Hyperion kept watching Antanas's reactions and the Poet of Great Love's face, not daring to let her emotions show for fear of spoiling the excellent situation Lanqi had orchestrated.
Yet turbulent waves surged within her heart.
The Poet of Great Love glanced at Hyperion, meeting her gaze.
It was as if confirming that what she thought was entirely correct.
Lanqi had only figured everything out quite recently himself. Among the three of them at Boss Cat's house, each had known some things while remaining in the dark about others.
Hyperion was the second to understand it all.
"..."
A glistening shimmer gradually gathered at the corners of Hyperion's eyes.
She could not tell whether it was mostly shock, joy, or sheer emotion, but in this situation, she needed to keep her composure rather than let anything spill over.
Once again, it was Lanqi who, without her ever realizing it, had brought so many wonderful things into her life.
Being cared for by a mother figure she had dreamed of since childhood yet never dared wish for—that was something that should have only happened in dreams.
To think that what she believed she would never have was truly in her grasp, right there in the wooden cottage of the Ikerite Boss Cat Restaurant.
*Tata, Miss Talia... To think it was you...*
At this moment, Hyperion began to understand where her happiness lay. She wanted to say so many things to Lanqi, wanted to return to the Southern Continent to hug Tata, and tell her every ounce of gratitude in her heart.
The Gentle Land of the Fallen was no miraculous magic—it was the reality she lived in.
"..."
The Poet of Great Love gently patted Hyperion on the head. Having watched Hyperion's dream, he felt she had grown too prone to tears.
It was completely different from how she used to mutter things like "karmic virtue" under her breath while tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
"Seeing the two of you get along so well reminds me of Talia and Efatia," Antanas mused, touched by the warm bond between the Poet of Great Love and Hyperion.
"...Miss Antanas, Hyperion here is indeed Efatia's daughter, but I am not related to Talia. I must ensure our employment contract is genuine, valid, and reliable," Lanqi emphasized once more, turning his attention back to Antanas.
"There's no need to deceive me. You're Talia's daughter. You look far too much like her... yet different, perhaps because of your father."
"..."
"Why are you unwilling to acknowledge your mother?"
"Every word I've told you is the absolute truth. Don't go claiming I tricked you when you find out the truth later."
"...Is that so?"
Only sorrow lingered in Antanas of Protection's eyes.
She was very familiar with Talia's personality and roughly understood why the relationship between Talia and her daughter might be so strained.
"I only want to confirm a few things now as answers I need before our deal begins," Antanas said, looking earnestly toward Hyperion.
Since Talia's daughter flatly denied it, she could only ask Efatia's daughter.
"Please, go ahead." Hyperion remained polite toward this elder.
"Does demon royal blood flow through both of your veins? And was she born from Talia?" Antanas looked at the Poet of Great Love, then questioned Hyperion.
"...Y-Yes," Hyperion answered hesitantly.
She remembered that the Poet of Great Love had indeed been created through a joint effort between Miss Tata and Lanqi.
"Knowing that is enough for me," Antanas replied with conviction.
"..."
Lanqi realized it was temporarily impossible to get through to Antanas today. He would have to take her back to the Headmaster's Office first, then use his true self to demonstrate summoning the Poet of Great Love.
"Right now in the Protos Empire, we've encountered an enemy we must defeat. Miss Antanas, can you help us?" The Poet of Great Love once again used [Poet of Great Love Polymorph: Human] to assume her black-haired, green-eyed appearance, putting on the jaw-covering mask as though wrapping things up to leave.
"Of course. Whoever dares touch you, I will never let them off." Antanas's gaze turned chilling, and the ferocious killing intent characteristic of a great demon began to surge.
...
At this moment, unnoticed by anyone,
someone in the higher-dimensional space felt an urge to flee.
The moment Loren saw the Poet of Great Love reveal her true form, he was already breaking out in a cold sweat.
He had seen this summon several times in Ikerite. Whenever Lanqi called her out, nothing good ever followed.
Loren could no longer deceive himself even if he tried.
Clearly, this summon was being controlled by Lanqi, and Lanqi was assisting Hyperion in carrying out her priest mission!
Loren had always wanted to believe Hyperion was an honest, well-behaved child.
Now that the actions of their group looked far too much like those of the Resurrection Church, the root cause was a thousand percent on Lanqi!
Didn't that brat go to the Northern Continent for his "Visiting Slate Bearers" research project?
What slates were you supposed to be visiting that you ended up visiting your way straight into the company of the Resurrection Church?!
And at this moment, even without looking up, Loren could feel the Ice Snow Witch glaring at him.
She seemed to have noticed the connection between this summon and Lanqi as well.
On the other side of the higher-dimensional space,
the Ice Snow Witch was so angry she almost laughed.
A grey-haired summon in a red dress—wasn't that the "Epic summon belonging to my companion Lanqi" that Hyperion had brought out to show her that day?
So the one leading Hyperion astray was your student, Loren!
Then what the hell were you staring at me for just now?
For now, it was not yet certain that Lanqi had led Hyperion into betrayal and defected to the Resurrection Church; no final judgment could be passed.
It could not yet be called a malicious incident involving grave negligence of duty.
Nor was it grounds to punish Loren.
The Ice Snow Witch managed to calm her thoughts slightly.
What truly astonished her was the Poet of Great Love's true appearance, which she had not seen back in the temple.
Who would have thought a summon could look so much like Talia?
The Ice Snow Witch indeed recalled that this grey-haired, red-dressed summon had some unique qualities. She had originally assumed this demon summon was crafted using Hyperion's blood as a medium, which was why it carried the aura of demon royalty. Yet it turned out Talia herself was the blueprint.
Its creator might even have been Talia.
In that case, Talia herself was connected to this boy named Lanqi.
The Ice Snow Witch now felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the light. Hearing the exchange between the Poet of Great Love and Antanas, she basically understood the whole story.
However, the misunderstanding on Antanas's side was massive—
One Antanas was bad enough, but if the other two great demons on the lower two floors were also led to believe the Poet of Great Love was Talia's daughter, word would spread throughout the Protos Empire that the demon princess Talia was married.
If the real Talia ever found out one day...
Talia would grab a blade and take the culprit down with her!
Chapter 414