His shoulders sagged slightly as he closed the book tightly and returned it to the shelf, his breath catching in his throat.
He had no idea what had been going through those people's minds when they committed such gruesome acts, how they could toy with a person's internal organs moments after that person had died.
Liam sighed, realizing that he had been reading while standing for an entire hour, completely unaware of what was happening around him because he had become so absorbed in the disturbing information before him.
Liam pulled the pocket watch from his tailcoat, his brows nearly furrowing as he murmured, "Huh? It's already half past eight? Time really flies... damn."
He slipped the watch back into his tailcoat pocket. Then, he hurried out of the library and headed straight for his younger sister's friend's house.
The previous afternoon, not long after waking up inside Zavi's body, Isabelle had approached him while he was in his room and asked him to help carry her belongings on Sunday.
To hide his confusion, he had agreed to Isabelle's request.
Liam then hurried toward Isabelle's friend's house, whose address had been given to him long before Zavi's death. The house was still on Cosdever Street, at Number 25.
The journey took around twenty minutes by horse-drawn carriage because of the crowded streets. He got off at an intersection and decided to turn left, where an alley connected to an alternate street. His steps were calm and steady as he walked along the pavement, glancing at each house number with hopeful eyes, eager to arrive and go home.
"Five more," he whispered, quickening his pace despite his increasingly uneven breathing.
When he reached the house, Liam bent forward slightly, his breathing labored. After taking several deep breaths, his eyes settled on the number twenty-five plaque mounted beside the door.
'Is this really the right house? But where is the girl now?'
Liam closed his eyes for a moment. He had no choice but to try. He climbed the small steps in front of him and stood there quietly, positioning himself directly before the door while straightening his clothes.
For a moment, his hand froze as he pressed the bell hanging to his right.
Cling... Ting... Ting...
The soothing chime echoed briefly from inside the house and reached his ears. Since it was Sunday, a day when people were off work and school and many went to church, the occupants of the house immediately became alarmed, and two of them hurried downstairs to investigate.
Liam caught the sound of hurried footsteps filled with urgency, growing closer and clearer with every passing second.
He instinctively swallowed hard.
He was worried that he had come to the wrong house.
Click...
The door opened. A woman with long black hair cascading over her shoulders, bright blue eyes like seawater, and a rose-patterned head covering that lent her an elegant charm stood before Liam.
For a moment, the two exchanged glances.
"Excuse me... I'm looking for Isabelle," Liam murmured hesitantly. "Is she here?" he asked, his breath catching for a moment as he stared at the woman, who furrowed her brows.
The beautiful girl who owned the house was somewhat shy but mischievous by nature. She smiled broadly, easing the panic gripping Liam's chest.
"Could you be Isabelle's older brother, hmm, Mr. Zavi?" she asked, seeking confirmation.
Liam answered with a nod. He did not know what else to say, nor was he interested in prolonging the conversation, especially with a woman.
After a brief exchange, the girl, as the owner of the house, insisted that Liam come inside and told him not to hesitate because Isabelle was in her room. Feeling uncomfortable, Liam rejected the idea and chose to wait outside until his younger sister came out herself.
'What a hassle! I don't feel comfortable entering someone else's house even though the owner has given me permission.'
He waited while sitting on a cushioned chair on the veranda, his cheek resting against his hand as he watched several people and horse-drawn carriages pass along the street in front of him.
Three minutes later, Isabelle came out of the house, standing in the doorway with two fairly large boxes beside her, a long sigh escaping her lips.
Liam glanced sideways, his brow furrowing slightly. Just by looking at them, he could already tell that he would have to carry both boxes all the way home, a distance of several hundred meters, perhaps even farther.
Even so, he would do his best to make his younger sister happy. Liam knew this was the only way to get the boxes home while saving them the expense of hiring a carriage.
"I'm going home now. See you tomorrow," Isabelle said softly. "Don't forget about our plan, okay?" She winked at him.
The corners of Liam's lips lifted instinctively. He recognized the gesture, one deeply embedded in Zavi's memories.
"All right," he replied with a smile. "Take care on your way home."
The three women glanced at Liam and smiled, while he looked rather gloomy carrying the two boxes.
'Ugh. It feels like she's making fun of me.'
Liam continued staring silently at the three women.
Isabelle descended the small steps and grabbed her older brother by the shoulder, urging him to get moving.
Liam gave a bitter smile after witnessing such cruelty.
'Damn. These are heavier than I thought.'
Suppressing a disgruntled expression, Liam grumbled inwardly.
The tailcoat he had been wearing earlier, which restricted the movement of his arms, had now been folded and tucked between the two boxes he was carrying, revealing his white shirt and tie, along with the black belt around his trousers.
