NOVPUBThe black pepper and cheese fried chicken’s golden crispy crust was like dazzling gold leaf, speckled with crushed black pepper and cheese shards. When she bit into it, the crispy outer layer made a sound, while the juicy chicken inside mingled with the oil, interweaving the mild spiciness of black pepper and the rich flavor of cheese with its crispy coating.
Lanci was gradually getting a taste of Hyperion’s life.
To some extent, this was the kind of care he couldn’t provide for Hyperion.
It was while Lanci was eating and letting his thoughts drift away that—
"♫ La la la la la, my adorable Floral City Pariel, my favorite Huadu~ Eat it up, eat it up~"
The cheerful hum along with a bouncy gait, a figure moved from the balcony into the living room.
Because the voice was so familiar, albeit with a slight difference, Lanci instinctively looked towards Talia sitting at the table, then looked up toward the balcony.
"Hi!"
The figure also had gray hair, but tied casually into a ponytail off to the side, with a few strands of hair playfully fluttering in the light breeze, and deep blue eyes like a clear autumn sky.
She was dressed in a dark sweater and slim-fit trousers, with brown boots wrapping her slender legs from the knee down to the ankles.
"Eh, why are there two Tatas?"
Lanci put down his fork, feeling really as if he were dreaming.
"Meow..."
Cat Boss felt Lanci was a bit groggy, clearly this was Lan Fu, but Lanci seemed to be thinking of Tata, so his mind automatically defaulted to Tata.
"I’m back!"
The Great Love Poet winked at Lanci with her left eye, then made a horizontal peace sign across her face.
"Oh, why are you back?"
Lanci continued his breakfast quite indifferently and chewed while looking at her.
"..."
"You’ve gotten comfortable with her, thinking I’m quite redundant, huh?"
The Great Love Poet stopped immediately, looking at Lanci, and for a moment, she was amused and annoyed.
She had thought her return would move Lanci deeply.
But it seemed to her that he didn’t care whether she was there or not.
"..."
However,
what she said embarrassed Lanci and Talia, making them shift their gaze away from each other.
Honestly, living together every day for these days, being able to hear each other’s thoughts twenty-four hours a day, was really too outrageous.
But it was also because of this that nearly a month had passed.
It was a bit awkward at first, but now they were getting used to it.
From Lanci’s perspective, if the Life Card was the "Mad Love Demon King," an incredibly strong Three-body person, it indeed made the "Great Love Poet" seem rather primitive.
"Oh oh... Don’t tell me that during this time, you two really...?"
The Great Love Poet gasped and covered her mouth, taking in a breath of cold air in surprise.
"Nothing happened!"
Lanci and Talia said in unison, looking at her to clarify.
The Great Love Poet’s extravagant expression was just to mess with their minds.
Now they both found the Great Love Poet a bit annoying.
Lan Fu was better by comparison.
Hearing this, the Great Love Poet’s eyes flashed with cunning, she leaned down and peered back and forth between the two.
After a while, she diverted her attention away from them and walked to the room’s doorway, picking up a small puzzle-edged handbag.
"I don’t care anymore; I’m going on a trip around Huadu, bye!"
The Great Love Poet had already put on her sunglasses and dressed dazzlingly, flicking her hair, waving goodbye to them.
"Come back early."
Talia instructed, looking towards the entrance.
"No problem."
The Great Love Poet nodded, eager to leave.
Lanci, holding his fork, watched the Great Love Poet’s fading figure, then looked towards Talia.
Logically speaking, the Great Love Poet should be responding to his commands.
Now it felt like she could bypass him as the holder.
"After you passed out that day, I could feel that I could separate from her. Maybe if I overuse my power, it might overload the fusion, and we can separate. Or it could be that enough time has passed."
Talia calculated that she had been fused with the Great Love Poet for about a month.
The time Lanci was unconscious, since he never locked the Great Love Poet out, once they separated, the Great Love Poet immediately burst out.
"She’s too noisy, might disturb your sleep, so I let her go out to play. As long as she comes home by eight o’clock, it should be fine. After all, she doesn’t consume much mana, and she spends very little money," Talia explained.
"..."
Lanci didn’t know what to say.
"Do you think I’m being too strict?"
Talia asked with a blank expression.
"No, that you can handle her is really great."
Lanci shook his head and exclaimed.
In the future, he might consider making Talia’s house a daycare and leave Lan Fu there as well.
After finishing the topic started by the Great Love Poet in a couple of sentences, they fell into silence again.
Lanci ate quietly, and Talia sat silently beside him.
Lanci now realized what was different today.
He couldn’t hear Talia’s thoughts anymore.
Normally, Talia might have just called out to him in her mind, but today it had been very quiet, and his soul didn’t feel connected to something strange.
He had nearly finished the shrimp and wild mushroom cream pasta and the black pepper cheese fried chicken.
Just when Lanci was a little thirsty and about to pick up his glass of water,
he was drawn to the fig and cereal yogurt salad by its refreshing pleasing colors and healthy moisture.
The freshly picked fig slices were neatly arrayed, in shades of yellow and green, smooth on the surface, surrounded by crisp cereal flakes on the outside, contrasting with the snowy white yogurt.
Lanci swallowed, picked up a spoon to taste, finding the fig’s sweet, candy-like freshness, the crispness of the cereal and the sour sweetness of the yogurt instantly melding in his mouth.
