73 Shameless fool

Chirp—*

As the soft singing of the birds was heard outside, the tender light of the morning sun slowly crept in from the window.

"...ummu..." Groggily opening her eyes, Furina slowly started to wake up. With her eyes half-open, she yawned. "Hawn~"

In the bed, she raised her hand and rubbed her eye sockets with it, cleaning them in the process.

"...awake?"

Just then, a laid-back voice reached Furina's ears, and, like a cat, she immediately got startled.

"Uwah?!"

She then immediately looked behind her and saw Isaac lying down on his sides, watching her while supporting his head with his arm.

With a sly smirk on his face, Isaac chuckled lightly. He then greeted her with a soft vibrant expression. "Good morning."

"I-Isaac... Why...?" Surprised by Isaac's nonchalant expression and laid-back attitude, Furina was just about to ask what was happening, when suddenly, she got hit by a massive sense of déjà vu. 'Hold on...'

She then remembered the first time she slept at Isaac's place. She also forgot she slept here at that time!

Baffled by this, Furina's expression froze. 'I need to fix that bad habit of mine...'

'On the other hand...' Her heterochromatic blue eyes then looked at Isaac. Furina, who was stupefied earlier, began to remember everything that transpired last night.

Having thought of this, she immediately looked beneath the blanket she and Isaac shared.

'It's still there...' Seeing that she still had her clothes on, she let out a small sigh of relief. 'So he did keep his promise...'

"...I might be a lot of things, but I keep my promises." Just then, as if he had read her mind, Isaac smiled wryly.

"So it would seem..." Looking back at Isaac, Furina nodded her head as she tried to hide her embarrassment. This was, after all, her first time sharing a bed with a man. "...Thank you."

"And..." While sitting up on the bed, Furina couldn't help but look at Isaac. Although Isaac had a white blanket over his body, she could clearly see his outlined body, meaning only one thing— he was shirtless.

Having caught notice of this, a red hue couldn't help but spread across her face. She then quickly tried to change the subject. "Do you... Want to have breakfast?"

"Hm." Seeing her suddenly change the subject, a sly smile formed on Isaac's face as he hummed. "Sure."

After saying this Isaac suddenly took off his blanket and stood out of the bed. Just as Furina expected, he was shirtless.

"Uwah! At least put on a shirt!" Seeing this, Furina quickly placed her hands over her eyes. "Fool!"

"Pft, sure." Amused by her reaction, Isaac took it to heart and went to find a new dress shirt. "After what we did last night... You're still embarrassed by this?"

"O kawaii koto."

"Sh-shut up! Shameless fool!" Furina then threw a pillow at him, all the while trying to hide her flustered expression.

However, although Furina was surprised by Isaac's boldness, she couldn't help but be curious. In the end, she slightly opened her eyes to take a peek.

'...huh?' It was then when she saw it. Looking at Isaac's bare body, she couldn't help but notice a few things.

'Scars?'

From Isaac's lower back to his waist, and to his upper back, faint scars were present. There weren't many, but all of them were sufficiently long and jagged.

'Did he... get all of those when he worked for the Fontaine Research Institute?' Furina was well aware of Isaac's past, as such, she knows that Isaac was one of the few people who survived the Institute's explosion.

However, seeing those scars, even she found it hard to believe for someone like him to survive such fatal injuries.

'No...' She then noticed something. 'Some of them are faint... while the others look like they just happened recently...'

'Has Isaac... been fighting?' As this thought went through her mind, she couldn't help but remember the reason she followed him last night in the first place. 'That...'

"Furina?" Just then, Isaac's voice drifted over to her. "Let's go down together."

Looking back at Isaac, she found him to have already worn a new dress shirt. Although it was still far from his usual uniform, it was enough for today.

Furina, who was in the middle of pondering, decided to set aside this train of thought for a moment. Looking at Isaac, she nodded lightly. "Alright."

Standing up, she left the bed and followed behind Isaac down to the café.

As they walked, Furina's heterochromatic blue eyes looked at his figure, seemingly lost in thought.

'...just what are you hiding...'

