There were very few things that Snatcher feared. He was the one scaring people and stealing their soul after using them. Until very recently, the spirit's life had been good, or at least, as good as it could be in the afterlife. After all, eternity could be both a blessing and a curse. In Snatcher's case, it was more a curse than anything else. Without any victim to take care of, life in Subcon Forest wasn't very thrilling, to say the least. However... At the current moment, the ghost would have given anything to go back to his monotonous life.

Thin but powerful arms kept him locked in a tight embrace. If he didn't know better, Snatcher would be scared to see his soul leaving his terrified and paralysed body. His breath was caught up in his throat, and he was completely unable to move. His heart was beating too fast and he couldn't help but wonder how he was still conscious at this point.

If the shade wasn't afraid of many things... Being held up in his crazy ex's embrace clearly was one of them.

-"I didn't think you'd be home so soon! Did you come back for me ?" She asked, before moving backwards in order to look at him. Light blue eyes met his and he felt panic grow inside of his chest. Her face was just in front of his, and she was smiling. How could she? She had murdered him!

Or, at least, if she didn't remember... She was going to? Time travels were so confusing...

His mind was blank and he was still unable to move. He couldn't do this, he couldn't do this, there was no way this could-

-"What's wrong ? Aren't you happy to see me ?" Her sweet but worried voice brought him back to reality and he felt like he had just received an electric discharge all through his body. This was not good. Vanessa, of all people, couldn't know, otherwise... He didn't want to think about it, but he just knew it would be worse than what she did to Subcon Village in the future. Especially if she was the cause of this mess in the first place... In that case, he had even more reasons to play his role perfectly. Meaning... He really had to stop being mute each time he was taken aback by something!

-"I, uh..." An excuse, he had to find an excuse, quick! He tried to move again but the ache in his legs woke up in consequence, giving him the only pretext he could give in such a short time: "I'm sorry, my legs still hurt."

He did his best to smile despite the fear that was growing in him. The ghost wanted nothing more than to run away from her, but with his condition and her hazardous nature, doing so was impossible. The only option he had left at the moment was to pretend to be that Alistel he had come to reject after his death.

"I'll look for a way out of here as soon as I can stand up." Though, he could only hope it wouldn't be long before that.

-"And... Of course, I'm happy to see you !" He lied, feeling like the words were a poison burning his tongue as soon as they left his lips: "Why wouldn't I be ?" He added, while his mind was already making an alphabetical list of the many, many reasons why he wouldn't anymore.

The worry which had painted Vanessa's face disappeared as soon as he reassured her. In the end, she probably was expecting that answer from him, just pretending to be upset to manipulate him. In hindsight, she used to do that a lot when they were alive. He was just too dumb and too in love with her to notice it at the time. Now, it was just obvious to him.

-"Aaaw !" She cooed, in a way that made Snatcher sick to his stomach: "Stop it, you're making me blush !" She then laughed, though it seemed fake. It was as if she was still playing the role of the perfect princess like she used to be in his eyes, a long time ago. And again, now that he knew everything about her real self, it felt just... Wrong. He couldn't believe that anymore.

He wasn't stupid like his old self.

The shade gave a sour laugh, trying to imitate her but failing nonetheless. She didn't seem to notice it, fortunately, and changed the topic of their discussion :

-"The doctor came while you were unconscious." She explained, looking at his legs while doing so, and then continued: "He said that one of your legs had been fractured and that it was quite impressive that you managed to walk. He healed most of it, but told us he'll have to come back in the following days."

The pain in his legs was certainly less intense than before. Doctors in Subcon Village were different from the others. The region was full of magic and a lot of professions used it every day. Many foreigners came to Subcon Village in order to be cured of unusual diseases. Healing magic was not easy to master; he knew that himself because even as a ghost with a lot of powers, it was hard for him to use such spells. There were a few doctors in Subcon who managed to understand this magic and use it for the greater good. If he really did have a fracture as Vanessa explained... He was grateful his old servants fetched someone who knew healing magic. Until now, the pain had been quite unpleasant, to say the least. With a healing method like this... He would be standing up in less than a week, which was already more than what he could endure. However, he knew it could have been worse, so at least, it would only be a matter of a few days until he could really start to look for clues.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by his ex's voice again :

-"What happened ?" Her tone was anxious again, yet this time it seemed genuine: "Did someone hurt you? I tried to ask the servants, to know if they heard anything but... Why were you so injured? Did something happen on the way back ?"

