NOVPUBIn this room constructed with wooden planks and slanted beams for a ceiling, the angle of the glass skylight gave the impression of a terrace that could reflect the starry sky at night.
However, at this moment.
Under the gradually brightening summer sunlight, the heartbeats of the two people inside the room had already exploded.
"Tata, things are not what you think,"
Lanci denied immediately.
"Not? You didn’t just think about what I said?"
Talia, seeing Lanci’s quick and firm denial, seemed to add a bit more anger to her tone.
"No, don’t take things out of context."
Lanci’s forehead began to sweat.
Talia could detect lies, and the more he tried to explain, the more confused it became.
"So you mean I didn’t misread..."
Talia’s breathing became rapid and shallow as she experienced violent emotional turbulence within.
Her cheeks also had a slight, unconscious blush, a physiological reaction to extreme shock and nervousness.
"Calm down, calm down, Talia!"
Lanci’s palms were cold; being grabbed by the tie by Talia, he could only feel the dangerous temperature of the person in front of him at an extremely close distance.
Talia was now very dangerous, even more so than last week when they had first met on the second floor of the Wilford house!
The first thing Lanci didn’t understand was why she suddenly could read his mind without any warning.
Secondly, Talia’s current mind-reading magic was only half-baked, and with the Mark of True on him providing a certain resistance to investigative magic, it wasn’t certain she could read everything!
Just a second ago, Lanci thought he should be as stable as an old dog. 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
But now, completely unexpectedly, Talia had begun to awaken her mind-reading magic far too quickly!
"Please listen to me this time, can we have a full conversation? I went to the Northern Continent for over half a year, a lot has happened during this time, and it’s not something that can be explained in a few words; I won’t lie to you. Let’s sit down and talk slowly, okay?"
Lanci spoke slowly and methodically like a bomb disposal expert, trying to cool Talia down.
"..."
Talia’s movements were a bit mechanically rigid.
There were already too many things she couldn’t understand.
Why could Antanas, Sinola, and Pranay trust Lanci, get along with him amicably, and come back with him?
In her memory, except for Antanas, who was less aggressive, the other two from the Great Demon Clan would likely erase Lanci the moment they saw him; there was no room for negotiation.
Even if he secured a chance for negotiation, the likelihood of Lanci convincing them was very slim.
Unless... Lanci took advantage of her status as the Princess of the Demon Clan.
Recalling Lanci’s recent thoughts, Talia grew more and more afraid.
Could it be that while she sat at home, her husband came from the heavens?
"Tata, listen to me, we need to communicate. Don’t worry, there’s nothing that can’t be fixed, and even if you really feel it’s beyond repair, I won’t run away,"
Lanci continued to try to soothe her.
He felt Talia’s mood gradually returning to stability from the earlier agitation.
Despite some surprises.
He could still save the situation.
He was always steady; the word ’crashing’ simply didn’t exist in his dictionary, as he was never any sort of comedian.
Just then.
Noises of some indistinct commotion came from the restaurant below the floor.
"Ah! How is there a mouse in the shop!"
The girl’s startled scream penetrated the floors, along the stairs and corridors, reaching the living room of Talia’s room.
What followed was the sound of a cat.
"Meow meow meow! Where’s the mouse!"
The Cat Boss seemed to have been scared up to the cupboard.
Then ensued the chaos.
"It’s a fox!"
Turns out, Antanas discovered that the big fox had shrunk too small, scurrying around on the floor, mistaken by the Great Love Poet for a big black rat.
Suddenly, things calmed down below once again.
From just hearing the noise, Lanci could already figure out what was happening in the restaurant on the first floor.
A simple turn of events, not very unexpected.
Yet.
Lanci’s facial expression completely froze.
If not for the clock on Talia’s wall still ticking, one could almost think the scene was a still image.
In this moment, as Talia’s mindset was unstable.
Any influence was extremely terrifying.
Moreover, it was the Great Love Poet’s enchanting voice that amplified emotions tenfold!
For a moment, Lanci couldn’t tell if the Great Love Poet was genuinely afraid of mice or had set her heart on killing him!
"Tata...?"
He felt his body stiffen, sweat continuously breaking out on his face as he tried to squeeze out a smile, looking at Talia whose eyes had already become chaotic.
Talia, as if she had lost her soul, fumbled on the cabinet for a long time, the first thing she grabbed was a fruit knife.
"Lanci—!"
Talia pressed Lanci against the wall, the knife against his neck,
"You, you have to take responsibility for me, and if you can’t bear this responsibility, I will, I will..."
Her voice broke, filled with collapse, anger, and helplessness.
At that moment, Lanci could no longer analyze the components of her emotions.
All he knew was that the Great Love Poet had ignited a bomb more terrifying than a Nuclear Fusion Wolf Transformation.
"..."
Lanci couldn’t say a word for a long time, knowing now that if he dared to utter even half a word of evasion, Talia might choose to perish with him.
But if he didn’t evade and spoke too freely, once Talia came to her senses, they might still end up ’exploding’ together.
Now—
He was a mere half step away from death!
There was no possibility of reasoning his way out of it as he had done before!
...
At the Boss Cat Restaurant on the first floor.
"Hmm?"
Antanas looked up in confusion.
She had felt a very strong Magic Fluctuation from Talia just now.
"What are those two doing upstairs?"
Sinola also asked, puzzled.
"..."
Pranay was still polishing the glasses.
Hyperion was frowning in thought, his chin propped on his hand.
What was supposed to be a touching reunion, aside from being moving and shocking Tata, had unexpectedly also reddened his face.
"...Wait, Tata, in your memories, isn’t he quite different from what we saw just now?"
Hyperion suddenly raised his head as if realizing something.
"Yeah."
Antanas and Sinola nodded.
"Hiss—"
Hyperion drew a sharp breath.
My dearest friend, you seem bent on seeking death, and I really can’t stop you!
Hyperion held her head in her hands, now understanding the situation.
It was well known that Magic Energy Airships had the lowest accident rates, but once there was an accident, the survival rate was also the lowest!
The worst part was the Great Love Poet’s voice, intentional or not; if it reached the second floor, the situation in the room could become unpredictable.
Hyperion immediately recalled the Great Love Poet, who was sticking out her tongue, and made sure to keep her watched, not allowing her to come out again.
"The three of you!"
Hyperion hurriedly said to them.
Antanas had already felt that something was off with the Magic Power fluctuation from upstairs, nodded, and followed Hyperion to the stairs.
"What’s going on?"
Cat Boss didn’t understand why Hyperion’s expression changed so suddenly and curiously followed them.
Soon they all arrived at the door to Talia’s room on the second floor.
Listening through the door, the room was calmer than they expected, with only the breathing of two people being more distinct than usual, seeming to indicate no lives had been lost yet.
"..."
Hyperion was now very anxious, holding the spare key, uncertain whether she should forcefully open the door to save Lanci.
But based on the last experience at Wilford’s household, she realized that if she forced her way in, it could lead to even more unpredictable tragedies.
Fortunately, aside from Lanci’s family, no one else knew about that incident.
She eventually tightened her grip on the key, turning back to give a meaningful glance to the three members of the Great Demon Clan, ready to rescue Lanci at any moment.
Unable to judge what was happening inside the room, they’d listen first, and if the situation turned bad, they’d intervene to save Lanci!
