A smirk tugged at the corner of Phaethon's mouth as he lifted his foot and strode forward. However—
*Thud!*
His forehead collided solidly with a completely transparent, yet unbelievably hard wall, emitting a dull sound.
"Fortune Duke~ Do you still think you're lucky?" A voice, twangy and straining to hold back laughter, abruptly came from the mask that had somehow appeared hanging from his waist.
Phaethon winced, rubbing his forehead. It was just a normal bump, yet a massive, bright red lump, cartoonishly large, had visibly swollen up on his forehead. It throbbed painfully when pressed.
He looked down at the snickering red mask at his waist, his eyes turning cold.
With lightning speed, he snatched the mask off, gripped it mercilessly, and slammed it straight into the same transparent wall!
*DONGGGG——!!!!*
An even louder, more exaggerated impact sound echoed over the flower field.
"OWWWWWW——!!!" The mask instantly let out a shriek straight out of the most exaggerated cartoon. "It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts Aha so much!!!"
Even more comically, on the mask, right where a forehead would be, an identical lump swelled up in sync, even larger than the one on Phaethon's head. Whether it was red or not was hard to tell, since the mask was already red, but its size was truly astonishing.
"Hahahahaha! Phaethon! You are—truly the most delightful!!!"
The moment the shriek ended, the pained expression on the mask vanished, replaced by an even more frenzied, hysterical burst of laughter, as if that impact had brought supreme pleasure.
"Enough, Aha." Phaethon reached out and poked the still prominent lump on the mask's forehead, not too lightly. "You went through all this trouble to drag me into this weird place. What do you actually want?"
The expression on the mask twisted, then squeezed out an exaggerated grin. "Hehehe, Aha wanted you to experience the most wonderful time of your past again! So? Touched?"
"Really?" Phaethon raised an eyebrow, his voice full of skepticism. "You're that kind? This isn't some trick to mess with..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly felt an irresistible shove from behind!
He was thrown forward uncontrollably. The transparent barrier before him shattered like fragile glass, dissolving into countless sparkling fragments.
The moment he crossed the barrier, a strange dizziness swept over Phaethon.
To his astonishment, his line of sight was rapidly lowering, and the surroundings were rapidly "growing larger."
He instinctively lifted his hands, but what met his eyes were a pair of fair, delicate, childish hands belonging to a young boy.
*Oh no.*
Phaethon's heart sank. So much for being the big brother with ulterior motives... ahem, the caring big brother!
"Ah! Little Phaethon is here too!" A clear, cheerful voice rang out. Little Cyrene, holding little Phainon's hand, fluttered over lightly like two butterflies. "Come! Sister Cyrene will take you and Phainon to play! ♪"
After crossing the barrier, it seemed he was immediately "discovered" by Cyrene and Phainon.
"Little Phaethon~, why are you just standing there? ♪" Little Cyrene tilted her head, her smile brighter than any flower in the field. "Do you want to hear a story today, or play hide and seek? ♪"
Looking at this scene, even though Phaethon knew full well this was all a false illusion woven by Aha, his heart still felt tightly clenched by a warm, bittersweet hand.
He couldn't help but stumble forward a step.
Even though he tripped over something hidden in the flowers, he didn't stop at all, stubbornly, stumblingly walking towards that dazzling halo of light—towards the softest, most precious memory deep in his heart, his childhood.
...
The scene flowed seamlessly.
The "Cyrene and Phaethon Eatery" in Janusopolis was filled with the aroma of food and the warm feeling of daily life.
Behind the counter, a young Cyrene was smiling, taking payment and skillfully giving change. The rhythmic sound of chopping came from the kitchen, where a teenage Phaethon was busy.
Unlike reality, a teenage Phainon was moving between the tables, carefully, yet unable to hide his curiosity, delivering plates of food to customers, drawing kind chuckles from the adults.
...
Okhema.
"Phaethon, it's your and Phainon's 19th birthday today! Even though your cooking is really good, today, the kitchen must be handed over to me and your dad! Understand?"
A voice, gentle yet firm, and tinged with a nostalgic blurriness that Phaethon sorely missed, sounded. "Listen to your mom. Go chat properly with your group of friends. They're here to celebrate your birthday, don't leave them hanging."
Phaethon felt a soft yet determined force push him out of the kitchen.
Just before the kitchen door closed, his mother added, "Your teacher from The Grove is here too, right? Seems to be in the inner room, go greet them... oh, and remember to bring the fruit platter."
...
"Phaethon, Phaethon~ Are you happy? How do you like this illusion Aha wove for you? Did it perfectly recreate the happiest time you imagined?" Aha's mask, which had appeared on a corner of the desk at some point, chirped with laughter.
Phaethon had just seen off the friends who came to his home to celebrate his and Phainon's birthday. After the noise and bustle, the room still held traces of cheerful energy.
He sat back down in his slightly messy yet lived-in seat.
"This illusion is indeed very good," Phaethon's voice sounded much more relaxed than usual, even carrying a hint of a sunny quality.
"Then Aha will now tell you a big secr..." The mask on the desk observed Phaethon's seemingly genuinely relaxed, much happier expression. Its twisted grin took on a shade of cunning triumph and anticipation.
"Wait a moment." Phaethon calmly cut Aha off. He was holding a cup of clear beverage that had appeared in his hand at some point, and slowly walked to the window shrouded by heavy curtains. "I haven't finished."
Holding the cup, his gaze seemed to pierce through the thick velvet, looking outside.
"Actually... if the flower fields of Aedes Elysiae, under the tables and inside the cabinets of the little eatery in Janusopolis, and... outside this very window, weren't stuffed with so, so many corpses, this illusion woven by you... or perhaps by my subconscious... might have seemed a little more perfect..."
The moment his words fell, he suddenly reached out and swished aside the heavy curtains!
Outside the window—
It wasn't any familiar street scene or night sky.
As far as the eye could see, densely packed, layer upon layer, stretching endlessly, were countless twisted, pale, motionless bodies.