Snatcher felt his body freezing once again. This was it: the moment to use the excuse he had invented earlier that day. Though, would she believe it? He wasn't sure, in retrospect. He might have taken it too lightly, thinking the reason wouldn't be as important as his return itself, but now… He regretted not having thought about it more. Snatcher looked away, not sure about what to say.

-"Well ?" Her tone changed and became more insistent. She was growing impatient and that clearly wasn't a good thing: he knew how "Vanessa" and the word "impatient" didn't go well together.

Here went nothing.

-"Hum… Do you remember my teacher ?" He asked, uncertain about the development of the conversation. He could feel this wasn't going in the right direction, especially when he saw Vanessa's face contorting in annoyance, before she hid it again with a fake smile.

-"Of course I do." If she was still smiling, her eyes certainly were not, thus he decided to quickly continue the rest of his made-up story. She really was jealous, wasn't she? In a way, she always had been, until it became out of control.

-"She fell ill and became unable to teach me anymore, so she preferred to send me back here…" He swallowed, feeling his nervousness coming back at full force: "So I paid for a driver, but he refused to drive through the forest.

-Oh, the poor one…" She said, visibly insincere. How could he have missed her jealousy when it was so obvious? Was he so in love with her that he completely missed all those red flags? Before he could keep on questioning himself, she added: "So you walked through the forest? Alone ?"

She wasn't believing him, Snatcher was sure of it. Or, she was doubtful at the very least. To be completely honest, if he were in her shoes, he wouldn't trust himself either… That was a very poor excuse, after all. But it's not like he had much time to think about it, especially with the atrocious pain in his legs earlier. Yet, now it was blowing up in his face.

If he didn't end up frozen after their conversation, he would be ready to believe in miracles.

-"Well…What else could I have done ?" He asked, growing more and more anxious. This really wasn't helping him, as he didn't look as confident as he should be, if he was telling the truth. His lies were probably blatant at this point and the fact that Vanessa still hadn't stopped him from talking was already very surprising.

-"You could have written a letter, asking for a personal driver. Why didn't you do that ?" Her question caught Snatcher off guard and for a moment, he didn't know how to answer it. It was true: his story didn't make any sense and wasn't logic at all. As a prince, he had the power to request and demand such services, yet here he was, in a bed, with a fractured leg. He was just ridiculous at this point.

However, a sentence came to his mind and it took everything in him not to cringe just thinking about it. Though… It was worth a shot.

-"But…" He took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to say those horrible, horrible words: "I couldn't wait to see you."

Silence fell in the room as soon as the sentence left his lips. He wanted to punch himself in the guts so much, just for having said them. This was the complete opposite of what truly happened. The simple idea of seeing her again had terrified him and still did. He didn't even know how he was able to talk to her when, several hours earlier, he became a mess just because he saw her through a window! Was it the adrenaline talking? Or just his survival instinct? In both cases, these were the only perks of having a human body again, along with the senses of touch and smell, he supposed.

Apprehension became fear, as the silence started to drag. She really didn't believe him and now she was going to kill him. Again. He remained absolutely still, waiting for something to happen. However, seeing Vanessa bringing her hands to her cheeks, blushing furiously, was not what he was expecting at all.

-"Oh my goodness, stop it! How can you say such things…" She looked away, smiling once again. Snatcher was astonished. She did believe him? Really? Was it that simple?

He straightened the moment she turned back to him, after a few seconds :

-"What about your legs ?"

This was the tricky part. Now that he knew that one of his legs was fractured… He couldn't just say that he simply fell in the middle of the forest. A little fall couldn't cause such injuries and they both knew it. Yet, he had no real excuses other than this one.

-"I, uh…Fell." If he was alone, he would have smacked himself. Yeah, as if she was going to accept that!

-"You fell? What do you mean, 'you fell' ?"

He winced: he really didn't like where this was going. How could he get himself out of that situation?

-"I fell in… In a ravine." Oh God, he should just stop talking and accept his fate, now he was just digging his own grave deeper and deeper. Yet he kept going, unable to stop : "I was walking and there were those bushes when I tried to get past them, I…I fell in this hole."

