Caelus nearly jumped out of his chair in fright. He had never expected Firefly, who had separated from him, to appear here. If she were his wife, he might have said she had come at just the right time, but right now, her arrival could not have been worse.
"Eh, and this is?" Robin asked curiously.
"You... 6I!V Liu-ba Er-ba, hello, superstar. I'm Caelus's girlfriend. Seeing you two having such a good time, I came over."
Firefly smiled at Robin, then left her seat and sat beside Caelus. She wrapped her arms around his arm and introduced herself.
Caelus only felt his arm sink into something large and soft. He had not expected Firefly to be the sort of girl who looked slim in clothes. Just as he was feeling pleased, he noticed Robin beside him scrutinizing him.
"Well, this is... hahaha, the weather is really nice."
Caelus was already sweating profusely. It was not hard to understand why Firefly had appeared here; after all, this was a shop she liked. But was this not a little too much of a coincidence? He was pursuing Robin, yet she had suddenly popped up to sabotage him. And she was acting far too intimately. Firefly used to blush even when holding hands, so why had she become so bold after being apart for only a short while?
PS: Please bookmark, recommend, and vote with monthly passes.
Help Had Arrived
"You bad man. You swore eternal love to me before, and now you've already changed women. How much of what you told me was even true?"
Leaning against Caelus, Firefly spoke to him with tender affection. Every coquettish complaint made his bones go weak, and the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably.
"Of course it was all true. But I'm a little busy right now, so could we talk later...?"
Caelus said helplessly. He had only just confirmed his relationship with Firefly, so he truly found it hard to tell her to keep her distance. But Robin was more important right now—not because Caelus favored her more, but because this was supposed to be Robin's time.
"What do you mean, later? Are you saying I can't compare to this woman? She just has two extra chicken wings and she's trying to steal my man."
Firefly immediately flew into a rage. She grabbed Caelus by the cheeks and twisted hard, giving off the feeling of a violent girlfriend. Caelus grimaced in pain, but could only endure silently. Since he had come out to build a harem, he obviously could not expect to eat meat all the time. Sometimes, he would get beaten too.
"Miss Firefly, I think you may have misunderstood something."
Robin had been looking at the ice cream in front of her in thought. Hearing Firefly's aggressive words, she could no longer pretend not to have heard them.
"What misunderstanding?" Firefly asked unhappily.
"There is no comparison to be made between us. No matter what your relationship with Caelus is, he chose to ask me out, not you."
Robin smiled at Firefly. Caelus had not expected her counterattack to come so quickly and could not help glancing at her in surprise. But he soon remembered Robin's status within the Family. She was not some delicate flower raised in a greenhouse. She must have learned many things besides singing, otherwise how could she be the Family head's younger sister?
"Instead of tripping me up at a time like this, why not think about why Caelus chose me instead of you?"
"You, you...!"
Firefly's face turned red with anger. She raised a hand and pointed at Robin, but could not think of anything to say. After all, she was already at a disadvantage. She had come over intending to provoke Robin into leaving, only to be mocked instead.
"Firefly, Firefly, don't be angry. Here, have a bite of your favorite Oak Cake Roll, okay?"
Seeing that Firefly was angry, Caelus hurriedly speared a cut piece of Oak Cake Roll with his fork and brought it to her lips. With her favorite food before her, Firefly opened her mouth and took a bite.
"So you mean you're taking her side? Between me and her, who are you choosing?"
Firefly chewed the Oak Cake Roll, swallowing it as though it were Robin's chicken wings. Only then did she ask Caelus resentfully.
"Only children do multiple-choice questions. I want them all."
Caelus never did multiple-choice questions. Plenty of people had asked him this before, but his answer had always been that he wanted them all.
"Robin, did you hear that? Caelus is a super-playboy scumbag. With your noble status, are you really willing to let him ruin you?"
Firefly abruptly turned her attack toward Robin. Though there was suspicion of sowing discord in her words, she was now Caelus's girlfriend. It could also be seen as her not wanting someone to steal her boyfriend, so she smeared Caelus's name to make Robin back off.
