When the Rolls-Royce Phantom finally came to a smooth halt before the Yukinoshita family's old yet imposing front gate, the deathly silence inside the car at last began to crack.
Everyone got out. The first thing that came into view was a sprawling, majestic Japanese traditional estate. Meticulously pruned pines and cypresses, artfully arranged rock gardens and streams, and a main wooden residence steeped in the weight of history all quietly declared the family's lofty status in the region.
Yet, in stark contrast to this tranquil, elegant scenery, a faint but pervasive gloom seemed to hang over the entire manor. In the eyes of the three women who had just acquired [Cursed Spirit Eye], that gloom had taken on the form of a thin, drifting black mist, like an ill omen laid over the grounds.
The servants who had been waiting at the entrance hurried forward and respectfully opened the gate. Haruno led the group inside.
At the entrance hall, a middle-aged woman in a perfectly fitted kimono was pacing back and forth, her bearing elegant and dignified, though her brows were twisted with anxiety and sharpness. This was the sisters' mother, Madam Yukinoshita.
"Haruno, you are finally back. And this is…" Madam Yukinoshita stepped forward the moment she saw her daughter. However, when her gaze landed on Natsume, standing just behind Haruno, she froze on the spot.
Her eyes filled with open suspicion and doubt, her brows knitting together.
"Haruno, are you joking with me? This is the 'professional' you mentioned? He does not even look like an adult, just a high school student." Her voice was cold and piercing, carrying the arrogance unique to those long accustomed to standing above others. "Yukino's condition is critical right now. This is not the time for you to drag in some random fraud who pretends to dabble in the occult."
Faced with her mother's scolding, a hint of helplessness flashed across Haruno's face, but she still insisted, "Mother, please trust my judgment. Natsume is… different from the others."
"Different? How? In my eyes they are all the same, nothing but street charlatans trying to swindle money out of the Yukinoshita family." Madam Yukinoshita gave a chilly snort, clearly unconvinced.
"Madam, please calm down a little."
A steady male voice came from deeper inside the house. A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked out, his features refined and scholarly, though fatigue and worry were etched into the lines between his brows. This was Yukino's father, Councilor Yukinoshita, who held an important seat in the Chiba prefectural assembly.
He was just as surprised by how young Natsume looked. However, unlike his wife, years steeped in politics had taught him how to hide his emotions, and also how to clutch at any straw when pushed to the brink of despair.
"Since he comes recommended by both Haruno and Miss Hōzuki, he must possess some remarkable qualities," Councilor Yukinoshita said, his tone far more courteous. "We have already invited doctors, psychologists, and even several famous masters from Kamakura. None of them could determine the cause. At this point, we can only treat a dead horse as if it were still alive."
He turned to Natsume and gave a slight, formal bow. "Young man, I will entrust my daughter Yukino to you. No matter what, please take a look at her."
From beginning to end, Natsume had simply watched the couple's performance with calm eyes. He had not grown angry at Madam Yukinoshita's scorn, nor was he flattered by the councilor's politeness.
He merely nodded lightly. "Take me to her."
Under Haruno's lead, the group walked down a long corridor and arrived at the door to Yukino's room on the second floor.
The door was shut tight, but from inside came an unsettling chorus of sounds: low, bestial growls and the scraping of claws raking against wood, each noise prickling at the heart.
"Yukino is… inside," Haruno said, her voice trembling slightly.
Councilor Yukinoshita signaled to a servant, who stepped forward and opened the door with a spare key.
The instant the door swung open, a strange stench rushed out, a mix of stale food and something wild and feral.
What they saw inside made anyone seeing it for the first time involuntarily suck in a sharp breath.
The girl's once neat and elegant bedroom had been reduced to ruin. The curtains had been shredded into ragged strips, books from the shelves were scattered across the floor, and the expensive wooden furniture was covered in deep gouges, as if some beast had clawed at them over and over.
On the large bed at the center of the room, a figure was bound hand and foot with torn bedsheets, tied to the bedframe.
It was Yukino.
Yet right now, there was not a trace of her usual cold grace. Her hair was a wild tangle, her nightgown ripped into tatters by her own hands. Those beautiful eyes were filled with something utterly inhuman, a feral, vigilant, vicious glint that belonged to a beast.
"Meow… hiss…!"
The moment she saw them enter, a threatening sound burst from her throat, like a cat with its fur standing on end. Her body thrashed violently, struggling against the bindings with such force that the entire bedframe groaned and creaked.
This was no longer the flawless Ice Queen, but a trapped, savage animal that could not be reasoned with.
