"Investigation, you say?" Lucretius's eyes gleamed as if my request had stirred curiosity within him. His thumb traced slow circles along my waist, feeling ticklish from his touch as silence enveloped us.

My senses heightened every time he would do that to me. I felt something sparkling that coursed through my body, and it was hard to lie that it didn't affect me.

"Into what, my little soldier?" His lips curled in a half-smile, but his gaze cut straight through me. "Or perhaps..." His voice lowered, his expression slightly darkened. "...into who?"

My throat tightened. Why did it feel like that last question made him look unhappy? Or was it just my imagination?

"I need you to gather some information about the deceased people whose name is Euphyllia or Elixane."

Mentioning my name felt like they were strictly forbidden. For the first time since I had known him, Lucretius's expression shifted, not from mockery, indulgence, but something different.

Disbelief? Hilarious?

"That's... rather unusual investigation," he said, his tone sounded uncertain. He was looking at me as if I had grown another head and had gone insane.

I understood what he meant.

My hand reached for the lapel of his uniform, my eyes glued to it as I unconsciously played with it. "I know. It sounds bizarre that I ask you this, and you would think that I am playing with you because Euphyllia is my name..." I paused, uncertain if I should tell him my awakening.

Lucretius lifted my chin and coerced me to gawk at him. His eyes spread curiosity in them as he spoke, "Is there a particular reason why you wish to investigate those people whose names are Euphyllia or Elixane?"

"Will you believe me if I tell you?" I challenged.

"Try me." He gently pinched my chin before releasing it.

I took a deep breath. "I... remember my past lives."

I paused, revealing it felt like it was draining me. And fear was succumbing to me because it was indeterminate if Lucretius would actually believe me.

I half-expected him to laugh or dismiss me as a delusional woman, fearing he might void our contract; yet Lucretius did not say anything. His expression remained nonchalant, and his attention didn't falter.

So, I continued.

"In every life," I paused and gulped, forcing myself not to waver under his intense stare, "my name has always been Euphyllia. It feels... constant. It was as if it clings to me no matter what vessel I am born into." My fingers gripped tightly around his lapel, and my eyes darted around it. "But lately... I've begun to hear another name..." I closed my eyes, heaving a deep breath before peeling them open to look at him. "Elixane. I first heard it when we were about to enter the tailor shop, then before we left."

I reminded him about the temple incident. When his expression changed as he almost jumped out of his seat, I felt his hold on my waist tighten as though protecting me from something.

"I cannot recall if I have ever truly lived as her, or perhaps, she is only a shadow of me," I confessed, my voice trembling. "But I know that she is part of me. And I must know if the lives I've remembered—those other deceased Euphyllias before—were real. If they really existed... or if they were nothing but a pigment of my imagination."

Lucretius tilted his head, the corners of his lips curling a little. His gaze never left mine. "So, what you want is confirmation."

"Yes." I nodded. "I want you to find out any information about those deceased Euphyllias and Elixanes, no matter if the information is from another country. I need proof that I am not... insane."

Yes, I really needed proof that my theory was right.

"I also have an inkling that if I died in this timeline, I would be reincarnated in a body that bears my name..." I uttered out of spite, or perhaps, I was too engulfed in my thoughts that I forgot to keep them on my mind. "Perhaps, this time, I wouldn't forget my memories. I might actually... remember them." I caressed my chin, forgetting that he was there. "If I test my theory that someone has killed me... perhaps, it can happen. Or if I had ended up killing myself after Redmund rejected our mate bond, I could have—"

"Euphyllia."

I flinched when Lucretius slightly raised his voice to gather my attention, snapping me back to reality. When I turned to him, my heart plummeted upon seeing his darkened reaction.

His earnest expression made my breath hitch as if I had done something wrong. A deafening silence surrounded us until his hand cupped my cheek, and his darkened expression melted as he drew out a small smile.

"I did not know that you talked so much when a topic interests you, Euphyllia."

My cheeks heated. "I... I wasn't—" I started, then shut my mouth because his look made me feel exposed like a child caught stealing honey.

It made me want to be buried six feet below the ground at this moment. 

His thumb caressed my cheek. "And I did not mean to say that it is a bad thing." That made me look at him. "I'll send some of my people to take care of your request."

My face brightened at what he said. "Really?" I asked. Hope registered in my eyes. "Does... this mean that you believe me?"

"Hmm..." He hummed softly. "I cannot say I believe you outright," he said at last, but a small smile plastered on his lips. "But the claim is unusual, and I am intrigued. So I shall send my elite pack warriors to investigate. Consider it as a question, not a conclusion." His gaze sharpened as if through that he was already holding me captive. "If what you say proves true, my little soldier, then we'll have more than a curiosity on our hands."

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. He wasn't just humoring me. He was going to use his elite pack warriors. Not mere soldiers, but the elite who acted as Lucretius's shadow, shield, and sword. To use them with my request meant that he wasn't dismissing me.

I felt warmth blossoming in my chest. It thrilled me that he would go to such lengths. Because if they found something, then my madness might not be madness after all.

"Thank you, Lucretius." I couldn't help but express it to him.

A smirk graced his lips as he drew closer. "I'd prefer a kiss as a thank you, my little—"

I didn't wait for him to finish his words and caught him off guard by pecking his lips. Heat prickled my cheeks as I saw his lips parted, unable to form a word. 

I immediately cleared my throat. "B-Break time is over." I got off his lap. "You have a meeting within ten minutes, Commander Lucretius," I said in a formal tone and scurried out of his study room.

Before leaving, I glanced at him one more time, and Lucretius still had a shocked expression. I bit my lower lip, suppressing my smile because for the first time, I managed to catch him off guard.

Take that, Lucretius Franciosa! I was a fast learner!