Halfway to her destination, Lacus stopped and glanced back at the paper on the table. Curiosity combined with overthinking allowed an insistent notion to take root in her mind—this was certainly no ordinary sheet. She turned around and returned to the table.
Lacus reached out and picked up the paper, examining both sides thoroughly.
Despite her careful inspection, both sides remained completely blank, pristine and unblemished like fresh white paint on a wall, without a single flaw.
"Could it be some special technique?" Lacus murmured to herself, staring at the paper.
She lowered her head, continuing to study the sheet, pondering what method might have been used to conceal its contents.
After much thought, she still had no answers.
Then, a sudden idea occurred to her!
"Could it just be an ordinary, completely blank piece of paper?"
Looking at the paper, Lacus muttered under her breath, her tone still tinged with disbelief. An inner voice seemed to insist that this paper held some hidden significance.
"But it really doesn't seem to have any secrets!" she reminded herself aloud, gazing down at the sheet.
After this self-admonishment, Lacus placed the paper back on the table. Instead of heading to her bed, she sat down in the chair before the desk, continuing to ponder over the paper.
Though the feeling that it was extraordinary still lingered in her heart, it had considerably faded.
Ding-dong!
The doorbell chimed at that moment.
Lacus's thoughts were interrupted as she turned to look toward the door. A voice came through the intercom into the room.
"Miss Lacus, are you asleep?"
"Not yet. Is something the matter?"
Recognizing Felix's familiar voice, Lacus replied. Upon hearing her response, Felix continued, "May I come in to retrieve something?"
"Something?" Lacus wondered inwardly, her eyes falling on the paper. Could it be this paper he's coming to take? she thought to herself.
With that suspicion, Lacus quickly put the paper back into the drawer. After doing so, she opened the room door.
Once the door was open, Felix entered the room, nodding briefly in greeting to Lacus. Under her watchful gaze, he walked over to the standing cabinet in the room, inserted a key, and opened it.
From inside, he retrieved a new military uniform.
Seeing Felix's actions, Lacus was taken aback and instinctively glanced toward the drawer.
Wasn't he here for the paper?
Holding the uniform, Felix turned to Lacus and explained, "I forgot to take a spare uniform when I was packing earlier." After his explanation, he apologized, "Sorry to disturb your rest."
With that, Felix headed out, carrying the new uniform. As he was about to leave, Lacus instinctively called out to stop him.
"Wait a moment."
Hearing this, Felix paused and turned back to Lacus, a puzzled expression on his face as he asked, "Is something wrong?"
In contrast, Lacus felt rather awkward at the moment.
Recalling her earlier impolite behavior of rummaging through things, the questions she wanted to ask were stuck in her throat, completely unable to be voiced.
Seeing Lacus remain silent, Felix grew even more puzzled, thinking to himself:
What is this girl trying to do? She stopped me but isn't saying anything. Is she deliberately trying to mess with me?
Suppressing the displeasure spreading in his heart, Felix maintained a smile and gently asked her:
"Miss Lacus, is there something you need?"
Hearing Felix's repeated inquiry, Lacus was about to say "nothing" and let it pass when a sudden inspiration struck, and an answer surfaced in her mind.
Empowered by this thought, she changed what she had intended to say.
"It's like this: I have a concert tomorrow, and I want to write down the lyrics and music I plan to sing tonight, so I can review and memorize them properly to avoid mistakes."
"The computer is working fine and has no password."
After learning the situation, Felix walked to the desk, turned on the computer, and replied to Lacus. Watching his actions, Lacus quickly spoke up again.
"When I'm preparing and memorizing lyrics, I don't like using a computer. I prefer writing them on paper, and it's also more portable that way—I don't have to be confined to the computer while preparing."
"I see!"
Hearing Lacus's explanation and habit, Felix murmured softly, thinking:
A habit? But something feels off about this!
Thinking this, he bent over, reached out, and pulled open the drawer.
Under Lacus's gaze, Felix took out the piece of paper she had scrutinized earlier and placed it on the desk, then retrieved a marker from his pocket.
Lacus, who had observed Felix's every move, was momentarily dazed. Staring at the paper and marker on the desk, she thought to herself:
It really is just an ordinary piece of paper!
After finishing these actions, Felix looked up at Lacus, taking in her somewhat dazed expression. Seeing her like this, he felt a surge of confusion.
What's wrong with Miss Lacus?
Though puzzled internally, he maintained a gentle smile on the surface and spoke softly.
"Miss Lacus, feel free to use them!"
Hearing his words, Lacus snapped out of her daze, looked at Felix, and nodded, saying:
"Oh."
Hearing Lacus's somewhat unnatural response and connecting it with her earlier odd behavior and statements, Felix guessed something.
Keeping his suspicions to himself, Felix bid Lacus goodbye. After seeing her nod, he turned and left the room.
The moment the door closed behind him, the calm expression he had maintained vanished completely. Without caring about his image, Felix burst into uproarious laughter right there.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
Laughing uncontrollably, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with one hand and remarked:
"That silly girl didn't actually think that piece of paper was special, did she? How on earth did she get that idea?" As he spoke, recalling everything that had just happened in the room, he couldn't hold back again. "HAHAHA!! This is too funny! HAHAHA!!"
In the room, Lacus sat on a chair, staring at the paper on the table with a frustrated and regretful expression. She bent over, pressing her cheek against the table, and glanced toward the door. The thought that Captain Griffith might be outside laughing at her foolish behavior made her regret and frustration intensify, leaving her too embarrassed to face anyone.
"How foolish!" she murmured.
Turning her head away from the door, Lacus faced the opposite direction, a vow of self-reflection echoing in her mind.
"I'll never be curious again! I'll never overthink again!"
With that, she looked at the Haro in front of her, poked it gently, and declared,
"You have to bear witness for me!"
"Haro! Haro!"
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