"It's not necessarily true that two completely different people can't become friends," said Leila, her voice filled with determination.

"But how can we even communicate when our ways of communicating are so different?" countered Arcangelo Urseau, a man who refused to accept worry as a legitimate concern.

Leila was the kind of person who would worry about anyone who wasn't a steel-willed warrior. "If it comes to it, we'll just have to fight," she said.

But how could they fight when their opponent saw their concern as weakness rather than strength?

"They must have built up resentment towards each other even if they didn't know each other," Leila remarked as she lay down on the bed.

"Well, I can't completely deny that it's special," she continued, a touch of hesitation in her voice. The ceiling pattern looked elegant, but it only added to her troubled thoughts.

"It's just that...is this really a good thing?" she wondered out loud, her doubts fueling a sudden surge of anger. She raised her upper body and kept getting angrier as she thought more about it.

"Why can't I just ignore him like I do with other people? I didn't want to be the only one that Arcangelo Urseau can vent his frustration on!"

Arcangelo had no close friends in the investigative team. In fact, he didn't even see them as real people.

"To him, everyone else is just a moving object," Leila struggled to explain. "But when you see it with your own eyes, you can't help but understand."

She shuddered at the thought of how chilling it was to witness.

"In that sense, he has become human. Yeah," she concluded uncertainly.

She didn't know why, but at some point, Arcangelo Urseau had started to pick fights with her.

"At first, it was fascinating. Arcangelo Urseau was picking a fight with me," reminisced Leila, as she remembered a certain incident that had made her genuinely fight with him, leading up to this moment.

"Hold on a moment," she interrupted herself with a sudden realization. "Isn't this a common romance novel plot?"

...

"I don't know. I really don't. I don't know anything. Arcangelo Urseau dislikes me, and I dislike him. That's just the way it is. Yeah, that's right," Leila vehemently denied.

"I must be going crazy being trapped here for so long. Where is the slightest hint of any development between Arcangelo Urseau and me? That's right! Nowhere to be found!"

With all her might, she stood up from her seat.

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"It seems like everything around here is getting on my nerves, causing me to have strange thoughts. But there's no other choice but to resolve this."

After all, Arcangelo Urseau wouldn't need her right now. He wouldn't collapse until another 22 hours had passed, so she could be alone for about 12 hours.

"Let's escape."

Her eyes twinkled with excitement.

* * *

"Do you plan to go out in your outdoor clothes this evening?"

And caught, of all people, by Arcangelo who had just happened to visit my room.

"I didn't want to get caught by Detective Urseau but, well, I guess I'll just be shameless."

"Isn't Detective Cassilia's mission to stay inside this mansion?"

"I'm technically on break right now. It's just a formality."

"Then shouldn't you be more careful about wandering around?"

His eyes narrowed, but Leila decided to face him head-on.

"But you didn't tell me not to go out and have fun. Plus, this break is just for show."

"Obviously, it's common sense not to say that."

"But more than anything, it's uncomfortable to have eyes on me wherever I go or whatever I do. It feels like being monitored and it's unpleasant."

This time, Arcangelo kept his mouth shut.

"You have to give me some breathing room. Especially since we don't even know when the antidote will be made."

"...So you're going out in the middle of the night? And with your injuries not fully healed yet?"

It's frustrating, isn't it? She swallowed the words she couldn't say. But Arcangelo could guess what she was thinking, even without her saying it.

"It's annoying."

She's annoying when she's by my side. That's why I kept nagging her before. I felt better when I was away from her and irritated.

However, even though we were getting farther apart now, it still weighed heavy on my heart.

“Aside from me, Detective Cassilia is also susceptible to this strange phenomenon. Didn't the test results confirm it?”

“Ugh…”

After conducting a brief examination separately from the researcher, they found that my body was accumulating fatigue.

Whether it was because the mission had just ended, or because the ripples were still ongoing, we would have to see the situation more clearly. But one thing was for sure: we needed to be cautious.

"I guess I'm falling behind in logic."

The truth was, I was injured and not feeling well, so being careful was the right thing to do.

In the end, Leila gave up on going out.

"Alright then. Can I choose some books from the study in this mansion?"

"Books?"

"Yeah. The thicker, the better."

Arcangelo furrowed his brow.

"You were stumbling around like a sick chicken during the day. Wouldn't it be better to sleep during that time?"

"…Hmm."

Leila shrugged her shoulders. She was starting to get annoyed with his persistent digging.

"It's because I don't want to sleep."

"Even though you're injured?"

"It's my body. Don't worry about it.