Thin, almost translucent red leaves clung to the window panes, softening the morning sunlight into a gentle, warm glow that bathed the room.
A refreshing fragrance of wood drifted throughout the entire chamber.
The cool breeze drifting in from the balcony lightly caressed his body, accompanied by a soft tapping on the door. His brows twitched, and his eyes fluttered open of their own accord.
What caught his attention was not the Palieu-style furniture in the room.
Rather, it was the reflection in the nearby mirror—a face whose cool, emerald-green eyes could not entirely conceal a lingering, drowsy confusion.
It looked as if it wished to keep everyone at arm's length, yet seemed entirely harmless at the same time.
He sat up, bracing himself against the mattress, and looked around.
Soon, his gaze froze. The slight rustle of his stirring seemed to have caught the attention of whoever had been knocking outside the bedroom.
A figure with gray hair and golden eyes opened the door, resting her hand on the doorknob as she looked in at him.
Her long hair was artfully gathered into a chignon at the back of her head, orderly and graceful, with a few stray strands draping softly along the side of her cheek.
"Are you awake?" Talia asked.
She was still wearing an apron, apparently in the middle of preparing breakfast.
"I'm awake," Lanqi answered, blinking in a slight daze.
"Breakfast will be ready shortly." Talia nodded and pulled the bedroom door shut.
Though it was just waking up on an ordinary day, he felt that today was somehow different from before, yet he couldn't put his finger on what had changed.
Perhaps he was just groggy from sleep.
After all, the last thing he remembered was fighting Perlman and then Inoan back to back.
He had been so exhausted that he ended up lying down and falling asleep right on the church roof.
He had no idea how long he had slept before finally waking up.
Talia and Boss Cat must have brought him back afterward. This familiar bedroom was none other than the suite at the Parkinson Palace Spirit Hotel where he had been staying for days, prepared for them by Countess Rosalinda.
He shifted his body, pushed the blanket aside, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and planted his bare feet softly onto the plush rug.
"Fully revived!"
He rubbed his eyes and gave a deep stretch, a soothing sense of relief spreading through his entire body. Lanqi stood up from the bedside.
After washing up, he stepped out of the master bedroom and walked into the living room.
A gentle breeze rustled the leaves outside the window, while birds warbled in the nearby treetops. Crisp, melodious notes drifted over the windowsill into the hotel suite, lingering through the pleasant morning light.
A rich aroma was wafting through the living room.
Looking toward the dining table, he saw Talia moving briskly back and forth between the dining area and the adjoining open kitchen.
Today's breakfast was creamy pasta with shrimp and wild mushrooms, accompanied by black pepper cheese fried chicken.
Lanqi walked over slowly and took a seat at the table.
Talia brought over the final dish—a fig and cereal yogurt salad—and set it before him.
"I'm not dreaming, am I...?"
Lanqi looked up at this version of Talia, feeling as if a lifetime had passed.
Reflecting on it carefully, ever since he had brought Talia back to his dormitory, the place had always been kept spotless. Talia effortlessly handled chores that the Poet of Great Love would never touch. And now that she had genuinely started cooking and looking after him, Lanqi had to admit a truth he was reluctant to believe: Talia seemed to naturally belong to the devoted-housewife archetype.
It was only that her temperament carried the inborn nature of the demon race, combined with having lived in far too much comfort for over a year, so even though she knew how to cook, she usually never bothered to put her heart into it.
"Have you ever wondered why my home was always so neat and tidy?" Talia sat down beside the dining table, seemingly reading his thoughts as she asked.
"..."
Lanqi had no answer.
Whenever he visited Talia's home to learn card crafting, her living quarters had never once been untidy. Not only were they neat, but they were remarkably refined.
This unemployed, single gray-haired girl appeared to have extraordinarily good living habits. He had often heard Hyperion mention how blissful it was to have Tata as a roommate.
Turns out it was actually true.
"Eat up. Today is Wednesday," Talia reminded him, seeing Lanqi stare blankly.
"Wednesday... Did I sleep for nearly two days?" Lanqi blurted out in astonishment, picking up his fork.
That meant he had to go to work today.
