it, shall we?’

  ‘Ohhh! Oooooohhh!!!’

  Dammit! Izzy cursed inwardly. She had intentionally not wanted to think about this, but it seemed it was not working for this spontaneous young mind.

  In front of her, Benjamin’s limp arms began to twitch and rise, pulled up unnaturally by invisible threads. Isa was moving Benjamin’s limbs using Psychokinesis. His four limbs jerked about in midair like a grotesque puppet, his body twisting and rolling slowly under Isa’s clumsy control.

  Izzy grimaced. She had been deliberately avoiding showing her young mind just how much their capacities had grown.

  Yes, Isidora had grown stronger. Before, even dragging a small hammer drained their energy, but now? Moving heavier objects was now a far more manageable task. Moving chairs, rolling lamps, playing with gnomes, or flailing a corpse’s limbs required only a fraction of their energy.

  Their Fiend Vision, previously limited to a smaller, 15-meter radius, had now expanded absurdly, encompassing a range of approximately 150 meters around them. From their position, Izzy could perceive nearly the entirety of the mansion, as well as a sizable section of the surrounding garden.

  As she tested the limits of her abilities, Izzy couldn’t shake the analogy forming in her mind.

  In one way, their senses flowed like an invisible current of water, touching and perceiving everything open to them.

  To put it simply, if there was a window to peer through, an open door, or a crack large enough for a human eye to see, their vision would flow into it effortlessly, revealing what lay beyond.

  Still, the limitations of their Fiend Vision were as usual.

  Just like water, it couldn’t seep through something fully sealed. A room with no openings, or a tightly shut chest or cabinet, became impenetrable barriers to their sight, and thus, their awareness would halt there.

  And if they were trapped inside an enclosed room or barrier, their “water sense” would be trapped, and they could not perceive anything outside.

  But this was just a small inconvenience, the expanded radius of her Fiend Vision was, without question, an extraordinary advantage.

  They no longer needed to rely on her mouse puppets to scout, as this upgrade alone had transformed their exploration and control of the environment into something extraordinary.

  And with that sight came control. Her Psychokinesis had extended its reach as well. While there was still a cost associated with her abilities, she could now manipulate objects within her expanded vision radius. It meant Izzy could control anything in the mansion, all without moving from her original position.

  But such power demanded its toll. To see beyond 15 meters, they had to feed it energy. The farther from their position they stretched their vision, the more energy it consumed, with the maximum at 150 meters.

  The same applied to her Psychokinesis. The further the object lay from them, the more energy and concentration she needed to manipulate it. Still, the sheer versatility this power-up granted them couldn’t be understated.

  Yet despite these limits, the leap in their strength was undeniable.

  My weekday is going to be quite busy.

  In the meantime, I'm going to try to do some backlogs.