Each day, Benjamin would climb into the attic. He would stand before the painting, whispering his affection to the painting.

  “I miss you, Isidora.”

  It was not until he poisoned himself, appearing as a pitiful old man on his deathbed, that Isidora finally found her chance to kill him.

  Looking at the corpse sprawled right in front of them, Izzy couldn’t help but sighed.

  “How should I clear up this mess…”

  ‘I want to eat candies…’

  Izzy lifted her gaze toward the window. Outside, the world remained quiet and dark, bathed in the calm of the deep night.

  She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but judging from the blackness outside, it couldn’t have been long. Half a day at most.

  There was something deeply unsettling about this situation. For some reason, her young mind had expressed a strong affection toward Benjamin.

  And Izzy herself had felt an equally strong, burning hatred.

  Both emotions had surged violently during the confrontation, threatening to drown their judgment in raw feeling. For a moment, it had felt as if they might lose themselves entirely.

  But they were confident. They were confident that they could kill him.

  From the ground, Benjamin’s corpse suddenly twitched. It slowly, stiffly, began to stand.

  “You can control the corpse?” Izzy raised an eyebrow at this grotesque scene.

  “Yes?” Isa tilted her head, as if the answer surprised her as well.

  Izzy had never tried this before. But Isa had always been more imaginative, more instinctive in these matters. If something could be done, Isa would find a way to do it first.

  Izzy extended her Field Vision, a wave of understanding washed over her.

  ‘So that’s it.’

  They had grown stronger. Their Field Vision and Psychokinesis could now extend to a full 150 meters. They could possess human corpses and turn them into marionettes.

  Yet, Izzy didn’t find this particular power-up really that delightful.

  “Something on your mind, Izzy?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  Izzy felt uneasy, as if the danger had not yet passed. But since she couldn’t explain it, it must have been her imagination.

  For now, while Isa controlled the corpse to clean things up, Izzy returned to their mindscape. She sank into the plush velvet chair in her Theatre of Memory and replayed everything that had happened over the past few days.

  ‘Hmm...’

  The fluctuations in their emotions were caused by the cane in Benjamin’s hand. That was why their hatred and affection had spiked so much during that fight.

  There was little else of note, besides the diary with strange scribbles and the porcelain doll, a replica of herself.

  Two orange-capped bottles, while one had a blue cap.

  A porcelain X-shaped statuette resembling two swords crossed together, a necklace with a deep-red flame sword pendant, a small cross etched with a rose at its heart, and… candies.

  Izzy updated her assessment of Benjamin’s abilities, as well as their own condition.

  Their energy reserves were limited. They didn’t have much time left before depletion became a serious concern.

  When her young mind finished cleaning, together, they controlled Benjamin and walked down to the basement.

  They descended down the floor, drew a match box, and lit a wall mount lamp.

  Simultaneously, the wall-mounted lamps lit up one by one, and in an instant, the darkness retreated, pushed back by the illumination that filled the underground space.

  Izzy controlled Benjamin to walk along the hallway lined with lamps. She slowed his steps and paused beside one of them, studying it closely.

  ‘This yellow energy was…’ Izzy noted about how they work.

  Benjamin turned his heel toward the direction of the pillars.

  They moved into the wider chamber where stone pillars stood in rows.

  Isa guided the marionette to drift closer to them, mesmerized by the intricate carvings and designs. Izzy, in contrast, felt little interest. There was nothing worth noting in them.

  Each pillar rose like a guardian. Their stone surfaces were scarred with age, cracked from centuries of neglect. Time had worn them smooth in places, reduced details to vague shapes.

  Whatever stories they once told had long been eroded away. In Izzy’s perspective, they were just weathered bumps in the rock.

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  Her gaze drifted upward.

  The ceiling was blank. There was nothing there. Just an empty bare stone.

  ‘?’

  Yet, a chill crept up her spine.

  ‘Why is there nothing on this?’

  ‘Yes?’

  There should be something there, Izzy was sure of it.

  A trumpet, or some sort.

  ‘Why am I sure of it?’

  Izzy shook her head.

  ‘What am I doing…’

  Izzy frowned. Maybe residual traces of his emotional manipulation were still clinging to her consciousness. It seemed the recent fight against Benjamin had affected her more than she realized.

  They resumed their study, walking toward the old walls on both sides and studying the mural.

  Izzy only spared them a cursory glance. The scenes were fragmented, depicting the moon maiden protecting the village, a child, and a faded man protecting them before a swirling mass of darkness with uncountable eyes and grasping hands.

  Before long, Benjamin reached the metallic door at the end of the hallway. Together, they guided Benjamin’s corpse down the spiral staircase.

  ‘May you rest in eternal peace.’

