Tender is the Night [1]

After another successful day at Furina's film, however, Isaac, who felt more tired than usual, decided to return home as soon as possible.

He didn't know why, but today's play just took a lot out of him. Of course, he didn't dare to show it to anyone else and hid it behind an amicable smile.

After leaving the set, he quickly took the boat to the Court of Fontaine, and after arriving, he didn't stay idle and immediately got off.

As Isaac walked along the streets of Fontaine, he noticed that the street lamps were starting to light up.

However, that was not the only thing he noticed.

'Someone's following me.' Deciding not to look around, Isaac sighed lightly. Blinking twice, he clicked his tongue. 'Who is it now? Tch... I have no time for this...'

Isaac was tired and irritated. This was unlike his usual behavior.

'I'll ignore them for now...' Sparing no energy to his stalker, Isaac decided to play it safe and walk among crowds to reach his cafe. 'Please, I just want to rest...'

However, it seems like things just weren't going in Isaac's favor today.

The stalker never got off his back.

'Seriously...' Finally arriving at the entrance to his cafe, Isaac felt more annoyed than ever. With a firm voice, he spoke loudly enough for his stalker to hear. "Let's stop playing hide and seek, shall we?"

"...!"

Although Isaac didn't see it, he noticed the jolt that the other party did.

Turning his head, his deep amber eyes full of frustration looked at the spot where his stalker was hiding. "Please, come out. If you have something to say, just say it."

"I'm not in the mood right now."

"..." His stalker didn't leave the spot they had previously despite Isaac's words. They remained in the shadows.

'Seriously...' Isaac was just about to call out the stalker again when suddenly, the figure finally appeared.

"...Furina?"

Despite her wearing a hood, Isaac still easily recognized her. After all, her grayish-white hair was all too familiar to him.

"It seems that I came at a bad time?" Furina, who jumped out from the shadows wearing a cloak with a hood on, looked at Isaac with her heterochromatic eyes. "You seem to be in a bad mood."

"No, no..." Lifting his hand to caress his temples, Isaac shook his head. "Just a bit tired, that's all."

"By the way..." However, he soon looked back at her with curiosity. "Why were you stalking me all this time?"

"Wh-what? Stalking?!" Surprised that Isaac noticed her earlier, Furina was taken aback. However, she quickly composed herself. "I was not! I was... Checking up on you! Yes, I noticed you looked rather miserable today."

"And I, on my esteemed self, took it upon myself to go and check up on you to see if there's something wrong." She added with her usual vibrant smile.

However, to Isaac, her words caused a bit of a stir in his mind. With just those words, he fell into serious contemplation. '...that isn't right... Furina, you...'

'...why are you acting like that?'

Isaac knew Furina very well. To strangers, she puts on a fake flamboyant bravado to try and mask her true self.

But throughout the time they have been together, Isaac is sure that he is no longer just a stranger to her.

However, what she said just now broke that image in his mind.

A slight frown— a rare sight in Isaac's face— surfaced. 'No... I must be imagining things. Yeah...'

'I must be just really tired.'

"Is that so?" Trying his best to put on a smile, Isaac's tiredness got the best of him, and only managed to conjure a stale smile. "I'm touched. Thank you, Lady Furina."

"Hehe, it's nothing at all." Receiving Isaac's response, a small sigh of relief escaped Furina's mouth. "As the God of this Nation, it's only natural for me to take notice of my beloved subjects' emotions."

"..."

Once more, that feeling of Furina placing him in the category of a stranger crept up Isaac.

Normally, Isaac wouldn't have minded it and brushed it off. But today, he just couldn't help but notice the underlying meanings of each word uttered by Furina.

'What's happening...' Isaac's eyes deepened as he thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt a throbbing feeling from the back of his head. 'Ugh... Now a headache...?'

Today was really just a bad day.

Shaking his head lightly, Isaac turned around and grabbed the doorknob. "Do you want to get some drinks inside?"

"Your treat?" Furina said jokingly knowing Isaac's greedy nature. Waiting for his response, Furina humorously thought to herself, 'Knowing him, he would surely say something humorous or brush it off...'

She had known the way Isaac acted all too well— and she was sure that he would do it.

"...no."

However, what came out broke her expectations.

He neither joked about it nor made a sarcastic remark like he usually does.

What came out instead was a simple and cold answer, devoid of any life. She knew he was tired but this wasn't part of her expectations.

"Please, come on inside." Opening the doorknob, Isaac continued speaking coldly. "I'll go brew up your usual drink."

Still in shock of Isaac's strange behavior, Furina followed along Isaac and entered the cafe. However, during this time, her eyes couldn't leave his figure.

'What's happening...' She thought to herself, clearly sensing Isaac's different behavior today. 'To change this much just with a bad day...'

Truth be told, the reason she followed Isaac in the first place was to observe him in secret.

