Imagine this scene: You’re on a creaky ghost ship, pushing open a wooden door at the end of a dark hallway. A dim oil lamp flickers gently, and in its wavering light, you see a headless puppet in a long Gothic dress sitting in front of a vanity mirror, holding its own head. The head turns towards you, slowly revealing a stiff smile...
Duncan thought that if he hadn’t been on this ship for so many days and didn’t know Alice so well, he would have drawn his gun in an instant.
But Alice had no idea how eerie the atmosphere had become. She obediently popped her head back onto her neck with a soft "pop," quickly regaining her senses. With a bright smile, she greeted Duncan, “Good evening, Captain! Did you need something?”
Duncan took a moment to collect himself, suspiciously looking Alice up and down for a while. “What are you doing here? Why did the goat head say you were counting your hair in the cabin?”
Alice moved her neck a bit and gently arranged her slightly messy hair with her fingers, looking a bit embarrassed. “I was just... checking how much hair I have left.”
Duncan stared at her as if she were simple-minded, and then he finally noticed something at the edge of the table: a spool of thread that had somehow rolled out, with several silver strands of hair wrapped around it. The source of those strands was obvious...
Duncan’s face was expressionless: “...”
Alice noticed where the captain was looking and immediately picked up the spool, seriously explaining to Duncan, “See, this one is called Miffy, this one is called Polly, this one is called Femia, and this one is called...”
Duncan was shocked: “You even named every strand of hair you lost?!”
“It’s a keepsake,” Alice said earnestly, with a hint of sadness. “You said I’m a puppet, and puppets can’t grow hair on their own... What if one day I lose it all? I can look at the list and remember the good times I had with them...”
Duncan felt a bit dazed by what Alice was saying, and for a moment, he forgot why he had come here. After a long pause, he finally managed to say, “I was just saying it casually. You don’t need to take it to heart... By the way, no wonder you’ve been in the cabin these past few days. So you’ve been doing this every day? Counting hair and naming the ones that fall out?”
Alice nodded innocently: “Uh-huh.”
Duncan kept a straight face and sighed after a while: “Alright, I’ll see if I can find a craftsman in the city who can help you with this...”
Alice was taken aback: “You’re going to bring someone to the ship?”
Duncan shot her a glare: “... I’m going to buy you a few wigs! Does it make sense to kidnap a hairdresser while the Endless Sea is moving around?”
“Well, it doesn’t sound right for the moving disaster to buy wigs in human cities either...” Alice mumbled instinctively, but halfway through, she quickly swallowed her words, “Ah, I won’t say anymore, hee hee...”
“Don’t be silly,” Duncan suddenly felt exhausted. He waved his hand and finally remembered his real purpose for coming here. “Forget it, you distracted me from the main point—Alice, sit down. I came to talk to you about something important.”
Seeing the captain’s serious expression, Alice knew this wasn’t a joking matter. She quickly put away the spool and sat down on a wooden box by the bed—sitting straight, her hands folded neatly on her knees, looking elegant and dignified.
Duncan sighed. For some reason, he always found it easy to lose his composure in front of Alice. Even when he first arrived in this world, he could remain indifferent in front of the goat head, and even when he possessed a sacrificial body facing a pile of corpses, he could keep a straight face. But with this oddly eerie puppet, his expression and demeanor always teetered on the edge of breaking down.
Thinking about it, this was probably the power of aesthetics—Alice’s vibe was indeed hard to resist.
He beckoned with his finger, and a chair in the room immediately squeaked its way behind him. He sat down, trying hard to restore his serious demeanor and focused on Alice’s eyes.
“Do you have any impression of the name Lei Nora?”
“Lei Nora?” Alice blinked, her face showing genuine confusion. “I haven’t heard of her... Sounds like a woman? And it has an elegant and noble feel... Is she someone you know?”
