(There are some chapters that have omniscience 3rd pov. Since I can't go back and forth to write in both perspectives, which might make the story longer, I must do this instead. Sorry because it will be jarring)

  Arnold finally arrived back at the mansion. The first thing he did was to reprimand Erin.

  The girl was made to kneel on the cold floor in the study, hands pressed to her lap, head lowered while enduring his lecture. Most of the scolding came from the fact that she had sneaked into the attic despite his very clear warning.

  It wasn't because of petty revenge or anything like that!

  ‘Could you stop?’

  ‘Ahaha~’ Notice the mature mind came over, Isa retreated back into the quiet corners of their shared mind.

  In Erin’s defense, she had never registered the warning as something serious. How could she? What danger could an unknown boy possibly be hiding in an old mansion?

  She didn’t even understand the significance of the attic. It wasn’t like she knew anything about their existence as a painting.

  They couldn’t exactly warn her by saying, “Don’t go near the portrait in the attic,” could they? That would be too conspicuous.

  After a while, Erin was released from her punishment. She rubbed her knees and backed away quickly.

  Between Arnold and Arriet, Erin found Arnold far more terrifying. His burned face, even after hiding beneath the bandages, still looked intimidating.

  Compared to him, Arriet looked like a little kitten to her. She might be fierce, but she was surprisingly weak.

  “Truly, He’s so unfair! How could a simple girl know his mind if he did not speak plainly on the matter?!” Erin sulked loudly as soon as she was out of Arnold’s sight.

  Since she was done cleaning for the day, she had undone her bun, letting her blonde hair flow down her back.

  Erin was now wearing a clean white dress, similar to Arriet’s, though hers had poorer fabric and floral stitching at the collar.

  ‘And why are you here?’

  Arriet stared at the blonde girl with a blank expression. Erin had barged straight into her room without permission and immediately began complaining about Arnold, right in front of her.

  The audacity!

  ‘Dammit, my safe haven…’

  Izzy rubbed her forehead inside her mind, already exhausted. She decided to leave Arriet’s body entirely and refocus on Arnold’s body in the study.

  She still had homework to complete, and Isa clearly seemed eager to take over Arriet’s body anyway.

  Isa took control over Arriet and sat on the wooden chair immediately.

  Erin followed closely behind her. She waved her arms, while tediously brushing Arriet’s long black hair with a wooden comb.

  “Right?! He’s really weird sometimes!” Arriet nodded with a bright, agreeable expression.

  Erin went quiet for a moment. She studied Arriet’s face, then shook her head.

  ‘No, both of you are weird!’ She wanted to speak aloud.

  Why did their temperaments change so drastically like this? Both of them! Arnold turned from mature to childish. Arriet from fierce to cheerful. None of it made sense!

  Her memory flashed back to Arriet this afternoon. Those sharp green eyes glaring directly into hers, and she shivered slightly.

  However, although it was disturbing, she couldn’t bring herself to ask. She was scared to explore more. Since they weren’t doing her any harm, she just let it be.

  As Erin brushed Arriet’s hair, she noticed something.

  'Scars?'

  Why was something like this on the body of a child?

  Erin slid the long back hair aside. There was a vague line of marks on her neck. It traced down to the collar of her dress. She noticed a faint trace of black spots and purple.

  'How…? How did a child have such things? What happened to her?‘

  "Erin?"

  "!"

  Erin jolted. She immediately pulled the hair back and resumed brushing it.

  "Begging your pardon, Miss Marion, but…"

  Was it right for her to ask such a question?

  Wasn't she being invasive? What if the girl didn’t want to remember?

  Erin noticed just how fragile Arriet’s hair really was. The strands were dry and prone to tangling, clinging together like neglected silk thread.

  "…How did your hair come to be in such a state?" Erin pushed her worries aside. Although curious, she did not want to remind the girl about what had happened.

  “Oh! So here’s the thing…” Arriet began explaining cheerfully how her hair became so messy and damaged. Naturally, she skipped over Benjamin entirely.

  Once she finished, she smiled.

  “That’s all! I’m not sure, but it’s better than before! I just need to be careful, I guess?”

