The intensifying sense of fear made Grapes's body tremble uncontrollably.
She had experienced something similar before.
As a child, she had witnessed her parents being murdered by two guests who had been invited to talk. After killing Grapes's parents, they searched the house for something while staging the scene to look like a burglary.
At that time, she curled up, hiding inside the abdomen of a Patchwork Corpse that her mother had been working on.
Because only there could she evade the ritual's detection... and because it was too bloody and filthy for anyone to inspect closely.
She dared not make a sound, biting her lip, yet her body shook uncontrollably.
—The fear she felt now was just like it was then.
Grapes did not dare to move, not even to breathe audibly, as if any slight motion would violate some taboo, like walking on a narrow bridge over a precipice.
