Heller's POV:
Everyone was at a loss regarding the 'house'.
Undoubtedly, it was alive. The rhythmic pulsations of the flesh were like a person's breathing, regular and methodical.
Investigators extracted samples of the flesh for analysis, and unsurprisingly, it was Yarin. He seemed unable to perceive any external stimuli, incapable of communication, not expanding outward, and tightly clutching the framework of the back room to transform himself into a house.
The werewolf grandmaster's investigation indicated that this was a form of power running wild. Yarin's instincts were expanding himself at any cost, turning the entire house into his nourishment.
"But the volume of the house is finite; there will be a point when it can't absorb anymore," Aunt Dorothy worriedly said. "After that, Yarin might lose his source of power, and there could be two scenarios. First, he might revert, the rampaging power settling down, resolving the situation peacefully. Second..."
She seemed to gather great resolve, saying laboriously, "If he can't regain consciousness, his self-preservation might drive the limitless expansion of his power, treating everything in sight as 'food,' to maintain this state and protect himself from threats."
I felt Dad's hand gripping mine tighter suddenly. He was trembling imperceptibly, biting down on his cheek, almost squeezing his words through his teeth, "How long might he stay in this state?"
"It's hard to say. Every case of power going berserk is unique. Some recover on their own after a few hours, while others... might never."
Dawn was approaching; with the loss of the cover of darkness, nothing here would remain a secret. Dad ordered everyone to be evacuated and had the werewolf grandmasters set up a hidden enchantment to conceal everything.
The Charlies' mansion was clearly uninhabitable. As a gesture of apology, Mom gifted Lady Charlotte a century-old estate owned by the royal family. Although the Charlies Family still had properties within the Lycan Pack, Mom insisted that Lady Charlies accept her gift. Faced with a mother enduring great sorrow, Lady Charlies understood that she shouldn't burden her further at this moment, so she agreed.
My parents originally intended to bring Cynthia and me back home - on a side note, Cynthia was exhausted from purifying the contaminated Lycans and needed to stay by Mom's side for a few days to recover her strength - but Lady Charlies believed that the current situation was turbulent. She was willing to continue looking after us.
"I understand that none of this is related to the children, so please don't feel bad. I truly enjoy having them around," she said.
My parents agreed.
A week later, as Cynthia and I prepared to head to the new Charlies' estate, Aunt Dorothy brought some good news: Yarin had recovered.
I had never seen him so weak before - his face was pale, his figure had shrunk, and you couldn't tell at all that he had consumed a three-story-high mansion.
At the same time, Aunt Dorothy brought some troubling news: "We've discovered an issue with Yarin's seal - no, it's not loosened, nor has it failed. We've never encountered such a situation before. Describing it, it's more like his seal is at the critical point between effectiveness and ineffectiveness."
My parents were only concerned about the 'ineffectiveness', anxiously asking, "Does the seal still work now? Could the malevolent force..."
Aunt Dorothy frowned deeply, her tone showing bewilderment, "Yes, the malevolent force has now contaminated Yarin. But don't panic. Just like the seal, this contamination is also at a critical point."
"There's no doubt that it has completely invaded Yarin, yet at the same time, it hasn't pushed him into complete corruption. Yarin is in a strange state right now, neither fully a puppet of the malevolent force nor fully free from its threat."
Aunt Dorothy's words baffled us all, and even she herself couldn't fully comprehend the situation, so she couldn't provide us with clarification.
"Besides that, we found two items at the scene." She opened a box sealed with layers of enchantments, containing a familiar silver accessory and an exquisitely antiquated vertical harp.
We all recognized the silver accessory that Yarin had brought back from his dream. The small vertical harp? It looked exactly like the one Yarin had described from his dream. The harp had a circular cavity, instinctively suggesting it was meant to hold the silver accessory.
Aunt Dorothy held the same view.
"I've conducted a preliminary analysis on them. The silver accessory is still the same, but the small vertical harp is different. It constantly emits a halo of moonlight, a power we've never seen before. From the current clues, it's highly likely to be... the Moon Goddess's power. And given that we found Yarin clutching this harp tightly when we discovered him, it's highly possible that the goddess's power helped him restrain his descent into corruption."
No one doubted that this was a gift from the goddess. Anyway, a month later, when there were still no signs of Yarin awakening, my parents had to announce publicly that he had gone to study abroad at a private school overseas while secretly hiding him in the New Moon Temple.