Evernight looked as though she had finally made up her mind.
Noticing the worried gazes of 'Hysilens' and Demiurge, she offered a gentle smile.
"Besides, don't I have you to back me up, Bai Ming? If I get tired of sleeping or bored of watching, and I want to come out and move around again, you'll pull me out of this shell, won't you?"
"...You've got it all calculated because you know I'm your safety net, don't you?"
'Hysilens' rolled her eyes at Evernight, though her tone lacked any real bite.
With that, the heavy atmosphere finally began to lift.
While Evernight likely wouldn't choose that path, it was just as she said—it wasn't as if she could never wake up, and there was someone there to help her. There was no need for such deep sorrow.
Demiurge was actually doing quite well.
After all, her relationship with Cyrene was somewhat like twin lotuses born from the same stalk, only to be separated by 'Hysilens'' own hands. She was, one might say, quite experienced in such matters.
"Little Night, when do you plan to go into hibernation? Where do you want her to go afterward? Is it still the Astral Express?"
"Not yet, at least not right now. I want to observe the situation on the Astral Express a bit more before making a choice."
The Astral Express and the spirit of Trailblaze it represented were the true reasons Evernight wanted to choose them.
Only there could she see what kind of answer to life her pure, untainted self would eventually find as the train journeyed on.
"Hmm..."
Hearing Evernight's decision, Demiurge pursed her lips and fell into thought.
"I wonder if I should go to the Astral Express too? Little Cerydra went, Hysilens went, and now even Little Night is going."
"..."
Hearing Demiurge's words, the corner of 'Hysilens' mouth twitched slightly.
If you join in, the lineup of the Astral Express is going to become truly extravagant.
One Pure Child plus one powerhouse Drytron unit? Coupled with the high mobility of the Express as a transport... Talk about an epic-tier buff for the Astral Express crew.
Evernight, however, shook her head.
"If you can face my other self without showing any cracks, then I don't mind."
"Ugh... that seems like it might be a bit difficult. Just from hearing March 7th's stories, I already think she's such a lovely child."
Demiurge wore a troubled expression. If she had to interact with March 7th long-term, she might not be able to play her part well. She felt like the type of person who might accidentally let something slip during a close, cuddly moment.
"Then I'd prefer you didn't board the train."
"Aww~ Is Little Night going to abandon me~?"
Demiurge blinked playfully at Evernight. They had traveled together for a while now, and their relationship had become quite harmonious. At least, Demiurge thought so.
If they had to part ways and couldn't communicate much in the future, she would certainly be sad.
A look of faint disgust crossed Evernight's face; she clearly didn't know how to handle a woman with this kind of personality.
"It's your own fault if you can't keep your mouth shut. What does that have to do with me?"
"My, you really don't pull any punches, do you?"
Faced with a grinning Demiurge, Evernight chose to ignore her. Otherwise, continuing the conversation would only egg her on further.
'Hysilens' looked at the smiling Demiurge and suddenly asked, "Where do you plan to go next?"
"Hmm, I don't really have a clear destination anymore. How about I go to the Astral Express for a bit of field research?"
Demiurge looked at Evernight expectantly, but unfortunately, Evernight chose to decline.
"I'm not going. If you want to go, it's whatever to me."
"Ehh~"
Demiurge puffed out her cheeks, clearly dissatisfied with Evernight's answer.
'Hysilens' watched from the sidelines for a while but didn't intervene further. Ultimately, Demiurge gave up on her plan to go play on the Astral Express.
Instead, taking advantage of the fact that Evernight hadn't fallen into her long slumber yet, she continued to pester her to go travel around the universe together.
'Hysilens' saw the two of them off. Then, she slipped away to where the Astral Express crew was staying.
Actually, Himeko had originally intended to leave, but she had heard about the third Nameless senior from Demiurge, so she stayed behind. 'Hysilens' greeted Himeko and Dan Heng, then found Hysilens and Cerydra.
Compared to the restrained distance between them last time, she could clearly feel that the gap between these two had shrunk significantly after not seeing them for a while. Even the way they stood was now close together, side-by-side.
"Yo~ looks like you two have had a rather deep exchange since last time~"
'Hysilens' raised a hand and waved at them.
Hysilens' face turned red on the spot. She likely remembered all those exposed inner thoughts the moment she saw her.
Cerydra, on the other hand, was much calmer. She smiled and gave 'Hysilens' a slight bow.
"Thank you for your help last time. It gave Hysilens and me the chance to exchange many thoughts and clear up many misunderstandings."
Beside her, Hysilens followed suit and bowed in gratitude, though she was still a bit shy.
It should have been a good thing, as the atmosphere between the two had clearly become quite romantic. But...
