Robin, with a sense of shame suddenly regaining the high ground, attempted to climb off Sylvia.
Unfortunately, she had been so tense moments ago that her muscles were locked up tight. Now that she was trying to relax and exert force all at once, she found she had absolutely no strength left in her limbs.
She managed to prop herself up against Sylvia's shoulders, but as soon as she put weight on her feet, she stumbled, her whole body collapsing right back into Sylvia's arms.
"Ugh... I—I can't move, I didn't mean for this to happen!"
Overwhelmed with shame and frustration, Robin felt her mind unraveling.
Instinctively, she buried her face into the crook of Sylvia's neck, trying to escape reality, while whispering a stuttering explanation into her ear—one she didn't even quite believe herself.
"..."
Sylvia remained silent, reaching up to gently pat Robin's back. She was still reeling from the shock of Robin using the power of Harmony to "confess" to her.
Although Sylvia was certain that a standard tuning definitely didn't include the exchange of intimate emotions and thoughts, it had clearly happened nonetheless.
When her own confusion and puzzlement had bubbled up in her mind, the increasingly fervent and direct emotions coming from Robin had left Sylvia feeling quite bashful herself.
Was that truly how Robin viewed her actions? Sylvia had always felt she was just doing things on a whim, never imagining those gestures could elicit such a passionate response.
Then again... she had come to the Dreamflux Reef today just to check on Robin's progress and see if she was running into any trouble, and perhaps to scout out the situation in Penacony.
And then, there was the matter of her having just crushed Sunday in the dream—a "dismemberment" of sorts...
Robin had truly caught her off guard with this bold move. Sylvia didn't really know how to broach the subject.
How could she say it? I just beat up your older brother, and now I'm hitting on his little sister? That didn't exactly sound like something a decent person would do.
Could that experience really be considered a confession? Did Robin think she was confessing? Or should I just change the subject?
Sylvia was deep in a mental whirlwind, and her silence only made Robin more uneasy.
Curse these useless legs, Robin thought.
They were asleep—horribly so, as if they had been completely pixelated. She couldn't stand; she really couldn't. And they were still folded in a kneeling position, which was incredibly uncomfortable!
Robin was torn between anxiety and embarrassment. She didn't dare face Sylvia directly; otherwise, she was certain she would burst into tears from sheer mortification.
"Sylvia... my, my legs are asleep."
"Huh?! Legs can fall asleep in a dream? Let me help you!"
Sylvia was startled at first, but upon hearing the latter half of the sentence, she instinctively looked down at the calves peeking out from under the hem of Robin's dress.
She reached out, supporting Robin's waist to help her sit upright.
"Ah, sss—! Wait, wait, wait!"
As everyone knows, when your legs are numb, you can't just move them randomly; even the slightest shift is agonizing.
Robin was experiencing that familiar, sharp soreness. It was said that the Dreamscape was 99% realistic—mostly for the sake of immersion, excluding physical pain and death, of course.
"But your legs are still tangled up; we have to untangle them first..."
Sylvia didn't dare move too much while supporting her, but she explained the situation, gesturing for Robin to at least straighten her legs. Robin tried her best, but it only made the pins-and-needles sensation worse.
"Ugh... I can't move them. Sylvia, could you help me..."
"Ah, well."
Sylvia hesitated for a moment, but seeing the pained expression on Robin's face, she reached out. Her palm slid over the sofa, lifting Robin's knees and nudging them outward bit by bit.
Robin, holding onto Sylvia's shoulders, rolled over inch by inch. She was essentially squirming in Sylvia's embrace—looking both miserable and somewhat adorable.
Eventually, Robin ended up lying on her side against Sylvia, her legs dangling off the side of the sofa.
She panted for a while, resting until the sensation returned to her legs, and finally managed to pull herself out of Sylvia's arms.
She looked directly into Sylvia's eyes with a flicker of anxiety, though after a long moment, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Good... I was worried you might distance yourself because of this."
"I think it would be hard for anyone to refuse the advances of a galaxy-renowned singer," Sylvia replied with a smile, setting Robin back down on the sofa to create a bit of distance—partly to make the situation less awkward, and partly because Robin was so charming that if things continued like this, Sylvia feared she might lose control.
Robin leaned against the sofa, exhaling, though her face remained flushed. Shame wasn't something easily cast aside, but she had come this far; retreating now wasn't in her nature.
"Sylvia."
"Yeah?"
"I did that so suddenly—it must have been really annoying for you."
"Not really."
Sylvia smiled. She couldn't very well admit that the real reason she was troubled was because she had just beaten up her older brother.
Robin fiddled with her dress hem, her hands restless. The wings behind her ears obscured her face, allowing her to steal a shy, fleeting glance at Sylvia.
"I'm sorry. I'm still not very skilled with this, and I accidentally synchronized our emotions too..."
Whether Sylvia believed her or not, Robin certainly convinced herself. If she didn't find a reasonable excuse, she'd be tossing and turning in bed every night for the next week, hiding under her covers.
"A-anyway... I don't expect an answer from you right now... Can we wait until after the Charmony Festival?"
"That works. I'll leave it to you."
Sylvia nodded, agreeing to the proposal. It was best to wait and see.
Otherwise, she feared that the next time she saw Sunday, she might be unable to resist shouting, "Hey old man, your ghost fire is parked downstairs!"
"..."
"..."
Having received the answer she wanted, Robin went quiet, and Sylvia was at a loss for words. An inexplicable silence filled the room—awkward, yet tinged with sweetness.
No matter how you looked at it, after something so intimate, it was hard to return to normalcy immediately.
Robin might have seen the world, but when it came to matters of the heart, she was a complete novice.
She was an expert on other people's stories, but when the spotlight turned to her, all that experience vanished.
