---

I sat back in the chair, shoulders sinking, my body still feeling strange, as if it wasn't entirely mine yet. My fingers tapped the wooden armrest in nervous rhythm. The girls had been hovering, fussing, smiling too much. That kind of smile that was meant to reassure but only made me more uneasy.

I cleared my throat. "Where's Ayame?" My voice cracked slightly, and the sound startled me—it had been too long since I'd spoken, maybe.

Sora, who was closest, fiddled with her apron. "She… stepped out. She'll be back soon."

That answer didn't satisfy me, but before I could press, another question tumbled out. "Alright then. What exactly happened? To me, I mean."

Silence. A heavy one. The kind where glances pass between them like invisible currents. Akane shifted her weight, arms folded across her chest as if bracing herself. Mei tilted her head, eyes sharp, measuring me. Elira floated down from where she'd been lingering, her long hair spilling like silver water, and crossed her legs neatly, though the stiffness in her posture betrayed her.

Finally, Elira answered. "You were… taken over. A spell gone wrong."

I leaned forward. "A spell… gone wrong?"

Mei cut in with her usual bite. "Don't play dumb. You don't remember? The other you? The attitude, the smugness—like Ren but with all the worst parts sharpened into daggers?"

Her words stung, but I nodded slowly. "Yes. I don't… remember much. Only… hearing his voice. Loud, constant. And then… falling asleep." My hands clenched into fists. "I could hear your voices sometimes. All of you. I tried to call out, scream, anything. But nothing came. It was like… I was buried alive inside myself."

Sora stepped closer, her soft voice trembling. "We knew you were still in there. That's why we fought so hard. That's why we didn't give up."

I looked at her, really looked. The circles under her eyes, the weight in her expression—it wasn't just kindness. It was exhaustion.

"I take it you… took him down?"

Akane gave a short, grim laugh. "Took him down is putting it lightly. Bastard was slippery. Smiled even when cornered, acted like he owned the place, acted like we were just furniture in his game. But yeah… we got him. Eventually."

"Elira, Sora, Ayame," Mei added, "they carried the heavy weight of it. Magic against magic. The rest of us had to keep him from getting away."

I exhaled slowly, a small relief blooming in my chest. "So it's over then."

But as soon as I said it, the air in the room shifted. Too much hesitation. Too much silence again.

I frowned. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Nobody spoke. They just looked at each other again, that wordless exchange that screamed there was something I wasn't being told.

I tried to laugh, but it came out dry. "How long was I out? Three days? Four?"

Nothing.

"Okay, maybe a week, tops?" I pushed. "Right? A week?"

Their silence was louder than any scream.

"Why are you quiet?" My voice rose, sharp now. "Answer me."

Elira's lips parted, but no words came. Mei's smirk had vanished completely. Akane shifted again, her jaw tightening. And Sora—sweet, gentle Sora—just lowered her gaze to the floor.

My chest tightened. "What… what's the problem? Tell me. How long was I out?"

It was Mei who finally spoke, her tone stripped of teasing. "Ren… it wasn't days."

"Alright," I said quickly, too quickly. "Not days. Two weeks then? Maybe a month?" I forced a laugh, desperate. "You're making it sound worse than it is. Just say it."

The pause stretched forever. Then Akane muttered, almost reluctantly, "Not a month."

Something cold coiled in my stomach. My palms felt slick. "Two months?"

Sora finally looked up, her eyes brimming. She shook her head. "Longer."

My heart slammed in my chest. "No," I whispered. "No, that's not possible."

Elira's voice cut like a blade, steady but trembling underneath. "It has been almost three months, Ren."

The world tilted. My breath caught. Three months.

I laughed. A sharp, broken sound that didn't belong to me. "That's… no. That's insane. Three months? You're exaggerating. You're trying to scare me."

Mei stepped forward, her gaze pinning me in place. "We don't joke about something like this."

I shook my head violently. "Three months… No. That's not… I should feel different. The seasons should've shifted. The—" I stopped, realizing how warm the air felt, how the light outside the windows carried that golden hue of late summer. My throat closed.

Sora moved closer, her hands trembling as she reached for mine. "Ren… we tried everything to bring you back sooner. Everything. It wasn't just waiting. We fought every day. We watched over your body every night. We… we never stopped."

I couldn't breathe. My lungs fought against the weight pressing down on them.

