After showing them around the manor and assigning a room to each of them, Miria returned to the one she had chosen for herself and Asher. Asher still lay unconscious on the large four-poster bed.
Miria looked at him for a moment, then scanned the room. A small laugh escaped her.
*It's funny…* she thought. *I chose my own room. The one I shared with him in another life…*
She closed her eyes. Memories rose: laughter, kisses, nights spent here, in this same room. She smiled sadly, then decided to go back downstairs.
She hadn't noticed that Asher's fingers had just moved slightly.
As she was about to descend the last steps, a voice called her.
"Miria."
She turned around. It was Katrina.
"Mom? Is something wrong?"
"It's not that, my darling. It's just that… I wanted to know how you know this place."
Miria was surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered.
"Asher told me about it."
"Oh…"
"Why do you ask?"
Katrina hesitated.
"It's just that… you seem so at ease. As if you were the mistress of the house. And you know the place so well… as if you'd already been here."
Miria's thought: *I don't know how she'd react if she found out that the Miria in the portrait and I are one and the same person… just in different eras.*
An inner voice spoke up, mocking.
*Conscience: Well… she'd throw a fit.*
*Miria (internally): I thought you were gone.*
*Conscience: Where would I go? I'll have you know I'm your conscience, aren't I?*
*Miria: A depraved conscience.*
*Conscience: Just like my hostess.*
"Miria?" Katrina called.
Miria came back to herself.
"Yes?"
"You looked distracted."
"Oh no, nothing. It's just that… I need to inspect the surroundings. Just because this house has always had magic in it doesn't mean we should let our guard down."
With those words, she went down the stairs, opened the door, and stepped outside under Katrina's watchful gaze.
---
Later, in her room, Katrina closed the door and remained lost in thought for a moment. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened. Klaus came out, a towel tied around his waist, another in his hands with which he was drying his still-damp hair.
Katrina froze. Her gaze slid involuntarily over his chest, his defined abs, the water droplets running down his skin…
Klaus displayed an amused smirk.
"Have you seen enough… or do you want me to come closer so you get a better view?"
Katrina snapped out of her reverie, her face completely red with embarrassment.
Klaus approached and gently wrapped his arms around her.
"There's nothing wrong with desiring your boyfriend, as far as I know."
Katrina looked up, surprised.
"Boyfriend?!"
"After everything that's happened… I think it's time to make it official, don't you?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but Klaus placed a finger on her lips.
"No… Katrina. I know that before you didn't want to because of our age difference. But now… thanks to Léana, you're the same age as me again. There's nothing left holding us back from being together."
Katrina smiled and caressed his face.
"I have no problem… it's just that…"
Klaus held her tighter and whispered in her ear:
"But what… what…?"
She gently extricated herself from his arms.
"It's just that… I have concerns about Miria."
Klaus frowned.
"She wasn't okay with it?"
"No… not about that."
"Then about what?"
Katrina began pacing.
"Listen… Miria has been acting strangely lately. She's become very powerful. She brought us to the house where the man she loves lived with his first love… and that woman looks exactly like her. And she's so at ease here… you'd almost think the house belongs to her. It troubles me."
Klaus crossed his arms, thoughtful, then sat on the bed.
"Now that you mention it… when I was still with the guys, Eiden and the others told me it had been hard to exorcise Asher."
Katrina approached and sat beside him.
"Really?"
"Yes. When Bryan and Axel were holding him, Asher managed to free himself. He was uncontrollable. To calm him down, Miria took on the appearance of… the former Miria."
Katrina's eyes widened.
"You mean… the Miria from the portrait?"
"Yes. But not only that. When Asher saw her, he knew perfectly well it wasn't HIS Miria… Yet she started recalling memories to him. And the expression he had… it suggested that all those memories were real. He even said: 'Miria my love… is it really you?' clearly referring to the one in the portrait."
Katrina jumped to her feet, panicked.
"Really?! But then… that would mean the person with us is the former Miria?! But then… the Miria of our time… my daughter… where is she?!"
Klaus immediately took her in his arms, holding her tightly against him to calm her.
"Shh… everything will be fine. We'll find a solution. I promise you."