—–

“Blake, did you have fun here?” she asked.

“Indeed. It was a fun experience, Erika. See? You can also invite me to your house. I had my fun as well. You father is a good man.” I said.

“Yeah! I know… Daddy is the best…” she said.

Erika quickly fell asleep after she took a warm bath, and I decided to close my eyes at her side. While she had yet to let go of my hand.

…

Suddenly, in the middle of the night I woke up.

I found that her warm hand was not holding my own anymore, as I looked at my side, Erika wasn’t there.

Was she in the bathroom? I guess I shouldn’t worry so much.

I decided to close my eyes and sleep again, but I heard sounds down stairs.

Could her father be working this late at night?

Erika…

I had a bad feeling about this…

I swiftly jumped out of bed as I slowly walked through the darkness of the night.

Infusing Qi into my eyes allowed me to use the Night Vision Technique, so I was able to clearly see through the dark without many problems.

I swiftly and stealthily moved downstairs, without making any sound.

I reached the first floor rapidly after I had checked that the bathroom on the first floor was not being used by her.

Within the darkness there were many candles light around.

And then I saw the figure of an old man, Gustav, working intensively into something, crafting something, sticking things together, as his Puppeteer Threads moved around.

I noticed that the gentle eyes were gone, as his eyes had turned obsessed, he was sweating profusely all over his face, and swallowing saliva.

While murmuring something as he worked on something he had on the table.

“Erika… You have to grow up a bit now… Erika… Don’t worry… dear… Daddy will fix you up… So… tired…” he sighed. He was working with all his might and soul into something…

I glanced at that something using my Night Vision.

There was a large doll with pink hair.

Her stomach was open, and she had various limbs missing.

She looked like Erika.

Her eyes… were open.

And she seemed to be in pain.

“Papa it hurts…”

Eh?

It spoke…

“Stop…”

It spoke again.

“I can’t… You must… grow up dear… I can’t…”

Gustav muttered those words, answering the speaking doll.

Was he using his powers over this doll so it could speak?

No…

I had my suspiciousness before but…

This is…

“Daddy… Will I be a real girl one day?” asked the doll.

“Yes… Y-You will be a real girl one day…. I… I promise you…” muttered her father, as little tears began to flow out of his old eyes.

My eyes looked into the doll as I noticed that… there was a glowing orb in her chest, flashing with bright pink light, and… Aether.

Where there is Aether, there is a soul.

This was…

Erika’s soul?

“I want to be a real girl so I can marry Blake…”

“Y-You will surely marry him… I will… make sure that you will become a beautiful woman…”

Why?

Why is she…

She’s…

A doll.

Not in all my previous life had I felt this feeling of pain in my heart.

I gritted my teeth intensively, as I swiftly moved back to Erika’s room.

I rested on the bed, sighing.

I can’t believe what I’ve seen.

Erika… she’s a doll.

She’s…

That’s why she was hollow inside.

That’s why… she didn’t have Pressure Points.

This is why she didn’t have Qi and was only filled with intense quantities of Mana.

Her father… what… what did he do with his children?

Did…

Did he make her into a doll?

What kind of… sick bastard would do such a thing to their daughter?!

My mind began to be eaten away by the horror of such a thought. I had seen many horrors but such a horror as this still impacted me.

So this is why they say that Erika is not human.

Someone spread the rumor around the village that she wasn’t a human, that she was… a doll.

Or something happened that made it obvious to them.

I felt the urge to confront them, but the procedure that… Gustav was doing seemed delicate, I didn’t wanted to interrupt them.

I forced myself to close my eyes, and slept.

Although I had strange nightmares that night…

I was surrounded by dolls as they all looked down at me.

“You saw it! You saw it!”

“Stop, move away!”

“You saw her now!”

“I did… So what?!”

“You know the truth!”

“Eh?”

“The taboo that the old man did!”

“Taboo?!”

“The taboo that went against the Holy Spirits!”

“What are you even talking about? This is a… Could it be? A prophetic dream?”

The dolls continued to speak, floating around me.

“You know! You know the taboo!”

“The sin has been revealed!”

“The doll child…!”

“And the puppeteer father!”

“Hehehehe…!”

“Hahahahaha…!”

“Gyahahahaha!”

…

I opened my eyes in shock.

I gasped for air as I covered my face with my hands, cleaning the sweat off my face.

What was that?

What… was that just now?!

It was… so horrendous.

But I have a strong heart. I decided to calm myself down, as I’ve seen worse horrors at the end.

I sighed in relief, closed my eyes, and mediated for half a minute.

After that, my mind was clearer and my thought shaper…

…

And there she was. Erika was sleeping soundly atop the bed, like nothing had ever happened last night.

Could it had been all a dream?

Maybe… Erika is not really… that…

Right?

No… Who am I trying to trick? I know very well she is that… a Doll…

“Erika…” I sighed, as I looked at her with contempt.

I touched her little hand, it was warm.

What kind of magic does her father uses to make her seem so realistic despite being a doll deep down? Her body produces warmth, and her eyes can cry, she can consume food and convert it into energy such as Mana…

Her entire existence is incredibly intricate.

But…

What monster is her father to have… done such a thing to his daughter?

I cannot stay here.

I quickly moved away from the bed, looking back at Erika sleeping soundly.

I swiftly moved to the stairs and head downstairs.

Her father was there, sleeping over the desk.

He sensed me walk downstairs as I did it particularly loud, he opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Ahh… Blake… You’ve woken up early this morning.” He said.

“Gustav, what have you done to Erika?” I asked.

My question shocked the man, as he looked at me with trembling lips and eyes wide open.

“Y-You… saw that…?!” he asked.

“So you’ve confessed it rather quickly… Erika… She’s a doll, right?” I asked.

“…No! My daughter is… my daughter is a girl… a real girl!” he said.

“Eh?”

The man began to deny the truth, as he grabbed the little hair left on his head, frenetically pulling it out as if he was undergoing a psychotic attack.

“Calm down!” I said. I quickly touched his chest and infused Qi into it.

“Ungh?! Ahh… Ahh…”

A slight pain woke him up from his daze, and then, he began to gasp for air, but quickly after, he felt better.

This is a technique known as “Wave of Peace”, it is supposed to break the bones of the one it touches. But if you use it without the intention of damage, it has the effect of bringing tranquility into the mind of even the sickest old man.

“W-What… was that?” he asked in shock.

“A technique of my own. You’re feeling better now. Gustav, I want you to tell me the truth… Did you kill Erika?!” I asked.

“Ah…! No…! I would never…! I would never do such a thing to my daughter! If ever… I wish I could had… I wish I could had saved her…” he sighed.

“Saved her?” I asked.

“I… I don’t want to talk about this… Please, read this… You will… understand in due time what had happened to my dear Erika… I only want her to be happy…” he sighed.

The man handed me an old book, no, a diary with his own notes. This was old, moving many years in the past, when he was way younger… this book is older than Erika for sure.

“…”

I stood in silence, I moved near a chair and began reading it, while glaring down at Gustav to not try anything tricky.

…

(September 27, Year 3382 of the Spirit Awakening Era)

Since wife constantly asked me to get a diary so I could record my every day for the future, I decided to buy a small clean book for it. It cost rather expensive at 2 Gold Coins, but the job we have at the capital surely pays for it rather easily.

Well, and even I didn’t have one, my wife was the third princess of the Kingdom of Goldriver, so I suppose I could have asked her for money… But I feel like abusing the status of my wife for such things is dishonorable. A man shouldn’t go asking their wife for money. If I can work on my own using my talents, I can more than easily buy my own things.

Since I was born in the little Orange Village, I dreamed about coming to the capital, to think my life would lead to knowing the love of my life, who also secretly ended up being the third princess of the Kingdom… It all feels like a dream when I look back at what I’ve reached…

I will keep working on making excellent furniture for the royals and the aristocrats, it seems that my artistic talents have finally paid off! Even more, my dolls are also selling good with all the young girls, so my business are blooming.

I am already a well-known craftsman of the Capital… I couldn’t be happier.

…

(November 2, Year 3382 of the Spirit Awakening Era)

Today I have received news that had blown me away, my beloved wife, Cattalina, is pregnant with our child… after being married for four years now, being blessed with a child so soon has made me rather surprised, but I will make sure to work hard to raise my child as much as I can.

Also… there are some rumors about a strange disease going around the farther territories of the Kingdom, but with our magic here, it is very unlikely that any disease could even affect us.

…

(January 5, Year 3383 of the Spirit Awakening Era)

Today I’ve managed to design new types of furniture that will revolutionize the capital, sentient ones! Using my knowledge about golem creation and my special Spirit Tool, it is possible to make permanently sentient furniture by inserting Spirit Orbs inside as cores. I’ve only done it with animal and monster cores, but if I could find that of an human, things would become very good! I could… even make them into dolls for people to have loyal servants! This could lead to a great new era…

…

(March 4, Year 3383 of the Spirit Awakening Era)

My beautiful wife Cattalina has been growing a bit restless lately, her pregnancy has left her rather tired, she’s always resting and sometimes grows a bit grumpy… But even then I still love her dearly.

Her belly has grown bigger lately, I am so excited to see our child be born in the future…

Oh, I am still preparing the sentient furniture and dolls, but it should be done. I had to get my hands dirty a bit and buy some spirit orbs from humans that were formerly criminals in the black market, but I have already done it, its time to try it out…

…

(April 10, Year 3383 of the Spirit Awakening Era)

Things have gone terrible wrong.

The sentient furniture went berserk, and they almost killed the people that I was presenting them to… apparently, the souls of these people are still within the spirit orbs, fueling them with their former criminal instincts.

The entire showcase was a failure, and the royal family have lowered their view on me… I feel ashamed of myself, even more now as the older brother of my wife, the second prince Augberto had showed evidence I bought the spirit orbs illegally…

The King has decided to exile me from the Kingdom due to the dishonor I have brought to the royal family…

D-Damn Augberto! I knew he had something to do with this! He actually wanted me out of this because… I could have become a future King if my wife were to become the Queen, even though I had said several times I didn’t want such a role… he still saw me as a target.

But my wife and our child…

Cattalina seemed angered at me, but she still loved me despite what I’ve done, and decided to come with me and live in a faraway Village…

…

—–