“Humph, Isa is angry! Isa won’t talk to you again!”

  Inside their shared mindscape, Isa sat cross-legged on the ground, arms crossed tightly over her chest, sulking. In front of her, a magnificent structure made of blocks had just collapsed into a chaotic heap.

  “Want some candies?”

  “Candy!” Isa’s eyes sparkled instantly. Her anger evaporated like a mist under sunlight. She bounced on her toes, her entire body suddenly vibrating with excitement.

  Izzy remembered how she had tossed some candies aside when rummaging through Benjamin’s belongings earlier. Cheap sweets were not her favorite, so Izzy hid it away. But to Isa, they might as well have been divine treasure.

  ‘Well, that’s easy.'

  She retrieved a candy or two from the corner of the attic, and passed it to Isa…or to be more specific, to Isa’s vessel in the physical world.

  “Isa forgive you just this one!” she declared, even though she was already unwrapping the first candy with uncontainable glee.

  “And what are you doing?” Izzy asked, looking around the space.

  Although it was meant to be a playhouse, all sorts of strange objects floated around them.

  Suspended in the air were pieces of furniture, planks, blocks, ribbons, gears, springs, and even tiny floating roof tiles. Everything hovered, turning slowly like planets around Isa.

  “Isa is working on a gaming house!” Isa answered cheerfully, while her vessel popped the candy into her mouth, beaming with delight.

  Izzy observed the swirling mass of mismatched blocks. On one side, they assembled themselves in a pastel-colored dollhouse.

  On the other side, floating in a careful arrangement, were dozens of wire puzzles.

  As expected, all sorts of wire puzzles with different designs and complexities appeared here, spinning lazily in the air.

  ‘…’

  ‘She really is obsessed with puzzles…’

  Did she really take after Izzy? She wondered. Although Izzy considered herself something of a genius, she couldn't imagine herself playing with these things without knowing the solution beforehand.

  “Not knowing is what makes it fun!” Isa read her thoughts and chirped, tugging a new wire into existence.

  “Right, right, suit yourself.” Izzy sighed.

  But her young mind was truly talented. She could build all sorts of things in just a short time. The amusement park, the theatre, and now the playhouse?

  “It’s not me.”

  “Hmm?” Izzy tilted her head.

  “I built the theatre, but not the amusement park,” Isa clarified as another block appeared out of thin air and floated toward the building under construction.

  “???”

  So her mind already had the amusement park?

  ‘That’s strange…’ Was it created because of how much Izzy yearned for it in her previous life? A subconscious creation?

  Whatever. Since they owned this place, she decided to let the thought be.

  “Anyway, I’m going to sleep a bit. Call me if something happens.”

  Isa’s hands suddenly froze mid-gesture.

  She slowly turned her head, eyes round, staring at Izzy with a strange expression. A flicker of hesitation rippled across her face.

  ‘What are you looking at?’ Izzy puzzledly looked behind her.

  It lasted less than a second, before Isa nodded and smiled as if nothing happened.

  “Oke! Isa will protect you!”

  “Who protects who now?”

  Isa only nodded vigorously, her little legs kicking excitedly as she resumed assembling her strange constructions.

  Since Isa didn’t seem to be up to any mischief or annoyance, Izzy took her word at mind value.

  “Sure, suit yourself.”

  Izzy turned and departed from the growing playhouse. The amusement park dimmed behind her as she drifted out of their mindscape. Gradually, she let her consciousness shut down, sinking into a tranquil void.

  One last thought brushed her mind:

  ‘Why does my mindscape look more like a giant playground now…?’

  That night, Izzy slept peacefully.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  —

  “Hmm~ hmm~”

  The next morning, unusually, Arnold skipped down the hallway, humming a cheerful tune while indulging in the sweetness of a candy.

  ‘Stop doing that,’ Izzy reprimanded Isa in their shared mind, sounding utterly exhausted already despite the day barely starting.

  ‘Yes, mom,’ Isa pouted, though she complied immediately.

  Arnold halted mid-hop and resumed a more normal, composed walk. His gait became straighter, but the bright smile stubbornly refused to leave his face.

  That’s right, Isa was controlling Arnold's body right now.

  Since Izzy had controlled him yesterday to explore the village, now Isa wanted her turn to go outside. Izzy happily retreated into the background, occupying the girl vessel instead, lounging in the attic like a lazy cat.

  ‘Hey! I’m not lazy!’

  ‘Ahaha!’

  Arnold soon approached the foyer and caught sight of Erin standing outside, tending the garden. She wore her white apron and bonnet, sleeves rolled up as she pulled weeds. Her blonde bun glowed under the soft morning light.

  “Erin, good morning!” He waved his hand at her energetically.

  “Eh, eh?” Erin blinked rapidly, her black eyes widening in confusion.

  Her gaze darted between Arnold’s cheerful bandage face and his energetic wave. She looked at him as though he had suddenly grown feathers.

