Effie looked at Sunny with a confused expression.
"It… does not seem to be working?"
Sunny was just as stumped.
He gave Saint a thoughtful glance, then scratched the back of his head.
"Well. Yeah… maybe it is because she is not a complete person? As one of my Shadows, Saint is technically a part of . She usually resides within my soul… and before you say anything about a beautiful woman being trapped in , know that I will break at least one of your arms if you do…"
Effie, who had already opened her mouth with a mischievous glint in her eyes, closed it again.
Sunny glared at her for a mont, then continued:
"Alternatively… it might be because of her [Stalwart] Attribute, which makes her immune to mind attacks. Her Mirage City persona was forced upon her by the Palace of Imagination, so it is not a ntal hex — rather, it is a manifestation of divine sorcery. So, your attempt to strip her of that persona
might be seen as a ntal assault instead, consciously or subconsciously."
He grimaced.
"Or it could be sothing else entirely. Maybe the Castellan had stolen more of your authority in the last few days. Maybe it only worked on that easily because I am a Supre. It's… hard to say."
Effie looked at him, then at Morgan. Morgan did not seem to know more about the Palace of Imagination than they did, though, so she looked back to Sunny.
"So what do we do?"
He had no idea.
Sunny remained silent for a while, then opened his mouth to say sothing. At that mont, though, Saint shook her head and turned away with a determined expression.
He panicked a little.
"Uh, sorry? What are you doing, Saint?"
She looked around the church, then said evenly:
"I am going to sleep."
Saint headed to the nearest bench and pulled the white sheet off it, grimacing because of the dust.
Sunny blinked a couple of tis.
"You're going… to sleep? Now?"
She turned around and pierced him with a chilling gaze.
"It is far past my bedti, and as I ntioned, my sleep schedule is very important. Good sleep… is the foundation of ntal health. And since delusional disorders seem to have beco infectious as of late, sohow, I must be vigilant."
Her tone was letting them know that she would tolerate no compromises.
Whipping around, Saint took off her coat, rolled it into a makeshift pillow, and settled on the bench. Soon enough, her figure was hidden under the white sheet.
It was as if she was telling them that she refused to deal with their nonsense anymore,at least not tonight.
Sunny, Morgan, and Effie stared in her direction with stunned expressions.
"Is she really… going to sleep? Now?"
There was a hint of amusent in Morgan's voice.
Sunny lingered for a few monts, then cleared his throat.
"Well, you heard her. Proper sleep… is the foundation of ntal health."
Honestly, he could understand Saint's reaction.
First, she had t him and was exposed to a bunch of nonsense that sounded completely delusional. Then, soone tried to kill her. Then, Morgan broke out of the ntal hospital after soone tried to kill her, too — not only that, but she seed to share in the delusions of the crazy detective.
And after all that, Saint t Effie. Who also went along with the insane antics of the delusional detective and the escaped ntal patient.
She could write off what Sunny said, and she could even try to explain why Morgan was playing along — after all, both of them were her patients, which
ant that their ntal health was compromised by definition. But with the third person added into the mix…
When three people confidently insisted on sothing completely insane, making you the strange one out for trying to cling to normalcy, even the most stable person would have no choice but to start doubting their own sanity. Considering that Saint had just survived a brutal attack, it was no surprise that she needed a break.
Of course, Sunny had assud that there would be no such problem because Saint would regain her mories.
But she had not.
Which posed a problem…
He frowned.
It was already bad enough not to have the full support of his fearso Shadow. But in her current state, Saint was also vulnerable… and being hunted by Mirage City on top of that. Which ant that she needed to be protected.
The problem was that there was soone else who needed to be protected — the other Mordret. And Sunny could not be in two places at the sa ti.
'How inconvenient.'
Who could live like that? Only having one body was seriously so frustrating!
Letting out a sigh, he shook his head and looked at the boxes Effie had carried into the church from her PTV.
"Let's get to work. We'll need to change our plans a little."
Morgan glanced at the boxes and raised an eyebrow.
"What work are we talking about, exactly?"
Opening one of the boxes and pulling out a stack of docunts, Sunny smiled faintly.
"What else? Detective work, of course."
He pointed to the docunts."These are case materials Effie fetched while I was busy driving you and Saint around. Everything having to do with the Nihilist case, as well as everything we have gathered regarding the recent attempt on the other Mordret's life. We might not be able to find the culprit just yet, but we can at least narrow down the list of suspects. Perhaps find a clue or two about who the Castellan is."
Morgan tilted her head a little, then nodded.
"Makes sense. Let's get to work, then."
She leaned down to open another box… and froze with a strange expression on her face.
"Huh."
Sunny looked into the box and let out a heavy sigh.
There were no docunts inside the box. Instead, it was filled to the brim with cartons of chocolate milk and packs of donuts.
"Effie… what the hell…"
She looked at him with an expression of hurt innocence.
"What? You told to get food, in case we'll have to spend a lot of ti in the hideaway."
Sunny took a deep breath.
"Food. I said food. Not dessert!"
Effie blinked a couple of tis, then smiled.
"Oh, I brought food too!"
She pointed.
"That box. And that one. And that one as well…"
Sunny rubbed his temples and suppressed a groan.
'Maybe I should go take a nap, too…'
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