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were his workdays at Count Baptiste's manor.
And by that logic, he had skipped work for the entirety of Monday!
In a job where he had never made a single misstep, he had committed such an irredeemable blunder!
"You two, meow... why is work the very first thing on your minds...?" Boss Cat leaped from a stool onto the table, sprawling beside them as he watched the pair.
Now, not only Lanqi, but even Tata had work on the tip of her tongue.
The two at the table suddenly seemed at a loss for words, and the atmosphere quieted down considerably.
Just looking at each other, both couldn't help recalling the final moments of their time together before he passed out—how they had been chatting on the rooftop, only to somehow end up leaning close against one another.
Given their relationship, there was no reason they should ever have been pressed that close.
The more they recalled the proximity back then, the physical sensation of each other's presence, and the sound of heartbeat and pulse, the more awkward the present moment felt.
Lanqi could only lower his fork to the food and take a bite.
Instantly, his eyes lit up.
The pristine porcelain bowl held golden pasta radiating a rich, creamy aroma, garnished with tender pink shrimp and brownish wild mushrooms. The cream sauce was thoroughly infused into the noodles. When he brought that first forkful to his mouth, a velvety smoothness melted across his tongue in an instant. Sweet, springy shrimp and savory, succulent wild mushrooms burst between his teeth with a texture as smooth as silk, immediately captivating his taste buds.
From that point on, it was no longer his taste buds in command. It felt as though his empty stomach was relentlessly transmitting signals to his brain, urging him to eat faster.
The golden, crispy crust of the black pepper cheese fried chicken resembled glittering gold leaf, dusted with crushed black pepper and grated cheese. With a single bite, the crunchy crust crackled delightfully, releasing the hot juices of the tender chicken within, intertwining the crust's crispness with the mild punch of black pepper and the rich creaminess of melted cheese.
Lanqi was gradually getting a taste of what Hyperion's life was like.
In a way, this sort of pampering care was something he could never provide for Hyperion.
Just as Lanqi was zoning out while eating, a cheerful hum rang out:
"La-la-la-la-la, lovely City of Flowers, Palieu~ My favorite City of Flowers~ Gobble it all up~"
Accompanied by a brisk, skipping gait, a figure hopped in all the way from the balcony into the living room.
Because the voice sounded so familiar yet differed slightly in tone, Lanqi instinctively glanced at Talia beside the table first before looking up toward the balcony.
"Hi!"
The figure also had long gray hair, but it was casually tied into a side ponytail with a ribbon. A few loose strands fluttered playfully in the breeze, and her azure eyes were clear as an autumn sky.
She wore a dark sweater paired with slim-tailored trousers, and tall brown boots hugged her slender legs from knees down to ankles.
"Huh? Why are there two Tatas?" Lanqi stopped his fork, convinced this time that he really was dreaming.
"Meow..." Boss Cat felt Lanqi was genuinely muddled from sleep. This was clearly Lanfu, but Lanqi seemed to have Tata on his mind, so his brain defaulted to seeing Tata.
"I'm back!" The Poet of Great Love winked her left eye at Lanqi and held up a horizontal peace sign beside her cheek.
"Oh. Why are you back?" Lanqi continued eating his breakfast nonchalantly, chewing as he looked over at her.
"..."
"You had your fun using her, so now you think I'm redundant, huh?"
The Poet of Great Love halted on the spot, glaring at Lanqi, so exasperated that she let out a dry laugh.
She had assumed her grand return would deeply move him.
She never expected this guy wouldn't care in the slightest whether she was around or not.
"..."
However, her words left both Lanqi and Talia deeply embarrassed, prompting each to look away from the other.
Frankly speaking, living together every single day and hearing each other's innermost thoughts twenty-four hours a day for nearly a month had been utterly outrageous. Yet precisely because it had lasted that long, what had felt awkward at first had gradually become something they were accustomed to.
From Lanqi's perspective, having an intrinsic card like the overwhelmingly overpowered, sci-fi-tier [Demon King of Mad Love] truly did make the [Poet of Great Love] seem somewhat primitive by comparison.