"Yukino!" Madam Yukinoshita let out a cry of anguish and almost collapsed on the spot, barely held up by her husband at her side.
Hiratsuka and Yuigahama were both frightened and pale by the scene, left speechless by the horror before their eyes.
"The situation is a bit worse than I expected." For the first time, Natsume's expression grew solemn. "The rejection between her soul and her body has already started. If we drag this on any longer, even if we bring her soul back, this body might be left with permanent damage."
He turned to the couple, who had completely lost their composure.
"What you are about to see may overturn your view of the world. But I need you to witness it with your own eyes, so that it will be easier to proceed with her 'treatment' later." Natsume's voice was not loud, but it carried a quiet, unquestionable authority. "I only have one condition. No matter what you see, do not cause an uproar, and do not speak of it to anyone."
"O… of course. We agree. As long as you can save Yukino, we will agree to anything." Councilor Yukinoshita clung to his words as if they were his last hope, answering in a rush.
Once he had their promise, Natsume brought his fingers together once more.
"[Cursed Spirit Eye]."
Two faint lights flashed and vanished, sinking into the centers of the couple's brows.
At first, neither of them felt anything unusual. Yet when they looked again at their daughter bound to the bed, their pupils shrank to the extreme.
In their vision, Yukino's body had become a half-transparent shell, as clear as glass.
And within that shell, curled up, was something that was absolutely not their daughter's soul.
It was a cat-shaped shadow formed entirely from dense, pure black mist, its outline sharply defined.
The shadow cat was coiled inside Yukino's chest and abdomen, its four limbs braced tightly against the inner walls of her body. A pair of bestial eyes, glowing with eerie green light, stared out at them through Yukino's own eyes, filled with malice and aggression.
Their daughter's beautiful body had become a terrifying "vessel" occupied by a foreign entity.
"Ah… ah… wh-what is… that thing…"
This time it was Madam Yukinoshita's worldview that shattered. She could no longer maintain the bearing of a noble lady. She pointed a trembling finger at the girl on the bed and let out a scream filled with terror and despair. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted dead away.
"A monster. A monster attached itself to my daughter. I will kill you!"
Councilor Yukinoshita's reaction was far more explosive. The weight of the shock and rage slammed into his reason at once. As a father, he could not tolerate anything that harmed his child. His eyes went bloodshot as he roared and spun around, grabbing the decorative sword stand in the corner and charging toward the bed.
"Stop."
Natsume's voice rang out in the room like a temple bell at dawn, snapping through the chaos.
His figure blurred and then he was already in front of the councilor, one hand closing firmly around the sword stand as it came down.
"If you rush over now, you will only provoke it. If it panics and inflicts irreversible damage on this body, who will take responsibility?" Natsume's tone was cold, and in his pale blue eyes there was a sternness that allowed no argument.
The shout shocked Councilor Yukinoshita still. He stared at the boy in front of him, whose build was not particularly imposing, yet he felt a pressure pressing down on him like a mountain, making it impossible to take another step.
Slowly, reason trickled back into his mind.
With a clatter, he dropped the sword stand. Looking at his daughter, who was still growling on the bed, this man who could stir up wind and rain in the political arena had his legs buckle under him. He fell to his knees with a dull thud.
His worldview, his pride, his self-possession, all shattered to pieces in the face of what he had just seen.
After witnessing Natsume's unfathomable methods and his composure beyond any ordinary person, Councilor Yukinoshita's attitude underwent a complete reversal.
Kneeling on the floor, he looked up at Natsume. The doubt in his eyes had completely vanished, replaced only by pure reverence and desperate pleading.
"M-master…" He even changed the way he addressed him without thinking, his voice trembling, edged with a sob. "Master Natsume, I was blind and failed to recognize your greatness. I beg you, please, save my daughter. Whatever you ask, as long as the Yukinoshita family can provide it, we will not refuse."
Watching this dramatic turn of events, Natsume's expression remained calm.
He spoke slowly. "The 'Spirit Collision' soul-swapping ritual requires us to find the cat whose soul was exchanged with hers, and it can only be performed at a specific time and place. The preparations are… troublesome."
"Money, money is not a problem."
The councilor understood at once. He extended a hand without hesitation.
"Five million, five million yen. As long as you can cure Yukino, this will just be the initial deposit. Whatever is needed afterward, we will give our full support."
Five million yen.
The figure made Hiratsuka and Yuigahama widen their eyes in shock. For an ordinary household, that was practically an astronomical sum.
At last, the corner of Natsume's mouth curled into the faintest trace of a smile.
"Very well," he said with a nod. "I accept the commission."
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