To Yujin, Leila was someone special.
No — that was far too simple a way to put it.
The person who saved his life. A dear friend. A trusted Adjutant….
She was someone he could stake everything on.
She had saved him so completely that he'd steeled himself to that resolve.
So. Because she was that kind of person.
Because she had always smiled at him as if affirming his every choice.
The fourth time he experienced his first day as Commander.
When Yujin came face to face with Leila, he froze solid.
Because the woman standing before him was different from every version he'd known before.
"Hello, Commander."
"Good morning, Leila… Ms. Leila."
Like trying to take a step through deep mud.
Even getting the first words out was a struggle.
It was strange for a Commander to use formal address with his own Adjutant.
That was why Leila had always told him to call her by her name without ceremony.
More than that — she'd practically forced him into it, half-insisting he drop the formality.
But this time, she said no such thing.
In fact, they hadn't had a single proper conversation yet.
And so, desperate not to earn her dislike —
Yujin had no choice but to address her formally.
It felt exactly like being sent back to before the Regression.
He had the distinct sense that the distance between them had grown just as wide.
"I'm glad I get to work alongside you, Commander. I look forward to it."
"…Yes."
On the surface, she seemed no different from usual.
Her tone was gentle, her expression betraying not a trace of displeasure.
Yet Yujin felt something was off.
Not once had their eyes actually met.
Whenever it seemed like they might, she would drop her gaze as if fleeing.
As if to say: the only reason I'm here with you is because I'm your Adjutant.
A posture that drew a clear, unmistakable line.
The Commander felt a small, dull ache bloom in his chest.
*She's… uncomfortable around me.*
Frustratingly, he could guess why.
Yujin recalled what Leila had told him in the previous loop.
She'd said she'd learned her memories from before the Regression through dreams.
Which meant the reason she'd believed in him even through all those cruel words —
was because she'd trusted those prior memories as truth.
In other words, what she was showing him now was the exact opposite.
Because Yujin had done terrible things to Leila in the last loop.
She was confused because of those memories. That much was understandable.
So this reaction made sense.
It couldn't be helped. He knew it couldn't be helped, but…
*Being hated by this person… hurts.*
Yujin wanted to scream from the sheer frustration of it.
He wasn't the only one who carried memories across time.
The person he'd wanted to protect shared those precious memories with him.
He'd just learned that joyful truth — so why had it come to this?
He suppressed his feelings so Leila wouldn't notice.
But the anxious thoughts that kept surfacing refused to fade.
Yujin suffered through them in silence.
*
*What if this loop doesn't reset and just keeps going like this?*
*What if things never get better between us?*
…That's what he's thinking, isn't it?
I don't have any particular talent for reading minds.
But perhaps because I'd spent nearly a month studying his face —
one look at the Commander's expression was enough to tell me exactly what was going on inside him.
Delighted, I suppressed the urge to burst out laughing.
Because I was in the middle of tormenting the Commander to my heart's content.
Laughing now would ruin everything.
*Haah…. It's not the sharp kind of thrill, but this is fun in its own way….*
Oh, and for reference — the script I was performing went roughly like this.
I woke up one morning to find fragments of the previous loop had come back to me.
But the setting was that most of what I remembered was the awful treatment I'd received from the Commander.
Even someone as warm and bright-natured as Leila —
if she suddenly saw contempt in someone's eyes, she'd flinch. She couldn't help it.
The Commander was simply reaping the karma he'd sown himself.
*Honestly. That's why you should have been kinder. Everything comes back around like a boomerang, you know.*
Snickering inwardly at him, I pressed on with my torment.
Deliberately standing in ambiguous spots to block his path.
Whenever our eyes accidentally met, fumbling in flustered panic and looking away.
Awkwardly cutting off conversations that would have flowed naturally otherwise….
"…Ah."
"S-sorry."
"Oh, no, it's fine."
But this was the best part of all.
First, I'd engineer an accidental brush of contact with the Commander.
Then I'd give a small startled flinch and look up at him with trembling eyes.
And he would become absolutely flustered.
That expression — struck speechless, completely at a loss — was a genuine pleasure to behold.
He looked exactly like a puppy that had just had its food snatched away.
Of course, simply tormenting him endlessly was the mark of an amateur.
On the off chance the Commander decided to give up entirely, that would be a problem.
So roughly once for every five cracks of the whip, I offered a carrot.
"Oh, Commander — did I ever mention I like café mochas?"
"No. I just thought it looked good… so I bought one."
"Oh, thank you! I'll enjoy it."
Letting a conversation flow naturally and smiling at him the way I used to.
Accidentally calling him "Commander" without thinking.
