As the carriage rolled along the cobbled road, the driver leaned toward the guards with a curious expression. "So… what exactly did the Duchess do?"
The guards exchanged glances. Guard #3 stepped forward, lowering his voice to a whisper.
Selene's ears perked up. Ever since arriving in this world, she was usually the one spreading gossip. Now, for once, she was about to hear some. She leaned forward slightly, eager to soak in the juicy details.
But—Before Guard #3 could utter a single word, Magnus's sharp voice cut through the air. "Enough!"
The guards and the driver stiffened. Without another word, the guards backed away from the carriage, standing rigidly at attention.
Selene, on the other hand, sat red-eyed with frustration. If there was one thing she absolutely hated, it was suspense. Or worse—Cliffhangers. The sheer anxiety of not knowing what happened next made her stomach churn.
She turned to Magnus, pleading silently. But to her dismay, he simply turned his head away, refusing to meet her gaze. As he did, she caught sight of a small telepathic communication device resting on his ear. Her eyes narrowed. Quickly, she fished out her own device from her pocket and placed it over her ear.
Telepathy activated.
"What were they about to say?" she asked through the link.
Magnus remained silent.
"Dad?" she tried again.
Still no response.
Frustrated, she gritted her teeth and squeezed the teddy bear in her arms. Unfortunately, her fingers accidentally flipped a switch on the bear's back. And then the teddy bear began to cry.
A shrill, wailing sob echoed through the carriage.
Magnus, Merly, and Damian jerked in shock.
Merly and Damian scrambled back, eyes wide in absolute terror.
Merly screamed, clutching her chest, "D-DID A SOUL JUST POSSESS THE BEAR?!"
Selene blinked. She quickly waved her hands, trying to calm them down, "N-No! It's supposed to do that! It's just a feature!"
But Damian wasn't listening.
Instead, he pointed a shaking finger at her and yelled, "YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Then, he whirled toward Magnus. "We need to get rid of her before she does the same us!"
Before Magnus could reprimand him, something even more disturbing happened. The teddy bear's arms and legs suddenly began to move. Like a small child, it started flailing its limbs.
Selene's heart stopped. Wait. The box didn't say it could move.
The moment was so bizarre that even Magnus hesitated, his expression turning from annoyed to cautious.
The guards and the driver noticed the commotion. The carriage lurched to a stop. One of the guards approached the carriage, peering inside. "My Lord, is everything—"
But the moment his eyes landed on the moving teddy bear, his face drained of color. Then he screamed. The poor man fell off his horse and scrambled backward, eyes wide with horror.
The other guards immediately dismounted, two of them rushing to help their fallen comrade while the rest cautiously approached the carriage.
As soon as they saw the teddy bear moving, they froze. One guard took a step back, muttering a prayer. Another clutched his sword, though he was visibly trembling.
Magnus, ever the skeptic, narrowed his eyes.
"Selene," he said, his voice calm but firm. "Turn it off. Now."
Selene, still stunned, swallowed hard. "O-Okay…"
Her fingers reached for the switch but before she could press it—
The teddy bear suddenly screamed. "PLEASE DON'T TURN ME OFF!!"
Silence.
Absolute, dead silence.
Selene's face turned pale.
Then—
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!" She shrieked and hurled the bear at Damian.
Out of pure reflex, he caught it only to lock eyes with the bear.
The teddy bear blinked.
Damian's entire body stiffened. His pupils shrank. Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, he went limp in his seat.
Magnus sighed heavily and picked up the bear and he studied it.
"Who are you?" he asked, voice low. "And what do you want?"
The teddy bear trembled in his grip.
"P-Please," it whimpered. "D-Don't hurt me."
Magnus's gaze sharpened. "Then explain yourself."
The bear hesitated.
Then, in a small, nervous voice, it finally answered.
"Miranda?!" Selene and Magnus called out the name at the same time.
The teddy bear's head bobbed in a small nod.
Selene quickly took Miranda from Magnus's hands, holding the plush creature at eye level. "How in the world did you end up in this bear?!" she demanded.
Miranda remained silent. Instead, she stared at Selene, her button-like eyes narrowing as she skeptically scanned her up and down.
Selene frowned. "Why aren't you answering?"
Miranda let out a hesitant sigh. "…Because if I explain, you might kill me."
Selene blinked, stunned. "Kill you?! Why would I do that?!"
Miranda's tiny plush arms twitched as she looked from Selene to Merly, then to Magnus. She muttered something under her breath. It was so soft that Selene couldn't hear.
"What?" Selene asked, tilting her head. "I didn't catch that."
Before Miranda could repeat herself, Magnus's expression shifted in understanding.
"Don't worry," he said, his tone calm but firm. "Selene is a Dark Priestess."
Miranda's stuffed body stiffened. Slowly, she turned her button eyes back to Selene. Selene nodded in confirmation. Miranda then glanced back at Magnus.
"Even though she's…?" Miranda trailed off hesitantly.
Magnus gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Yes. I don't have any prejudice against Dark Attribute users." His voice softened. "Selene is my daughter, no matter what."
Miranda fell silent. Then, in a low, melancholy voice, she whispered, "I wish… my parents were like you."
Selene's heart ached at the sadness in her voice. She reached out and gently patted the teddy bear's head.
"Hey," she said softly. "It's okay."
Miranda didn't respond, but she leaned into the touch just slightly.
Then Selene asked again, "So? How did you end up possessing the bear?"
Miranda took a deep breath before explaining. "My parents never let me train my Puppeteer class."
Selene's brows furrowed.
"But you're a noble," she said. "Shouldn't they be encouraging you to develop your skills?"
Miranda let out a bitter chuckle.
"Me, becoming a dark attribute user was an embarrassment to them. So, they want me to just be a perfect noble lady instead."
Selene's lips pressed into a thin line.
Miranda continued, "I wanted to enter Ravencroft Academy of Magic and Combat, so I started secretly training on my own. I practiced by making my dolls go out into the forest near my home and fight slimes." She sighed. "Then yesterday, I unlocked a new skill—Possession. It lets me possess any toy nearby and control it."
Selene hummed. "That's actually really cool."
Miranda sighed again, this time frustrated. "Well, it didn't turn out so cool in the end."
Selene tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Miranda's button eyes darkened slightly. "Today, Victoria locked me in my room because she didn't want me appearing at the tea party she was hosting."
Selene scoffed. "Figures."
Miranda continued, "I wanted to keep training, but all my dolls were locked in the room with me. The only thing I could do was try to possess one of Victoria's dolls."
Selene frowned. "Did it fail? Is that how you ended up in the bear?"
Miranda shook her head. "No, the possession worked. I controlled the doll and went into the forest to continue killing slimes."
She shuddered. "But then… a kobold attacked me."
Selene gasped. A kobold?! I've never seen one of those before. I really want to see it.
Miranda sighed. "Yeah. It completely destroyed the doll."
Selene winced. "…And then?"
"Everything went black." Miranda's voice was barely above a whisper. "The next thing I knew, I was possessing this teddy bear. But I couldn't move or speak while I was inside it. And when I tried to unlink the possession—" he swallowed. "…It wouldn't work. I was stuck inside the bear."
Selene frowned. "How is that possible?"
Magnus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It could be that the teddy bear dragged her consciousness into it."
Miranda stiffened. "…Why would it do that?"
"That teddy bear," he said slowly, "was likely made for a soul to live in it."