"..." I look out at the ocean. Nerina left my side for the first time, saying she had something to do and would be gone for about thirty minutes. But while she’s away, I’ve noticed some strange things.

"Who exactly are you?" I look at a little doll in my hands. I created several of them to keep an eye on the island, until I realized they all have the same appearance. It’s distorted, faceless, and imperfect.

But they all share the same traits. It’s a girl. Is she physically beautiful? Possibly, I think. She has a more authoritative look, and seems tough? I can’t tell perfectly from just little wooden dolls, but she has big breasts!

But if all one hundred twenty dolls I made have this appearance, that means she’s someone from my past. Yet whenever I try to remember, my head hurts.

I also discovered there’s nothing for kilometers around the island. I managed to create a single, extremely long line. It reached five hundred thousand kilometers away and found nothing in that absurd area.

In other words, it’s as if I’m isolated from everything. This island is a single point in the sea, and there aren’t even any other islands near it. I have no idea where I could be.

Furthermore, I’m not blind. Nerina has been looking at my body in a kinda strange way. And recently, since we’ve been sleeping together and she’s been "asleep," I’ve noticed she seems way too vulnerable.

Almost as if she’s expecting me to do something. Maybe it’s just lust frying my brain and making me see her as someone offering her body on a silver platter for me to "play with."

But she’s a nymph, and I’m a nymph, so I’m not sure. Still, it seems like she’s waiting for me to do something, and now I’m confused about it. Does she want me to make a move?

"What should I do?..." I ask the little doll in my hand. It tilts its head in confusion. I still remember what nymphs are, as practical knowledge, so I don’t know, but I think Nerina wants a relationship beyond friendship with me?

"Nerina said nymphs have all their powers and existences based on what concept of life they represent... but I don’t know what she expects from this friendship of ours..." I start staring at the sky with growing confusion.

"..." I look at my chest, then mold my marionette body to open it, revealing my core. I take the core from my chest, which closes up naturally, and stare at this red sphere that represents my "heart."

"..." Thanks to Nerina, I’ve learned to use my powers as a nymph much better. Not just in creating marionettes, but also how to use Hikishin itself to generate effects tied to what we, as nymphs, represent.

I throw the core forward, and using Hikishin, I mold an entirely new body. A new Evelyn. The "Evelyn" stares at me with an empty gaze. She’s not alive, just a hollow shell with a core, but now I can do this thanks to Nerina.

"I don’t know..." I murmur, watching her body change. Her hands turn completely black up to her elbows while claws grow. From the torso down, her legs and thighs shift into something monstrous, and her wings grow until they’re much bigger than mine.

Nerina explained that my power takes whatever form I want, so as a nymph, I don’t need to limit my marionettes to specific types. The "Evelyn" in front of me is a marionette [Chimera].

I modify her a bit more. Her tail grows and becomes like a scorpion’s. Her size increases to about three meters, and a huge mouth emerges on her belly. Her face disappears completely, replaced by four more eyes, leaving her faceless with six eyes.

"Now it doesn’t even look like it has any trace of me..." Only her hair resembles me now, and this isn’t even the limit. I can modify this chimera marionette much more.

"...Walk." When she receives the command, her body starts moving in circles, until I undo her. Her body turns to dust, and the core falls to the ground, rolling back to me. I grab the magic-charged core.

’Nerina has made me so much stronger... but she never makes clear what she wants... it makes me feel stupid for interpreting what she wants in a way that seems like it’s just my own desires...’ I put the core in my mouth and swallow it. Despite being large, it goes down smoothly and moves, passing through flesh and settling back into place where my heart should be.

"Without Nerina here, it’s so... boring..." I gather some of the lines around the island, while my little dolls, still attentive to everything, roam through the forest.

’Nymphs can amplify the area they control... five hundred thousand kilometers in a straight line across the ocean is suspicious. Is Nerina increasing her domain on purpose to make it seem like the ocean never ends? Is she keeping me on the island... but why? To protect me? Or something more...’ I hang upside down using lines on a tree.

"Does Nerina think I’m stupid?..." I shake myself from side to side with the lines. She’s kind, an incredible teacher, and she really is protecting me, but honestly, just her look makes me feel a certain discomfort.

’She’s not lying about my past being bad, but she’s also not being one hundred percent honest...’ I shake myself faster and faster, swinging.

"Evelyn, it’s not smart to swing upside down that fast." I hear Nerina’s voice and look to the side, seeing her back sooner than she said she’d be.

"Nerina..."

...

...

...

I look at Evelyn, who’s hanging upside down from a tree. She’s swinging pretty fast.

"Evelyn, it’s not smart to swing upside down that fast." I say to her with a smile.

"Nerina..." She stares at me and looks confused.