  Erin stared for a moment.

  She left the room abruptly, disappeared into the corridor. After a while, she returned carrying a small earthenware pot sealed with cloth and string.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “There is nothing grand here to tend the hair, miss. I only have this, for my own use.” She had packed it along with Glen’s band’s supplies before coming here.

  She walked behind Arriet, opened the pot, and scooped out a small amount of thick white substance with her fingers. She applied it to Arriet’s black hair before using the brush to comb it.

  “This is animal fat, my own pomade for keeping the knots out. The smell isn’t pleasant, I know, but it’s far better than leaving your hair to suffer.”

  “Ooh!”

  Arriet’s eyes sparkled as the fat softened the hair and the brush glided through with far less resistance. It was more comfortable, and the constant brushing didn’t hurt any longer.

  She immediately reached up to her hair, wanting to feel the difference.

  But Erin slapped her hand away without thinking.

  “Ow!”

  “Please, miss, do not carelessly touch it! You must let it set. Be still!” Erin scolded, before her eyes widened in surprise, startled at her own reaction.

  ‘Uhh? Did I just hit her?’ she asked herself.

  This version of Arriet somehow reminded her of her younger sibling at home.

  “Okee:<.” Arriet answered, sitting perfectly still with hands on her knees. It prompted another wave of confusion inside Erin’s mind.

  ‘So docile!’

  ‘I do wish she were always so sweet,’ Erin sighed.

  She had somehow accepted the fact that her two companions in this strange mansion were both peculiar children.

  Erin brushed Arriet’s hair in silence. The room was warm from the small oil lamp, its gentle glow spilling across the two girls close together.

  Since Izzy had retreated to her usual thinking space, Isa, unaccustomed to the quiet when there was nothing to do, used Arriet as a medium and spoke up.

  “Hey, Erin…”

  “Yes, miss?” Erin tilted her head, her fingers still gently working through Arriet’s hair.

  “We will leave tomorrow. Do you have any place to stay in the village?”

  “...”

  Erin’s hands stopped mid-motion.

  Sooner or later, this issue had to be addressed. They had decided to leave this place, and leaving Erin alone here was too dangerous. The Herald could return at any moment.

  Izzy was not a trustful and talkative person. Her mature mind was a bit of a dummy when it came to delicate matters. Her phrasing often made people misunderstand further.

  Izzy was more suited to formal, serious conversations rather than casual chats. That was why the task of informing the blonde-haired girl had fallen to the young mind, Isa.

  “Might I come with you, miss?” After a hundred strokes of hair brushing, Erin plaited Arriet’s hair into a braid, her voice lower.

  “You cannot. Iz… Arnold would not permit it.”

  Talking to Erin through a vessel was confusing; Isa always had to remember which name belonged to which identity. Since Isa wasn’t used to talking to other people in the real world, she had almost slipped up.

  “I understand, miss,” Erin’s voice dropped. She said nothing more and continued to plait the hair in silence for a moment before striking up a new conversation, trying to change the subject.

  “Miss Marion, do you have other siblings?”

  The moment the question left her mouth, Arriet’s eyes widened. Her bright greenish irises darted upward, then sideways, then toward Erin with a strange, peculiar look.

  ‘...’

  The sudden silence pressed down on the room. Erin instinctively stepped back. Her heartbeat quickened.

  ‘This again… did I say something wrong again?’ Erin puzzled and looked at the girl.

  “Isa… Isa… Isa doesn’t… Isa does?” Arriet murmured and tilted her head. Her voice wobbled oddly. Her eyes wandered the room.

  The unpredictable shift sent a cold shiver down Erin’s spine.

  “P-Pardon, miss?” Erin asked, her voice faltered.

  “Isa… Ari does! a lot of them!” Arriet finally shouted with bright, inexplicable enthusiasm.

  “T-Then!” Erin forced a smile, trying desperately to push aside the uncanny sensation crawling through her. She tried to steer the conversation back—

  But Arriet cut her off and suddenly leaned forward.

  “Call me Ari!” she declared.

  “Pardon, miss?”

  “Ari, Ari, everyone called me Ari!”