“Technically, she should be your ‘acquaintance,’ but you say you don’t know her... Alright, I believe you,” Duncan said, not surprised by Alice’s answer. He continued, “What about the Frost City? Are you familiar with it? Any impressions?”
“Frost City? I heard about it while I was in the box. It seems to be a city on the Cold Sea, and there’s a place called Cold Harbor, which is the gateway between Frost and the central sea,” Alice thought for a moment. “But I don’t know the specifics; I’ve only heard the name.”
“What about ‘Alice’s Guillotine’?”
The puppet looked puzzled: “I know Alice, that’s me—but what’s a guillotine?”
Duncan asked several more questions, but the responses were mostly the same.
This was pretty much what he expected.
Alice was completely clueless about it all, just like she had described on the first day they met. She didn’t know her past, didn’t know the truth behind “Anomaly 099,” had no knowledge of Frost City, and hadn’t heard of the Frost Queen who had died half a century ago.
Even though her appearance was identical to that Frost Queen.
Duncan didn’t expect to get many straightforward answers from these questions. He just wanted to see if Alice would have any special reaction upon hearing these “keywords”—but now the test was over, and the puppet was still the same simple-minded puppet.
He believed this timid puppet wouldn’t dare to fake her true reactions in front of him—her intelligence probably wouldn’t allow her to pull off such high-level tricks.
So... maybe he should focus not on the puppet, but on the “coffin”?
Duncan’s gaze sharpened slowly, his attention falling on the ornate heavy wooden box that Alice was sitting on.
That beautiful box, which had once contained the puppet, was still in the room, and now Alice was sitting steadily on top of it.
Alice really liked this box; she used it as a stool and storage, and sometimes even slept inside it—despite there being a proper bed in the room.
“Open the box and let me take a look,” Duncan said.
Alice felt a bit confused but quickly jumped down from the box and opened it.
Duncan stepped forward to take a look.
Inside the box was soft red velvet, and in the corners, there were a few scattered items: a comb, a spool of thread with hair wrapped around it, a small mirror, and a few metal trinkets.
“I found these on the ship, in other cabins,” Alice pointed to the items in the corner of the box and explained carefully, “I asked Mr. Goat Head, and he said these were all unclaimed items. Can I keep them? I think they’re pretty...”
Duncan looked at the old trinkets.
Perhaps a century ago, someone had worn them in their hair or adorned their chest on this ship.
These were remnants from when the Lost Homeland belonged to the human world.
“Consider them a gift; keep them,” Duncan nodded. But then his gaze suddenly caught a small object among the pile of items, and he couldn’t help but reach out to pick it up. “This thing...”
It was a small hairpin, so exquisite that it seemed out of place on the Lost Homeland. It resembled a silver feather, with a few fragments of waves adorning the edges. Despite having endured a century of time, it still looked brand new—this was completely different from the old items.
Duncan frowned. For some reason, when he saw this hairpin, he felt a faint sense of... nostalgia.
Even a name almost slipped from his lips.
But he could never recall what that name was.
Duncan blinked, slightly stunned, unsure of where this sudden feeling was coming from. But gradually, he began to understand.
Just like when he first arrived on this ship and learned the name “Duncan Abnomar”... he had once again encountered the “echo” that lingered in his body!
He looked down at the hairpin in his hand, pondering how such a delicate object could resonate with the greatest disaster on the Endless Sea. But soon, Alice’s voice pulled him from his thoughts: “Captain? Captain, you...”
“Sorry, I can’t give you this hairpin,” Duncan snapped back to reality and said to Alice. But then he felt that might be a bit harsh for the puppet lady, so he added, “I’ll buy you some new ones in the city next time—these things are very old.”
“Really?!” Alice’s face lit up with surprise. “Captain, you’re so nice!”
“Don’t rush to praise me,” Duncan shook his head, casually putting the hairpin away. “We haven’t finished talking about the important stuff yet... Alice, I need to tell you some things about your ‘essence.’ You need to listen carefully.”
(End of Chapter)