However—Robin peeked at Sylvia again, like a child trying to steal a bell while covering their ears.
She's so pretty. Even her blushing face is so cute. Is she blushing because of me? I really want to kiss her again... No!
The moment the memory of the kiss surfaced, Robin used her remaining reason to suppress the impulse. She bolted upright and hurried toward the door.
"I—I'll go get you something to drink! Just wait here, Sylvia!"
With that, Robin power-walked out of the room.
"Ha..."
Sylvia patted her cheeks to cool down. In all that chaos, she'd forgotten to ask what she had intended.
Speaking of which, she had no idea what Sparkle was up to—she hadn't seen a trace of her lately. That was the downside of the Masked Fools; they just vanished whenever they pleased.
She also needed to ask about the Stellaron—whether it was manageable.
As Sylvia pondered these things, her mind began to clear, finally free of those strange, distracting thoughts.
--+--
Meanwhile, Robin, who had fled in such a hurry, didn't bother making tea. Instead, she found an empty room, wrapped herself in a blanket, and started making strange noises, trying to hide from reality.
Although she was a grown woman, this was truly her first time experiencing something like this.
Being a superstar meant she had seen plenty of romances, but watching others and being in one were two different things.
She used to wonder why people got all lovey-dovey and acted like they were floating in pink bubbles. But when it was her turn? Just thinking about the kiss made her mind tremble; her reason was truly on the verge of evaporating.
"No... calm down, Robin. You've faced massive crowds before; don't fall apart now!"
She closed her eyes, clutching the blanket as she took deep, forceful breaths, trying to quiet her restless heart. "Think about Penacony, think about the Family. There's no time for personal matters right now."
Having turned the struggles of the Family and Penacony over in her mind, she finally felt composed.
As someone so filled with a sense of duty, she clearly couldn't just lounge around and be happy in love when there was such a mess to handle.
--+--
Sylvia waited a good while.
She had initially assumed Robin went to calm down and would likely return with two bottles of SoulGlad.
She was pleasantly surprised when Robin brought back coffee. Did she go to grind the beans? she wondered. She managed to calm down so quickly? Is this the "big heart" of a superstar?
Taking the coffee with both hands, Sylvia asked the questions she had been holding back. Once they started discussing business, the ambiguous, awkward air between them dissipated.
"Miss Sparkle... there's no news for now. Mr. Gallagher hasn't found her either."
Robin didn't know much about Sparkle. "But Mr. Gallagher suspects that the recent unrest within the Family might have Miss Sparkle's shadow over it."
"Is the Family in a bad state lately? I haven't heard much from the outside."
"It's chaotic—to the point where it wouldn't be a surprise if violent conflict broke out at any moment."
Robin found it hard to put the situation into words. The most resentful were the Nightingale Family; they had been made the scapegoats, lost their projects, and their reputation had plummeted.
Then there were the Alfalfa Family, who the Nightingales blamed for it all.
The two families were at each other's throats—the construction moguls clashing with the financial ones. Neither would back down, and they were on the verge of a full-blown brawl.
Of course, as the family in charge of finance, the Alfalfa family wasn't exactly clean either. If one were to investigate, both sides were equally guilty.
The conflict had grown so large that even the Iris Family was dragged in; as the only Family Head present at the time, they had to take some of the blame. But the real motive was the profit starting with Paperfold University.
An academy's value wasn't just in the school itself.
If Nightingale and Alfalfa were tearing each other apart, the Iris Family couldn't just sit back and let their potential harvest be stolen. So, whether they wanted to or not, they were forced into the fray.
As for the Bloodhound Family, they were exhausted. As the security force, they had to maintain stability without appearing to favor any one family, lest they face the wrath of the others.
At the same time, they had to put significant energy into maintaining the peace in Penacony.
Fortunately, the Oak Family, which handled administration, was still functioning normally.
Or rather, the other Family Heads realized that if they dragged the Oak Family into this mess, there would be no one left to manage Penacony. And, keeping Sunday busy meant he would be less likely to spend his days obsessing over his beloved little sister.
They even began to assist Sunday with the Charmony Festival with unprecedented enthusiasm.
"...No wonder Sunday looks so exhausted."
Hearing about the state of the Oak Family, Sylvia took a sip of coffee and sighed.
"Is something wrong with my brother?"
"He's looking for you. He seems to think you're dead—you really should have sent him a message." Sylvia shrugged. That poor kid.
"Well... I wanted to fully understand the information first; I didn't want any further complications." Robin felt a bit embarrassed, but there was no help for it—she was alone, so Sunday would have to suffer a little.
"Anyway, the Family is too occupied to cause us trouble for now. But there's still one problem." Robin set down her coffee cup, her expression conflicted.
"What problem?"
"According to the data I obtained, the Family used the power of the Memoria to suppress the overflowing Stellaron, which effectively masks its traces."
"Mhm. So? We have to go into that Memoria to fish out the Stellaron? Is it dangerous?"
Robin hesitated and nodded. Putting it in was easy, but getting it out was not, and that wasn't even the worst of it.
"That's one aspect, but there's another. The Stellaron exists simultaneously in two locations: near the void of the Memoria and within the Penacony Grand Theater. When we extract it, the Grand Theater will experience massive turbulence, and the Family will certainly notice."
Sylvia listened, confused. "Wait, how can a Stellaron exist in two places at once??"
"Don't forget, Sylvia, this is a dream, not reality. In a dream, phenomena that defy common sense are permitted."
The true explanation was certainly more complex and tedious, involving the Dreamscape, Memoria, and consciousness. But that was too long-winded, so Robin stuck to the conclusion.
"In short, we need at least two people to extract it. One has to venture into the heart of danger, while the other must contend with the Family..."
"Neither sounds like an easy job," Sylvia muttered, clicking her tongue.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL