Chapter 90 - 91: Song Release
Sophie Wexler’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Cillian Forrest, completely oblivious to the look deep in his eyes.
Cillian Forrest lowered his gaze. His fingertips at his side rubbed together, as if the sensation of her touch lingered. After a long moment, he finally hummed in acknowledgment.
"So, how much do you know about that Imperial Marshal? Can you tell me about him?"
’Even though he said he didn’t know him when I asked before, he used to be on the Capital Planet. He must have at least heard of him, right?’
Cillian Forrest looked up at her. This wasn’t the first time she had mentioned the Marshal.
’Logically, there’s no way they could know each other. So why does she keep bringing him up?’
"He..."
Cillian Forrest had just spoken a single word when Sophie Wexler cut him off. "Never mind, don’t say anything."
’What if he says the Marshal is ruthless, vengeful, and slaughters people indiscriminately? I’ll have an even harder time sleeping then.’
’It’s better not to know.’
’Besides, I’ll definitely never cross paths with someone of his status.’
’I’ve tried so hard to stay away from the male and female leads, and I have no connection to them now. There’s no way I’ll end up with the same fate as the original owner of this body, right?’
’It’s fine, it’s fine.’
’I’m just scaring myself.’
Then she looked up and saw Cillian Forrest’s puzzled gaze.
Sophie Wexler changed the subject. "By the way, does it snow in the Galaxy during winter?"
Since winter began, she didn’t think she’d seen it snow once. The temperature was quite low, but she had no idea what the clothes in the Galaxy were made of; she barely felt the cold while wearing them.
"Rarely." Cillian Forrest followed her gaze out the window.
"It’s only snowed twice in the past few years."
And it wasn’t heavy, just a light dusting of tiny snowflakes.
"Oh, I see." A hint of disappointment colored Sophie Wexler’s tone.
She loved snow. The sight of snowflakes drifting down in winter was truly beautiful, turning the entire world into a vast expanse of white.
Back on Aethel, she used to take pictures every time it snowed. It seemed she’d have few opportunities to see it from now on.
The New Year was approaching, but there wasn’t much of a festive atmosphere here. Everyone treated it like an ordinary holiday, the only difference being that the StarNet was a bit livelier than usual.
Everyone was on vacation, so many people were just browsing around on the StarNet.
In the last couple of days, Sophie Wexler’s song was about to be released, and the platform had put a lot of effort into promoting it for her.
In reality, it didn’t even need promotion. Who didn’t know who Sophie Wexler was by now?
When people found out her song was finished and about to be released on the StarNet, they were beyond excited.
Everyone was camping out on the StarNet, waiting for it. The hype never died down.
「Finally, the day of the New Year arrived.」
Not knowing how people in the Galaxy celebrated the New Year, Sophie Wexler had gone out a few days earlier to buy lots of things—what one would call New Year’s goods.
She woke up bright and early and started directing Cillian Forrest to put up the spring couplets she had written.
Cillian Forrest’s expression froze for a moment as he held the papers. The calligraphy on them was... hard to describe.
Seeing his expression, Sophie Wexler grew embarrassed. "What? They’re just a little ugly, that’s all."
’It’s not that my handwriting is usually ugly, but brush calligraphy is really hard, okay? For me to write them like this is already pretty good.’
’Besides, they don’t even have calligraphy brushes here. I had to have one custom-made just to write these.’
"Why do we need to put this up?" Cillian Forrest asked, somewhat confused.
"You’re supposed to put up spring couplets for the New Year," Sophie Wexler said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Don’t you guys do that?"
Cillian Forrest looked at Sophie Wexler’s perfectly natural expression, as if this were the most normal thing to do.
’She probably doesn’t even realize how many of her habits and possessions are different from everyone else’s.’
’Things like her food, her musical instruments, and now these spring couplets.’
Cillian Forrest retracted his probing gaze. "Is there any more paper?"
Sophie Wexler: "?"
Cillian Forrest held up the couplets in his hand. "For this."
"Yes." Sophie Wexler, realizing what he meant, turned to get more paper and a brush.
Seeing Cillian Forrest staring at the brush, Sophie Wexler explained, "This is a calligraphy brush."
Sophie Wexler was even thoughtful enough to show him how to hold it.
The man simply picked up the brush, and as his hand moved, characters immediately appeared on the paper.
The calligraphy was powerful and grand, the strokes sharp and pointed, as if revealing his own personality.
Sophie Wexler was stunned. ’Wait a minute, you don’t look like someone who’s never done this before.’
’Who in their right mind could write like this on their first try?’
Looking at what Cillian Forrest had written, and then looking back at her own work, the difference was instantly clear.
Sophie Wexler was ready to disown her own calligraphy.
"Done." The man stopped his brush and picked up the newly written couplets.
"Where do you want these?"
"The doorway," Sophie Wexler said, pointing.
Hearing this, Cillian Forrest walked over. Sophie Wexler stood beside him, directing, "Too high, too high! A little lower. To the side. Yes, right there. Perfect. You can stick it on."
After they were up, Sophie Wexler looked at the couplets with satisfaction. ’Now *this* feels like the New Year.’
After admiring them, she was about to throw away her own ugly couplets and the "fortune" character she had written.
But when she turned, she saw Cillian Forrest holding the "fortune" character she had written. He studied it for a moment, then stuck it on his bedroom door.
Noticing her gaze, Cillian Forrest looked up at her. "It’s well written."
Sophie Wexler: "..." ’What a blatant lie.’
’But it was a lie she was happy to hear.’
After they finished preparing everything, her communicator chimed. Seeing it was a message from her manager, she opened it.
"Miss Wexler, your song is now live. Remember to share it on your social media account."
Sophie Wexler replied with an "Okay."
Then she logged into her account and, sure enough, saw the trending topic for her song.
It was hanging high on the StarNet’s trending list. The comment section was already incredibly lively.
[AHHHH, SUE’S SONG IS FINALLY ON STARNET! I KNEW IT WOULD BE AMAZING, AND IT TOTALLY LIVED UP TO THE HYPE.]
[Seriously, in the entire music library right now, her songs are in a league of their own. Completely different from everyone else’s.]
[FOR SUE, I’M OPENING MY WALLET! I’M BUYING ALL OF THEM!]
[I’ve had this on repeat like 123,456 times already. It’s so good.]
Sophie Wexler smiled as she read the comments, then used her account to share the official post about the song.
The moment she shared it, the likes shot past ten thousand and continued to climb rapidly, with comments pouring in one after another.
Even though her real identity had been revealed, everyone was used to her old name, so most people still called her Sue Shiver or just Sue.
[Spotted a wild Sue!]
[Sue, your song is so amazing! My whole family is listening to it.]
[It’s the New Year today! Happy holidays, Sue!]
[Sue, you haven’t streamed in so long! Your song is out today, and it’s the New Year... are you really not going to do a livestream?]
[YEAH, GO LIVE! GO LIVE! GO LIVE!]
The comment section was suddenly flooded with people urging her to start a stream.
Sophie Wexler laughed, her fingertips tapping on the screen a few times as she replied: [Okay.]