Slowly but surely, as the shock from the fight died down, the audience started to leave the stands and head back home.

It was strangely quiet as the people left, nobody talking or sharing any excitement that was usually present after a fight.

Evidently, everyone was still in shock from the result of the fight.

I watched silently as everyone left the venue before changing my appearance and heading for my apartment.

Couldn't have the people see my face...

That would be rather troublesome.

"Ugh."

I rubbed my forehead and squeezed my brows.

'...I feel a little better, I guess.'

I had passed out in the locker room for an hour.

By the time I had woken up, everyone had already left the Colosseum. After a cold shower, I felt a lot better, but my mind was still rather foggy.

'I need to sleep.'

On a good note, the finals will be held a week from now. This meant that I had a lot of time to rest.

Tomorrow was Leon's match as well.

That...

I needed to pay close attention to his match. Especially since Aoife was clearly not herself but controlled by the Angel.

'Now that I have time, I should address this situation better.'

"Huu."

Breathing in the warm air and raising my head to stare at the scorching white sun that hung in the sky, I massaged my face.

"....I'm getting tired of this view."

I wanted to go back to the real world.

The white sun and the gloomy gray sky felt suffocating. It'd make one go mad if they stayed for too long.

"Invert the Sky..."

Unknowingly, I found myself mumbling those words.

"Thinking about it, if I were to be stuck in this place, I'd also want to Invert the Sky...'

Was this what the child meant by wanting to Invert the Sky?

I licked my lips.

'I wonder how the Mirror Dimension came about.'

It was unfortunate that there was not much information about it.

Regardless, there was no use thinking about such things now. In due time I was bound to find out. I knew this for a fact.

Click-

Darkness embraced me the moment that I entered my room.

I looked around before dropping my stuff down and taking off my clothes beside my underwear. Then, without any reservations, I hopped onto the bed.

Pomf!

"Haa."

Feeling the soft embrace of the bed, I closed my eyes and sunk deep into my consciousness.

***

Creak-

The wooden floor creaked as a figure appeared next to Julien's bed.

Delilah scratched the back of her head.

Gaze: What do I do..?

She had been waiting in the room for a while, waiting to ask him about what had happened during the fight. Caius's conditions were rather critical, and she knew that the situation was bound to turn messy.

She took it upon herself to appear in his apartment to stop any potential threats.

For now, there was nothing.

There probably would be nothing but one couldn't be too sure.

Still, while Delilah understood that Julien was exhausted, she hadn't expected him to directly fall asleep the moment that he touched the bed.

It now left her in a situation where she didn't know what to do.

"Huh..."

Delilah's eyes fluttered.

She stood dumbly on her spot for several seconds, flicking her eyes between him and the diary in her hand.

Eventually, however, she managed to collect herself and her eyes drifted toward the sleeping Julien. His chest was heaving in a rhythmical manner, and despite the darkness, Delilah could

see everything clearly.

".....

Delilah's eyes glistened in the darkness as she stepped forward.

Her step was light, producing no sound.

She finally came to a stop at the edge of the bed, leaning forward as her black hair cascaded

softly in front of her, falling like a dark curtain.

Brushing her hair behind her ears, Delilah's eyes traced Julien's features.

From his jet-black hair to his perfectly chiseled jawline, down to his well-proportioned nose, thin eyebrows, and delicate, narrow lips, his features seemed meticulously crafted.

Delilah stood blankly staring at his features.

Unknowingly her hand reached forward, moving toward his face.

Ba...

***

The next day.

".....

I blinked my eyes a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing wrongly. Then, seeing that

the image before me was still present, I rubbed my eyes.

'Get it out my sight.'

But...

The image refused to leave my sight.

"Haaa."

Letting out an exhausted breath, I leaned my head back and fell back on my bed.

'What is she doing here...?'

With her legs crossed, Delilah sat with her back leaning against the chair as her head tilted to

the side.

Judging from how her eyes were closed, she was probably sleeping.

Delilah's mind was hard to understand. Well, for the most part. I usually had trouble thinking what was on her mind, and she tended to show up at the most random of times.

Like...

Now.

But then, I had a thought.

.....Could it be that she's here to protect me?'

Right, after what happened with Caius, this would indeed make sense. The people from the

Aetheria Empire were not happy with me.

Delilah was probably here to make sure that I wouldn't get ambushed in the middle of the

night.

Thinking it that way, I felt a lot better and got out of bed.

"Uh..."

But the moment I did, I froze.