The combined weight of the two boxes was around twenty-eight kilograms, enough to make Liam's bones scream from within.
After leaving the narrow alley, the two turned onto the main road and followed the long pavement toward the intersection of Vica, Cosdever, Vein, and Nodert Streets.
However, something felt strange after he turned right at the same intersection where Liam had gotten off the horse-drawn carriage earlier.
The stone-paved intersection had a large open area in the middle, spacious enough to accommodate hundreds of people and several circus tents.
From one of the tents ahead, murmurs of amazement and wonder echoed along the circular road, as though the visitors were witnessing something extraordinary.
'It's crowded. Is there some kind of performance going on?'
He disliked leaving his curiosity unsatisfied for too long. After considering it for a moment, he decided to take a look for himself, completely forgetting his original task.
Meanwhile, Isabelle was still talking about family matters, work, the future, and how her older brother needed to start getting his life in order as soon as possible.
Yet none of her efforts received a response.
Her footsteps slowed before coming to a complete stop. Isabelle slowly turned around, time seeming to move in slow motion as she realized that Liam was no longer behind her.
'Huh? Where did he go? Ah, whenever I start talking at length, he always disappears just like that.'
Her eyes settled on Liam to the right, walking toward the crowd gathered around the Cosdever intersection.
She raised her hand, signaling a passing horse-drawn carriage to slow down, then joined the other pedestrians who seemed to be heading toward the same place.
The roundabout.
"Excuse me... please let me through," she said softly, her voice trembling.
Then she ran after her brother and immediately tapped Liam on the shoulder once she caught up with him.
"Why did you stop here?" she asked, frowning. "Come on, let's go back and..."
Her words suddenly stopped.
Her pupils widened, and her mouth fell slightly open at the sight before her.
A man wearing a fedora was performing magic tricks in the middle of the crowd. His movements were precise and confident, captivating the spectators with his performance, while their cheers made the show even more intense.
Elsewhere, a man dressed like an occultist sat behind a small table, telling the fortunes of people standing neatly in line before him.
The audience's applause brought the surrounding area to life, as other street performances were also taking place nearby.
"What is this?" Isabelle murmured in disbelief.
She did not like the atmosphere there.
She moved closer and whispered, "Let's go home. I don't want to get involved in things like this."
Liam's tense expression as he watched the performers slowly softened after hearing her whisper.
"Yeah, all right," he replied hesitantly.
'Just admit that you're afraid of crowds.'
Before turning away, however, he observed them carefully one more time and became lost in thought.
'Something is wrong, but what is it?'
Liam quickly left the crowd with Isabelle.
10:55 a.m.
After resting several times along the way, the two finally arrived home on Vica Street. Liam felt as though his lower back was about to break. The two boxes, whose contents remained a mystery, were placed beside the shoe rack near the front door.
His eyes shifted to the right. All he wanted was to reach his room and lie down on the bed. Sleeping for a few hours before heading to Tezny District seemed like a good idea.
He staggered forward, dragging his feet across the floor, but just as his hand touched the doorknob, Isabelle told him to stop.
Liam's hand froze on the doorknob, as did his entire body. A gentle breeze slipped through the ventilation opening and brushed against him, creating an oddly dramatic atmosphere.
"Take this," Isabelle said as she pulled several banknotes from a black floral-patterned wallet.
The amount came to eight Pace, which, frankly, was absurdly large for a schoolgirl to have.
Looking at the four banknotes held out before him, Liam smiled faintly and accepted the money without hesitation as compensation for the hard work of carrying the boxes home.
Click.
The bedroom door opened, and Liam immediately stepped inside. Isabelle turned away and shook her head. But after taking two steps, a voice came from behind her.
"Thank you for giving this money to your useless brother," Liam said, playing Zavi's usual manner, though Isabelle could only hear him faintly.
"Yeah," Isabelle replied briefly with a smile. "Thank you for always helping me without complaining."
Liam fell silent, those words causing something in his chest to stir faintly. After remaining quiet for a while, he immediately threw himself onto the bed and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
However, he immediately sat up after feeling a ticklish sensation on his thigh. He quickly took the pocket watch from his trouser pocket, listening to its faint ticking as he watched the hands move.
"It's almost eleven, isn't it?" he whispered, beginning to stretch the muscles throughout his body.
At exactly two o'clock, Liam planned to head to the meeting point Leo had told him about in Tezny District.
"There's still time. I should sleep," he said, his eyes no longer able to stay open.
The cool breeze entering through the open window filled his room and swept across his body, giving Liam a sense of comfort.
