East Borough, 8 Howstin Street.
Silas, cradling a sleeping black kitten in his arms, pushed open the door of the row house.
"Mr. Anderson, you're back?"
Emily was sitting at the dining table in the living room doing her homework.
Hearing the noise at the door, she looked up and greeted him. "Where did you all go today? When I came back, there was no one home..."
Silas didn't respond. He hadn't heard her voice at all, only instinctively looking toward the kitchen.
In a trance, he seemed to see a slender figure busily preparing dinner.
He looked toward the fireplace.
A fire burned within it. Cecilia seemed to be sitting on the carpet in front of the hearth, staring into the flames in a daze.
Noticing his gaze, she turned her head back and revealed a brilliant smile, that smiling face illuminated by the firelight.
The sofa, the stairwell, beside the dining table... days past spent together with his sister all rushed to mind at once, replaying before his eyes.
No, even that girl was nothing more than a counterfeit made from my flesh and blood...
Silas closed his eyes.
"Mr. Anderson?"
The darkness before his eyes enveloped him, preventing him from seeing those painful illusions, until the landlady Emily's uneasy voice came through.
"You look strange. Did something happen? Where's Miss Cecilia?"
Silas opened his eyes and looked at her. He tried hard to appear normal, smiled slightly and said, "My sister is still out. Only I came back first."
"Oh, I see..."
Emily said, somewhat puzzled.
"Also, we'll be leaving East Borough today."
He continued.
"Huh? You're not going to keep staying at my place?"
The young landlady first froze, then said anxiously, "Why? Haven't we been getting along well? I'm not even charging you rent anymore. Isn't living together nice..."
Because Silas had no way to explain his sister's disappearance.
Moreover, this familiar place would make him recall details of his previous life with the counterfeit sister, causing even more pain.
He had to leave, find a new environment.
"Because we've managed to save up some money recently, and we plan to leave East Borough for somewhere with a better environment.
Without us, you can rent to someone else. Making more money is always good."
Silas explained to the worried young landlady.
"But..."
Emily was about to say something more when an illusory female figure quietly appeared behind her.
Golden light flashed in this red-haired woman's eyes, and Emily's expression became dazed. She said dreamily, "I understand..."
With that, she turned and returned to the dining table, continuing her homework.
"No need to explain so much to an ordinary person, right?" Silas saw his other personality say with a smile.
"Mind your own business."
He said coldly, then turned and walked up the stairs, entering his bedroom while holding the little black cat.
After placing the sleeping cat on its cushion, he slowly leaned back against the headboard, like a sculpture, not moving for a long time.
Originally, today had been planned for meeting with people from the Psychology Alchemists and receiving treatment.
However, unexpectedly, what arrived in the end was such a result.
"Come out."
Silas suddenly said flatly to the empty air.
"Swish."
The red-haired, golden-eyed woman appeared at his summons, her curvaceous body wrapped in white robes.
Her exquisite face wore a gentle yet dangerous smile, like honey soaked in poison, yet also like an inorganic sculpture.
Silas looked her up and down.
This was the first time he'd seriously observed her instead of immediately pulling out a knife to kill her.
After examining her carefully from head to toe, he had to admit that her appearance was almost identical to the original Ma'am M.
I unconsciously molded her during my madness, which means I instinctively felt that Ma'am M was the person most suited to manipulating hearts in my perception...
Silas shook his head and said to her:
"What do you want me to call you?"
From an outsider's perspective, Silas was merely talking to himself.
"Keep it simple. M is fine."
The other party answered.
Because she was created based on Ma'am M's image, she's just called M directly?
"Whatever you want."
Silas said noncommittally. "So, are you really a personality I split off?"
"Of course it's true.
The original Ma'am M's spirit was annihilated long ago from directly gazing at that sea.
If I weren't part of you, there'd be no way I wouldn't be rejected by it, much less be able to use its authority."
The red-haired, golden-eyed M explained.
Right, that sea!
"What exactly is that sea?"
Silas asked.
"I don't know."
M shook her head.
"You don't know?"
Silas was somewhat suspicious.
"You can already use its related abilities, yet you still don't know?"
"The one who possesses that sea, the one who wields its authority, is you.
I'm merely a part split off from you. How could I possibly know things you don't know?"
M asked in return.
Hearing this, Silas looked thoughtful.
"How do I get there?"
He asked.
Currently, he could only crudely summon the tide. If he entered there, perhaps he could learn more.
"Summon it, then imagine it surging outside your body, submerging you..."
M said softly.
Silas did as instructed.
"Whoosh..."
Soon, he saw viscous, illusory black liquid surge toward him like a tide from all directions, submerging Silas.
Countless mad, twisted murmurs and roars lay deep within the black liquid, as if trying to permeate into his body.
Silas sank in such seawater until his surroundings suddenly lightened and the sound of illusory waves arose.
Viscous water lapped at his feet.
At the end of the boundless water surface, mist diffused. He and M stood upon such a water surface, the only difference in this monotonous world.
He couldn't help but look into the distance, remembering very clearly that across the mist and seawater, that inverted, towering figure stood tall.
Just then, M spoke.
"Compared to you in reality, I'm merely closer to it, so I'm more familiar with it and can use it crudely."
Ripples spread from beneath her feet.
On this seawater, her figure appeared very solid, as if truly existing.
"Then you must know some things, at least?"
Silas continued to press.
"From what I can tell so far, this seawater possesses extremely high status and can resist mental erosion.
You certainly know this better than I do. Additionally, this sea also has authority from the 'Spectator' pathway.
If not for borrowing from it, that Cecilia personality wouldn't have been so..."
"Don't mention what happened before."
Silas immediately interrupted.
"...Understood."
M paused, then shrugged.
"Beyond that, I'm unclear about other authorities. They need to be researched slowly."
"I understand."
Silas said flatly.
He thought for a moment, then asked her another question. "Is there a way to temporarily block this sea's connection?"
In order to enter the gathering organized by Mr. Fool, he had to shield the tide's automatic resistance when that mysterious existence called for him.
"Block the connection? What do you want to do?"
M asked.