NOVPUBThe air in the terrace garden had become very quiet.
Both of them wore expressions of awkwardness.
Only the gentle harp music, which seemed to come from nowhere, remained, as if it could let the summer breeze flow under the night sky.
Hyperion tried to feign composure, but her pursed lips trembled slightly, and thinking back to what had just happened, she felt like tears were about to fall from her eyes.
In front of Ichrite Academy... no, it would probably spread throughout the entire Hutton Kingdom.
Now, Hyperion dared not think about the reaction within Ichrite Academy.
But she was sure that the incident with Lanci would be wildly and widely gossiped about in school, after all, the rumors about Dean Loren were a case in point.
It was always like this with her and Lanci.
Most of the time, they got along quite well.
But occasionally, when something abrupt happened and they realized "their relationship wasn’t like that," "perhaps they had crossed a line or, in fact, hadn’t," it became like switching to manual breathing or blinking, and they couldn’t even manage the most basic tasks.
Normally, they could talk about anything without thinking, without minding that the other was of the opposite sex; in short, they had a very good relationship.
Luckily, on the summer terrace, with its vast night view, there were many things to distract oneself with apart from the other person.
Finally.
"Lanci."
Hyperion spoke up.
Her eyes were cast downward.
"Hmm?"
Lanci looked at Hyperion beside him.
Usually at times like this, he would wait for Hyperion to calm down a bit before he would speak up to comfort her. This time, Hyperion had taken the initiative to speak first.
"Actually, I don’t blush easily because I’ve been used to receiving other people’s attention since I was young. Maybe it’s because I have Half-Demon blood, I can always remain calm and cold. Even when I try to seem like a more sentimental human girl, part of it is probably acting," she said.
Gradually, she raised her head to look at him.
The words that followed were no longer needed.
Because her flushed cheeks had already told it all—
The reason she changed, it was all because of him.
Rows of carefully pruned magical plants from the Demon World swayed gently in the breeze of the courtyard, twinkling with a subtle glow as if whispering secrets of the night sky.
After telling the truth, Hyperion seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, relaxed a lot, and leaned on the terrace railing to gaze at the manor and the sea.
"The first time I met you, I thought you were a cool girl, very aloof. Though a reliable teammate and friendly to me, I felt it was not easy to get along well with you,"
Lanci followed her gaze into the distance, resting his arm on the stone railing and slowly said, as if talking to himself, beside her,
"I never expected that, over time, I don’t know if I just got used to our daily life together, or if I’ve subconsciously become unwilling to imagine what it would be like without you around."
They reverted to their usual selves again.
They started chatting about random things.
Occasionally looking at each other, as if pondering some unresolved question, but the embarrassment had vanished completely.
They even failed to notice that behind them, at the third-floor terrace entrance, the Cat Boss had already used psychic power magic to open the door and call them for dinner.
The Cat Boss walked onto the wooden floor of the terrace, looking puzzled at the backs of the two chatting. n𝚘vp𝚞𝚋.com
Though, in the Cat Boss’s eyes, Lanci and Hyperion were always like this together.
But it always felt that today, the shoulders of the two had come just a bit closer.
However, according to its cooking time, Hyperion had only just woken up a while ago, and Lanci had brought her down from upstairs. In such a short time, it was impossible for any progress to have been made between them.
"Meow meow meow, although I don’t want to disturb you, it’s already quite late."
Cat Boss never interrupts the young couple’s conversation unless it’s really too late for dinner.
Moreover, Hyperion had slept for most of the day and had even skipped lunch, which could be detrimental to her health.
Nevertheless, the two did not notice it.
"Meow meow..."
Cat Boss gazed at the two, engrossed in conversation under the starry sky.
Noise from the restaurant downstairs could be heard at the railing of the terrace. It wasn’t easy to get their attention from so far away by shouting.
"Meow!"
Cat Boss approached gradually, meowing once in a while, intentionally making various noises on the floor, nearly knocking over the chairs on the terrace.
It finally confirmed that these two couldn’t hear anything.
Hyperion’s face still bore a faint blush, like makeup that made her all the more beautiful.
Lanci, at this moment, no longer appeared so proper. He would laugh genuinely from time to time, like a spirited young man who had discovered a treasure.
Cat Boss turned its head and sighed.
It went back, deciding not to disturb the two anymore.
There were tables and chairs on the terrace garden as well, so it decided to play the role of a waiter once again, and it would bring them their meals.
Before long, along with Little Black Coal’s busy silhouette under the night sky, the pure black textured table in the courtyard garden was seen set up with candlesticks and dinner.
The lights jumped in the corner of the terrace, the crystal clearness of the handmade ice, the sheen of the wine bottles, and the mist from the newly served dishes, everything reflected the light and became even more dazzling.
Cat Boss ran to their feet.
"You can have dinner now, meow!"
Little Black Cat looked up, its youthful voice addressing the two.
Lanci and Hyperion, at the same time, looked down as if waking from a dream, noticing Cat Boss’s pitch-black silhouette and its singularly bright eyes under the night.
Turning around, they finally realized that the table on the courtyard terrace had been transformed.
The open-air view became the backdrop next to the dining table, and only there did they become more intensely aware that they were dining at a palace restaurant by the brilliantly lit bay.
"Thank you, Cat Boss."
Lanci and Hyperion said cheerily to Cat Boss as they walked towards the dining table and took their seats on opposite sides of the square table.
As night fell, specks of starlight seemed to be reflected on the dining table, lending them a surreal yet dreamlike tint.
"Please have a look at this, meow."
Cat Boss used telekinesis magic to float a black leather guide with diamond patterns to the table, handing them the preview of the dinner menu with a sense of professionalism and ceremony.
Lanci opened the menu and placed it in front of Hyperion, allowing her to see.
On the table was an appetizer made of freshly chargrilled beef cut into small pieces, sprinkled with herbs, fried saltgrass leaves, and clear pear slices, then laid on thin black bread.
There was also the thickly sliced venison, marinated with salt and black pepper, seared until its skin was crispy and the inside tender, served with thin slices of black truffle placed between the meat slices of the pan-seared venison.
"Isn’t this the dinner we had at the Demon King’s Restaurant? Cat Boss when did you learn to make Demon World cuisine?"
Hyperion, looking halfway through the menu, had already realized what Lanci had instructed Cat Boss to prepare for their dinner.
