A few minutes later, Liam arrived at Navena Street, about three hundred metres from his previous location, unaware of what was happening at the Forn residence.
In front of him stood a luxurious house surrounded by an iron fence. Two uniformed guards stood at the gate, strictly guarding the entrance.
Before he could get any closer, the two guards stopped him.
"What is your purpose?" asked one of them in a stern tone.
Liam reached into his trouser pocket. His movement caused the two guards to reflexively prepare to draw their weapons, but they immediately lowered their guard when they saw that Liam was only taking out a piece of paper.
"Check this," said Liam as he handed it over.
The two guards approached, unfolded the paper, and read its contents carefully.
"That's right. This is Mr Albert's handwriting, and the stamp also belongs to the Hammond family," muttered the neat, black-haired guard.
He looked at his friend for a moment before saying, "All right. Please wait a moment."
The gate slowly opened. The two guards nodded, inviting Liam to enter. After he stepped through the gate, it closed again and the two guards resumed their duties.
The large house had two floors and about twenty rooms—one large kitchen, a dining room, the rest bedrooms, bathrooms, and several storage rooms. Outside, a fountain stood in the middle of the path, its water flowing in two directions, surrounded by a neat garden with grass as a natural border.
Liam climbed the small steps and stopped in front of the tall, imposing door. He took a deep breath, then knocked.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
He waited. A faint sound of footsteps could be heard from inside, slowly descending the stairs, becoming clearer and clearer.
The doorknob turned, and the door opened. Standing before him was a man with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a shirt with the top two buttons undone. They exchanged glances.
"Oh, it's you, Mr Zavi. Have you seen 'him' showing any strange signs?" he asked, buttoning his shirt back up.
"Actually, I didn't see him clearly," replied Liam. "But at that time he went down the stairs, then back up again... about five times. And I'm also curious... how do you know that 'he' is possessed by an evil spirit?"
Albert looked left and right, making sure no one was around. "Come in," he said softly. "I'll tell you about my experience dealing with supernatural cases like this."
"All right," he replied, confused. After that, he entered the house, followed by Albert behind him.
The large door closed again. Albert led the way to the right, towards a neatly arranged sitting room. Two pairs of soft sofas flanked a large round table in the middle. Against the wall, a row of bookshelves stood neatly, filled with thick volumes that looked well cared for.
Above it hung a large lamp that illuminated the entire staircase—right, centre, and left, with a soft but sufficiently broad light. The floor was covered in shiny grey marble, each step reflecting light and creating a charming impression.
The house was very large and spacious. Liam's sudden arrival made him feel uncomfortable.
After thinking for a moment, he gathered his courage and asked for further clarification.
"There's something I want to talk about," he said softly, continuing, "I'm sorry if I'm being rude by asking this."
Albert turned, nodded and told Liam to continue.
"Are you a—" Before he could finish his sentence, a woman with black hair and brown eyes, similar to Albert's, suddenly appeared on the stairs and approached them with hurried steps.
"Brother," said the woman, her voice filled with panic.
Hearing his sister's voice, Albert took the initiative to approach her. "What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" he asked firmly.
"No," she replied softly, "Who is that man, brother? Is he your friend?" she asked curiously after seeing an unknown man enter her house.
Albert turned, chuckled and replied, "Oh, you could say he's a friend of mine. Why do you ask?"
The woman's name was Anastasia Hammond, Albert's younger sister. She was the same age as Zavi, twenty years old.
Like Zavi, she was currently unemployed. Her daily life was simple: she stayed in her room, ate, drank, bathed, and went for walks when her brother was not busy.
Their parents worked as guardians of important archives in the city of Moran. Because of this job, they often dealt with high-ranking nobles of the Kingdom of Norn and handled documents related to internal royal affairs.
Through this proximity and collaboration, the Hammond family received various compensations and special access, including permission to enter areas not open to the public. It was this connection that Albert and his partner later exploited to handle supernatural cases while expanding their influence in the city.
The job was extremely dangerous. Both of his parents often handled documents that could spark political conflict, so they needed trustworthy people to protect them. The bodyguards were not only tasked with guarding them, but also ready to fight at any moment if an assassination attempt threatened their lives.
Anastasia turned her head, staring intently at Liam, who was watching her. Reflexively, Liam shifted his gaze to the right corner of the house.
"My name is Anastasia Hammond. May I get to know you?" she asked softly as she walked towards Liam.
Immediately, Liam turned his head, watching the woman walk calmly towards him. On the other hand, Albert chuckled, knowing that his sister was curious or perhaps fond of Liam's presence.
Anastasia stood so close, only a few inches away, almost touching him. From behind, Albert was transfixed; his mouth agape. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; he had never once witnessed his sister acting like this.
There was an age difference of about six years between them, but this was the first time Albert had seen a side of Anastasia that was completely unfamiliar to him.
"Hey, that's too close... This woman is really weird, damn it," Liam muttered softly, annoyed by the strange woman's behaviour.
All he could do now was smile, curse her silently, and hope that Albert would tell his sister to stop this ridiculous behaviour.
Just as he thought. Albert told his sister to back off and also told her to go back to her room. Albert's orders were absolute. Previously, Anastasia obeyed her brother's orders, no matter how small.
But for some reason, today she refused, as if something had influenced her. Albert was calmer, telling her again, but this time accompanied by the sound of his teeth grinding.
Hearing this, Anastasia was immediately frightened, running as fast as she could up the stairs and straight to her room on the upper floor.
Albert glanced at Liam with an evil smile. Liam could only scratch his cheek after witnessing this strange thing.
The two returned to continue their previous conversation. Sitting facing each other, the atmosphere became tense afterwards.
Meanwhile, Anastasia had not returned to her room. From the upper floor, through a small crack in the wall, she eavesdropped on her brother and Liam's conversation out of curiosity after meeting them earlier.
On the other hand, the strange behaviour she had shown earlier was only to hide her true nature. For two years, she had been curious about her brother's behaviour.
To investigate, she pretended to act like an odd woman to avoid arousing suspicion.
"Who is that person? Is he my brother's accomplice?" she murmured curiously.
Although she harboured great suspicion towards Albert, Anastasia still called him "brother." Was it because she was used to his disguise, or because of her true feelings all along?
That question suddenly popped into her mind. But she was determined to investigate who her brother really was and why she had started to suspect him two years ago.