"I don't think my status is all that noble. Whether it's my status in the Family or as a singer, I only want to be myself. As for Caelus, this is only the beginning. Who can know how the story will end?"
Robin replied with a smile. The more Firefly wanted her to leave, the less she wanted to go. Being tactful could also mean being cowardly. If she retreated now and handed Caelus over to Firefly, would that not mean losing completely? As one of the Family's leaders, she naturally had her own principles.
A delighted smile appeared on Caelus's face. He smugly raised an eyebrow at Firefly, as if to say that his charm was not bad at all—he had already made Robin unable to pull herself away.
Firefly, meanwhile, was grinding her teeth in hatred. She felt that things had developed completely differently from what she had expected. Whether Caelus had a problem or not was another matter, but Robin definitely had a problem. This was completely unlike the Robin she knew.
"Caelus, go shopping with me later. What emotional value can you get from staying with this dumb bird? Only when you're with me can you feel happy."
Firefly quickly came up with another plan. She clung tightly to Caelus's arm, pulling him toward her as she spoke in a soft, clingy tone.
"This is bad. The pressure is too intense..."
At close range, Caelus felt the pressure from Firefly's chest and once again confirmed that she had a great figure. His heart was already floating away.
"Now that you mention it, I seem to have somewhere I want to go later too... Can I ask you to lead the way, Caelus?"
Robin's calm voice reached him, like a bucket of cold water dumped over Caelus. He immediately came to his senses.
"Of course."
"If you come with me, then when we get somewhere with no one around, I'll give you a reward you like. You can have whatever you want."
Firefly revealed a disdainful expression. She had far more bargaining chips than Robin. The benefits that this little bird did not dare offer, Firefly could give freely. She leaned close to Caelus's ear and spoke words filled with implication.
This time, Robin remained silent. She merely looked at Caelus with clear eyes. She also wanted to see what choice this man would make. Rather than saying she was competing with Firefly out of spite, it was more accurate to say this was a test for Caelus.
"Sorry, Firefly. I still have to accompany Robin."
Caelus pulled his arm from Firefly's embrace as he spoke. Firefly froze completely. She could not understand why. She had practically thrown herself at him, yet she was still inferior to a Robin who did not cooperate with Caelus at all.
"Is this because the easier something is to obtain, the less value people think it has?"
Firefly asked with a sorrowful expression. Honestly, this was quite a blow to her confidence as a woman. Everything she had done was meant to please Caelus, yet he had cast her aside. There was simply no justice in it.
"No. Of course I want to be close to you too. But first, this is my date with Robin. Second, I'm sincere about you. I hope you can value yourself a little more too. It won't be too late to talk about those things after our relationship becomes better."
Caelus held Firefly's hand and answered seriously. Firefly's expression became complicated. She wanted to say something, but found it difficult to speak in this situation.
"All right, that's all I wanted to say to Firefly. Now, this is for you."
Caelus abruptly changed the subject with a smile. Firefly looked startled, unable to understand what he meant. But in the next moment, Caelus pulled her into his arms.
"What?"
Firefly had just started to struggle when she discovered Caelus leaning in to kiss her on the lips. Her eyes widened in shock, and for a moment, she could not say anything.
This Was Too Elation
"Mm-mm!"
Firefly raised her hand and pounded Caelus's shoulder. Robin beside them covered her mouth in surprise, the two wings behind her ears spreading slightly to show the intense turmoil in her heart.
"Have you kissed anyone else? You haven't, right? Your first kiss belongs to Lord Caelus!"
After kissing Firefly, Caelus separated from her and smugly pointed his thumb at his face.
"You despicable bastard, when did you figure it out?!"
Firefly was so angry that her eyes turned red. Her irises became wine-red, and beneath her pupils was the shape of a butterfly. Clearly, she was not Firefly, but some being disguised as her.
