Slowly, he turned back, his face pale, his eyes filled with fear.
After a long, suffocating silence, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Will... will my wife be hard?"
Ivy chuckled softly, though there was no warmth in it.
"If I’m not mistaken," she replied, "then eventually... she won’t survive."
The words hit him like a blow.
His shoulders trembled before he slowly returned to his seat, as if all strength had left his body.
Ivy watched him carefully.
"Now," she continued, "tell everything. What has she been doing?"
Keith clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.
"It started months ago," he said, his voice strained. "She began acting... strange. Sneaking out in the middle of the night."
He swallowed hard, his gaze dropping.
"At first, I thought it was postpartum depression. I followed her a few tis... but she would just sit outside, staring at the sky with this... empty expression."
His breathing grew uneven. "I thought it was harmless... until one night ..."
He paused, his body shuddering.
"I realized she wasn’t just staring," he continued, his voice shaking. "She was murmuring sothing... but I couldn’t hear it. It was like the sound itself didn’t exist."
He covered his face briefly before lowering his hands again.
"And then... one day... I heard her clearly." His voice dropped to a whisper. "She said... ’Now is the ti... we can plant it.’"
The room fell silent.
Keith lowered his head, tears slipping down unnoticed.
"I don’t know when it started," he muttered. "Maybe when Pearl first ca here... or maybe after she gave birth... I don’t know... I don’t know anything ..."
His voice broke as quiet sobs escaped him.
Ivy remained silent for a mont, her gaze lowering slightly. There was no mockery in her expression now, only a cold, asured understanding.
After a pause, she asked, "Do you want to save your wife?"
Keith looked up instantly, desperation burning in his eyes. Without another word, Ivy slid a small box across the table toward him.
He stared at it, confusion flickering across his face. "What is this?"
"There’s a perfu inside," Ivy replied calmly. "Sprinkle it around your house... and your wife will start getting better."
Keith hesitated, his fingers hovering over the box. "Will it... harm her?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Ivy let out a soft chuckle.
"Maybe a little," she admitted, her eyes glinting faintly. "But in the end... you’ll still have your wife."
Silence lingered between them. Then, slowly, Keith picked up the box.
The mont he did, Ivy’s eyes flickered, her gaze following him as he stood and walked away, his steps heavy yet determined.
As the door closed behind him, Ivy turned her head toward Martha.
Martha gave a slight nod. Monts later, Pearl entered the room.
After eting with Pearl, Ivy leaned back and closed her eyes, a quiet laugh escaping her lips.
"How amusing..." she murmured. "I always thought I was the smartest one in the room..."
Her smile deepened, though it carried a hint of sothing rare... acknowledgnt.
"But this ti... I’ve t opponents far more cunning than those old fools."
Night fell once more, wrapping the world in darkness. For a long while, everything remained still.
At the sa ti, Ferrero and Jess, who were struggling to even stay awake, slowly regained their consciousness.
When they opened their eyes again, a sharp glint of alertness flickered within them, replacing the previous haze.
Both of them looked at each other, their expressions stiff, their breathing uneven.
Then, almost at the sa ti, they spoke. "Our plans have been exposed."
The words hung heavily between them, cold and undeniable.
When Pearl and Keith returned to their house, their movents were sluggish, their faces pale as if the life had been drained out of them.
It was as though their souls had been partially torn away, leaving behind only fragile shells.
anwhile, Ivy stood still. Pearl’s words echoed in her mind. Keith had been acting strange for months.
Sneaking out in the middle of the night. Standing under the open sky, staring upward with a blank, lifeless expression.
Every single detail matched. Everything Keith had confessed... aligned perfectly with what Pearls had observed.
Everything... except one thing.
Pearl hadn’t taken the perfu. Instead, she had turned away, her voice firm and resolute.
"I’ll find another way to cure my husband."
That single decision lingered in Ivy’s mind like a thorn. When Martha noticed Ivy’s silence, she stepped closer, her brows furrowing slightly.
"What do you think?" she asked quietly. "Who is the pawn of those superior beings?"
For a mont, Ivy said nothing. Then, a slow, bright smile spread across her lips. "Both of them."
Martha’s eyes widened instantly. "Both?" she repeated, disbelief creeping into her voice.
Ivy nodded, her gaze darkening. "They’re being controlled... one by one."
Her voice dropped, turning colder. "The mont I connected everything, it beca clear."
She exhaled softly, pressing her fingers against her temple as if trying to ease the growing pressure inside her head.
"Ferrero... and Jefff."
The nas felt heavy.
"Damn it," she muttered under her breath. ’So it was them all along ...’
"They’re the ones behind this," Ivy continued. "They hard Ember... and they’re the ones responsible for what’s coming next."
Her eyes sharpened. "They didn’t just control them directly. No... they were smarter than that."
Martha leaned forward slightly, listening intently.
"They split their consciousness," Ivy said slowly. "Cut a part of themselves off... and planted it into Pearl and Keith."
A chill passed through the room.
"That’s how the dium inside Ember was created," she added. "Everything traces back to them."
For a brief mont, silence engulfed the space.
Ivy rubbed her forehead, exhaustion finally seeping through her composure.
"What a... exhausting day," she murmured. ’Too many layers... too many moving pieces ...’
She lowered her hand, her eyes distant.
"The reason I arranged those etings now," she continued, "was because the superior beings are weakened."
Martha blinked. "Weakened?"
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