On Arata's second day at the mansion...
The young man was in the mansion's enormous backyard, wielding a pair of gardening shears.
He tried to trim the tall grass, but miserably failed with every attempt, leaving the cuts completely crooked and uneven.
A few meters away, Sumire was also trying to trim the branches to perfection, but the result of her efforts was equally disastrous, leaving the lawn with holes and completely disproportionate tufts.
Finally, Loiry silently approached.
With quick and precise movements of her shears, the white-haired twin began expertly correcting every one of the mistakes left behind by her sister.
She handled the metal with almost millimeter-perfect precision, sculpting the bushes until she transformed them into a perfect living grass statue of their master, Joseph.
"Wow...!" Arata exclaimed, his jaw dropping at her skill.
On the third day...
Arata walked while carrying heavy bags filled with spices and seasonings, while Loiry silently walked right beside him.
The two were returning from a commercial village located near the estate.
They walked side by side along the light-brown dirt roads that wound their way back toward the mansion.
The silence between them was uncomfortable and heavy.
Arata still knew almost nothing about the sisters' past and had no real closeness with either of them; his only genuine bonds in this new world were with Emma and Buck.
As they continued forward, the orange light of the sunset bathed the horizon, illuminating the path back home.
On the fifth day...
Arata was sitting in the shade of a tree in the mansion's backyard, accompanied by Emma. He let out a deep sigh and lowered his eyes to look at his own hands, which still had a few bandages because of the cuts he had suffered on his first day of work in the kitchen.
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"Hey, Arata, are you okay?" Emma asked, noticing the thoughtful expression on the boy's face.
"It's just that... I can't really get close to Loiry," Arata confessed, scratching the back of his head dejectedly.
"I wanted to be friends with everyone in this mansion, but so far, you're my only real friend, Emma-Pan!"
"Pan...?" She blinked her purple eyes in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"It's a special suffix I just made up to show that I'm very close to you, Emma-Pan!" he explained, opening a wide smile.
"Alright, then... You really are kind of a strange boy, Arata..." Emma commented, feeling her cheeks grow slightly warm.
"But I'm genuinely grateful that you consider me your friend."
"And why wouldn't I, you cutie?!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.
"You're beautiful! Your violet eyes are magnificent, and your blonde hair is as bright to me as the light of the full moon!"
"You complimenting me like that out of nowhere only makes me even more certain that you're a little crazy," she retorted with a shy laugh before averting her gaze toward the lawn, becoming more serious.
"What I meant is that... I've never had any friends before. You're my first human friend, Arata."
"Thank you so much for being here... People normally don't treat me this kindly."
"They don't see me as a normal person, but rather as the mysterious daughter of a noble couple who died under mysterious circumstances... I really hope you'll continue staying by my side. You will, won't you?" she said with an expression that suggested she was remembering unpleasant things.
"Of course I will, my beauty!" Arata assured her without hesitation.
The crystal on the girl's secondary necklace glowed, and Buck materialized in the air at that very moment.
"Hey! I won't allow you to keep courting my lovely little daughter like that, Sir Arata!" the little blue dragon exclaimed jokingly, landing right in front of Emma and crossing his front paws.
On reflex, Arata lunged forward and grabbed the little dragon in a tight hug.
"Aw, you little cutie! I'll pet you all night long, father-in-law!" Arata teased, beginning to scratch the area behind the little dragon's scaly ears, causing him to forget his tough-guy act and let out little spiritual giggles.
Later, in the dead of night...
The moon shone majestically in the night sky, surrounded by a sea of twinkling stars that decorated the dark expanse.
Inside his room, Arata threw himself onto the soft mattress, completely exhausted.
He felt around the sheets, picked up his cellphone, and turned on the screen to check the time: 11:50 PM. Curiously, the display showed almost the same time as the world of Lugiri during the transition into the early morning hours.
"This world really must be identical to Earth, perhaps just in a different universe or dimension..." he reflected. "The time this device records, purely by coincidence, almost perfectly matches the actual time zone here. Besides, the constellations seem to be the same as Earth's."
He turned off the device's screen, placed it beside his pillow, closed his eyes, and allowed himself to be carried away by exhaustion, falling into a deep sleep.
Several hours passed, and it was now deep in the middle of the night.
Arata began tossing and turning in bed, overcome by a sudden feeling of discomfort and a terrible premonition invading his subconscious.
Suddenly, even while asleep, his ears picked up the muffled sound of slow footsteps echoing through the room.
Someone was there.
He clearly felt that the unknown figure had stopped right beside his bed, watching him from the shadows.
Panic paralyzed his muscles.
Arata tried to force his eyelids open, but the overwhelming fear that had seized his chest prevented him from reacting.
After several seconds of suffocating tension, the mysterious presence moved away from the bed, calmly walking toward the exit.
An icy, cutting breeze swept through the room, raising every hair on his body.
He heard the soft click of the doorknob turning; the door opened and closed immediately afterward, while the footsteps slowly faded away through the silent corridors of the mansion.
Arata finally opened his eyes wide, frightened and breathing heavily.
The room was immersed in an unbearable arctic cold.
When he tried to leap out of bed, he looked down and fell into complete despair: his legs were entirely covered by a thick layer of crystalline ice, completely paralyzed.
The freezing advanced relentlessly and rapidly throughout his body. He tried to struggle, scream for help, or move his arms, but the extreme cold burned his skin and froze his joints.
The ice climbed up his stomach, covered his chest, and wrapped around his arms in frozen claws.
"No...!" he thought, absolute terror clouding his mind as the frost climbed up his neck. "I can't die again...! I don't want to...! Who... Who did this to me? Because of my own cowardice, I'm going to..."
Before he could finish the thought, the ice covered his face, freezing his expression of pure terror and silencing his heart completely.
Death Count: 4
End of Chapter 24...
To be continued in Chapter 25...