When March 7th stepped out of her room, her mood was as light as it had been the past few days.
Although conspiracies lurked beneath Penacony's surface, truth be told, she had been having a rather happy time here recently.
While they were searching for the Watchmaker's legacy and investigating the secrets behind Penacony and The Family... as the saying goes, let the tall ones handle it when the sky falls. Someone like her, neither smart enough nor strong enough, really couldn't shoulder too much important responsibility.
Plus, Twilight had later directly given her that gold card with no credit limit... While seeing Dan Heng and the others rack their brains did occasionally prick her conscience, she quickly tossed it aside.
After all, she wasn't the type smart enough to ponder difficult problems; worrying wouldn't help.
She had never been one to dwell on things.
Better go find that Firefly girl with Little Twilight, help her and Caelus make up quickly... Otherwise, seeing Caelus and Little Twilight like this makes me feel uncomfortable.
Tsk tsk tsk, what would the Express crew do without me—huh?
March 7th blinked, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her... Did she just see Twilight sitting all alone against the corridor wall?
"Twilight, why are you sitting here?" After confirming she wasn't mistaken, March 7th ran over in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Counting the wallpaper..."
Twilight looked up at March 7th somewhat blankly, then silently reached out and poked the carpet. "There are 7,984 patterns on the floor, and 130,659 patterns on the wallpaper..."
"Pa-patterns?"
March 7th pressed closer to the wall, slightly confused, and noticed that the seemingly solid-colored wall did indeed have many tiny patterns upon closer inspection, though most people wouldn't notice them without looking carefully.
"Twilight, why are you counting these?" March 7th glanced up at the door number. "I remember this is Caelus's room. Aren't you going in to find him?"
Twilight didn't answer March 7th's question. She just continued sitting there, silently poking the carpet. "Caelus told me to get out."
Ugh, looks like they're still in the cold war phase...
March 7th rubbed her head helplessly. She didn't know what to say in this situation. Her own feelings leaned towards complaining about Caelus being so cold to Twilight, but thinking from Caelus's perspective, seeing Twilight watch his friend die without helping... did seem rather hard to accept.
After a brief thought, March 7th decided not to dwell on the issue. Instead, she crouched down, grabbed Twilight's hand, and pulled her towards her own room.
"Hmph, if Caelus won't let you in his room, then we won't go! We'll have fun ourselves! We need to go outside to look for someone later anyway, let me brush your hair first~"
"Mm..."
Although Twilight was now taller than March 7th, tasks like hairstyling were still mostly handled by March. This had been the case since before Twilight even joined the Express, back at the Herta Space Station.
March 7th had no objections; in fact, she quite enjoyed it.
After all, Twilight's hair felt softer than the finest silk she had ever touched. Plus, Twilight herself was cute, and she never objected to any hairstyle March gave her.
It was just like dressing up an amazing doll, an endlessly enjoyable task. Himeko had once tried to usurp the role of braiding Twilight's hair, but March 7th successfully defended her territory.
But Twilight's hair really does grow fast. It's only been less than half a year, and it's gone from short hair to reaching her thighs... Twilight wouldn't use some tech product on her head, so is it just her race naturally having fast-growing hair?
Strange, is there a Long-Haired race in the galaxy—
"...?"
March 7th hummed a little tune as she brushed Twilight's hair. Then, suddenly, her hand froze, and her humming stopped abruptly.
Sensing March 7th stop behind her, Twilight waited a moment before asking quizzically, "March, what's... wrong?"
"N-nothing, it's just..."
March 7th's voice hesitated, as if unsure how to phrase her words. Just then, the notification sound from her phone successfully broke the awkwardness.
"It's Himeko." Twilight took out her phone and glanced at the message. "She says a lot of people from the IPC have arrived. The IPC might be preparing to make a move against Penacony... They'll likely start from the dreamscape side. She wants us to get ready to gather in the dream."
"Is that so? Then, then Twilight, you go back to your room first. I'll prepare a bit... and head over."
March 7th's attitude seemed to puzzle Twilight, but she didn't ask, merely nodding silently and leaving the room. The moment the door closed behind her, the smile March 7th had barely maintained finally vanished.
She looked down and realized her left hand had unknowingly clenched into a tight fist... She slowly opened it. Lying in her palm was a single strand of hair.
A strand of hair so white it felt ancient.
Twilight's hair color didn't change like her eyes; it was always that starry deep blue. Therefore, this white hair...
"I'm probably just overthinking things..." March 7th chuckled weakly. "Twilight isn't even a year old. How could she start getting white hair like an old person?"
Yet, despite trying to reassure herself, the unease in March 7th's heart couldn't be dispelled. It was as if small details from daily life she hadn't paid attention to before were now sending faint signals of strangeness to her subconscious.
"Later... I'll ask Dan Heng..."
...
"Ladies and gentlemen, the most astonishing performance in Penacony's history is about to begin! The Interastral Peace Corporation sincerely invites you all to the scene—Clock Studios Theme Park! Members of the Astral Express, you will accept the invitation, won't you?"
As the Astral Express crew gathered before the Clockie statue, a broadcast echoed throughout the dreamscape, constantly playing an advertisement personally voiced by Aventurine.
This move by Aventurine couldn't help but strike Twilight as odd... Why would someone be so eager to court death?
"Heh, calling us out by name... The smell of conspiracy is quite strong." Himeko heard Aventurine's voice and smiled faintly. "I just wonder what kind of trap awaits us?"
"But we have to go. To solve the mystery of the Watchmaker's legacy, the IPC's information is necessary," Dan Heng nodded. "Shall we depart now?"
"What's the rush? After all, this Mr. Aventurine didn't make an appointment with us beforehand. Waiting a little longer is normal—hopefully, he filed the venue usage application with The Family in advance."
Despite being directly called out by Aventurine, Himeko wasn't rushed at all. Her gaze lingered more on Caelus, Twilight, and March 7th.
"Sigh, I could have guessed this would happen yesterday. But young people always argue. Bonds become stronger after overcoming such conflicts... But March, what's wrong with you? Did you get into an argument too?"
"Me? Hehe, I'm fine... It's just..." March 7th forced a laugh. "After we deal with this current matter, I'll ask you guys then."
"I didn't expect Little March to start being mysterious too." Himeko raised an eyebrow in surprise, but then smiled warmly. "Alright, then let's prepare to set off. After all, Trailblazing doesn't stop just because there are traps ahead!"
Unfortunately, the three who usually hyped her up the most were now silent, so the atmosphere wasn't as lively as usual.
As they were about to depart, Welt walked past Caelus again. Without much fanfare, he just patted Caelus's shoulder silently.
"Caelus... When you weep for missing the moon, you are likely to miss the stars as well."