In Lily’s Garden.

Eve’s Library

The dolls left behind in the study wandered around as if searching for something, eventually discovering a locked drawer in the desk. The red doll used its pen to draw a key and tried to fit it into the lock, but when it didn’t turn, the blue doll took over. Yet again, the key didn’t work, leaving the dolls disappointed. Just then, the gray doll drew a transparent lock, resembling a soap bubble, and placed it over the drawer’s lock. The real lock vanished as it synchronized with the transparent one, and the drawer opened. The tense atmosphere in the study was broken by the dolls’ cheers as they pulled an envelope from the drawer.

At that moment, a stranger entered the study, sat at the desk, and began typing an unfinished manuscript on an old typewriter. The sound startled the dolls, who quickly hid behind the curtains. From their hiding place, they peered out and started copying the man’s typing into their own notebooks.

As the man continued writing, he attempted to open the drawer but found it locked. The dolls were puzzled.

– “But we unlocked it…”

Seeing the drawer locked again, the dolls asked the gray doll what had happened. The gray doll explained that they had only made a copy of the lock, which allowed only them to open it, but the real drawer had remained locked. The dolls understood, but the man didn’t. He struggled to open the drawer but eventually gave up, collapsing in frustration. With his head in his hands, he quietly muttered, “Alright… fine, I’ll do as you say.” The man grabbed the bathrobe hanging by the desk, opened the door, and left the study.

After reading through what the man had written, the dolls proudly placed a book next to the typewriter, containing the story they wanted him to write. The gray doll opened the envelope they had taken from the drawer and began reading its contents. As soon as the gray doll finished reading, the envelope disappeared. The gray doll shared what she had learned with the others, solving the mystery that had piqued their curiosity. The dolls, inspired by this newfound knowledge, began running around the study, planning how to bring the story to life. Each doll selected a book they liked and wished for the man to write it for them.

Then, something unexpected happened. The owner of the study, who they thought wouldn’t return for a long time, came back. The owner pulled a book from the shelf, placed it on the desk, and stared at the moon through the window for a long while before doing something strange and then jumping out of the window.

The dolls, who had been holding their breath, were in shock.

– Did you see that?

– This is bad. Did they die?

– We have to help.

Without a second thought, the dolls jumped out of the window, following the owner, leaving behind colorful trails of light as they vanished, not knowing where they were headed.

Only one doll remained in the study. The gray doll closed the window, drew the curtains, and tidied up the disordered room. Resolving to wait for the black doll to return, the gray doll stayed behind, deciding to act as the study’s caretaker until the owner came back. Every day, the gray doll would leave an invisible manuscript on the desk for the man, writing the book she wanted him to complete, though he would never see it.

One day, while wandering through the exhibition hall in the study, the gray doll found a forbidden book. Overcome with curiosity, she opened it, but disaster struck. Ink poured out from the book, engulfing the entire study in blackness. It took the gray doll a long time to erase the ink using an eraser she drew with her pen. After cleaning up the mess, she returned the forbidden book to its place and promised herself never to open it again.

However, the gray doll, who loved to read, couldn’t stop wondering if there might be a way to read the forbidden book without causing another disaster.

At that moment, the man reentered the study, looking refreshed. He sat at the desk, staring at the newly accumulated books with a distant, hardened expression. He began reading and then resumed typing his manuscript. The man always longed to open the drawer, and he suffered greatly from not being able to do so. But what tormented him even more than the locked drawer was the knowledge that a finished manuscript was inside, and he didn’t know when or if the drawer would ever open.

The gray doll, watching the man, found herself empathizing with his wait, recognizing that her own existence as the caretaker of the study was tied to the man’s struggle with the unopened drawer.

As the study’s owner returned, the gray doll felt her role becoming less needed. Waiting for the black doll and guarding the study had grown into a cruel burden.

The gray doll thought that if she could figure out the day the drawer would open, she could relieve the man’s suffering, and so, she set out to calculate it.

– With music scales, numbers, and letters, I can figure it out. It’ll be easy for me. I can do it.

For the first time, the gray doll had found something she wanted to do something beyond waiting for the black doll or fulfilling the study owner’s role.

– I never wanted to be the study’s owner in the first place. It’s better if they never return, and the drawer never opens. That way, I’ll become the true owner of this study. The real lock doesn’t need to be opened; I’m the one who can read it without it. It’s my ability, and I’m not keeping it for the other dolls. I won’t guard this study for their sake anymore. I won’t do it. Never again. But I know… I can’t leave this place. So, I’ll just change who my master is.

The gray doll’s decision to live for the man, despite knowing the consequences for the other dolls, was something she couldn’t forgive herself for. Instead, she left that burden to the red and blue dolls.

– This is my choice. And that burden I’ve carried for you all this time? It was always yours. Do your best. I won’t wait for anyone anymore, and I won’t read Lily’s forbidden book ever again. Instead, I’ll rewrite my own forbidden book from the beginning. Read it if you dare, dolls. I’m tired of pretending not to know, of acting all this time.

Yes… this was always my line from the start.

“Tired of pretending not to know, tired of acting.”

The gray doll finally spoke the sentence she had kept inside for so long, and in that moment, her own book began to be written for the first time.

When her book was finally written, the gray doll was satisfied with that first sentence. For the first time, having a book of her own, the gray doll named it <The Phantom’s Lover:The kairos’s Lover>, after herself, and held it close for a long while.