"What did I just hear? Apology?"

Exhausted, I blinked my eyes, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me, but then I heard an even more surprising sound.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I was too emotional... Now my head is clearing up a bit."

"Excuse me, hold on a moment."

"I'm sorry and thank you. You helped me even though I was acting impulsively."

What kind of change in attitude was this? Leila couldn't say anything and just stuttered.

"He apologized and said thank you? Did Arcangelo really say those words to me?"

I didn't think anything could make Arcangelo Urseau put aside his pride. He never said thank you or sorry to anyone.

"Has he ever said those words to anyone else?"

Hasn't that caused problems before?

She felt a strange feeling.

"So, um, can you...?"

Chills ran down her spine.

"Um, are you feeling okay?"

Without realizing it, Leila took a step back. Even formal language she never used came out. That's how shocking it was.

"...."

Leila avoided eye contact.

"No, I mean, when you suddenly said that, I was just surprised."

"I have some shame too, Detective Cassilia."

Ah, there he was, the sharp-tongued Urseau, as usual.

I felt relieved all of a sudden.

"For whatever reason, it's true that Detective Cassilia went out of her way to help me, even at great cost. I haven't expressed my gratitude for that."

His eyes drifted towards her legs. Leila noticed it and looked down.

Her legs were trembling.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Feeling guilty about what you saw?”

She could tell. Leila was not sensitive about revealing her vulnerable side to Arcangelo, who was different from her.

“You should have told me sooner.”

“…….”

“But it’s better than not saying anything at all.”

She smiled slightly. The remark irritated her a little.

“I’m sorry too, Detective Urseau. Looking back, I was overly sensitive about something trivial.”

Leila lowered her head slightly and turned her body around.

“Let's talk about the rest tomorrow. We both need to rest a bit for now.”

“……Okay. I’ll tell the staff about the sheets.”

That was a bit embarrassing. Her gaze fell on the sheets and the floor, which were stained with semen and vaginal fluids.

Arcangelo’s gaze followed hers. As soon as he saw it, heat rose to his face.

He quickly turned his head.

“Detective Cassilia, no, never mind. Let’s go out quickly.”

It seemed as if he wanted to say something about feeling embarrassed. But he seemed to have remembered what he had done late, and hastily put on his clothes and went out. Leila smiled without realizing it.

However, when she entered the bathroom and closed the door, her smile disappeared as if it had never been there.

“Different from usual.”

She turned on the water. Her eyes, which were the color of jewel-toned amber, looked towards the transparent water.

“Even that day, I was more irritable than usual.”

Arcangelo Urseau was not just an ordinary investigator, but also not a victim of the case. He was a detective who was suspected of deliberately concealing the case.

"You have to suspect everything. That's the mission I received from the chief."

She continued to observe Arcangelo. She felt more comfortable when he was driven by instinct.

One must constantly observe and scrutinize when rationality is alive.

"It's difficult."

She leaned against the bathtub and looked up.

"...He sprayed a lot during this time. It will be difficult to extract."

She recalled his sharp attitude when he seemed to decipher the draining bacillus.

"At first, I thought he might like me, but after it ended, he seems pretty neat?"

Perhaps there was another reason. Leila raised her head with a suspicious look.

She wiped her body with a towel and put on a gown hanging in front of the bathroom.

Just as she was cleaning up the room, she sensed some activity outside.

"What's going on in the middle of the night?"

It seemed like they were searching the house, but it wasn't a thorough search.

"Someone's making a fuss in a room where we need to be cautious."

Since it had turned out like this, she decided to listen more. She intentionally turned on the water and listened carefully to the sound outside the door.

"Be quiet. You know we shouldn't be careless with our words."

"It's just talking to myself, so what?"

"Still. You could be thrown out."