Akane, trying to anchor me, spoke firmly. "The clone nearly convinced us a few times. He wore your face, your voice. He acted like you—mostly. That's why it was so hard. We couldn't just… strike him down. Not when there was even a chance you were still inside."

Elira nodded, her composure cracking. "I led ritual after ritual. Checked your body, your soul threads, your aura. There was always a spark of you left, but buried under layers of that… thing. He knew how to mimic you. Too well."

Mei crossed her arms, her voice low. "But he slipped. Little things. Wrong words, wrong tone. Too cruel, too selfish. I told them from the start, 'That's not Ren.' And when he finally pushed too far—" she sneered, "—when he had the audacity to kiss Ayame in front of us all—we knew."

My stomach twisted. "He… kissed Ayame?"

They all looked away. That silence again, loaded with too much truth.

I dragged my hand down my face, shaking. "Three months…" I whispered. "Three months, gone. While I… while he…"

Sora's grip on my hand tightened. "You came back. That's what matters."

But it didn't feel like enough.

I stood abruptly, pacing, running both hands through my hair. "Three months stolen from me. From all of us. And you—you lived through it. Fought through it. Watched him wear my face." My voice cracked. "I should've been here. I should've stopped it."

Akane blocked my path, firm as stone. "Don't you dare blame yourself. It wasn't you. You didn't ask for this."

"But—"

"No," she snapped, eyes blazing. "You were trapped. We know that. The one who's guilty is gone now. Dead. Don't you put his weight on your shoulders."

Her words burned, but they lodged inside me.

Elira rose gracefully, though her face was tight. "We endured, yes. But only because we believed you'd return. That belief was our shield. Do not dishonor it by drowning yourself in guilt."

Mei added, though softer than usual, "She's right. We don't need an apology. We need you. The real you."

Sora's voice broke into a whisper. "We missed you. Every day. Every hour."

The silence that followed was suffocating. My throat worked, but no words came. My chest ached as if my heart couldn't bear the weight of their devotion.

Finally, I collapsed back into the chair, head in my hands. "Three months…" I muttered again, the words foreign in my mouth. "Gone. Just… gone."

But then I felt it—Sora's hand on my shoulder. Akane's steady presence beside me. Elira kneeling gracefully at my side. Mei standing just close enough to guard without admitting she cared.

They surrounded me. Not accusing. Not blaming. Just… here.

And in that moment, I realized something: three months may have been stolen, but what I had with them was still here. Still breathing. Still alive.

Maybe, just maybe, that was enough to start again.

---

I dragged a shaky breath and leaned back in the chair, letting their presence steady me. But then, the thought gnawed at me—the place where I had woken up. That strange room in the courtyard, unlike anything I had seen before in the mansion.

I straightened slowly. "That room," I said. My voice was low but firm, cutting through the quiet. "The one in the courtyard. Where I woke up. What… was that place?"

The air shifted again. Akane's brow furrowed. Elira's eyes flickered to the others as if asking permission. Mei smirked faintly, though there was no humor behind it. Sora bit her lip.

Finally, Elira spoke, her tone careful. "That place… is not just a room, Ren."

Mei tilted her head, folding her arms. "You could say it's a… crossroad. A vortex chamber."

I frowned. "A what?"

Elira's eyes locked with mine. "A magical plane of existence where many worlds meet. Realms overlapping, bleeding into each other. It is not a place mortals should casually wander into."

I blinked, stunned. "You're telling me I was… inside some kind of inter-world gateway?"

Sora's soft voice added, "Yes. That's where your body was safest. Hidden. Sealed away until we could bring you back."

My mind reeled. Questions piled one after the other, tumbling too fast to hold. "Then why in the courtyard? Why here? Why does this mansion even have a—"

Mei cut me off with a sharp flick of her hand. "Slow down. If we start explaining everything right now, you'll choke on it. You've been gone too long, Ren. There's… a lot to catch you up on."

Akane stepped forward, her arms firm across her chest. "You need strength first. Food. Rest. Then we'll tell you everything. What the vortex chamber really is. Why it's here. And… what's coming next."

The way she said it—the weight in her tone—made the hair rise on the back of my neck.

I swallowed hard, my voice rough. "What's coming?"

Elira's expression softened, but her words were like ice. "Something that makes your three lost months feel small."

They all stood then, silent but united, their faces carrying the same truth: there was more. Much more.

And for the first time since waking up, I felt the dread crawl back into my chest.

---

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