"...Nerina, do you want me to attack you at night?"

"..."

’Tsk... just as expected...’ Evelyn is pretty sharp. There are small traces she’d undoubtedly notice, but that doesn’t mean she’ll regain her memories. However, since she asked me directly now, I can’t use her feelings anymore.

’I was hoping she’d attack me tonight, and tomorrow I could pretend to be disappointed and sad... looks like that plan failed.’ Ever since I started "sleeping," Evelyn has been pleasuring herself in the living room and sometimes in bed, but without ever touching me.

"H-Hahaha... who knows?" I wink at her, and she ends up blushing. She probably expected a no, but since we’ve come to this...

"..." I approach her and hold her, stopping her movement. Our faces are at the same height, and then I kiss her, who’s still upside down. It’s the first contact of this kind we’ve had.

"H-Hmmm..." She doesn’t try to resist, but she’s not one hundred percent active either. However, as soon as I break the kiss, she looks away.

"H-Hey... a-ah... Nerina... just... just tell me... you’re hiding things from me... but why? If you lie... I’ll want to leave!!" Evelyn stares into my eyes, but I give a confident smile.

’If I lie, she’d probably notice, but... I don’t need to lie.’ The truth is already bad enough.

"The truth is, the person who hurt you is someone very evil and possessive. And if I don’t protect you on this island, she’ll find you, and you’ll be forced to go back. And she didn’t just hurt you emotionally, but physically too."

"That’s why I’m telling you. I really am keeping you a bit isolated from the rest of the world, but I’m doing it because we’re friends, and I care about you a lot. But I will never, ever stop you from leaving."

"I might not tell you everything, but if you want, I’ll take you back. The day you want to leave this island, I’ll let you go. Besides, I understand you have desires, and I don’t mind if you see me as an object of desire."

"...You... could you teach me how to create cores? Like, small, tiny cores, c-charged with magic for me to use in marionettes as batteries..." She changes the subject, completely dodging the issue.

"Of course, Evelyn." I pull her down, freeing her from the lines while gently setting her on the ground. I grab her hips, pulling her into a hug.

"Don’t forget, Evelyn. I’m still a nymph. I have my own desires and strange behaviors. But please trust me. I only want to protect you." I give the kindest smile I can manage.

"...I guess... you’re right... I’m just being paranoid... I really don’t like it when people hide things from me."

"Then let’s play a game! Once a day, each of us can ask one question that the other has to answer with one hundred percent honesty." I will answer her questions honestly, but obviously in the way I want her to understand them.

"You’d do that?" She looks at me with genuine hope of getting her answers.

"Of course. We can start now. Ask a question."

"...Why don’t my lines reach the end of the ocean? There aren’t any islands or anything nearby..." She asks an excellent question.

’So she tried to find things nearby...’ I didn’t notice. Her lines really are very good.

"I created a small domain. On the outside, it’s like a bubble. On the inside, it’s an infinite expanse of water. It’s basically the same magic that generates a Domain, but a small domain is a simplified, weak, powerless version."

"It just serves to give you the scenery of the domain. So I’m not trapping you, if that’s what worries you. I’m just preventing that person who hurt you from finding you easily."

"Wow... I didn’t know you could do that with a Domain..." She looks impressed, and that makes sense. Most don’t know you can create a smaller, simplified version of a Domain, but I’m quite old, so I have experience with it.

"Now it’s my turn. Are you aroused by me? Not in love, just aroused. Does my body excite you?" Evelyn will never love me, and I’m not steering her in that direction.

"...Y-Yes... I-I think you’re my type..." She admits, but I’m still frustrated that she realized my vulnerability during sleep was intentional, meant for her to "attack" me.

’She’s just as sharp as Arial said.’ Fortunately, I have several backup plans. I release Evelyn and take a step back.

"You know, today how about I teach you how to use a domain’s powers outside of it?" I like this. It would be boring if she were too naive.

"Wait, that’s possible!? My domain lets me turn weak enemies into real marionettes. Can I do that outside the domain?"

"Of course you can. A domain’s powers are yours. The domain just generates an amplification of the powers you already have and an area that gives you an advantage... ah, but this is so tiring. I think I’ll sleep like a rock tonight."

"..." She reads between the lines and looks embarrassed.

"I-I’ll want to learn..."

"Great! We can start now! It’s something difficult, but as a nymph, you have a natural talent for this kind of magical power! Plus, while powers inside a domain are temporary, if you use that power outside the domain, it becomes permanent." Evelyn can turn beings weaker than herself into permanent marionettes if she uses the power outside her domain, which only has that temporary effect inside.

"Amazing..." She’s enchanted by the possibility of being able to do that. Her innocence when it comes to this is cute.