  “...uhh… that… uhhh…” Erin’s soul left her body for a moment.

  A massive dilemma. Earlier, Arriet told her she should address her politely as Miss Marion. Now, this girl wanted to be called Ari?

  She winced in distress. What should she do?

  “Unn… Miss Ari…”

  “Ari! Ari!” Arriet shook her head frantically, waving her hands in panicked circles.

  “Y-yes, Ari! Please, stop moving!” Erin shouted in a hurry, scared that the black hair she had tried so hard to braid would come undone.

  “Yay!” Arriet obediently stopped moving and smiled brightly.

  “...”

  ‘Miss Marion, please come back!’ Erin cried in her mind.

  She wasn’t sure if both versions were truly the same girl, but at this moment, she desperately preferred the scary Arriet over this unpredictable, childish creature!

  —

  After finishing the last neat twist of Arriet’s braid, Erin gently placed a little white nightcap over her head. The cap was soft and slightly puffy, stitched unevenly at the edges. It framed Arriet’s black hair like a little cloud sitting atop midnight.

  “I have lodging in Winterin, Ari. Please, do not trouble yourself on my account.” Erin said softly.

  She tried to sound confident, but her voice trembled slightly.

  Erin had arrived here with her parents three months ago, so they were undoubtedly still in the village.

  Yet… she hesitated. Returning home would not be simple. What would her parents say when they learned the noble who hired her had vanished? Would they think she was lying? Would they accuse her of doing something wrong?

  Or worse, would the kind neighbor demand the return of the money they’d been paid in advance? A pit of unease settled in her stomach.

  Erin shook her head, dismissing the worries. Since Master Arnold and Miss Marion had made up their minds to leave, she could not stop them. And staying in this mansion alone was the last thing she wanted anyway. The place was beautiful, yes, but it was too empty and vast, altogether too unsettling.

  Arriet, however, unaware of Erin’s spiraling worries, caught sight of her braided reflection and the neat nightcap in the mirror; her eyes widened with glee.

  In the next second, she leapt onto the bed and rolled from left to right in the soft sheets, giggling as she reveled in the freedom of no longer having to worry about her hair. She pressed her cheek against the pillow, sinking into its softness like a cat discovering a sun-warmed spot.

  “So comfortable!”

  Erin shook her head tiredly, a weary smile on her lips.

  “Please do not toss about so, mi… Ari. The braid might come undone.”

  “Oke >.<” Ari immediately froze in place. She obediently tucked herself into the blanket, pulling it up to her chin like a snug cocoon.

  “I wish you a good night, Ari.” Erin bowed slightly, a habit of courtesy she couldn’t drop. She knew she ought to find her own rest soon, as Arnold had said.

  “Good night, Eri!” Arriet waved her small hand energetically.

  Standing by the door, Erin reached up and blew out the oil lamp. The flame flickered once before vanishing, leaving the room in soft twilight, lit only by the thin moonlight seeping through the curtains.

  In the dimness, Arriet’s eyes shimmered with an eerie green light. Erin paused for a moment, averting her gaze and closing the door, not daring to look at them directly.

  Arnold and Arriet. They were both such a peculiar child. One head was burned, and one had traces of abuse on her back.

  It made Erin wonder… Why were Arnold’s eyes and Ari's eyes the very same color?

  It's a mistake to make their eyes green, tbh. It somehow affects my entire novel, forcing me to change my plotline in some way. But I can't really go back and change it, since it has already been published. Well, I did fix the problem partially, somewhat, but let's see how it goes.

  There is also a problem, that is, green eyes and black hair do not really look well in white attire. I didn't think about it when writing it down, but when I draw Arriet, I notice how meh it is when she wears a white dress. (or maybe it's just me having poor fashion sense@@. Arriet's image is already in Discord. I will publish the illustration here after I draw most of the main cast...If I actually draw instead of lazing around.. xD.)

  Still not sure if I should make her eyes a flashlight or not. Imagine in modern times when the power is out, and there is one girl with glowing eyes. We ought to use her eyes in that case; they're very useful xD.

  Do you think this chapter is jarring? Would love to hear your thoughts!

  Anyway, thank you so much for reading!