"Sister Lumina, thank you for your help with my teacher... I mean, Tribbie and the others."
Upon arriving at Tribbie and the others' residence, everyone immediately spotted Aglaea, who stood conspicuously before the doorway.
She seemed to have been waiting for a long time. Seeing everyone's arrival, she approached Lumina, a faint smile on her lips, and pressed her palm forward in a sincere and earnest gesture of thanks.
"No need for thanks, Little Sister Aglaea." Lumina also wore a smile like Aglaea's, gesturing for her to dispense with the thanks.
"Tribbie and the others are my friends. No matter the reason, I would never stand by and watch my friends get into trouble."
In this situation, if there were fewer people around, Lumina wouldn't have spoken so politely.
If only she and Aglaea were present, or if Herta, Castorice, and Hyacine were the only others there, Lumina would have repeated the words she had previously said to Castorice.
What kind of words?
Of course, it was this sentence: "To say thank you, you have to show your belly!"
A thank you without showing your belly, can that even be called a thank you?
If you don't even show your belly, is this thank you of yours truly sincere?
What's the difference between a thank you without showing your belly, and a perfunctory thank you?
When saying thank you, you must show your belly!
Of course,
I am an exception.
Lumina silently added a sentence in her heart.
Lumina wanted other beautiful girls to show their bellies when saying thank you, but as for her own thank you, Lumina felt that sincerity in her heart was enough.
As for the issue of double standards, this was indeed a huge problem.
Lumina hated people who held double standards.
But if,
If the person with double standards was herself, then it was fine~
It couldn't be helped, even if she knew she had double standards, Lumina wouldn't hate herself.
After all...
Lumina herself was a super beautiful girl, you know.
And for beautiful girls, Lumina had endless tolerance.
Double standards appearing on a beautiful girl, can that even be called double standards?
This was called having a personality, having one's own ideas!
This statement applied to all beautiful girls, and as a beautiful girl herself, Lumina was naturally one of them.
Lumina hated double standards, but she did not hate, and in fact, liked a beautiful girl's double standards.
Oh no, Lumina meant, she liked beautiful girls to have their own ideas, and their own unique "personality"...
This was what Lumina was thinking in her heart.
She asked the beautiful girls to show their bellies when saying thank you, but she did not force them to show them.
They were all doing it voluntarily.
They were too embarrassed to "refuse," but Lumina had the nerve to "refuse."
Lumina did not want to do the act of showing her belly when saying thank you, so, as long as a beautiful girl was unwilling, as long as a beautiful girl "refused," Lumina would not say much more.
Um... the prerequisite was that they could actually "refuse."
"Mm, I understand."
Lumina thought so much in her mind, but it did not take much time at all.
It was just the short interval of time as her voice fell and was heard by others.
Hearing Lumina's words, Aglaea did not know what Lumina was thinking in her heart, so she nodded her head and did not say anything more to thank Lumina.
Lumina was not the kind of person who, if she said, "Don't thank me," you would actually not thank her. As Aglaea got along with her, she also gradually felt more at ease and relieved.
She just had to do what Lumina said, and not do the opposite of what she said.
This way she should not provoke Lumina to get angry and make her unhappy.
Although this also would not be able to win her favor, Aglaea felt that this was enough.
Her own humanity was gradually fading, and Aglaea had already forgotten some thoughts that were unique to the interaction between people.
Although after "sleeping for a while," her spirit was much better, and her broken, missing humanity was gradually returning to her soul.
But this was all just Aglaea feeling it herself, it had no meaning.
Against a walking disaster in human form like Sister Lumina, Aglaea felt it was still better not to do some unnecessary actions on her own.
As for the things that happened between Castorice, Hyacine, and others and Lumina, as long as it was something that happened on Okhema, Aglaea knew all about it.
With Sister Lumina's strength, Aglaea knew all too well that if Lumina wished, she could prevent Aglaea from seeing their actions through the golden threads.
But Sister Lumina had not done so, hmm... at least not most of the time.
Was she doing this to show goodwill?
Regarding this, Aglaea would not say anything.
As long as it did not affect the Flame-Chasing Journey, it did not matter.