Pressing my shoulder against his as if I hadn't noticed.
Even when he tried to hide it, his expression would brighten noticeably every time.
What on earth was I going to do with this hopelessly transparent man?
I was starting to think I'd need to go buy a camera from the black market tonight.
Alternating between the whip and the carrot like that —
before I knew it, the sun had set and the sky had gone dark.
Without having done anything particularly significant, the second day had already slipped by in an instant.
*Ah, that was fun. Playing the "regret and ruin" game with the Commander… I could get addicted to this.*
Well… it wasn't as though I'd done all this purely for entertainment.
One way or another, it had been fun, and I won't pretend I didn't enjoy it.
But a week was genuinely tight if I was going to waste time.
What I'd wanted to confirm today was what the Commander was actually thinking.
The promise I'd made to him in the previous loop was, for all practical purposes, broken.
Bluntly put, it wouldn't have been strange at all if he'd turned dark again.
Would he still try to save Leila, even in a situation like this?
That was why I'd been poking and prodding at him, watching his reactions.
If his thoughts had turned negative, I'd had a plan for what to do next, but…
"Well then, I'll see you again tomorrow."
"Yes. See you tomorrow."
Surprisingly, there was no sign of that in the Commander at all.
He'd given me delicious reactions every time I tormented him.
But he showed no indication of intentionally giving up on this loop.
How utterly devoted.
The Leila you're so fond of is entirely fabricated. A fake, through and through.
The sight of him cherishing a phantom that didn't exist was genuinely amusing.
*I'm looking forward to the day I finally reveal the truth….*
After parting from the Commander, I had dinner with the Valkyries.
I was planning to get very close to the Rabbit Hole Squad this time around.
I focused my efforts especially on Yubina.
"Yubina. I was thinking about it yesterday too — your hair is lovely. Those little ringlets have so much personality. You work hard on it every morning, don't you?"
"Hehe…. D-does it show that much-swa?"
"It does! The texture is so soft too…. I can tell how much care you put into it."
"As expected, Leila-nim has a real eye for these things-swa!"
The method for winning her over was nothing complicated.
Simply saying flattering things about Yubina's ladylike quirks.
She was the type to beam with delight just from a compliment about her speech patterns.
She rejoiced at my praise like a dolphin leaping through hoops.
*Getting so happy over words I don't mean a single syllable of. How innocent.*
Just then, a curious thought crossed my mind.
What if I leaned close to her ear right now and whispered that every word was a lie?
That none of it suited her at all — what kind of reaction would she make?
Would she look betrayed? Or would she go cold with offense?
Yubina had a certain aptitude for being tormented, in her own way.
The desire to carve a deep wound into her heart rose up in me.
She still had her uses, so I couldn't act on it just yet.
After dinner came free time.
As Adjutant, I had no need to stand watch.
I returned to my private room, disguised myself beyond recognition, and headed to the black market I'd visited before to secure a camera.
"I'm here for a camera."
"Yes, which model would you prefer?"
"The one with the longest battery life. Six of them."
Six, same as before — better to have plenty.
I decided to hide one in the Commander's office and one in the lounge that very night.
I nearly got caught by a Valkyrie on patrol in the process.
But I activated Trance and somehow managed to slip away without being spotted.
*Installing one in the Commander's bedroom… that'll be difficult for now.*
Naturally, planting a camera in his bedroom was no easy task.
I had no plausible excuse to walk in there openly the way I had before.
And sneaking in covertly carried far too much risk….
I'd need to think of something.
With the cameras installed, I returned to my private room.
All that running around had left my body faintly damp with sweat.
I took a leisurely shower and changed into my sleepwear.
My sleepwear of choice: a negligee that left very little to the imagination.
Dressed in what could only be described as an extremely indecent outfit, I sat down at my desk.
In front of me was a notebook that had begun to feel familiar.
*Confirmed the Commander has no intention of giving up…. Made progress on Yubina's affection…. Secured a camera from the black market….*
I reviewed the checklist I'd written the night before.
And crossed off each completed item one by one with my pen.
As I skimmed down through the entries, I stopped at one particular section.
It was a single sentence I'd written last night after a long deliberation.
I stared at it, then scratched the back of my head with the end of my pen.
"What am I going to do about this…."
An inevitable problem that came with this way of living.
I stared at the notebook and thought for a long while before reaching a conclusion.
"Right. No way around it."
After a moment of wrestling with myself, I pulled my terminal from my pocket.
And a familiar name from my contacts rose up on the screen.
[ Arishia ]
A name I hadn't seen in a long time. One that stirred something like nostalgia.