"I noticed something was wrong the moment you approached me. Since I knew there was a being capable of mimicking anyone wandering around me at any time, how could I possibly not be on guard?"
Caelus spread his hands as he spoke. His understanding of women could be said to be etched into his heart. This person's biggest mistake had been disguising herself as a woman Caelus knew to approach him. Even if she had imitated everything perfectly, there were still many things she could not imitate, such as her tone of voice and certain behaviors.
"And you, you should have paid attention to the character setting before disguising yourself. Firefly isn't the kind of girl who gets jealous over romantic rivals, much less one who would joke about her own purity. Even if she liked me very much, she would never say something like that. She would wait for me to make the move."
"There's something I find strange, Masked Fool. Why do you keep targeting me? Is it because the people you mentioned are all hiding behind the scenes, so you came specifically to help me?"
Caelus looked at the Masked Fool before him and asked. He had not known who she was before, but after speaking with Acheron, he learned that such abilities should belong to the Masked Fools. She was also one of the invited guests.
"Of course not! A shameless and despicable bastard like you deserves to die. Why would I help you?"
The Masked Fool said furiously. This time, she had lost so badly that she barely recognized herself. Having her butt touched before was already a huge loss, but now she had even lost her first kiss. Since entering this line of work, she had never suffered such a grievance.
"Could it be because I'm half an Elation follower too? This thing is still following me."
Caelus opened his Dream Manual and rummaged inside. He took out a red metal mask and tossed it into the air.
The Masked Fool recognized the Fool's Mask. It was an invitation to join the Path of Elation. She had one herself, but Caelus's had not yet been used.
The Fool's Mask let out a silent laugh at the Masked Fool. It had been following Caelus and watching enough jokes already. Seeing other Masked Fools suffer—was that not another form of Elation?
"Indeed. I've watched you for so long, and you really do seem like someone who builds happiness on the suffering of others."
The Masked Fool gritted her teeth. Right now, no matter how she looked at Caelus, he seemed like a bastard. Her suffering was all because of him, while the aura of joy around him only grew stronger.
"You may have won this time, but next time... Ob Si-liu Qi-ba Er-Q, I'll definitely turn things around."
After leaving behind that threat, the Masked Fool tossed down a fox mask identical to the previous one and vanished before Caelus's eyes. Caelus put it away as a trophy, feeling as though collecting three would let him exchange them for a grand prize.
"You knew from the beginning that she was fake?"
Robin asked curiously. She had never met Firefly before, so she had only thought the girl was rather rude for describing her as chicken wings. Once she learned it was fake, she was no longer angry.
"More or less. Actually, it's not that the Masked Fool was too stupid. My friend has quite the background. To imitate her behavior, you would first need to get close to her and understand her. But that Masked Fool probably felt that if she got close, she would die without even ashes left behind. So she could only use the most primitive method—disguising the body, but not the heart."
Caelus nodded and explained it to Robin. Robin listened with interest. There were actually beings like Masked Fools in the dreamscape. It truly was colorful and diverse.
"So she could disguise herself as me or my brother too?"
Robin frowned. She could tell that the Masked Fool had clashed with Caelus, which was not a major issue. What worried her was that the person might use the same trick again, disguise herself as Robin, and do something as embarrassing as before while Caelus was talking with other women. Robin was also afraid the paparazzi might learn of it. That would truly cause a huge uproar.
"That is indeed possible. But given how well you and Brother Sunday know each other, you should be able to spot each other's flaws at a glance, right?"
Caelus nodded. He did not know where the Masked Fool's true body was, so there was no way to completely prevent something like this. All they could do was keep their eyes open.
"Why are you calling my brother that? When did he become your brother?"
Robin made an unhappy little face at Caelus. It was the first time she had heard someone call her brother that, though she secretly found it amusing and decided she would try that improper form of address sometime.
"Oh, don't worry about such details. Isn't that only a matter of time?"
Caelus covered his ears and pretended not to hear Robin's complaint. Robin did not continue dwelling on the matter and instead took small bites of her ice cream. In the dream world, ice cream did not even melt, remaining at its best texture the entire time.
