Now, resting his chin on his sister''s shoulder and looking at what she was focused on, Christian found the contents of her reading incomprehensible. So, he couldn''t help but voice his doubts.

    "Why are you reading this kind of thing?"

    Instead of answering, Annabelle replied with a question of her own.

    "What does this look like to you?"

    And Christian, with a pondering tone, replied, "Some internal policy plan?"

    "Exactly. It''s one from the Infinitel company, though, and that''s why I''m reading it."

    "What kind of deal happened with the Ashvale and Infinitel, you couldn''t find that out, right?"

    "Yeah?" Against, his sister''s second question, Christian said, his voice uncertain.

    "So, that''s why I''m reading this, even if it seems like something really unrelated to the other side of the world. But, by comparing what they are currently doing with what they did previously, we''re bound to find some clues!"

    While Christian felt it was a novel way of approaching things, he still didn''t feel the need to go that far, so he said, "Then, why didn''t you just ask Iris to make a comparison table for you, with the important points?"

    "You know that these kinds of documents, especially for a giant company like Infinitel, are very long after all."

    "Actually, you could just ask her about the differences directly."

    Annabelle stayed silent for some time, seemingly pondering whether she should be blunt. In the end, she simply said, "But, Chris, the kind of things I''m looking for could be too small, could be something really trivial that Iris wouldn''t notice."

    "After all, for these kinds of things, the most important thing is flexibility, not rigid thinking."

    "More than that, actually... I have confidence in myself, more than Iris."

    Getting her agreement, Christian smiled and said,

    "Then, I''ll be waiting in my room. Let''s sleep there."

    ...

    Now, lying on his bed with an earphone in place to receive Iris''s periodic updates on the constant changes happening with the assassin, and his sister at his side, Christian was waiting for her to fall asleep.

    He had already prepared the sharp knives he had taken from the previous assassin, and had set aside clothes to wear downstairs. Everything was in place, and the only thing left to do was wait for his sister to drift off.

    He naturally didn''t intend to hide things from her; it was just that he had planned to tell her later, after he had dealt with the assassin and returned, to spare her any unnecessary worry or tension.

    But, seeing how she was still hugging his head against her breasts with one arm while gently ruffling his hair gently with the other, Christian couldn''t help but wonder how much longer it would take.

    Time seemed to crawl, with him occasionally opening his eyes, only to find her still gazing at him. Each time, he would close them again, letting himself sink back into her softness.

    He could feel the warmth of her presence against his cheeks, against his body, and despite his growing impatience, he found it impossible to let go of the comfort the situation brought him.

    Even so, as his sister showed no signs of wanting to sleep anytime soon, instead nestling even closer, her movements a gentle refusal to settle into the quiet rest he had been waiting for, he couldn''t help but feel a bit troubled.

    Then, suddenly, seeing his sister roll him onto his back and climb on top of him, Christian couldn''t help but wonder if she had caught on to something and was doing this intentionally, as a way to ensure he wouldn''t leave.

    As her hair fell down, brushing against his face, he gently pushed it aside, brushing her strands with a careful hand. Pretending to remain calm, he locked eyes with her, his expression steady despite the turmoil of thoughts swirling in his mind.

    They stared at each other like that for some time, before Annabelle suddenly cupped his cheeks with her hands and lowered her head even further.

    ''Wait, she''s really doing this?''

    Christian''s couldn''t help but have his thoughts race wildly, and his heart pounding even faster.