"Lord Chiba? Lord Chiba? Lord Chiba?"
A sweet voice drifted softly into his sleeping consciousness, slowly carving a streak of light through that pitch-black awareness.
Then, as if black cloth had suddenly been slit by a pair of scissors, the light split open, dividing the darkness in two and spreading into the image of a stone ceiling illuminated by flickering yellow light.
"What time is it..."
Still somewhat dazed, Chiba abruptly opened his eyes. His gaze slowly shifted before a languid, sleepy voice escaped his lips.
"It's already eight in the morning."
The sweet voice spoke again.
"It's gotten this late already..."
Chiba slowly sat up from the bedding beneath the conference table. After rubbing his hair, he muttered groggily, still not fully awake.
"No! I still need to wash up. Today's task is quite important too... And I need to pay attention to my appearance... Mm... mm... Time to wash up and get ready... Time to wash up... mm..."
Yet after that muttering, even groggier words came from Chiba's mouth. Though he said that, he showed no sign of getting up. Instead, he gradually began to lie back down.
Clearly, he was about to go back to sleep for a few more minutes—or perhaps a few more hours.
"Lord Chiba! You can't go back to sleep!"
Just as Chiba was about to burrow back beneath the covers, a hand seized him with tremendous force and instantly yanked him out of bed. Grabbing his ear, it cried out anxiously beside him.
It was as though she cared even more than Chiba himself about him falling asleep again.
"What? What? What happened?!"
The sudden jolt startled Chiba fully awake. As his ears rang, he snapped open his bleary eyes. He had been yanked up too abruptly, and that shout had come