As expected, she was too late. After the delay of these past few days, Hysilens had likely mostly adapted. It wouldn't be as easy to farm emotion points from her as before.
Thus, 'Hysilens' lowered her eyebrows and put on a look of disappointment.
"So I'm late? I won't get to see Madam Hysilens go into 'steam engine mode' anymore? If I'd known, I would have stayed longer last time."
"Your Excellency..."
Hysilens blushed, glaring over with a mix of shyness and resentment. She really wanted to complain about the other's "wicked personality," but due to their status, she could only settle for glaring through her glasses.
Cerydra, however, glanced at Hysilens' expression and laughed. She even rubbed her chin, nodding with great interest.
"Hmm... thinking about it that way, I really did miss out on an interesting scene. I've never seen the Knight Commander get so embarrassed that her head starts smoking."
"Imperator?!"
Perhaps because she never imagined Cerydra would side with the other person, Hysilens looked at her in disbelief. Her pupils shook, her eyes filled with the shock of "betrayal," and even her voice went slightly out of tune. It was clear that this joke had shaken her quite a bit.
Then, 'Hysilens' saw the emotion points on her panel jump up by a significant margin.
Ho, so she can still be teased like this?
A smile surfaced on 'Hysilens'' face. That being said, she couldn't take the topic into territory that was too private; after all, those two were the ones in a close relationship, and she wasn't part of it.
So, after teasing them a bit more and knowing when to stop, 'Hysilens' bid them farewell and left.
She had originally intended to leave Penacony directly, but to her surprise, she was "arrested" on the spot by little Robin the moment she came out.
Looking at little Robin, who had appeared out of nowhere to hug her leg while shouting things like "Caught you, Big Sister Bai Ming!", 'Hysilens' wore a helpless smile and reached out to pat the girl's head.
"How did little Robin find me?"
"Hehe~ I can feel other people's frequencies now! Sister is so obvious, of course I could find you."
Seeing Robin's "praise me" expression, 'Hysilens' raised an eyebrow, looking slightly surprised.
This little girl hadn't been with the Family for very long, had she?
While the process probably wasn't as easy as she made it sound, and she might not have relied purely on Tuning to find her, the fact that the girl could find her at all was quite impressive. And the way the girl was acting made 'Hysilens' feel a pang of guilt.
Dammit, little Robin is so cute and was looking forward to playing with me so much, yet I came here thinking only of avoiding her. I'm terrible!
"How impressive. I didn't expect to be caught by little Robin if I wasn't careful."
'Hysilens' smiled and squatted down so her eyes were level with Robin's.
"Hehe~ no matter what Sister turns into, I'll always find you in the future! So it's useless to hide on purpose."
Robin's little expression—somewhere between being huffy and being proud—was adorable. Faced with such a well-behaved and cute girl, 'Hysilens' had no resistance.
"Alright, alright~ whenever I come to Penacony in the future, I'll come find you first thing, okay?"
"Yay~!"
Robin's happiness was just that simple. She could be coaxed into joy with just a few words, and her previous little pout vanished instantly.
"I really love the songs Sister gave me, but so far, I've only mastered one. Does Sister want to hear it?"
"Sure, but let's go to where you usually practice."
"Mhm!"
'Hysilens' smiled and stood up, taking little Robin's hand as the girl pulled her toward the Dewlight Pavilion.
Along the way, she waved at Gopher Wood, who was hiding in the distance with a helpless and apologetic look, signaling for him not to worry.
As a Dreammaster and an elder, Gopher Wood was actually quite qualified in many respects.
Even if he later went mad trying to "Order" everything, he put his heart and soul into raising the twins, Robin and Sunday.
Now, Gopher Wood wasn't as crazy as in the original story; he treated the two children more like a grandfather raising his grandchildren, appearing like a kind old man who loved his juniors.
'Hysilens' could see the affectionate look in Gopher Wood's eyes. Clearly, the twins satisfied him in every way.
Watching Gopher Wood turn and leave, while little Robin hadn't even noticed his gaze, 'Hysilens' couldn't help but chuckle.
She wasn't sure if Robin simply hadn't noticed he was there, or if she was just too happy that she ignored him.
Because she had been "arrested" by little Robin, and to make up for sneaking away last time, 'Hysilens' spent half the day playing with her.
Along the way, she got to hear Robin's private mini-concert.
Although Robin had actually learned to sing all six songs she had been given, only one was truly polished. Little Robin held herself to high standards, which was why she said she had only "mastered" one.
She played with the girl for half the day. It wasn't until evening, after she had personally coaxed Robin to sleep, that 'Hysilens' finally said goodbye to the girl's family and left Penacony.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL