Esmeralda dropped on the ground and checked Ivy's pulse and her nostrils, she detected no signs of life! She's already dead! Ivy is dead! She faced Kate. "Tell me what's going on!?" she demanded.

"Sister Ivy told us to pack our belongings because we are leaving the mountain..." Kate replied between sobs.

"But why?"

"She told us that the vampires and the monsters are coming to take us away. We are terrified and obeyed her orders. Then we exited the house about to take our leave..." she whimpered.

"Continue, Kate!"

"The portal opened and Immortal Vearah appeared. She asked us why we are running away... I told her that the vampires and monsters are coining our way, we got to escape and hide!" Kate said.

"So... what happened after...child?"

"Immortal Vearah got angry and scolded my sister Ivy calling her an impostor. Then a dagger appeared in her palm and she moves in lightning speed towards my sister Ivy and slashed my sister's neck with the weapon. Blood came out on my sister's neck and she fell into the ground...dead!" Kate explained.

"But what happened to my mentor, why she was frozen? What did your sister Ivy do to her?" Esmeralda asked.

Kate wipes the tears from her eyes and glanced at her sister Ivy and back to Immortal Vearah. She was trying to recall what happened after the immortal killed her sister. "What I remembered...I saw thick black smoke coming out of my sister Ivy's mouth and the smoke enveloped Granny Vearah's whole body, then she was frozen like that..."

Esmeralda closed her eyes, trying hard to analyzed what did her mentor see before she was frozen? Did she saw something in Ivy that she didn't like? Her mentor won't kill innocent girls just like that without a valid reason. There must be a reason why!

Then she recalled that Kate mentioned the word...' Impostor!'

"Kate, tell me, what did my mentor call your sister?" Esmeralda said.

"She called my sister Ivy impostor!" Kate responded and resumed crying together with her sister.

Esmeralda's eyes widened as the truth finally dawned on her that maybe Ivy is not what she is! She is a fake Ivy!

"Ah, that's it! This woman lying dead here in the ground is not your sister! She is an impostor!" Esmeralda declared.

Kate was shaking her head vigorously against the accusation thrown at her sister. "Granny, you have seen my sister Ivy before inside the castle, and you see her right now. Can't you see? They are of the same person, right? This is my sister Ivy! Her face, her body, and her voice are the same! How could you accuse my dead sister that she is an impostor!?" she protested vehemently.

"Yes, this is my sister Ivy for sure!" Ella seconded between sobs.

Esmeralda sighed. No matter what she will say to them, the hysterical sisters are not going to believe her. But she can't blame them, the sisters are naive, they have no idea that there are creatures who can alter their appearance just to deceive others. What they see is what they believe in. Unless she can find a way how to unmask the corpse lying on the ground.

That's the big problem she's facing right now, she can't unmask the corpse's facade and transformed it into its original form. She doesn't have the skill required to do so. But her mentor can! Too bad she was frozen! She doesn't know how to return her teacher to her former self! Dang!

This is getting complicated!

When she returned home, she was looking forward to a long rest after slaying many monsters, but she was presented with another bigger problem right now! Problems that she has no idea how to solve, damn!

She addressed the hysterical sisters. "Girls, calm down! Stopped crying for an impostor! You are crying for a dead woman who is not even your sister!" she scolded them.

Kate stared at Esmeralda with disbelief and hurt in her eyes. "Granny! How can you say that-? It's my sister lying dead on the ground! She's not an impostor!" she argued fiercely.

Esmeralda released a deep sigh. "I know you won't believe me but my teacher won't kill an innocent woman especially your sister! Come to think of that!" she said trying to convince them.

But the sisters continue grieving for their dead sister.

Esmeralda sighed and rolled her eyes. Everything that she's going to say to them is useless, they will only turn deaf ears to all her explanation. She has no more energy left to deal with them. "Okay, listen up girls, I'll say it one last time. The woman lying dead on the ground is not your sister Ivy! I will go inside my mentor's room and find a solution to solve this mystery. I will reveal to you the real face of the dead woman who is using your sister's image! Wait for me here. Don't go anywhere until I'll come back!" she commanded them and went inside the house in a hurry.

She went inside her mentor's room and looked at the bookshelves in the corner. She was overwhelmed by the rows of books inside the bedroom! What the hell! Where should she start looking for a book that contains a spell that can unfreeze her mentor? And where to find the spell that can unravel the face of that dead impostor lying on the ground outside the house? Where!?

"There are lots of books everywhere!" Esmeralda groaned.

She picked up and read the book that was nearest to her. She returned the book 'coz it's not related to what she seeks for!

