Cornelia's sudden change made Xiao Ran feel slightly uncomfortable. He gave her a strange look, inconspicuously stepped back, turned around, and returned to his seat. He then put the mask on the table back over his face.
"Heh." Cornelia brushed at her hair and folded her arms before her abdomen again. That lofty expression returned to her face as she looked at Xiao Ran with what seemed like disdain, as though she looked down on him.
Xiao Ran glanced at Cornelia and ignored the woman, who seemed to have become somewhat strange. His brow furrowed slightly as he struggled to understand her current change. No matter how he looked at it, though, it felt somewhat bizarre.
Compared to Suzaku Kururugi's previous situation, Cornelia's current behavior could be called abnormal. Back then, Suzaku Kururugi had held out under his GEASS ability to the absolute limit before finally submitting just before passing out. Yet afterward, Suzaku Kururugi's nature had not changed much at all. Other than naturally placing himself in the position of a subordinate when facing Xiao Ran, he behaved no differently than usual. The GEASS ability Xiao Ran was using now had no possibility of changing a person's personality. It merely planted loyalty toward him within their mind and consciousness. After becoming loyal to Xiao Ran, Suzaku Kururugi's everyday behavior remained no different from normal.
But Cornelia's situation was completely different from Suzaku Kururugi's. How had her behavior become as if she were an entirely different person? As for the disdain she was displaying at just the right moment, Xiao Ran could see that there was a deliberate element to it. He also noticed the faint panic in her eyes. It was more like she was deliberately forcing herself to appear calm and brave before him. She even seemed a