To prove her theories about his connection to the Masked Clown, she wanted to learn more about her supposed 'friend.'

And to not make things suspicious, she decided to act like how she acted In front of others. In this way, she can approach him naturally.

But what he displayed had subverted her image of him.

'Why isn't he smiling?' It felt odd for her to see Isaac, who was always smiling, frown. 'I'm sure of it... This isn't just about a bad day.'

'Just what could he be upset with?' Furina thought to herself as she found a seat to sit down on. She then rested her face on her palm. 'Well... Until I find out what kind of connection he has to the Masked Clown, I'll just...'

Furina then stopped mid-sentence. She then contemplated for a few moments. Afterward, she nodded to herself. 'Right...'

'To make this investigation faster, I should act as friendly as possible to ask him questions...' Furina's eyes glanced down as she thought of this. 'How poetic...'

'We used to investigate cases together, but now...' She then glanced over to the door leading to the kitchen where she faintly heard Isaac walking in. 'It is me who's investigating my assistant...'

Looking at her hands, her eyes squinted with faint dejection. 'In the first place, this would have never even happened if...'

'He told me the truth.'

---

Meanwhile, Inside Isaac's kitchen.

"Just what the hell is happening..."

Supporting himself by leaning on the wall, Isaac silently cursed under his breath. He was now sweating profusely. "Extreme fatigue, dizziness, and a throbbing headache..."

'System!'

Calling forth his system, Isaac wanted to check his status to see if anything was out of place regarding his health.

Sure enough, he quickly caught sight of an anomaly.

Current Status: [Cursed], [Evernight Adverse Effects]

'The Evernight skill's adverse effects...?!' Seeing this, Isaac's eyes widened. He then clenched his teeth. 'When did that happen?!'

'Wait...' Just then, something came to his mind. 'Is it... Marcel?'

'Now that I think about it... I've been utilizing the Evernight skill's Dream ability lately to give Nightmares and control Marcel...' Isaac thought to himself, connecting the dots. 'Could it be because of this...?'

He knew too well about the consequences of using his Evernight skill. As a skill that transcends Authorities, it was bound to cause adverse effects for its user.

'Huff... Thankfully...' Looking back at his status, Isaac saw a silver living. 'The adverse effect status only lasts for eight hours...'

'I should be fine by tomorrow morning.' He couldn't even let out a sigh of relief due to his current predicament. 'I should... Refrain from toying with Marcel for the time being...'

Sss—*

Looking at the boiling water not far from him, Isaac blinked twice. 'Yeah... Let's go meet Furina for now...'

Picking out two cups for himself and Furina, Isaac filled them with their respective favorite tea.

Soon, he went back out.

---

"Here," Standing beside Furina's table, Isaac placed down her teacup. "Enjoy."

"Merci beaucoup." Furina spoke fluently as she looked back at Isaac with a satisfied smile.

"Oui." Isaac replied with a monotone voice, trying his best to distract himself from his current poor condition.

Picking up his tea, he hoped that its calming effects could somehow reduce his throbbing headache.

"What are you doing?" Just then, Furina's voice drifted over to his ears. "Why are you drinking while standing up?"

"...I just thought that mortals shouldn't be that close to Gods." Isaac, still aware of Furina reverting to her bravado, decided to act accordingly.

"What?" Upon hearing this, Furina showed a baffled expression. "You must be joking? We have known each other for quite a while! It suffices to say that we are no longer just strangers right?"

"So, why don't you sit down?"

"...right." Still unaware of her true motives, Isaac followed along, hoping to see where this would go.

Sitting down on the table, he felt his head throb again, getting a bit stronger with each time. He then placed his hand on his temples and caressed them. "Hah..."

"It seems like your bad condition is worse than I thought..." Noticing his behavior rather quickly, Furina commented. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"It's fine..." Isaac nodded his head. He couldn't even pull up his signature smile. "Just a bit of..."

However, before he could continue speaking, his head throbbed more. Coupled with the sudden increase in fatigue, he suddenly collapsed to the table. Thankfully, he managed to hold the table to prevent himself from fully falling.

"Ugh..." He then silently groaned under his breath under the pain.

"Hey! Are you alright!" Seeing his sudden actions, Furina quickly stood up and helped him.

She hadn't expected that his condition would escalate to such a level.

Approaching him by his side, she held his body to support him as she looked at his eyes. "Come on, let's bring you to the hospital!"

However, Isaac didn't answer her. Instead, he opened one eye, letting his deep amber eyes be seen by her.

Seeing his eyes, Furina didn't know why, but she felt like his eyes were more than what they seemed. And inside those troubled eyes, it seemed like Isaac was thinking of something.

Breathing heavily, what came out soon were words Furina hoped he would never have said.

"Furina... "

"...Just what am I to you?"

It was a night of lies and honesty.