There was no way she was going to fall for that. This was stupid, this was absolute-

-"Oh…!" His ex brought her hands back to her face, this time hiding her mouth, as she gaped at him : "You must have been so scared !" Her tone was compassionate, yet the ghost could feel that it wasn't fully genuine. She was lying, just as much as he was. The Vanessa he used to know would have never accepted such poor excuses. She had always been so wary and sceptical of his claims…So why was she so ready to trust him now ? It didn't make any sense. Unless…

Unless she was the one who broke the timepiece. And if she was so willing to trust him… Maybe she already knew he was lying, in the end. This very idea frightened Snatcher even more. In that case, he was in danger, playing a game with her rules and in a world where she had much more power than him socially and magically speaking. Furthermore… Who else could have wanted to break a timepiece to go back in time to this period ? She was the main suspect.

He suddenly realised that he still hadn't answered her and cleared his throat :

-"Yes, it was quite… Frightening." Just as being so close to her was.

She smiled and looked at him fondly. If she did remember… Her attitude was completely different to what Snatcher expected. In his mind, he imagined her going crazy just seeing him, freezing the entire village once again and locking him up in the basement for him to die a second time. But now, she was just smiling at him, without doing anything.

Truly, he didn't know which one was the most terrifying.

He jumped when he heard a sudden knock at the door. They both turned towards it, surprised. The ghost's heart was pounding in his chest again : he really needed to calm down.

-"Come in !" He called. His face grew pale when the door opened, revealing another face he could recognize. It belonged to one of the maids, one of the youngest ones. She had dark and short hair and had brown eyes. Her uniform consisted in a black dress with a white apron. She was also wearing a white hat with lace on top of it. He didn't remember her name, though. Maybe because she hadn't much time to work here before Vanessa's outburst. That would explain why her face was familiar to him but not her name.

The woman bowed in front of them, visibly tensed. Snatcher guessed that he was right in his suspicions : she was a new maid, not confident yet. It was normal, he supposed, though he couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this.

-"I'm sorry, I heard voices from the other side of the door." Her voice was unsure and so was her face : "I was wondering if you would like to eat something, now that you are awake, my Prince."

As soon as she said those last words, Snatcher felt Vanessa stiffen besides him. She probably didn't like anyone else calling him that way… And it only made his foreboding worse.

However, the mention of food seemed to have an instant effect on his body, as a loud rumble disturbed the silence in the room. He felt his stomach twisting and he immediately hated this feeling. He had forgotten what being hungry felt like… Saliva piled up in his mouth at the very idea of eating something. It wasn't very surprising, as he hadn't eaten anything from the moment he woke up that day… Though, would he be able to eat ? Drinking alcohol earlier hadn't been a success, so he couldn't help but wonder. What if he choked himself to death ? Or spat everything out ? It all made him more nervous than he already was.

Both women looked at him, surprised by the noise coming from him. Vanessa was the first one to break the silence, laughing with that sweet voice of hers.

-"Oh my, you are starving !" She said, before turning her head towards the maid : "Why don't you go fetch something for my Prince ?"

Snatcher froze. She really hadn't liked the way the servant had called him earlier.

The latter replied instantly, oblivious to Vanessa's annoyed tone, and bowed again :

-"Right away, my Queen !" And in matter of seconds, she left the room. Once again, Snatcher and Vanessa were alone, to the shade's horror. This feeling intensified when he saw Vanessa getting closer to him. She stood up from the ground and sat next to him on the bed, before pulling him in another warm embrace.

-"I missed you so much…" She whispered, squeezing him more, all while the shade remained utterly still in her arms : "So, so much…"

He laughed grudgingly, hoping this wouldn't last more than a few minutes :

-"Yes, me too, my…" He swallowed, hating himself even more for what he was about to say : "My love."

The arms tightened up around him and soon, he found it harder to breathe. Whether it was because of the panic increasing in his mind or the fact that Vanessa was squeezing him a little too much, he didn't know.

-"Say it again." murmured Vanessa against the fabric of his pyjama.

Snatcher didn't know it was possible for his body to become even more frozen than it already was, yet he was surprised to see there was still a margin for that. Finding the will to speak again, let alone say those words twice, even if they were just lies in the end…It was much harder than he first thought.

-"My love." He said, amazed to see that he didn't even stutter. He was becoming good at dealing with stressful situations with the one who not only broke his heart but also murdered him.

