I stood motionless without saying a single word. Looking at the man who stood before me, it felt as if all the hair on my body stood.

He was...

'Very strong.'

Too strong for me to imagine.

Just standing before him felt suffocating.

But it wasn't his power that got me. No, it was his eyes.

'Megrail.'

Yellow pupils...

The symbolic trait of the members of the Megrail family. I knew well because of Aoife. Her eyes were also of the same color. In fact, taking a closer look, he appeared to look similar to her as well.

But... for what reason was a member of the Megrail family, calling me Pechda? It couldn't be that the organization had seeped its fangs into the royal family of the Empire...?

"Are you not going to let me in?"

"....."

Staring at the warm smile of the man before me, I almost found myself losing sight of myself. Something was unsettling about him that I couldn't explain.

Snapping out of it, I took a step to the side without saying a single word.

Either way, I needed to focus.

It was important that I didn't show anything that could give away the fact that I wasn't Julien.

"Thank you very much."

Coming into the room, the man looked around casually before sitting on my seat and our gazes met.

I stared at his intense yellow pupils.

"It was a wonderful performance."

He started off with a compliment. One that I took with a nod.

"Thank you."

".....Oh?"

But it seemed like I had already made a mistake as he raised his brow.

"You're not very talkative today."

I froze at his statement. It took every ounce of my willpower to stop my heart from beating faster. I was afraid he'd notice. Thankfully, I was quite adept at controlling my emotions.

Looking around, I found a spare seat and sat down.

Massaging my face, I mumbled,

"The performance took a toll on me."

"Ha..."

With a subtle chuckle, the man nodded.

"That's understandable. You've always had a hard time controlling your emotions. It must've felt great to finally let go for once, right? I almost saw your old self in there."

".....Yes."

Just faintly, I felt my heart skip a bit.

I was walking on thin ice. Extremely thin ice. One wrong step, and I felt everything would shatter.

But...

Within the danger, there was also opportunity.

'So the real Julien acted like that...?'

Information.

It was a great opportunity for me to learn about the previous Julien and the organization that I was dealing with.

But before that, I knew that I was far from the clear.

And as expected, in the next moment, the atmosphere turned extremely oppressive as I lost my breath.

"I've been wondering for quite a while, Phecda, but why is it that you've been acting on your own recently?"

My entire body tensed at his question.

"....From your interference with the professor to everything else that came after. You've been meddling a little too much, no?"

While his voice came out calm, I could feel the underlying rage hidden within his words as the air felt even more suffocating.

"...."

For a brief moment, I struggled to speak.

"Well?"

It was hard to speak when it felt as though a massive boulder was resting over my chest.

Gritting my teeth, I forced my head up to stare and meet his gaze.

Finally, I spoke.

"You should know why."

The atmosphere froze then. With my head raised, I kept my focus on his intense yellow eyes that stared back at me with a certain coldness that made me shiver.

Just as I noticed that his lips were about to part open to speak, I cut him off and continued.

"She's been watching my every movement. She suspects me. For that reason, I can't contact anyone."

"....."

"I've helped when I could, but there's a limit to how much I can do before my identity is compromised. For that reason, I chose to interfere. I'm trying to buy her trust."

I knew this day was going to come. I had been preparing for it for quite a while now. It was for this reason that I was able to act rationally.

I was merely following the script I had prepared in my mind.

".....But don't get me wrong. I've helped when I was able to. You should be aware of what happened at the prison."

I pointed towards myself.

"I was the reason they were able to escape. I'm sure you of all people should be able to confirm this."

It was true, and also a calculated risk that I had taken.

From the moment that I realized that the previous Julien was part of the organization, I knew that something like this was bound to come.

It was for this reason that I took the calculated risk of failing the quest mission.

I knew that it was important to have allies within the organization. For that, I helped out the Professor. But that wasn't the only reason. The other reason was because I knew that something like this was coming.

I needed a sort of alibi to prove that I was still doing things to help the organization.

It was a risk I was willing to take to make my story more believable. And I was starting to believe I had made the right choice.

"....."

"....."

Seeing that the sense of oppression that was lingering in the room was disappearing, I knew that my story was working.

I finished my speech with a question.

