Beneath the star-studded night sky, the music in the Herrom commercial district plaza and the sound of Lanqi's speech intertwined into a symphony of the city.
Hyperion and Mixiula stood amid the crowd in the vast plaza.
The moment they reached the pedestrian square, Mixiula noticed that her sister's expression had frozen in place, as if sealed by sudden frost, rigid and drained of its usual warmth.
The two sisters stood there as the tide of people flowed around them, appearing like two isolated islands in the river of time.
Mixiula held Hyperion's arm, trying to offer comfort.
Yet at this moment, even a warm touch could not still the tremor in her sister's eyes.
She could not even imagine what could have possibly happened to make someone like her sister lose control of her emotions.
Sensing only the abrupt change in her sister, an unnameable worry welled up in Mixiula's heart, and she glanced repeatedly back and forth between the screen and Hyperion's face.
On the flickering screen, the interview program was still underway.
The male guest captured by the camera carried himself with impeccable poise. An effortless rationality and calm radiated from his demeanor, lending a distinct charm to his warm, genial words.
"I've never been much like a politician. If I had to define myself, I'll always just be a headmaster. I don't want war. I don't want to see people suffer meaningless harm, and even less do I want a day when my students have to march onto the battlefield. All I want is for everyone to live happy lives—and as for my students, they ought to make the Protos Empire a better place."
His voice echoed continuously across the night plaza, causing more and more passersby to stop in their tracks and look up at the screens.
Across the plaza, every crystal screen large and small was filled with the image of that young man.
His earnest gaze and words made it impossible to doubt the passion in his heart, leaving people willing to begin considering whether he truly had the power to make it a reality.
"Sister Milian? What's wrong?" Mixiula asked with concern, unable to hide the worry in her voice.
Though the familiar voice pulled Hyperion back to reality, and she tried to regain her composure with a deep breath, she still couldn't completely dispel the chaos in her mind.
"That person..." Her voice was barely a whisper. "He... I have to go find him..."
Her breath trembled slightly, as if determined to stop him before everything spiraled completely out of control.
The next second, she looked toward the streets branching off from the plaza.
The dizzying disorientation unique to this place known as the "Crossroads of the World" left her momentarily turned around, unable to tell which way led toward the Herrom Broadcasting Corporation.
"This way." Mixiula quickly pointed out the direction for Hyperion and led her forward into a light jog.
Mixiula was all the more bewildered. Her sister was normally calm and composed, always maintaining the poised, graceful bearing of a lady even in unfamiliar circumstances.
Yet right now, it was as if her sister had been struck by a bolt from the blue; normally so elegant, she had completely lost her composure.
On the screen, the male political figure chatted with a smile. To others, his smile might have seemed charming, but in her sister's eyes, it appeared to harbor a history known only to her.
"Wait... could that person be Luoqi?" Above them, Mixiula heard the host on the screen address the political celebrity as "Mr. Luoqi McCarthy."
She suddenly remembered that the man her sister was searching for was also named Luoqi.
Mixiula's heart pounded wildly. She had never imagined that the man her sister yearned for day and night actually held such immense status in the Imperial Capital of Herrom!
Their Milford family had never had such an illustrious fiancé!
If Father found out that her sister's beloved was actually a prominent figure in Herrom, he would certainly be stunned! The nobles of the Northwestern Province would never dare whisper behind their backs again about House Milford taking in a bastard child, insulting her sister.
"Brother-in-law is that amazing? Was he just talking on the Herrom Evening Show about possibly running for president of Protos?" Mixiula asked, her expression clearly stirred.
"He is not your brother-in-law!" Hyperion looked back at Mixiula as they ran, desperately denying it with bitter urgency. "He... he... he!"
Hyperion stammered "he" three times in a row, unable to put into words what on earth he was, slightly out of breath.
They had only been apart for two months—how could he be this unhinged?!
And no matter how Hyperion thought about it, something felt completely off.
Even without her keeping him on a leash, Lanqi's naturally cautious disposition shouldn't have run this wild in the Protos Empire.
She couldn't fathom why Lanqi seemed to have cast off all restraint entirely!
"Sister, if he's that famous in the Imperial Capital of Herrom, when we get to the Herrom Broadcasting Corporation, the place will probably be surrounded by crowds of citizens and reporters waiting for him to come out. We might not even be able to see him!" Mixiula warned her.
Normally, celebrity guests like that had legions of fans waiting outside, security would be extraordinarily tight, and Fourth Avenue near the Herrom Broadcasting Corporation might even be under traffic control.
Or rather, a figure of his stature wasn't someone an ordinary spectator outside could see just because they wanted to.
"Still, if you have a way to make him spot you at a glance, he'd probably come find you on his own initiative!" Mixiula thought for a moment and added.
Hearing this, Hyperion fell completely silent.
Her current disguise had been crafted into an entirely new appearance by the Ice Snow Witch and the church's top magic artificers, designed to match the identity the Milford family had spent two months preparing for her in the Protos Empire.
Even if Lanqi still retained the brown-haired, green-eyed appearance of Luoqi that they had prepared before departing the Southern Continent, while she could recognize him, he wouldn't recognize her.
"He probably wouldn't recognize me right now," Hyperion murmured quietly.
"Could it be..." Mixiula trailed off halfway, looking at her sister's expression with surprise, and then understanding dawned on her.
So it was one of those stories about childhood sweethearts who hadn't seen each other in years, now grown into adults, unable to remember what the other looked like anymore.
Even if separated for so many years and grown up on their own paths, neither had forgotten their cherished dreams.
Her sister had yearned for that man for over a decade, and he had faithfully remembered what she told him—climbing step by step through the Empire just to find her, finally reaching the most prominent position possible so that she might spot him.
This was simply too romantic!!
"Sister, no matter what, I'll definitely make him my brother-in-law!" Mixiula's voice shook with excitement, and even her habitually expressionless face lit up with overwhelming emotion.
Mixiula swore in her heart that no matter what it took, she would help Milian Milford and Luoqi McCarthy—this match made in heaven—finally end up together!
Chapter 374