---

"Hmm ♪"

Over in Isaac's kitchen, he began to assemble breakfast for the two of them. In this instance, he decided to pick a light meal for them to enjoy.

Picking them out directly from the system shop, he bought bread, butter, jam, cereal, yogurt, and, to top it all off, an earl gray tea with jasmine flowers.

Looking at the breakfast in front of him, Isaac thought for a moment, as if he was trying to remember something.

'Ah... How could I forget?'

With a sudden realization, Isaac reached out to his inventory, and a moment later, two pairs of warm croissants popped out and onto the silver platter.

'We can't possibly forget the iconic bread.' He hummed to himself with an amused smile.

Carrying the two silver platters on both of his hands, he left the kitchen and approached the table Furina was at.

Looking at her, he smiled. He then placed the silver platters on the table. "Your dish, my lady."

"You can just drop the honorifics, you know?" Resting her face with her hand on the table, Furina glanced at Isaac. "Weren't you so bold as to just address me by my name last night? Wherever must have that went?"

"...oh yeah." Now that Furina mentioned it, Isaac quickly remembered what she was she was referring to. Having realized this, he merely shrugged. "It's a habit at this point, I guess. That's the only way I spoke to you in the past, after all."

"Anywho." Pulling out a seat for himself, Isaac sat down at the same table as Furina. He then looked at her and smiled softly. "Bon appetit."

"Merci," Furina replied back, nodding at Isaac's effort for their meal. She then looked at the tea and couldn't help but comment. "Does this..."

"Six sugar cubes. Nothing more, nothing less." Spreading jam on his bread, Isaac smirked. He then also looked at her, "With your sweet tooth, I made sure to pick the best-suited meal."

"Hehe, you really are the best servant." Furina chuckled to herself as she picked up her tea and cradled it.

Looking at Furina who was sipping her tea, Isaac, who was holding onto his bread with jam on it, couldn't help but soften his eyes.

In this tranquil café, only the two of them are present. There were no distractions, and most importantly, it was peaceful.

In this silent sanctuary, Isaac couldn't help but be grateful for this safe space he had for himself and others.

As he watched the steam rise from his tea, Isaac's smile softened. '...how beautiful would it be if every day was like this...'

'If only...' As he looked at his reflection in the tea, memories began to surge in his mind.

He now has a lot of problems to take care of now that he was the de facto head of the Confrerie of Cabriere.

There is also the matter regarding the traveler. For now, he still doesn't know what Lumine is doing, but he hopes that everything is still sailing smoothly on her journey.

Moreover, Neuvillette's worry about him still wasn't fading. There were still occasional Marechaussee agents that came and went into his cafe, in addition, Clorinde— although she didn't show it— felt like she harbored enmity towards Isaac.

With all of these factors combined, Isaac even jokes that he'd get a headache similar to the Evernight skill's adverse effects without relying on the skill itself.

As his thoughts fell deeper and his eyes became sharper, a tender voice suddenly dragged him back to reality.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" It was Furina's voice— that familiar voice he always heard.

Looking at Isaac with a curious gaze while eating a bowl of cereal, Furina added, "Just what is it that makes you look so contemplative so much?"

Isaac, who regained his self-awareness, looked back at Furina. He then smiled softly, "I was just lost in a thought. Think not much of it."

"By the way..." Changing the subject, Isaac quickly looked for another matter. "We're nearing the end of the film, yeah?"

"You're right," Furina nodded her head as she ate her cereal. "After today, we're pretty much finished. We'll just leave it to the editors."

"I see. That's..." Isaac was just about to reply when he was suddenly greeted with something.

For a fraction of a second, his eyes widened in surprise before they returned to normal.

'Hm?' Noticing this, Furina, who was always observative, raised an eyebrow. Replaying the expression Isaac made, she began pondering. 'What was what? It looked as if...'

'He was reading something.' Suspecting something, Furina's gaze sharpened as she opened her mouth and asked, "What's wrong? Why didn't you finish your sentence?"

"...I'm fine." Just then, Isaac answered her question. Scoffing lightly, he picked up his tea and cradled it. "I just merely got caught in..."

"...thinking about miscellaneous stuff."

[Notice.]

[The Knave takes an interest in you.]