I looked down and stared at my clothes... or lack of before rigidly turning my head to stare at

Delilah.

'... Looks like she's still sleeping.'

Thankfully, her eyes were still closed, showing no signs of waking up.

I hurried down to pick my clothes and dashed to the bathroom where I turned on the tap and

washed my face before taking a quick shower and putting on my clothes.

"Uh, is it like this?"

I adjusted my blazer and shirt.

There were a few crinkles here and there, and my hair had a few places that needed fixing.

I usually never paid attention to stuff like this, but unknowingly, I spent a bit more time than

I usually would in the mirror to fix myself before leaving the room.

Clank!

I half-expected Delilah to have woken up by then, but she showed no sign of doing so as her

head tilted further to the side.

Looking closely, I saw a silver string fall down the side of her lips.

Without making any sound, I reached out for my bag and took out a familiar-looking device

that I had spent a good amount of money on.

Click-Click-

I flinched with each click that came out of the wannabe Polaroid camera but was relieved by

the fact that it did not affect Delilah's sleep.

..... Talk about bodyguard.'

For someone as powerful as her, one would expect her to wake up by the smallest of noises,

but here she was, completely oblivious to the fact that I was standing right before her.

It was really weird...

'Is it possible that she's awake and just pretending to sleep?'

My hand froze at the thought as I looked down at Delilah. But then... staring at the silver

streak streaking down her lips, I pushed the thought away.

Click. Click. Click.

I wasn't sure why, but my finger continued to press on the shutter.

"This is bad...'

Biting my lips, I stopped halfway through.

Ba... Thump!

Feeling the beat of my heart, I realized that I was playing with fire. Delilah was still Delilah...

The one beneath the Zenith.

A single slap from her would send me flying back to where I came from.

'Uh...'

I brushed the thought away and prepared to put the camera down.

But as I did, my eyes fell on the table where a pen appeared.

My breath stopped and my hands started to twitch.

'No, no...'

I licked my lips which had grown dry.

Taking a step back, I swallowed my saliva.

'...Don't do it.'

My arms shook as I was forced to turn my head away.

But as I did, the image of the pen appeared in my mind again.

The sleek and smooth body...

The light and soft feel...

The...

"!"

***

Clank-

The moment Julien's presence left Delilah's reach, her eyes opened.

"Uh...?" She wiped the corner of her mouth and looked around. The room was empty, and everything

else was clean. Evidently, Julien had cleaned up before leaving.

Delilah had been so deep in her sleep that she hadn't noticed.

Despite her strength, she too needed to sleep. Furthermore, she had set up a safety net around

the area. So long as an unknown presence stepped in, she'd be able to tell.

At the same time, if Julien left the net, she'd also get warned hence why she woke up.

Still, he could've woken her up...

Delilah flashed her hand as a book appeared;

[Julien Observation Diary]

Opening it, she reached out for the pen next to her and started to write.

[⚫ He is tidy.]

This point she already knew.

Especially after what he had done to her office.

"Hm?"

Delilah's hand stopped as she caught a whiff of something. Ink...? Her brows furrowed as she

thought about the smell and lowered her head to see her pen.

Bringing it up to her nose, she sniffed it a couple of times.

'The same smell...'

Delilah stood up, her brows furrowing further. Touching her face, a black smear appeared on her fingers.

Delilah tilted her head, a question mark popping on top of her head. Squinting her eyes, she

walked to the bathroom and stopped before the mirror.

"Ah."

Her expression hardly changed as she looked at the mirror.

Delilah's face froze at the sight that greeted her. Was that a mustache on her face...? No, what

about on her cheek? It looked like a cat. It wasn't bad... Uh? Is that a chocolate bar? Not that

great...

Without her knowing, she started to critique the drawings on her face.

The corner of her lips gently pulled as she looked at the numerous doodles on her face.

A cat, a chocolate bar, a mustache, a cloud, a...

There were so many...

"He."

A weird sound escaped Delilah's lips as her lips pulled up further.

But it lasted only for a brief moment before her expression returned to normal. She then

turned on the tap and flicked her hand. The water rose up, drifting toward her face, washing away all the ink from her skin.

In moments, her face appeared back to its pristine and normal condition.

Delilah nodded gently before turning the tap off and heading back to the room where the

diary sat.

She opened it and began to write again.

[⚫ He likes touching my face.]

Why else would he draw on her face?

Delilah pressed the pen on the paper, applying a little bit more pressure as she paused.

She didn't really blame him.

After all, she too liked...