"Oh-ho... Could it be that between the two of you, during this time, something really...?" The Poet of Great Love covered her mouth in shock, drawing in a sharp breath.
"Nothing happened!" Lanqi and Talia chorused in unison, staring at her to clear the air.
The Poet of Great Love's exaggerated expression was clearly an attempt to mess with their heads.
By now, both of them found her rather annoying.
Good old Fu was much better after all.
Hearing their denial, a sly twinkle glinted in the Poet of Great Love's eyes. She leaned forward, inspecting the pair back and forth. After a moment, she lost interest in them, walked to the suite entrance, and picked up a petite handbag with jigsaw-cut borders.
"Whatever! I'm touring the City of Flowers! I'm off!"
Now sporting a pair of sunglasses, her chic appearance complete, the Poet of Great Love flipped the tips of her hair and waved goodbye to them.
"Come home early," Talia called toward the entryway.
"No problem!" The Poet of Great Love nodded and left in high spirits.
Fork in hand, Lanqi gazed after the vanishing figure, then turned back to Talia.
Logically speaking, the Poet of Great Love was supposed to obey his commands. Now, it felt as though she could completely bypass him, her summoner.
"After you passed out that day, I could roughly sense that I could separate from her," Talia explained. "It might be that overusing my power overloaded the fusion and allowed us to part, or simply that enough time had elapsed."
By Talia's count, she had been fused with the Poet of Great Love for nearly a month.
While Lanqi was unconscious, because he never locked the Poet of Great Love back into card form, the moment Talia separated from her, the Poet of Great Love immediately popped out.
"She's too noisy and would've disturbed your sleep, so I let her go out and play. She just has to be home before eight. Besides, she consumes very little mana and barely spends any money."
"..." Lanqi had no words.
"Do you think I'm being too strict?" Talia asked with a straight face.
"No, it's wonderful that you can keep her in line," Lanqi marveled, shaking his head.
In the future, he might even consider treating Talia's home as a daycare and foster Lanfu there as well.
Once the topic sparked by the Poet of Great Love wound down after a few sentences, silence descended between them once more.
Lanqi quietly ate his meal while Talia sat quietly beside him.
Lanqi finally realized what was different about today.
He could no longer hear Talia's inner thoughts.
In the past, Talia would probably have shouted at him directly in his head. Today, things were much quieter, and his soul no longer felt linked to any foreign presence.
He had almost finished the creamy pasta with shrimp and wild mushrooms and the black pepper cheese fried chicken. Just as Lanqi grew slightly thirsty and reached for his water glass, his gaze was drawn to the fig and cereal yogurt salad by its delightfully refreshing hues and hydrating moisture.
Freshly picked fig slices were neatly arranged, displaying alternating shades of yellow and green with smooth skin, encircled by crunchy, appetizing cereal flakes that contrasted against the snow-white yogurt.
Lanqi swallowed dryly, picked up his spoon, and tasted it. The mild, honey-like sweetness of the figs, the crispness of the cereal flakes, and the tart-sweet yogurt mingled instantaneously on his palate. It was unexpectedly sublime.
The cook had clearly put immense thought into curating such a breakfast.
Yet the more Lanqi ate, the more he knitted his brows.
"What's wrong? Not to your taste?" Talia asked upon noticing his expression.
"Not at all. It's delicious. I've never had such an amazing breakfast," Lanqi replied, shaking his head in gratitude.
Still, why was it that despite having been unconscious for roughly two days, he only felt moderately hungry rather than utterly starved?
Perhaps he had been so hungry that his stomach went numb to the feeling. Lanqi decided not to dwell on such a minor question.
"..." Talia averted her gaze.
In truth... she had secretly used Lanqi's body to eat.
It definitely wasn't because she wanted an excuse to eat; she simply suspected Lanqi might sleep for a very long time and worried about ruining his stomach, so before separating from Lanfu, she had helped him down a meal.
Lanqi shouldn't have noticed, given how deeply he had been sleeping.
Only after trying it once did Talia discover that while Lanqi was sound asleep, she could take control of his body in her possessed state without him even realizing it.
