The bedroom curtains were drawn tight, and with the door shut, the room grew several shades dimmer.
Lanqi lay pinned against the carpet, unable to budge, feeling only the soft weave of cotton beneath his back.
Though an emotion like shame hardly caused many ripples in his heart, he could practically smell the explosive turmoil raging within Hyperion and Talia on top of him.
Lanqi hadn't reacted for a while; aside from a slightly racing heartbeat, he was honestly just stunned dumb.
Even now, he had never imagined things would turn out like this.
He couldn't fathom in the slightest what Talia would do next.
If Talia lost her mind in a fit of despair, it wasn't out of the question for all three of them to die tangled up right here.
With his mouth clamped shut, Lanqi couldn't even speak; all he could do was leave his fate to the heavens.
"Tata, give Lanqi a chance to explain, please?"
Hyperion was draped over Lanqi, her voice trembling. Enduring a shame so intense it felt lethal, she mustered every scrap of reason to cry out as quickly as she could.
Even just sandwiched between Lanqi and Tata, she could feel all three of their hearts pounding in chaotic discord.
Hyperion couldn't see Tata's expression. She only knew that Tata's emotions were even more volatile than her own—even now, Tata hadn't let go of Lanqi, leaving the three of them deadlocked and unable to budge.
A long silence followed with no reply.
Taking the plunge, Hyperion buried her head and tightened her embrace around Lanqi, braving a heart pounding so hard from embarrassment it threatened to burst.
She knew her cheeks were burning hot, for she could feel the chill of Lanqi's ear and the back of Talia's hand.
Yet this was the only way she could show through actions and posture: if Tata intended to drag Lanqi down into mutual destruction, then caught between them, she had no desire to live either.
Seconds ticked by.
"..."
Finally, her eyes laden with a tangle of resentment and anguish, Talia slowly loosened her grip on Lanqi's cheek.
Looking at Hyperion's slender yet resolute back, Talia felt in that instant as if Hyperion had drifted terribly far from her. It was Hyperion, whom she cherished most, yet in this fleeting moment, she seemed to have become a stranger.
Still, Talia didn't move. It was as though all her strength had drained away in an instant, leaving her at a loss for what to do.
Or perhaps releasing Lanqi had never been her intention; she had simply been swayed by Hyperion's plea, so that regardless of her reluctance, by the time she came to her senses, her hand had already let him go.
Lying on the floor, Lanqi could finally breathe again. Strands of black and silver hair mingled beside his ear, while locks of grey hair still draped across his cheek, leaving him unable to tell whose tresses were tickling his skin.
He let out a ragged breath of relief, sensing at the same time that Hyperion's breathing had steadied considerably as her taut nerves finally relaxed.
Yet when his focus sharpened once more—
Talia was still staring down at him.
Her gaze, brimming with resentment, confusion, and lingering indignation, seemed to demand an answer from him at all costs.
Even knowing full well he might lie, she still needed a lie from Lanqi convincing enough to fool her.
Off to one side of the bedroom.
Boss Cat hid in the corner of the bed, secretly peeping at the trio on the floor.
It was actually the one sweating the most!
Terrified that the three humans under its care might explode together.
Back at the Boss Cat Restaurant, it had wondered why the three of them had stayed together all winter in such harmony without the slightest sign of a jealous battlefield. As it turned out, they only played for high stakes!
Now it dreaded that once they returned to the Boss Cat Restaurant, these three would stage an explosive scene every single day—its little restaurant could never survive that! It would drag Antanas, Sinora, and Pranay into the mess, too!
Boss Cat cowered timidly behind the bed, dreading that the three would discover its presence and silence it for good.
It knew it should have bolted earlier, but sheer curiosity held it captive. Even while shivering uncontrollably, it couldn't resist seeing how today's drama would unfold!
On the carpet, meanwhile.
Talia's gaze toward Lanqi gradually turned to disappointment.
"So you've always hated me, then?"
It sounded like a question, but Talia delivered it in a flat, declarative tone, as though she had finally reached her conclusion.
It made sense.
During this peaceful year living in the Hutton Kingdom, she had met humans she could call friends, and had gradually realized that a woman with a personality like hers was notoriously difficult to get along with.
Only gentle souls like Hyperion and Asna could truly accept her.
Lanqi had always treated her well, which she knew.
Yet she had been far too stingy with the gentleness she ought to have shown, responding to him with prickly resistance most of the time.
It was only logical that he would dislike her.
From the very beginning, the two of them had merely shared a mutually beneficial business relationship, only stumbling accidentally into becoming friends who had grown somewhat used to each other's presence.
"When I first saw the figure beneath that grey cloak, I thought it was a poor, pitiful old woman. Only when I looked closer did I realize it was a beautiful lady. While painting, that contrast made me chuckle to myself, and before I knew it... it was actually me who was deeply captivated, and I had already painted the portrait..."
Lanqi spoke slowly, his emerald-green eyes shifting away with a hint of guilt.
"..."
Reflecting Lanqi's face, Talia's golden eyes brightened by a fraction.
This was the first time she had ever seen this guy sound as if he were speaking half-truths, utterly stripped of his usual unshakable confidence.
Yet her lie detection confirmed it: truth.
"...Beautiful?"
Talia murmured softly.
"Yes..."
Lanqi answered with a grumble.
Even if it was the truth, admitting it aloud felt rather embarrassing.
In the end, he still couldn't predict Talia's behavioral patterns. As if powerless to escape his destined nemesis, he had no choice but to admit defeat.
Talia's aura softened noticeably, and she too looked away.
A sense of guilt welled up inside her.
Clever though Lanqi and Hyperion were, she wasn't a fool either.
She could see that over the past six months, the bond between Hyperion and Lanqi had become different from before.
Hyperion had found someone special.
She shouldn't be competing with Hyperion over anything, yet Talia couldn't help but feel genuinely happy from Lanqi's compliment just now. That joy in turn spawned even deeper guilt—and perhaps due to her demonic nature, that guilt sent an inexplicable, faint thrill through her.
She shouldn't.
She really, truly shouldn't.
"..."
After wrestling with her conscience,
"You are not allowed to say things like that anymore,"
Talia said quietly.
What she meant was that she wanted Lanqi to be wholly devoted to Hyperion.
"..."
Hearing this, Hyperion finally felt the weight lift from her heart.
She was certain that Tata's emotions had stabilized.
And yet...
Even though it had just been an act.
Hearing Lanqi admit that Tata was beautiful ought to have made Hyperion happy, for she felt the same way.
Yet for reasons she couldn't explain, a strange feeling had taken root in her heart from earlier on. She hadn't been able to see either Lanqi's or Tata's expressions, yet she intuitively sensed an inappropriate ambiguity lingering in the air between them. And when she recalled the portrait of Tata that Lanqi had painted with such painstaking care, that nameless emotion inside her began to swell once more.
Chapter 495