Without thinking any further, Aglaea stepped aside to make a path and gestured to Lumina: "Sister Lumina, please take Tribbie and the others back to their room to rest well first."
"Mm." Lumina nodded with a smile, and at Aglaea's gesture, she entered Tribbie and the others' room.
Inside the room, after Lumina settled Tribbie and the other two, she did not stay any longer and came out.
After a brief conversation, Aglaea left the place with Phainon, Stelle, and Dan Heng.
From Aglaea's slightly solemn expression, it could be seen that they had some important matters to discuss.
With the departure of the four and the completion of settling Tribbie and the other two, only Lumina, Herta, Castorice, and Hyacine remained on the scene.
Hmm... This is simply a godsend opportunity.
Realizing this, Lumina's heart immediately raced with excitement.
Everyone, expose your bellies and say thank you!
In her mind, Lumina couldn't stop her imagination from running wild again.
No... It wasn't a fantasy. I've already said it before.
What's about to happen cannot be called a fantasy.
"Ahem."
Although Lumina's thoughts were churning endlessly, her surface expression revealed no flaws whatsoever.
Thanks to Lumina's superb acting skills and strong psychological fortitude, Castorice and Hyacine had never been able to read any emotion on Lumina's face.
But Herta saw it. She was familiar with Lumina. Even though Lumina showed no flaws, Herta could still tell she was definitely thinking about something... well, something that would make her extremely excited.
To keep her from dwelling on it, Herta hastily cleared her throat, forcibly pulling Lumina's thoughts from her fantasy back to reality.
"Hmm?" Herta's cough was very light, but to Lumina's ears, it sounded like a thunderclap striking the earth, grand and loud, instantly wiping the scene clean from her mind.
"Hmph."
Glaning resentfully at Herta and simply expressing her displeasure, Lumina then turned her gaze toward Hyacine and Castorice.
"Sister Castorice, Hyie, is there anywhere you would like to go?"
How could reality ever compare to the scenes Lumina had imagined in her mind?
Since Herta had completely wiped that mental image clean, she might as well start developing the real-life version.
After all, in Lumina's eyes, that picture was already a done deal, something she held firmly in the palm of her hand.
Even if Herta kept trying to interfere...
She's just Little Herta. No matter how much she gets in the way, what is destined to happen will definitely happen.
Thinking this, Lumina's mood improved greatly.
Her face full of tenderness, she looked at Hyacine and Castorice, waiting for their reply.
"..."
Hearing Lumina's words, Hyacine and Castorice first exchanged a glance, then returned their gaze to her.
Shaking their heads, they said softly, "There isn't anywhere particular we want to go."
The two spoke almost in perfect unison.
Lumina wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Her eyes twinkled, and Lumina made a small suggestion with a gentle smile: "Then... how about coming to my room?"
"Huh?"
Hearing this, both Castorice and Hyacine's pupils suddenly constricted, as if they had heard something truly shocking.
And indeed, these words were truly shocking.
"Heh heh heh." Seeing their reaction, the smile on Lumina's face grew even deeper.
She continued, "Do you want to hear about the Outer World, hear about... my time in the Cosmos?"
At these words, Castorice and Hyacine both held their breath. Though Lumina's tone contained no explicit temptation, her words were utterly alluring, instantly stirring an itch of curiosity in their hearts.
Curiosity! Curiosity!
This thought surfaced in both Castorice's and Hyacine's minds.
"Alright, since you're curious, let's go then."
"We have plenty of time. Even if we walk slowly and tell the stories slowly, we can still finish them all, you know?"
Although Castorice and Hyacine said nothing, Lumina understood their thoughts perfectly from the emotions they displayed.
Lumina smiled and extended her hand to each of them.
"Uh..." Seeing this, Hyacine blanked for a moment, then hurriedly said: "Lumie, Castie's..."
"It's fine. How could I possibly be affected by [Death]?" Before Hyacine could finish, Lumina interrupted her.
Lumina naturally took Castorice's small hand, waved it in front of Hyacine's eyes, and blinked suggestively.
"Mm..." Hearing Lumina's words, Hyacine finally snapped out of it, and several blushes instantly appeared on her face, making her look a little cuter.
