NOVPUBLanci brought Hyperion to the very edge of the terrace.
They stood in a row, resting their elbows on the stone balustrade, gazing at the glittering bay, immersed in the tranquility and beauty of the moment.
"If it weren’t for the mist tonight, we could see the outline of the Other Shore Palace,"
Lanci whispered,
"At the end of the bay, the Barrier’s never-dimming blue light of the palace is always so bright."
Lanci reached out towards the distance, as if already feeling the significance of that blue light slipping away in the words he had just spoken.
Hyperion turned her head, looking at his cheek.
"So, you’ve been watching me from the opposite side all this time?"
She said slowly.
Not until this moment did she finally understand where she was,
And why Lanci had bought this mansion after coming to the Demon World.
From this side, looking over,
Once, the light from the royal palace seemed so close between them, almost within reach.
The distance between them was like that of stars to the sun.
But now, it’s just an ordinary light across the sea.
They were now standing beside each other.
"Yeah, actually, I’ve been quite worried these past few days about whether you were happy over there. Thankfully, Lisandra told me you’re safe in the royal palace,"
Lanci admitted, then looked back across to the other shore, enjoying the leisurely moment.
The wind grew louder outside, and Naka Island opposite was lit with countless lights. The Magic Power Rail Train on the bridge was full of passengers going back and forth.
There was a long silence between the two of them.
Mainly because Hyperion had stopped talking.
"So you dream too,"
Hyperion marveled.
"Of course, I also get caught up in Fallen Wonderland,"
Lanci always felt Hyperion seemed to regard him as some kind of monster.
But he was quite normal.
"Lanci, if the content of a dream changes in Fallen Wonderland, what does that mean?"
Hyperion gazed at the bay, murmuring her question.
In fact, if there was anything she still didn’t understand after waking up, it was the magic of Fallen Wonderland.
Perhaps only the Fallen Queen and Lanci could answer her question.
Lanci was also an expert of Fallen Wonderland.
"It means that the dreams you believe you can’t fulfill in reality have increased."
Lanci, like a professional psychologist, walked to the nearest table by the terrace railing, picked up a glass, poured two glasses of grape juice that he too could drink, and handed one to Hyperion.
A flash of disappointment crossed Hyperion’s eyes.
But she quickly covered it up.
"I see,"
She said softly, resigned.
Indeed.
An unfulfillable dream.
The dream of a wedding in a church was so absurd that even her subconscious had convinced itself of its impossibility.
"But have you noticed? Reality is approaching your Gentle Town, which means it is still possible to realize it."
Lanci suddenly asked,
"Look, now in the Hutton Kingdom nobody would bully you, and we’ve got some clues about Duke Migaya. Maybe Antanas and his crew might even help us find Miss Isatia. In short—whatever your dream is, I’m here to help you achieve it."
Gazing at her, Lanci raised his wine glass slightly, bearing a wide grin as he promised.
Upon hearing his words, Hyperion seemed to freeze for a moment, and when she came to her senses, she found herself under a phosphorescent star-filled sky.
The scene in front of her made her space out again.
At the dark, vast and endless sea, the long road stretched to the horizon.
"..."
Hyperion stared blankly at the youth and the night sky and stars behind him.
The midsummer stars spread across the boundless firmament, countless like fragments of time, twinkling eternally, interweaving at the horizon into a dazzling star chart that fused the night’s depth with fantasy.
The world of Gentle Town seemed not yet to have melted away, her heartbeat echoing, repeating incessantly for a moment, guiding her half-dreaming, half-awake self.
She remembered, in the deep of night, exhausted, she would always dream of his figure.
Was she truly awake now?
She didn’t know.
She thought she had merely lost to Lanci’s cleverness, believing it all to be destiny.
At this moment, she was not yet willing to awaken.
But possibly.
For her to give up now was not as simple as a nod of the head.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she gathered all her strength to move closer to Lanci, tip-toed and planted a kiss on his face.
Lanci was gazing out at the sea when his eyes suddenly widened.
He felt an indescribable sensation gently sweep across his cheek, like a cool breeze or perhaps the lightest feather, leaving a soft touch on his skin.
"Lanci, thank you."
The words of Hyperion were incredibly awkward and stunned yet flowed like a gentle brook, warm and intense.
Lanci didn’t speak for several seconds, simply turning his head to the side and staring at Hyperion as if entranced.
Hyperion never thought that her gesture would cause Lanci to exhibit such a shocked, brain-freeze expression.
Slowly, she felt a bit embarrassed, her heartbeat pounding awkwardly as she lowered her head and fiddled with her sleeve. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
If Lanci thought she had crossed a line, the worst-case scenario might be that they couldn’t even be friends anymore.
"Hyperion... "
However, Lanci didn’t seem to mind Hyperion’s kiss at all – he stayed close to her without any guard up, as though he had thought of something else.
"What’s wrong?"
Hyperion noticed Lanci’s attitude.
Although her heartbeat surged again, she felt oddly reassured and even a burst of guilty pleasure.
"I started a live stream... "
Lanci worried that Dean Loren might not be able to handle the pressure and decided to stream for a bit, to reassure the Dean and show him that he had successfully picked up Hyperion.
But he never expected Hyperion to suddenly kiss him.
This might increase Dean Loren’s stress even more.
What the people of Hutton thought to be the Seventh-order Shadow World, Fourth-Order and Fifth-order students struggling to survive, the stream crashing as soon as it started.
What Ichrite Academy actually saw after three weeks—a sneak peek of Midsummer Night’s Romance in the Shadow World.
Hyperion: "??!"
She covered her cheeks.
"Ah... "
She felt she couldn’t go back to Ichrite anymore.