  They walked past the chamber of prison cells and offered a silent prayer for the souls that had once been trapped. Those poor children. The air here was colder, carrying an oppressive stillness with it.

  As expected, her young mind’s anger and disgust rising, a surge of emotion unlike anything she had witnessed from the young mind before, save for when Benjamin’s ability had manipulated her.

  ‘Calm down, Isa.’

  ‘Yes…’ Isa replied, her voice trembled slightly.

  What intrigued Izzy was that, despite Benjamin being the culprit of this whole suffering, Isa’s anger wasn’t directed at him. The fact that she hadn’t immediately destroyed his corpse was proof enough.

  Within the chamber, they moved from cell to cell, pausing at each one to pray. It was Isa’s idea, not Izzy’s, but Izzy didn’t mind. They still had plenty of time, at least for now.

  At last, Benjamin’s footsteps carried them to the farthest end of the chamber, where a wooden door stood, the threshold to the altar room.

  Benjamin pushed the wooden door open and stepped inside. There was no need to be cautious in this place, Benjamin had already died, after all.

  Izzy controlled Benjamin to walk toward the altar. He picked up the exquisite golden sacrificial dagger resting before the double sword statue.

  ‘Izzy?’

  ‘Hmm?’

  ‘We shouldn’t touch anything carelessly…’

  ‘...Right.’

  Izzy paused, reassessing the situation carefully.

  Now that her young mind reminded her, Izzy really should be more careful. Who knew what other traps Benjamin had laid in this room? What if the dagger was cursed, or triggered some defensive mechanism?

  With everything that had happened, recklessness was the last thing they needed.

  But it was a surprise.

  Isa actually thinking for once? She actually reminded her?

  ‘Izzy…’ Isa whimpered in their shared mind.

  ‘Haha, Sorry, sorry.’ That went too far, huh? Izzy chuckled, before controlling Benjamin to hide the dagger in his inner coat.

  Well, it was just a dagger, nothing serious. Although Izzy felt danger from it, she also felt it’s quite harmless.

  Still…

  ‘Isa, you’ve been quieter than usual.’

  ‘Uh?’

  ‘Want some candy?’

  “Candy!”

  Now that was the Isa she knew.

  They took the green-eyed, black-haired girl, Arriet, to the attic and possessed her, making her their new vessel.

  Izzy tossed a candy into Arriet's hand to keep Isa happy while she cleaned, dressed, and fed the vessel.

  The body had been neglected for who knows how long; left in the basement to die, it clearly needed food to function.

  As soon as Isa finished, however, Izzy noticed strangers lingering outside the mansion.

  ‘Hmm. We have guests, Isa. We should greet them properly.’

  “Yes!!”

  In the dining room, the candlelight flickered, reflecting the black-haired girl’s shadow. Her silhouette twisted, trembling into something that almost looked like a grin.

  The little mouse squeaked in panic and disappeared out of sight.

  A heartbeat later, every light in the mansion went out, plunging it into darkness.

  —

  Jack, Rudolph, Glen, and Arnold. That was the list of guests that they had “served.”

  Apparently, they were so happy about their service. So much so that they had left behind a lot of tips!

  “2 vessels, 2 marionettes, and a lot of energy! What generous customers!”

  “Heeheehee… Izzy! Don’t make me laugh! xD”

  Looking at her, Izzy sighed in relief. As expected, a cheerful mind was better than a grumpy one.

  The only bad thing was that Benjamin’s corpse was no longer usable. And Rudolph’s corpse was partly damaged from the fighting. But it was no big deal. They had gained more than they had lost.

  As usual, Izzy retreated into their mindscape, settling into her familiar seat to note their enemies’ power while Isa controlled the marionettes to clean up their little battlefield.

  The young mind muttered some strange things as she worked. But Izzy didn’t really pay attention to her. This was normal. Isa had always been like this. Isa was Isa, she was unusual as usual.

  ‘Izzy… I can hear you, you know?’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I–Izzyy!’

  Ignoring her young mind whining, Izzy controlled Jack to return to the table. Her newly acquired Vessel settled onto the study chair and continued to write.

  There was not much loot to speak of. Some coins, a spring cart, several wooden crates filled with miscellaneous goods, and a horse.

  ‘Oh, right.’ And that girl too.

  The girl was still alive. Her body was curled in the corner of the cart, half-covered in a tattered brown cloak that had seen better days

  Beneath it, she wore a patched brown dress, with torn trousers.

  Izzy estimated her age. The girl couldn’t have been older than eighteen,

  Her blonde hair was tangled and wild, strands slipping loose from an old, crooked bonnet that barely stayed in place.

  She slept peacefully, completely unaware of where she was, or what had happened around her.

  “Hmm, what should I do with this girl?”

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