Regarding Hyperion, she is elusive, and all detection spells are useless against her. Lanci dared not stay too close yet couldn't stray too far, so he dispatched his only assistant cat to report for him.

Cat Boss had never seen Lanci so haggard before, it almost felt like it had become a cat mom for once.

Before they could continue the conversation, Cat Boss agilely jumped back into Lanci's shadow.

Seeing Cat Boss's reaction, Lanci roughly knew who had arrived.

"Thank you for your hard work, I had lots of fun today."

Sigrid leaned next to Lanci, naturally draping her arm over his shoulder and pulling him a bit closer.

"As long as Mr. Bishop is happy."

Lanci answered with a slight smile.

"But why are you so tired today?"

Sigrid observed Lanci's eyes, and touched his cheek.

Opening dual threads should be an easy task for Lanci.

Relative to Lanci, she should be the more exhausted one, dating Lanci while helping the Bingxue Witch face-off against a mysterious expert. It certainly wasn't Loren; rather, Loren also hired a strategist.

"Didn't get enough rest last night."

Lanci blinked, maintaining alertness.

"Is that so."

Sigrid stared at him, pondering as if deducing something.

Lanci shouldn't be this tired unless his computing power was also being used for other threads, filled with unexpected factors causing a shortage of computational power.

"By the way, Lanci, aside from going on a date with me and Tata, have you been communicating with some man today?"

Sigrid speculated silently and experimentally asked Lanci.

"I did."

Lanci's eyes slightly widened, confessing to her directly.

"Was it Loren?"

Sigrid asked again.

"That's right..."

Lanci covered his forehead, hearing Sigrid's intuitive guess halfway through his answer.

He also came to understand many things.

Why was it exhausting to help Loren face-off against Bingxue Witch, and why Bingxue Witch's suppression felt so familiar.

"Aha."

Sigrid raised her hand and tapped her head.

She hadn't realized that she had been face-off against Lanci all along.

It turned out she was the culprit causing Lanci's fatigue.

Originally, they should have been evenly matched opponents, but Lanci was also dealing with other threads, leaving him caught off guard.

"Sorry, Lanci, don't be mad at me, okay? I didn't know I would tire you so much."

Sigrid hugged Lanci's arm, shaking it as she apologized.

"I have no reason to blame you. We were unaware of each other after all. Who knew that while Loren sought me out, Bingxue Witch would find you too. I should apologize. I promised to enjoy today with you, but ended up working at the same time."

Lanci laughed.

"Tata will be back soon, I'll hide for now, see you at the theater this afternoon."

Sigrid stuck out her tongue, knowing Lanci wouldn't blame her; she was more concerned that Lanci was indeed too tired.

Gradually relieved, she let go of Lanci and bid farewell.

"Next..."

Lanci hadn't even finished saying "afternoon" before Sigrid unexpectedly leaned in close.

"Sneak a treat!"

She kissed Lanci on the cheek, then giggled and hurried away.

She never left empty-handed.

She blew Lanci a kiss while running, hoping to heal his fatigue.

"Really, the Bishop can't just harass the Saint Heir like that."

Lanci shook his head helplessly, but a smile crept onto his lips, unable to do anything about the superior.

"She's getting more and more audacious with you, meow, she's kissed you twice just today."

Cat Boss emerged from the shadow once more, crouching beside Lanci.

From the moment Lanci didn't resist this morning, Cat Boss knew Sigrid would become more audacious.

"It's alright, there are some things I plan to explain to them anyway, but I intend to finish today's last bit of work first, then confirm things about the future."

Lanci looked down at his palm, speaking with a relaxed demeanor.

He and Cat Boss rarely chatted leisurely.

Not long after,

Talia returned with two ice creams to the bench.

"Tata, you're back."

"Mm."

Before asking which ice cream Lanci wanted, she was already staring at his face.

"..."

Talia lifted a finger and touched Lanci's cheek.

"What's up?"

Lanci felt on edge under Talia's silent gaze, turning his head to ask her.

He admitted that as the morning schedule ended, he was slightly relaxed from his tense state, but there shouldn't be any issues.

"Why does it seem like someone just kissed you?"

Talia observed intently.

Though faint, she felt like there was a mark left by someone on Lanci's face.

"?"

Lanci's heart stopped momentarily.

He didn't expect Talia to catch such sneaky behavior so keenly, instantly transforming into a grey cat detective with terrifying observation.

Talia also had a knack for detecting lies; he could only be honest in front of her.

Yet now his mind was moving slowly, as if rusty, unable to think of how to respond to Talia.

If he didn't find a break to rest before the afternoon play begins, it might become very difficult to maintain full computational power on stage.

As Lanci strained to think,

"It was me, meow! I just pounced on Lanci's shoulder, playing with him!"

Cat Boss quickly declared.

"..."

Lanci was at a loss for words.

He stared at the Little Black Cat standing in front of him.

It seemed to be striving to protect his happiness.

Having a friend like Cat Boss in this lifetime was truly fulfilling.

Yet, he had often coerced the cat into mischief before. A wave of guilt washed over him, gnawing away until nothing remained.