Sunday, seated elsewhere, felt his blood pressure shoot up on another roller coaster ride when he heard that. Caelus already dared call him brother now. He did not even dare imagine what he might call him later. What he found even harder to accept was that his sister had simply accepted it. Should she not have been angrier? Where had all his sister's anger gone? Had it all been transferred onto him?
"By the way, where was that place you said you wanted to go?" Caelus changed the subject.
"The Clock Boy merchandise store."
"Huh?"
Caelus stared at Robin with his mouth wide open, wondering if he had heard wrong. He had thought the place Robin wanted to visit would be romantic, upscale, or meaningful. A merchandise store was the one thing beyond Caelus's understanding.
Seeing Caelus's foolish expression, Robin could not help laughing. She had actually wanted to pick up a berry from her ice cream and put it into Caelus's mouth. He looked especially suited for that right now. But the thought had only just emerged before she pushed it back down. Their relationship was not that good yet.
"Don't you know Clock Boy? He's Penacony's most popular superstar. His story has aired for over ten thousand episodes..."
Robin folded her arms and spoke of her love for Clock Boy with an expression of longing. Only then did Caelus realize that Clock Boy had not been bragging. He truly was a superstar known in every household.
"Did you grow up watching Clock Boy's cartoons?" Caelus asked.
"Yes. I was born in Penacony, after all. Clock Boy accompanied me throughout my entire childhood."
Robin nodded. There was nothing to hide. The entire universe knew where she had been born. With the Clock Boy cartoon airing for so many years, it had naturally accompanied the childhoods of hundreds of generations.
PS: Please bookmark, recommend, and vote with monthly passes.
Clock Elder
"If Clock Boy appeared before you and told you, 'I am the most important man in your life,' and wanted to play matchmaker, what would you think?"
Caelus cautiously asked Robin what she thought. When pursuing a girl, of course one had to make use of every available method, and he happened to know Clock Boy.
"What a strange question. If Clock Boy really existed, I think I would listen to his advice."
Robin tilted her head at Caelus, just as unable to understand his words as before, though she was beginning to get used to it.
Hearing that, Caelus immediately perked up. He bent down and crawled under the table, searching everywhere for that small figure.
"Clock Elder, Clock Elder, come out quickly..."
"What are you doing? This is so embarrassing."
Robin felt terrible. They had been chatting perfectly well when Caelus suddenly began performing behavioral art. Even though no one knew her identity now, seeing him crawling around under the table was still more than this little bird could bear.
"I'm looking for Clock Boy. From now on, he's my elder!"
Caelus explained sincerely. Robin was stunned for a moment. Clever as she was, she naturally understood what Caelus meant. Combined with what he had said before, he wanted to find Clock Boy and have him tie fate's red string for them.
"Sigh, can't you be a little more serious? Rather than placing your hopes on a fictional character, can't you try a little harder with me? At least I actually exist."
Robin said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She grabbed Caelus's arm and pulled him out from under the table, beginning to reason with him.
"Ahahaha, sorry. I really didn't think of that. So, does that mean you're willing to accept my kindness toward you?"
Caelus gave an embarrassed laugh after hearing Robin's words, but her change in attitude made him very happy. Did that not mean she had him in her heart?
"I never refuse the cheers and gifts of my listeners. Acceptance gives both sides positive emotional feedback, so why refuse?"
Robin said with a smile. She was not actually some aloof celebrity. The greatest obstacle to getting close to Robin was not how to make her happy, but how to get around the Family and Sunday. Even though they had not known each other long, Caelus could tell that this little bird was a gentle and kind girl.
"Little bird, you're wonderful. I knew that falling for you at first sight wasn't only because of your appearance, but also because of your pure heart."
Caelus grinned as he reached out to grab Robin's hand. This was exactly the time to make his move, but Robin had been prepared. She raised her hand to avoid his grasp and looked at him appraisingly.
Before you continue