  ‘I knew this would happen,’ Izzy sighed in her heart as she pinched the bridge of her nose in her mindscape.

  ‘Act more calmly, don’t you see? She looks at you like some sort of strange animal right now.’

  ‘Aha! Yes,’ Isa nodded mentally as she controlled Arnold to regain his composed posture. The smile softened into a more socially acceptable level of politeness. His hand lowered from frantic waving to a casual gesture.

  “Ahem. Hmm, good morning, Erin,” Isa said through Arnold’s mouth, trying to mimic Izzy’s calm tone.

  “Er, ah, yes, good morning, sir!”

  Erin bowed down, ninety degrees. Though flustered, she did not tremble as much as she used to. She seemed less frightened than the first time. Did she get accustomed to him already?

  Isa puffed up proudly inside. Izzy just rolled her eyes.

  “Well, I’m off. Don’t wander around the attic,” Arnold said casually as he passed through the gate. “She will eat you alive. Seeya!”

  “Eh, huh?”

  Before Erin could come back to her senses or process the strange warning, Arnold had already trailed off toward the gate, leaving her standing there in confusion.

  —

  “Mary, good morning.”

  Arnold approached the church grounds and merged into the small gathering of children waiting outside the schoolroom.

  As he drew near, the reaction was immediate and expected. Most of the children recoiled, their eyes widening in fear at his covered face and the aura he projected. Others simply stared with unabashed curiosity, whispering behind their hands.

  Only Mary stepped forward to greet him.

  “May the Monarch be with you, Young Master… um.”

  “It’s Arnold.” His voice was calm and flat.

  “Master Arnold, then!”

  Mary still carried her usual basket of flowers hooked around her elbow, but today she was noticeably different.

  Her simple dress looked freshly washed, the faded floral pattern brighter than before. Her hands were scrubbed clean of dirt, and her brown hair, usually braided tight against her scalp, now flowed down in straight, neat waves to her chest.

  ‘Hmm, did she put her newly acquired money to good use already?’ Izzy wondered in their shared mind.

  ‘Didn’t she clean herself up just to impress Izzy?’ Isa answered immediately, her mental voice giggling with delight.

  ‘Nonsense.’

  “My, but you’ve a far kinder air about you today, sir!” Mary asked brightly, leaning in slightly with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Did the constipation finally pass, sir? You looked as though you’d swallowed a lemon whole yesterday!”

  ‘This girl… who is responsible for teaching this kid?!’ Izzy groaned inside.

  Izzy had to give the girl credit; she had a sharp eye. Mary’s ability to instantly notice the smallest changes in him was both impressive and irritating.

  Today was a special occasion, an experiment of sorts. Izzy and Isa were sharing control of Arnold’s body simultaneously. How it was possible remained a mystery, but it worked.

  While Isa controlled his motor functions, his movement; Izzy handled his expression and words.

  “I did not. Keep wagging that tongue, and you might find your head rolling on the floor before noon.” Arnold said bluntly

  “Oh, mercy! Pray forgive a poor girl’s rudeness, haha,” Mary laughed, clearly taking the threat as a jest.

  Arnold narrowed his eyes. This girl was becoming ruder by the day.

  However, as she laughed, the shift in angle revealed something that his Field Vision picked up. A detail that the casual eye might miss.

  “What happened to your cheek?”

  Although it wasn’t visible to the naked eye, covered perhaps by a layer of powder and hair, Arnold could see a vague discoloration blooming on her cheekbone.

  Mary’s eyes widened. She instinctively took a step back, her cheerful facade cracking for a split second.

  “Ah, haha, this is, well…”

  She fiddled nervously with her hair, trying to pull it forward to cover her face, then gingerly touched her cheek.

  “It’s just a slip on the floor, sir, please excuse me!”

  She bowed frantically and scampered away before he could say anything else.

  ‘A floor slip could leave that mark?’ Izzy muttered skeptically. It looked more like the imprint of a hand than a collision with the ground.

  Well, it wasn’t his business.

  He turned on his heel, intent on walking toward the church schoolhouse.

  “Excuse me, brother…”

  But before he could take more than a few steps, a meek voice called out from behind him.

  ‘What is this now?’

  Arnold turned around and was immediately stunned.

  A cluster of children stood behind him. A small crowd of tiny faces staring up at him with awkward hesitance.

  Standing at the forefront was the leader of this little pack: a brown-haired boy who appeared to be around twelve or thirteen years old.

  He was much shorter than Arnold, with clean white clothes, and his face bore no freckles and dirt, unlike the rest.

  “What iz your relationship with Miss Mary, mister?”

  The boy asked Arnold with a bright, friendly smile.

  “took her word at mind value.” Since they are in their mindscape, I don't think it’s quite right to say “took her word at face value.” xD

  "Master" was used primarily as an honorific for a boy or young man who had not yet reached adulthood or "entered society". An adult male would be addressed as "Mister" (Mr.).

  Question: Guess what foreshadowings are contained in this chapter? Let's take a guess!