A minute later, he fell into a deep sleep, his black jacket still draped over his shoulders.
At 1:35 p.m. Liam suddenly woke up. Once again, he had been affected by the recurring nightmare about Zavi's death, which had awakened him on its own.
He remembered it with horrifying clarity, too vividly to dismiss, including the final moments before his death and the nausea and terror that had left cold sweat covering his face.
"Damn. That dream again," Liam hissed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his tailcoat.
His breathing was uneven. His knees felt weak as he rose from the bed, and the soles of his feet felt cold against the floor.
He took a deep breath before deciding to go to the bathroom to clean himself and wash his hair thoroughly.
The nightmare he had just experienced defied human logic. Yesterday morning, Zavi had been alone at home. Naturally, he was unemployed.
As usual, Ren's whereabouts were unknown. He was mysterious and indifferent toward his family, despite genuinely caring for them. His mother had gone to the market to sell everyday necessities such as fruit, nuts, and seafood alongside other vendors.
Meanwhile, his younger sister, Isabelle, had gone to school with her friend, the same schoolmate who had visited their house that Saturday, spending some time in the living room before leaving for school together.
Then, at around half past six in the morning, Zavi had been in his room. His neck had tightened along with his stiff muscles, causing him to wake from his long sleep.
His footsteps were weak, his face devoid of expression as he walked toward the kitchen. Once there, he ate a sandwich with an empty stare, as though something heavy was weighing on his mind.
After swallowing the sandwich with difficulty, tears slowly fell and dampened his rough cheeks. At that moment, Zavi could no longer hold them back. For some reason, he suddenly stood, causing the chair to fall backward, while his face abruptly turned blue as though poison had invaded his body.
With heavy but determined steps, he immediately took a knife from the kitchen table and, without hesitation, repeatedly plunged it into his own chest.
Blood continued to flow, soaking the kitchen floor and forming a pool beneath him. At the climax of it all, Zavi stabbed his own heart. At that very moment, he died instantly, his body collapsing onto the floor surrounded by fresh blood, while the sensation still had not disappeared during those final seconds before his death was confirmed.
Yet one thing was certain. There had been whispers he should have heard, but Zavi never heard them because countless strands of something continued to reverberate around him, bearing witness to his death.
Liam stood before the mirror, turned on the faucet, cupped water in his hands, and splashed it over his head after recalling everything once again.
The cold water calmed his mind more than anything else. Liam narrowed his eyes, the tension around them slowly fading as he stared sharply at his reflection in the mirror, several strands of hair falling over his eyes.
"Suicide? Madness? Or a supernatural force?" he asked himself in confusion.
When he had awakened inside this body, his own body had heard a continuous knocking sound, yet there were no stab wounds in his chest, as though none of it had ever happened.
'From what I've observed, it seems he suffered a sudden mental breakdown. I don't know what happened, but he completely lost control of his own mind and ended his life while something inside his entire body continued deteriorating.'
'I can't determine the cause. Perhaps sometime between Monday and Friday last week, some of Zavi's memories and activities were erased. I can only remember fragments of the events surrounding his death, and a few events from much earlier.'
Liam did not dwell on it too much, continuing to restrain himself from telling anyone about his situation.
Liam punched the wall several inches from the mirror several times. His hand reddened slightly, the skin peeling as fresh blood flowed and stained the wall, but he chose to ignore the injury as he rinsed the blood away with water from the faucet.
Only then did he realize that the wound itself had given him a warning, the pain making his lips tremble.
'Ah, right. I know that. Anger isn't the only way to solve a problem.'
After that, he left the bathroom and returned to his room to retrieve the two banknotes his younger sister had given him earlier. He hurried out of his room and stood in the middle of the house.
"Isabelle, are you in your room?" he shouted. "I'm going out. You don't mind staying home alone, do you?"
After waiting several seconds, Isabelle answered his shout from upstairs.
"I'm fine!" Isabelle shouted from her room.
Hearing that, Liam felt relieved enough to leave the house. He took the tailcoat hanging on the coat rack near the front door and quickly put it on.
A few minutes after Liam left, Isabelle finally realized something and hurried out of her room, running downstairs.
"Oh no, I forgot I'm alone at home," she whispered in panic. "So, is he trying to find a job again after being rejected so many times?"
Isabelle raised her shoulders slightly before walking steadily toward the front door, checking whether Liam had locked the house or not.
Satisfied that the door was locked, she clenched her hands, hoping that Goddess Yarandrela would guide the soul of her lost older brother.
Afterward, with a faint smile, Isabelle returned to her room and continued doing her homework.