Of course, with Lumie's strength and Medical Arts, how could she possibly be affected by Castie's curse?
After realizing this, Hyacine felt shy, but she also felt immensely happy for Castorice.
Hyacine saw Castorice's situation clearly.
She was always deeply pained by it. Now that there was someone who could break this curse and touch her, as a friend, Hyacine was truly happy for Castorice.
"Hyie?"
"Ah? Oh, right."
Seeing Hyacine lost in her thoughts, Lumina called her name softly to bring her back.
Hearing her voice, Hyacine stopped dwelling on her thoughts and nodded.
Looking at the small hand held out before her, Hyacine hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it.
And so, Lumina held Castorice with her left hand and Hyacine with her right.
Herta: ...
Um...
And Herta was still standing behind them...
Marvelous, marvelous, truly marvelous.
Herta, who hadn't said a word the entire time, took everything in and couldn't help but applaud in her mind, giving this scene the highest praise.
"Um... Sister Lumina."
Although Herta said nothing, her gaze was far too sharp.
Both Hyacine and Castorice felt a faint sense of unease.
Hyacine was doing a bit better; she only saw Lumina and Herta as a pair of very close best friends, and it was only their certain behaviors that made her see them as a couple.
But most of the time, she still saw them as just a pair of best friends.
Castorice, however, was not like this; she had always believed that Sister Lumina and Big Sister Herta were a couple.
Therefore, when she engaged in such behavior with Sister Lumina in front of Big Sister Herta, Castorice felt extremely tormented.
With the added weight of embarrassment and a wave of guilt, Castorice couldn't bear it any longer.
She quickly spoke up, wanting to free herself from Sister Lumina's hold.
Big Sister Herta was Sister Lumina's... um, partner, and she couldn't occupy a place that belonged exclusively to her.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Lumina naturally felt Herta's gaze from behind.
Um... actually, it would be difficult for Lumina not to feel it.
After all, Lumina knew perfectly well that this gaze from Herta was directed entirely at her.
It was just so intense that Hyacine and Castorice got caught in the crossfire.
"Sister Lumina, I'm still... still..." Castorice lowered her head, trying to pull her little hand out of Lumina's.
But after pulling several times, she still couldn't free her hand from Sister Lumina's grasp.
"Haa..."
Castorice took a deep breath and said to Lumina, "Sister Lumina, you can't ignore Big Sister Herta's feelings!"
Castorice's voice was powerful and clear, reaching the ears of everyone present.
Hyacine: ?
A question mark practically appeared over Hyacine's head at Castorice's words.
But after a moment's thought, Hyacine immediately understood what Castorice meant.
Right, Hertie was a guest too.
If she and Castie each occupied one of Lumie's hands, what about Hertie?
They couldn't just let her watch from the sidelines, could they?
And since Sister Lumina couldn't grow a third hand, either she or Castie had to step back to let Hertie hold Lumie's hand.
This was Hyacine's train of thought, which was much simpler.
Thinking this, Hyacine also tried to pull her small hand out of the one she held with Lumina, but like Castorice, she failed to do so.
"Lumie?"
Hyacine said softly, signaling Lumina to take Herta's feelings into consideration.
Lumina:...
"Hehe..."
Seeing the two of them, Lumina was a bit speechless, while Herta laughed out loud.
Lumina immediately fell into a deep reverie.
Why did it feel like these two little guys were all on Herta's side?
Shouldn't they be on her side and engage in a series of intimate behaviors with her to make Herta half dead with anger?
"Alright, you two just hold hands."
"Don't worry about me."
Herta waved her hand, not particularly minding Lumina holding the hands of two beautiful young girls.
She also said nothing to stop Lumina's behavior.
What a joke, would Lumina listen even if she spoke up?
Even if she spoke up, she wouldn't listen anyway, and it would only make her so angry it could affect her health, so was there any need to say anything?
Herta saw things very clearly.
In that case, it was better to show off her "generosity" and then make these two little guys, Hyacine and Castorice, obediently follow her words.
Then, in turn, let them help her.
Dealing with Lumina...