She picked up another book and flipped on the pages...discarded it...and picked up another one. She grabbed ten books in her arms and carry them to the bed. Dammit! She needs to rest her back. she can still smell the blood of the monster splattered in her clothes right now, she desperately wanted to clean herself and change into clean clothes but she can't! More freezing matters needed her attention first!

She focused her attention on the books and scanned their contents with tired eyes, yawning occasionally.

Meanwhile, outside the house.

A portal opened a few meters away from the sisters' locations.

Zemeth and Jegun exited from the neon portal. Their gaze sweeps the area. Their attention was centered on the body lying on the ground and of the Immortal Vearah frozen in time.

"What the hell is going on here!" Zemeth asked after he realized that he didn't see Ivy anywhere. "Where is Ivy!?" he asked in alarm.

"Sister Ivy is dead!" Kate answered with a broken voice.

After hearing that Ivy is dead, Zemeth rushed to the girls' side and his worst fear was confirmed. Ivy was lying on the ground, dead! "Nooooooo! This can't be!" he groaned painfully, fresh tears fell from his eyes. He immediately gathered the dead body in his arms. "Ivy...Ivyyyyyyy! Why did you have to leave me again!? Whyyyyyyy!" he wept, his voice filled with lamentation.

The girls distance themselves from Zemeth and their sister's dead body.

Jegun went to the girls' side. "What's going on here, girls?" he asked in confusion.

Kate was too grief-stricken to talk and kept to herself.

"Grandpa, my sister Ivy was killed by the Immortal Vearah using the dagger she was holding in her hand," Ella answered.

Jegun eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Huh? Are you sure? But why the immortal did it? There is no reason to kill Ivy!" he said indignantly.

"Exactly, Grandpa! There is no reason to kill my innocent sister! I can't understand why Granny Vearah did it!" Ella said teary-eyed.

"Child...tell me everything... before Vearah killed your sister. What happened? Did they fight? Did they argue?" Jegun asked.

Ella shook her head. "No. My sister was quiet, it was Granny Vearah who shouted angrily at my sister and called her impostor!" she replied.

Oh my! Jegun stared at the dead body lying on Zemeth's lap, the corpse's face was that of Ivy, no doubt! But hmm...maybe...Vearah discovered something that prompted her to execute the woman on the spot without mercy!

Hmm...could it be that the woman... is not the real Ivy?

"Ella, did anybody came here before us?" he asked.

"Granny Esmeralda arrived earlier..."

"Did she saw everything? Where is she?"

"Yes, she saw my sister's dead body...she went inside the house to look for something...I really dunno what she's looking for inside the house," Ella responded with a hoarse voice due to so much crying.

"Alright, keep your sister company. Don't leave her side!" Jegun instructed the girl.

"Okay grandpa," Ella obeyed.

Jegun went to Zemeth's side and patted the distraught guy's shoulder gently. He whispered something in the grieving man's ear. "Vearah killed Ivy with her dagger because she thought she is an impostor! My guess is... the immortal see through the disguise of this dead woman. She could be a trap set up by the vampires, so stop wasting your tears on an impostor..." he said calmly.

Zemeth's eyes widened in disbelief. "How can it be? This is really my beloved Ivy!" he insisted while looking deeply into the face of the woman he loves.

Jegun sighed. "We don't know for sure. But you must understand first the motive of the immortal when she killed Ivy. Vearah accused Ivy as an impostor, that's why she killed her on the spot! Do you want to know what happened after the dagger slash Ivy's neck?"

"What happened?" Zemeth asked.

"According to the girls, a thick black smoke came out of Ivy's mouth and enveloped Vearah's whole body resulting in her frozen in time. Looked at Vearah's form, do you think Ivy can do it on her own? We both know that the girls were not gifted with supernatural powers. Come to think of it, with Vearah's nature, so kind and calm...why would she kill Ivy without any substantial reason?" Jegun said trying to make Zemeth see the logical reason behind Vearah's motive in killing Ivy.

Zemeth digested Jegun's words thoroughly for a few minutes. A question emerged in his mind. Looking back at the events earlier in the castle... how come he was able to rescue Ivy so easily without anyone preventing his attempt? That was so unbelievably easy! It finally dawned on him that the old man is making sense of his claim! He gently put Ivy's dead body back in the ground and stood up.

Jegun looked at him. "Just stay here with the girls...watch over them...I will enter the house to find out what Esmeralda was up to. She arrived before us. I will ask her what to do with Vearah and that dead body lying on the ground," he said and left the front yard going to the house.