"I did interfere in several missions, but the damage that I've caused is meaningless on the grand scope of things, am I not right?"

"..."

Yet again, he remained silent as his yellow pupils traced over my body.

Silence gripped the room as I felt his gaze on me. Silently swallowing my saliva, I stared back at him without moving my gaze away.

It felt suffocating, but I knew that I couldn't look away.

Not yet.

The entire time, he remained silent, without saying a single word. From where I sat, I couldn't tell what he was thinking or what he was feeling.

He just had an air of detachment.

But the silence didn't last for long. Opening his mouth, he finally spoke again.

"How is your relationship with her?"

The air instantly felt lighter and I secretly sighed in relief.

".....Shouldn't you already know?"

A smile finally spread across his features.

"I know, but I still want to ask."

".....It's nothing concrete just yet."

The subject of the matter was none other than Delilah.

Given that the organization seemed to have eyes everywhere, I believed that they knew about how she had been keeping a close watch on me.

I chose to use that to my advantage and make it seem as though I was laying low so that I wouldn't be discovered while at the same time building a relationship with her.

It proved to be the right decision.

"I can't tell at all what she's thinking. For now, it seems like she's keeping me close to observe me. My movements are limited. You should understand why I am doing what I'm doing."

"I know."

"Then why did you send those knights after me?"

"Ha..."

With another smile, the man slowly stood up.

"Call it a warning. I just wanted to see the extent of your commitment to your new role."

"....."

I looked at him wordlessly.

See the extent of my commitment to my new role?

What did he mean by this?

"There's no need to be so displeased. I only used mild hypnosis on them. They shouldn't have posed a threat to you, to begin with. On the bright side, it spiced up the play, didn't it?"

This bastard...

"For now, keep doing what you're doing. What you told me is more or less in line with what I've been suspecting. If you need any help, you can always reach out to me. Otherwise, I will find a new way to contact you. Report to me everything that you notice with her."

Heading towards the door, the man turned around and our eyes met again. Though his smile appeared warm, all I felt were chills.

"Keep up the good work, Phecda."

Clank—!

The room fell silent again after his departure.

But even as he left, I remained tense. It felt as though I had years shaved off of my life at that moment.

Our talk had only lasted for a few minutes, but it had felt like an eternity to me.

"Huuu."

It was only after a few more minutes had passed that I finally let out a long breath and let my body relax.

"...Fucked."

My situation was fucked.

But...

"Haha."

Someway, somehow, I was able to bullshit my way through it.

Even so, things were far from over. This was merely the start. I knew that much. Things were going to become a lot more problematic for me in the future.

Despite that, I wasn't afraid.

Gradually, my strength was increasing, and so was my awareness of my situation.

In the future, I planned to make full use of my circumstances to achieve my goals. It was for this reason that I needed to remain patient.

My time was coming, and all I needed was a little bit more time.

[The Final Act: You have overcome the event.]

The expected notification finally came as my vision flashed.

[You were able to prevent Aoife from getting targeted during the play, stopping her from getting seriously injured.]

■ Game Progression EXP + 6%

Game Progression : [0%-[7%]100%]

■ Character Progression EXP + 39%

Exp : [0%—[11%]100%]

"Haa..."

I closed my eyes and let the power seep into my body. A warm current flowed as the density of my mana increased.

It was a familiar feeling. One that I was slowly starting to grow addicted to.

I wanted to bask in the feeling for longer, but it didn't last much longer as it soon stopped.

When I opened my eyes again, I stared at my experience bar.

"Level 22, 11%."

Not bad at all.

With all the training I had done over the past few weeks, I had seen a large increase in my strength.

Not only that, but so was my proficiency in my emotions.

Shortly after, a new notification flashed.

[Calamity Progress]

Aoife K. Megrail 1 : Slumber

: Progress - 0%

Kiera Mylne 2 : Slumber

: Progress - 9%

Evelyn J. Verlice : Slumber

: Progress - 0%

I silently stared at the new notification for a few moments before waving my hand.

"....Alright."

I closed my eyes and leaned back on my chair. The exhaustion from everything finally started to take over as my consciousness started to blur.

With everything done...

I could finally rest.