Ci'an didn't answer.

The boy didn't seem to expect an answer either. He simply muttered to himself,

"Are you the kind of obedient child that adults like?"

"I've never heard you speak. My mom and dad say it would be better if I became mute. If I became as obedient as you, would my mom and dad love me? Like your parents love you?"

"Mom and Dad want to inherit the fortune Great-Grandpa left behind. But I'm just a useless child. They've said countless times that they wish you could become their child instead."

"Would you be willing to become their child? After I die."

"I really can't think of any other way. My mom and dad don't want me. If I die—if I die right in front of you—would you be willing to give the inheritance to my mom and dad?"

The boy took a bottle of black liquid out of his backpack and unscrewed the cap.

"I know I'm asking too much, but you're a good child. You'll agree to it, right?"

He poured some of the drink into the bottle cap.

"Actually, I don't want to do this. But I'm really sad. My mom and dad are going to abandon me sooner or later. Rather than being abandoned, I'd rather die first. At least I can be a little happier before I die."

The boy raised the cap and slowly brought it toward his lips.

His fingers trembled uncontrollably with fear.

He took a deep breath, seemingly gathering all his courage to carry out his plan to die.

A ghostly voice sounded, unhurried and emotionless.

"Then go ahead and die."

The resolve the boy had struggled so hard to build collapsed at those words.

He stared blankly ahead.

The bottle cap slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Ci'an turned and glanced at him.

The puppet was utterly lost.

"A puppet can't survive on its own," Ci'an said. "You have to admit that your parents don't love you. That's the truth."

The boy instinctively shouted in protest.

"You're lying! I'm Mom and Dad's child. How could they not love me?! They're just... they're just too stupid. Once I die, they'll immediately love me."

"No one will love you," Ci'an said.

"That's nonsense! You're the one nobody loves! I'll become a good child. I'll be even more obedient than you..."

His voice grew quieter and quieter.

Having lost all confidence, he was forced to acknowledge a fact.

The girl who was even more obedient than him was loved by everyone.

The one nobody loved was actually him.

He helplessly opened his mouth.

His throat felt as though a hole had been burned through it, turning him mute.

He was torn apart by grief, yet utterly powerless.

There was nothing he could do except accept it.

Was there really no other way?

A tiny spark of hope remained.

His faith trembled on the verge of collapse.

"Except me."

In the dark, enclosed world where only the two of them remained, Ci'an's eyes were calm.

The cold, ruthless nature she had inherited seemed almost identical to her mother's.

Hugging her knees, she spoke without a trace of emotion.

"I'll love you. I promise I'll love you. On one condition: you have to be obedient."

A puppet could not survive on its own.

Without someone to guide it, it was destined to remain trapped on the path toward death.

She placed the rope around the puppet's neck.

She did not do this because she was afraid he would die.

She did it for herself.

She touched her own neck, as though she could feel an invisible rope there, tightening more and more.

That rope had become ownerless after losing the person who had once guided it.

Before she lost control completely, she still didn't want to die.

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

Over the next few days, visitors came one after another.

Every one of them had come because of the will left behind by the former head of the family, who had died long ago.

Back then, the former family head had passed away at the old estate.

As he lay on his deathbed, he divided his enormous fortune into four portions in the presence of a lawyer:

His wife.

His eldest son.

His daughter.

His brother.

Yet supposedly, there was a fifth portion.

"After I die, I hope that the child I love most will be able to find the treasure I have left behind. This is my first inheritance, and also my last. You'll find it, won't you?"

The old man swallowed his final breath.

To this day, no one knew who he had been speaking to with those last words.

Later, his wife moved away from the old estate, while his eldest son remained behind to inherit the property.

The contents of his final will were passed down from year to year, but no one ever found the inheritance.

Until several days ago.

The "daughter" from the psychiatric hospital was finally discharged after seven years.

"Miss Yu Xin won't see anyone, though. Sigh."

Kai Xin sighed, her expression full of longing.

"I wonder what that treasure is. It'd be great if it were a whole lot of money. So much money... Then Dad wouldn't have to be wrapped in bandages all the time."

Ci'an listened silently.

"Do you think there might be lots of delicious food? So much that you could eat it for the rest of your life and never finish it? If there was that much good food, you'd never have to go hungry again, right?"

Ci'an suddenly asked,

"Do you want it?"

Kai Xin laughed.

"Are you silly? Of course I was joking. Everyone says that treasure was left by the old master for Miss Yu Xin. She's so lucky. Her father always loved her."

"Love? What nonsense are you talking about?"

Ci'an turned around.

She saw the female ghost wearing a mocking smile.

Kai Xin hurriedly straightened up and greeted the woman.

"Miss Yu Xin, would you like something to eat? If you're hungry, there's still a little cake in the refrigerator."

"Cake? How could cake compare with children?"

The female ghost's gaze swept over them.

"Children with soft, tender flesh like you two are the tastiest."

She looked at Ci'an and asked for her permission.

"Little Ci’an, do you agree to let me eat her?"

What kind of request for permission was that?

It was clearly a threat made in broad daylight.

Ci'an's heart slowly sank.

"How pitiful."

Kai Xin began feeling sorry for the mentally disturbed Miss Yu Xin.

"Children aren't food."

The female ghost turned toward the window.

A huge orange sunset poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, painting her figure in an especially desolate light.

She curled her lips into a smile, but there wasn't the slightest trace of amusement in her eyes.

"Little kids, I'll take you somewhere."