At his word, Lucia's gaze snapped toward him in surprise.0

"S-Sir Ian!" she stammered, staring at him with wide eyes. Relief, joy, and utter confusion warred on her face. The black horse, which had also turned sharply toward him, snorted and pawed the ground impatiently.0

Blinking, Ian added, "You recognized me right away, huh?"0

Lucia tilted her head as she strode confidently toward his table. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I recognize you, Sir Ian?"0

"Why? Because my original..." He trailed off, hesitating.0

Picking up the cell phone lying beside him, he glanced at his reflection on the dark screen. His eyes narrowed slightly. Reflected was the face of Ian Hope.0

"Right," Ian murmured. "No way you wouldn't recognize me."0

Perhaps even his subconscious now considered this face his own. Come to think of it, he couldn't clearly picture his actual original face anymore, even though he'd lived with it for much longer.0

"I'm so glad we met again, Sir Ian. Even if it's inside this strange illusion," Lucia said, stopping beside the table with a sigh of relief.0

Setting down his phone, which displayed a missed call notification, Ian looked up at her. 0

"Yeah. Good to see you again. Moro, you too," he added, glancing at the horse behind her.0

The black horse that had followed Lucia snorted lightly. When Ian reached out a hand, it...0