The clock's hands ticked through a fraction of a turn, and Lanqi finished his breakfast. He set down his fork, looking somewhat hesitant.
After a long while, he glanced at Talia, wanting to say something, yet not knowing what to say.
*Thank you.*
After watching her for a moment, he finally expressed what was in his heart toward Talia.
Talia merely looked back at him with confusion.
"Why are you staring at me?" she asked.
"Nothing," Lanqi said, averting his eyes.
He suddenly realized he hadn't spoken aloud; he had transmitted the thought mentally. He had grown so used to communicating with Talia telepathically that separating had left him out of practice. He could no longer converse with her through mental transmission.
"What were you trying to tell me just now?" Talia pressed.
She was rather curious. Lanqi hadn't worn his usual insufferable look just now; it was an expression she had never seen on him before.
"Nothing," Lanqi shook his head.
He certainly wasn't going to thank Talia repeatedly; having said it in his mind was already enough.
Joking around normally was fine, but offering her a serious expression of gratitude felt distinctly strange. In short, he simply couldn't bring himself to utter the words.
It was all because he hadn't readjusted in time; being unable to telepathically communicate with this *lao deng* was truly hard to get used to.
"What does *lao deng* mean?" Talia asked after a brief pause, having read his thought.
Whenever she grew curious, she could occasionally pick up faint snippets. It was just that after growing accustomed to hearing Lanqi's inner thoughts directly, she had stopped relying on this ability; whatever he thought, she used to apprehend instantly.
Her mind-reading technique was still unstable at present. Aside from successfully discerning enemy combat intentions during the battle two days ago, she could currently only read intermittent fragments. Perhaps due to the great demon crest on Lanqi, reading his thoughts was considerably more difficult than reading other targets.
"It's slang from my hometown. Folks in the northeast hold great reverence for the elderly. Whenever they meet someone of advanced years, they sincerely say *lao deng* from the bottom of their hearts to express: 'an elder with the transcendent aura of an immortal, ascending to the heavens.'" Lanqi explained to her with utmost solemnity.
"..."
Talia nodded.
So *lao deng* was a compliment.
Wait, wasn't that still insulting her as old?!
The veins on the back of Talia's hand began to twitch.
Lanqi suddenly felt part of the sunlight blocked as Talia stood up, giving him an instinctive jolt of alarm.
"Oh," Talia uttered, refusing to engage with him. She raised her hand, but didn't strike.
"?" Lanqi was already clutching his head, but after waiting a while, he realized Talia hadn't flown into a rage.
He cracked one eye open to observe her.
Talia drew a deep breath, seemingly holding back the urge to pin him to the floor and beat him senseless. She appeared exceptionally lenient toward him today, showing an unexpected touch of forbearance. He couldn't tell what scheme she might be plotting.
After clearing the dining table with practiced ease, Talia placed two pieces of fruit on the table and untied her apron.
"Well, I have an appointment to see Rosalinda today, so we'll fend for ourselves for lunch and dinner. If you still need me to make you breakfast tomorrow, just let me know a bit in advance."
She walked toward the doorway, ready to depart Lanqi's hotel suite as well.
No longer needing to worry about depleting Lanqi's mana, she had regained her freedom, no longer bound to follow him around like a shadow every second of the day.
"Send Countess Rosalinda my regards," Lanqi waved.
Talia gave a slight nod. With the click of the door opening and closing, only Lanqi and Boss Cat were left in the living room.
Lanqi let out a breath of relief.
He checked the clock on the wall. Seeing that he still had a little time before he needed to head to work at Count Baptiste's, he decided he could sit for a bit before leaving.
The Count's manor had been ruined, so he would likely have to visit the family's old residence on the South Bank of Palieu. Fortunately, the hotel he was currently staying at offered convenient access to everywhere.
He quietly gazed out the window.
Although the prolonged sleep had left him with only faint stiffness and his mind was considerably clearer, he still felt somewhat half-awake.
"Are you still thinking about Inoan, meow?" Boss Cat asked, noting Lanqi's pensive look.
"No, I won't remember her," Lanqi lowered his eyes and shook his head.
