As they passed through the exit of Hera’s Grace, the atmosphere in the main corridor of Aetheris Prime seemed to undergo a dramatic change.
Lohan walked with the same confidence as before; his strides remained long and steady, echoing off the marble just as they had before, but the midnight-blue ether silk suit that perfectly hugged his long, dense musculature made him seem different from just minutes ago. Whereas Lohan’s presence had previously drawn looks of disgust and disdain, as if he were a rat contaminating the immaculate aesthetics of the Upper Zone, it now elicited a reaction of utter shock from those around him.
Passersby who had previously clutched their purses and veered out of the way when they saw him pass now stopped abruptly, their trivial conversations dying in their throats as they stared at the pair.
The contrast was stunning. With his black hair now neatly combed and his blue eyes shining with a magnetic intensity, Lohan looked like a first-born heir who had just stepped off a private starship.
Beside him, Isabella kept her face hidden by a white mask and a hat, but the natural elegance of her movements and the sheen of her auburn hair flowing down her back could not be concealed.
Together, they formed a visually striking couple, an image close to aesthetic perfection that seemed to have stepped out of a luxury fashion magazine from the Upper Zone.
The comments, though made in hushed tones beneath the hum of the water fountains, were perfectly picked up by Lohan’s heightened instincts and Lisa’s keen hearing.
"Girl, look at that guy... who is he? I come here several times a week and I’ve never seen him..." A girl whispered to her friend beside her, her eyes fixed on the visible contours of Lohan’s face. "That girl is so lucky. He looks like a prince from another planet."
On the other side, a group of young elite boys stared at Lohan with undisguised envy. "Bruh, how does a guy like that land a date like that?" one of them hissed, noticing Isabella’s posture. "Even with her face covered, you can tell she’s on another level."
To Lohan, these comments were irrelevant. His mindset, forged in the contempt of the previous world and the brutal survival of Elysium, was not shaken by such futile validation.
He knew that, less than two hours ago, those same people had considered him nothing more than trash. At this point, the hypocrisy of the Upper Zone didn’t faze him in the slightest.
However, for Isabella, the situation was different.
As she listened to the girls praising Lohan, she ignored the men coveting his position beside her as usual, but an unfamiliar feeling of jealousy welled up in her chest, making her heart race.
Unconsciously, she closed the distance between them, walking a few inches closer to Lohan, her shoulder almost brushing against his arm, as if she were marking her territory in front of the mall’s window-shopping predators.
Even the black duffle bag Lohan was carrying, containing the old clothes and other things he’d brought from the Lower Zone, seemed to have undergone an aesthetic reevaluation by the public.
Because of Lohan’s refined appearance and the way he carried it with ease, the item no longer looked like a poor man’s bag, but rather a minimalist fashion accessory, something an executive would use to carry high-security documents.
That was definitive proof that, in Eden-3, or rather, likely throughout the entire human federation, the packaging determined the perceived value of the contents.
Now that Lohan was much more handsome and presentable, things that had once been detestable now seemed acceptable, even good in these people’s eyes, even though objectively it was still the same thing.
Lisa, noticing that the female attention on Lohan was only increasing, began to speed up the pace of their shopping.
They passed by four more prestigious stores, but the time spent in each one was getting shorter and shorter. Whenever Isabella noticed the sales clerks’ excessive interest, they suddenly seemed much more willing to offer "personalized assistance" to Lohan than to any other customer, so she would quickly wrap up the transaction.
It was rare for a boy with Lohan’s good looks and bearing to show up without the extravagant, frivolous attitude that defined most young people in the Upper Zone.
Even though Lohan acted with composure and remained aloof yet polite, this only made him even more attractive to the employees accustomed to dealing with arrogant heirs all the time.
At a shoe boutique, they were served by a new employee.
The girl, who appeared to be their age, was visibly nervous.
Through his Chemosensory Aptitude, Lohan detected in her the subtle scent of cheap industrial chemicals, an odor he knew well... it was a very popular perfume from the Lower Zone that she was trying to mask with cheap deodorants.
He quickly realized that she and her family had recently moved from the Lower Zone to likely one of the tenements on the edge of the Upper Zone, struggling to keep up appearances in that new world.
While trying to fetch a pair of leather boots for Lohan, the girl tripped over her own feet, knocking several boxes and pieces of clothing onto the floor.
"I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I’m new here..." She stammered, her face turning pale with fear of being scolded or fired in front of customers who seemed so important.
Lohan, seeing the panic in her eyes, didn’t mind to help.
He bent down smoothly and began gathering the clothes and boxes before the other store clerks even noticed the incident.
He acted aloof yet helpful, keeping a neutral expression so as not to intimidate the girl further.
"Well, don’t worry about it. The floor here is so clean it can actually get slippery." Lohan said in a calm, slightly playful voice to ease the girl’s anxiety, handing her the items with an encouraging nod.
The clerk looked at him with eyes shining with a mixture of gratitude and an admiration that bordered on adoration. For her, receiving help from someone who looked like royalty was a miracle she never expected to witness.
Isabella, standing nearby, snorted audibly.
She saw the clerk’s gaze on Lohan and felt the flame of irritation flare up again.
"Hayes, we’re done here. Take this pair; the technical specifications are acceptable." She ordered, snatching the bag from the clerk’s hands before Lohan could say anything else. "We have a schedule to follow, Vice President. We don’t have time for charity sessions."
Lohan just let out a low chuckle, finding Lisa’s attitude incredibly cute beneath that icy facade. He realized that Little Fox was trying to hide her insecurity behind authority, just as she did in Elysium when he teased her.
They left the store in record time. Lohan walked with a smirk, watching Isabella adjust her hat with jerky movements.
"Tbh, Lisa... if we keep this up, we’ll finish buying the entire mall before lunch." Lohan joked.
Isabella didn’t respond, she just walked a little faster toward the central food court.
The Aetheris Prime had a gigantic atrium, where natural trees from other planets had been transplanted to purify the air and create an environment that mimicked real forests.
They decided to stop at a high-end café to grab a quick bite. Lohan felt his body’s hunger subtly awaken as he took in the pleasant aroma of the food here, even though he didn’t really need to eat that much.
As they waited for their order at a corner table, surrounded by ornamental plants that filtered the sunlight, the atmosphere felt calm.
Despite being in a "safe and controlled" place, Lohan still used Instinctive Perception from time to time to monitor the flow of people, staying relaxed but alert.
Suddenly, a few meters away, a group of boys their age entered the food court.
Among them, a boy with perfectly combed blond hair and a tailored gray suit stopped abruptly.
He couldn’t see the face of the girl sitting with the unfamiliar boy in blue, but Isabella Vance’s vibrant red hair, illuminated by the sun streaming through the glass dome, was a signature he would recognize anywhere in the solar system.
The boy narrowed his eyes, confusion giving way to suspicion.
"Wait... is that Isabella?" he muttered to himself, starting to walk toward their table.
Lohan also noticed the boy’s change of direction and his gaze fixed on Lisa.
He took one last sip of the delicious coffee and looked at Isabella, who hadn’t yet noticed him approaching.
"It looks like your cover as an anonymous redhead has just hit a snag, Bella." Lohan said in a low voice, with a slightly playful tone, his left hand resting discreetly on the table.