Vanessa let out a pleased sigh and relaxed against him. Snatcher, on the contrary, was still very much unmoving. He felt like he had just avoided a painful and horrible death. Maybe that wasn't very far from the truth, in hindsight…

Minutes went by, as his ex cuddled him silently. The ghost didn't know what to do with himself in the meantime. The only thing he could do was respond weakly to her embrace, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them in an affectionate manner.

Never in his afterlife did he imagine touching her again, let alone like this.

When there was another knock at the door, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, hoping that Vanessa didn't hear it. He allowed the maid to enter in the room again. This time, she was holding a silver tray in her hands. However, something else struck the shade immediately.

The smell… He knew that smell, it was…!

But before a smile could appear on his lips as he understood what food was on the tray, Vanessa stood up and lunged at the maid, knocking the tray out of her uncertain hands. The action made the young servant loose her balance and she fell on her knees right next to the tray and all the food now scattered on the floor.

It was bacon and roasted potatoes.

The ghost's eyes had followed Vanessa. The feeling of fear inside his chest became more and more intense, as he stared at the anger on his ex's face.

There. This was the jealous monster he used to know. The one who not only killed him but all the other inhabitants of Subcon Village. No matter how hard she tried to hide who she really was… It was only a mask, something fake, a mockery. She wasn't a perfect princess, she wasn't the nice Queen who cared about her subjects… She was only a dangerous and unstable being, with deadly powers.

And now that he was seeing her like she truly was… He could feel his breathing speeding up, just like his heartbeat. He knew something was going to happen, he had a bad feeling and now what he feared was happening just in front of him.

-"I forbade anyone to cook this thing in this manor! I thought I had made this clear by now !"

Vanessa's voice was loud, as she screamed those words to the maid. The latter was still on the floor, too scared to move just as Snatcher was. Vanessa's face was red in anger, her eyes fixed on the servant's ones, as if she was defying her to argue. The young woman was trembling, shocked by what was happening. Her breathing was erratic and soon, she started to cry. Snatcher couldn't blame her, as he was also very much terrified.

A few moments passed where no one dared to move. The silence was unbearable. It felt like hours to the ghost until Vanessa suddenly lifted her head and looked at him, with an expression full of panic. She then turned back to the crying servant on the floor and brought her hand to her mouth, as if she had just realized something.

-"I… I…" She stuttered with a quiet voice, throwing glances everywhere around her. She seemed very agitated, not knowing what to do. However, Snatcher couldn't help but jump again when she ran towards the door, before opening it and leaving as fast as possible.

The ghost remained unmoving on his bed, staring at the opened door, appalled by what he had just witnessed. Not far from him, the maid was still crying, this time covering her eyes full of tears with her hands. Her sobs were the only thing preventing the room from being filled with silence again.

What just happened?

If seeing Vanessa turning into the monster she had become in the past didn't surprise him…Seeing her panicking about it and fleeing the conversation was completely new. His ex was always the dominant one in their arguments: the shade had often been forced to be the one stopping their disagreements by apologizing. In the end, she had never given him any other choice. Yet, now… Things were very different.

He looked at the maid on the ground and winced. If he usually enjoyed seeing people crying… It wasn't the case here. He felt something akin to guilt, as he watched her sob not far away from him.

The shade really had to do something, didn't he? After all, he wasn't "The Snatcher" anymore… He was supposed to play the role of the nice and perfect prince. And what perfect prince didn't comfort sad people around him?

Too bad he had no idea how to comfort people.

-"Hey." He called out to her. When she didn't answer, he tried again, louder this time. It seemed to work, as she lifted her head in his direction. Her eyes were red, just like her face. Her cheeks were covered in tears too.

-"Don't worry about it." He tried to reassure her, though he wasn't really reassured himself. Coming up with a good excuse for Vanessa's behaviour was even harder: "She was in a bad mood, it's not you."

Well, it probably was her, in hindsight. Though, telling her that would only make her feel worse, and as much as he loved making people feel bad… It wasn't his current objective.

The maid silently nodded and started to clean up the mess on the floor. When she finished her task, she quietly promised him to cook him something else as soon as possible, and left the room, her head.

Things turned out much more different than what Snatcher was expecting… And he had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen in the near future.