In a sense, only Inoan would choose death; Bishop of Destruction Ivanos would choose to survive. Therefore, he had merely defeated an ordinary maid—hardly the sort of enemy that warranted leaving a deep impression on him.
"That's good. Don't go paying homage to her," Boss Cat said softly, resting by the table. "After you passed out, I went and retrieved Inoan's remains, meow. Then Tata and I cremated her, and we had Aetio help bury her in the Posen Demon Realm."
The cat continued.
The corpse of an eighth-tier powerhouse was prone to attracting covetous eyes. Beyond serving as high-tier materials for deeply wicked magic apparatuses, it could also be turned into puppets or subjected to biological experiments. Someone like the Decay Cardinal might very well target a deceased powerhouse's remains, making immediate cremation the best course of action.
"I see," Lanqi murmured, looking out through the hotel suite's floor-to-ceiling windows.
From the Parkinson Palace Spirit Hotel in the bustling heart of North Bank Sector 2, the hillside heights, the Selena River, the sea-of-flowers park, along with the streets, temples, and plazas, were all spread out in plain view.
Over the past two days, the restoration work in the City of Flowers appeared to have progressed at remarkable speed; already, few traces of devastation remained visible. The Kingdom of Posen was renowned across the eastern region for its highly advanced magical engineering, and with the City of Flowers pouring immense manpower and resources into the effort, full reconstruction would likely be accomplished before long.
"A lot of famous scenic spots are practically deserted today. If you go, it'd probably be a world for two, meow. It's truly perfect for a date," Boss Cat remarked, gazing out the window just like Lanqi.
"A date with whom? Boss Cat, care to go on a date with me?" Lanqi smiled teasingly, stroking the little black cat with one hand.
"With Tata, of course!" Boss Cat dismissed Lanqi's joke and retorted.
Tata had sat right there for so long just now, yet Lanqi had simply focused on eating his breakfast without being moved in the slightest—acting just like Tata!
"But I have work, and she has plans with Rosalinda. Besides, there's no fun in the two of us going on a date," Lanqi took a bite out of an apple Talia had left behind, speaking with casual composure.
"And yet she held you in her arms that day, and you slept so soundly against her chest!" Boss Cat stood up in exasperation, adding pointedly.
"*Pfft!*"
Lanqi nearly choked on the apple. He hastily grabbed his water glass and took several frantic gulps.
"Lanqi, just admit it. Her embrace made you feel safe, didn't it? Her warmth is on your mind, isn't it?" Boss Cat leaned closer, staring directly at Lanqi's face as he pressed.
"No! Impossible!" Lanqi glared at Boss Cat, keeping his head down as he attacked the apple. Completely unable to recover his earlier poised grace, he finished the apple in just a few bites, stood up, washed his hands, and threw on his coat to leave.
"Lanqi, meow, don't tell me I hit the bullseye." Boss Cat scampered after him with brisk, light steps.
It felt that Lanqi was acting much like how he was when Boss Cat first met him—or perhaps even greener.
"Who would've thought a *lao deng* like you could act so human?"
The boy and the cat stepped through the door, walking down the hallway on the hotel's sixth floor.
Having spent so much time with Lanqi, Boss Cat had gradually come to treat him like a *lao deng*, but upon closer reflection, he was actually still very young.
Lanqi stopped and looked back.
He crouched down and scooped the cat up.
"Boss Cat, using the term *lao deng* like that isn't really appropriate, nor is it rigorous," Lanqi explained solemnly.
He felt that Boss Cat was thinking something extraordinarily impolite.
"Meow? Isn't *lao deng* a compliment?" Boss Cat's eyes widened in surprise.
"..." Lanqi found it difficult to explain, pursing his lips and letting silence convey the meaning to Boss Cat.
"So, Lanqi, was I right? You care about Tata, you care about her like crazy right now," Boss Cat asked with innocent eyes, circling right back to the previous question.
"Her making me feel safe, me caring about her... there's no such thing. I was merely exhausted back then," Lanqi tilted his head back and took a deep breath, seemingly at a loss for words.
Gazing at Boss Cat, he flashed a flawless, hundred-percent smile, denying it with calm and steady composure.
Chapter 691