NOVPUB"I understand."
Miss Calila nodded from her seat on the sofa in the drawing room of Qieke Manor.
Now, it wasn’t just Lord Unknown’s marriage to the princess that was at stake, but likely an imperial union between the Prime Minister of the Palante Empire and a princess of the Demon World. Revealing this news at the current time might lead to wild speculation, so it would be best to wait until the war stabilized a bit more before finalizing it.
"So, princess, do you plan to stay in the Palante Empire and be with him?"
Miss Calila’s lips curved into a slight smile as she looked at Hyperion.
Hyperion hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Is that not possible?"
She turned her gaze to the Fallen Lord Calila and asked timidly. 𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Based on her understanding of the Fallen Lord, it was unlikely that he would let her, a princess, capriciously remain abroad.
Even though the Shadow World was coming to an end, and even if she and Lanci parted ways, they would soon rejoin in the same Fringe Space.
But this could very well mean that when the Shadow World reopened, she and Lanci would again be separated.
If possible, she still hoped to wake up with Lanci by her side, just like the first two times in the Shadow World, that steady sense of security.
"Ah, of course it’s not possible. But your escape skills are getting more and more formidable, and I already cannot catch you. When I return, this is what I’ll have to tell the Great Demon Clan."
Miss Calila expressed a sense of regret, as if she was lamenting her inability to stay, and shook her head with a sigh.
"Calila, thank you."
Hyperion moved closer to the Fallen Lord Calila, her voice filled with emotion.
Compared to the initial fear she felt towards the Fallen Lord, she now considered him a friend.
"Then, I leave the princess in your care, Mr. Wilford."
Calila then turned to Lanci and said, though she seemed to stumble a bit over his name.
The Fallen Lord felt awkward every time she saw him, inevitably recalling their meeting at the manor a few days ago.
She, a member of the Ninth-order Great Demon Clan, had never been so embarrassed.
"Don’t worry, Miss Calila. I will protect my princess."
Lanci answered with a relaxed smile.
Hyperion instantly glanced at Lanci, about to refute something, but her attitude deflated, and she lowered her head.
"I have one last question,"
Calila rose, satisfied, as if she had remembered something. She sat back down before leaving,
"What do I look like in your eyes?"
She opened her eyes wide, gazing at Lanci with curiosity.
This question had puzzled her for a long time.
From the moment she first met Lanci’s gaze in the Demon King Castle Necaris, she felt like he didn’t care about her at all.
Later, she confirmed it; this guy was completely immune to her charms.
"..."
Hyperion also became nervous, swallowing hard.
The passive magic of the Fallen Lord Calila was supposed to make her appearance match the most desired female image for the observer. For men, Calila would appear as the woman he liked the most. Hyperion wondered if the Fallen Lord Calila would look like her in Lanci’s eyes...
Or maybe... that woman from the Northern Continent?
Or could it be, perhaps, Tata?
"You are just as you are,"
Lanci said, tilting his head in confusion, as if he didn’t understand Calila’s question.
"Stop pretending, Lord Unknown. If you see me as the princess, then just admit it openly. And if not, who exactly do you see?"
Calila’s gaze turned slightly cold as she pressed on, dissatisfied with Lanci’s feigned ignorance.
"What are you talking about? How could you look like Hyperion?"
Lanci muttered.
Hyperion’s expression immediately dimmed as if she had grasped the truth.
Just as she suspected, Lanci must like some other woman more.
She felt her eyes getting sore, beyond her control, but crying now would be too embarrassing.
Lanci took a pen and paper from the coffee table in front of the sofa and quickly sketched a portrait, which he handed to Miss Calila.
"You see, don’t you look like this?"
He asked.
Hyperion followed Lanci’s sketch and was stunned.
To be honest, she had never seen the woman in the drawing.
Before Hyperion could ask, the Fallen Lord provided the answer.
"..."
The Fallen Lord Calila stared blankly for a moment before looking up at Lanci.
"Someone can actually see my true appearance..."
She murmured.
Hyperion took the drawing from the Fallen Lord’s hands and compared it to Calila, noticing an increasing resemblance, as if she were seeing past the illusion to Calila’s real appearance.
Calila was naturally a stunningly lovely and pure woman, yet she had disguised her real appearance.
Possibly because her true appearance didn’t match the impressive persona she set for the Fallen Lord, so she simply used illusion magic to cover it.
"Alas, it’s a pity you are betrothed. Otherwise, I would have considered you as well,"
Calila said with a final nod, coming to terms with the situation.
"!"
Hyperion and Calila spent every day together, but it was the first time he heard Calila refer to herself as "this concubine," sending shivers down his spine as he reflexively gripped onto Lanci’s sleeve with a wary hold.
"Humph, just kidding. An old cow eating tender grass isn’t my thing; I know how much older I am than you."
Calila said with a playful smile, then turned her gaze back to Hyperion,
"Your Highness, you better not be so stubborn in the future."
Her eyes seemed to say that the man by your side is in high demand; if you’re not careful, he might just slip away.
Not everyone is like her, with a heart devoted solely to what’s best for His Highness.
"I am not stubborn!"
Hyperion blurted out reflexively.
Calila looked at Hyperion with a smile that gradually became more helpless, yet she couldn’t conceal her doting affection for her.
"Alright, Your Highness, feel free to return to the Demon World whenever you wish. Take good care of yourself in the Palante Empire."
She stood up, bent over, and gently gave Hyperion a hug.
"Thank you... Calila, you take care of yourself too. I will miss you."
Hyperion watched Calila come up to say farewell and, after hesitating briefly, placed her hand on Calila’s back and then gradually let go.
In her childhood fantasies about her mother, a gentle and considerate mother like Tata was naturally the most perfect, she also envied a rational and calm woman like the Bingxue Witch teacher, and of course, she thought that a strict mother like Calila was not bad either.
Although she still had no idea what her real mother Isatia was like, Hyperion felt she had no regrets left in her heart now.
After parting ways with Hyperion, Calila also casually waved goodbye to Lanci and Siegler before walking out of the reception room.
"Calila, bye-bye!"
Siegler waved her arms until Calila’s figure had completely disappeared down the corridor.
The clock in the reception room tick-tocked away.
It was nearly pointing to eight-thirty.
The Shadow World was ending.
It looked like there were only the last few minutes left.
Even though Hyperion and Lanci would remain in the Palante Empire, the next time they return to the final Blood Moon Bad World Shadow World, for their friends from this era, it would be a matter of more than a decade later.
"Siegler, I really don’t want to leave you."
Just thinking about it, Hyperion’s eyes welled up with tears as she hugged Siegler tight, snugly rubbing her cheek against hers, reluctant to let go.
In this Shadow World, the happiest part of her day was living and playing with Siegler.
She had never encountered such an intelligent, straightforward, and adorable girl like her in the real world.
If she could take Siegler back to the real world, Hyperion truly wanted to keep her at the Duke’s Mansion, playing every day in the Royal Capital Ichrite.
"Are we going to be separated?"
Siegler asked, puzzled.
"Um... I mean, say if, maybe for a while, Lanci and I will go to a very distant place, and the next time we really meet might be decades later. Can you withstand that kind of loneliness?"
Hyperion didn’t know how to explain, as any word or information about the Shadow World would be automatically blocked by the Shadow World itself and couldn’t be conveyed at all. As for the Blood Moon Bad World Era without the Shadow World, even with a detailed explanation, it would be hard for its inhabitants to understand.
Siegler shook her head, then nodded.
She seemed uncertain whether she could endure living alone again for so long.
"Hyperion sister, I think we will definitely meet again."
Siegler let Hyperion hug her like a doll, murmuring to herself.
She didn’t understand her sister’s words, but inexplicably, somewhere deep down, she felt that she could grasp the possible meaning behind Hyperion’s words.
Even if there really was another world, they would meet again on that side.
"Why do you say that?"
Hyperion let go of her and looked into her violet eyes.
"I’ve been having dreams lately. Although I can’t remember the details... I feel like I can dream of you, sister..."
Siegler tried hard to recall, saying uncertainly.
"What am I like in your dreams?"
Hyperion asked Siegler curiously.
"Sister, in the dream, you’re fierce, ready to hit me at a word’s disagreement."
Siegler thought for a moment, then responded.
"No way!"
Hyperion made a face, afraid that Siegler would dislike her.
"But it’s okay. I can tell the difference. You’re very good to me, sister. I like you a lot."
Siegler said with a wide grin.
"Wuu, Siegler, I will always like you too. I could never hit you in this life; please don’t dream those kinds of dreams anymore."
Hyperion held her even closer, emotionally overwhelmed.
"Nah, how could you two ever fight? Dreams are indeed false. If you could fight, I’ll eat this sofa."
Lanci lounged on the sofa nearby, chiming in with amusement.
He was even starting to look forward to seeing the touching scene when Hyperion and the grown-up Siegler met again in the next Shadow World.
The room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, and as the music in the manor crescendoed and sped up with the addition of brass and string instruments, the tune became even more grand, melodious, and whimsical, like a Broadway closing number.
The big clock on the wall of Qieke Manor’s reception room pointed to half-past eight.
"Today marks your forty-fifth day in this Shadow World."
Cat Boss began its final announcement,
"You’ve had a delightful win in this Shadow World too."
Amidst laughter and music, time seemed to slow its pace momentarily, the clear light of the night permeating the air, and the entire manor began to ascend like a fading mirage.
Tiny spots of starlight quietly slid through the fading walls into the estate.
This Dark Solar Eclipse Demon Realm of a month and a half, thus came to its moment of reckoning.
