Inside the room, both Castorice and Hyacine felt a slight sense of unease.
Although visiting a friend's room to hang out was a perfectly normal thing to do, with no reason to feel awkward.
But... but coming to Lumina's room, Castorice and Hyacine were filled with unease, and their hearts were brimming with nervousness...
It must be because this is Sister Lumina's room.
Sister Lumina is so amazing, so powerful, so gentle... With all these emotions adding up, both Castorice and Hyacine regarded Lumina's room as a sacred place.
A sacred place... that an ordinary person like themselves was not worthy to step into.
When an ordinary person like themselves stepped inside, it was only natural to feel uneasy and nervous facing everything within this sacred place, right?
This was the thought in Castorice and Hyacine's hearts, and on the surface, they appeared somewhat restrained and unable to relax because of this thought.
"..."
If Herta were to hear this thought in Castorice and Hyacine's hearts, she would definitely slowly draw a big question mark.
This is your Sister Lumina's room, but isn't it also my room?
How come this room is like it only belongs to Sister Lumina alone?
If she knew their inner thoughts, Herta would definitely correct them.
But she didn't know, and she just stood there with her arms crossed, her expression calm as she waited to see what kind of big move Lumina would make next.
Just judging by Lumina's expression just now and the three beautiful girls around her, Herta was really curious about what kind of plan Lumina would use to tie everyone together.
And then solve them all at once...
Herta understood very well that when there were multiple beautiful girls present, defeating them one by one was not her style.
Unless there was some accident or other important goal or matter, Lumina would definitely choose: "I want them all."
"Ahem..."
Looking at the beautiful girls in the room and feeling the waves of fragrance beginning to spread throughout the room, Lumina suppressed the extremely active thoughts in her heart.
She coughed first, and then dropped a bombshell: "Let's take off our clothes first."
Herta, Castorice, Hyacine: ???
Lumina's gentle and melodious voice fell, continuously echoing in the room and reaching the ears of the three beautiful girls, leaving them all stunned and unable to recover from her words for a long time.
Among the three beautiful girls, Herta, who had the strongest psychological fortitude, was the first to regain her composure.
"What is this guy thinking?"
She looked at Lumina with a face full of suspicion, seeing no hint of a joke in her expression, and muttered to herself internally.
If it were any other time, if only she and Lumina were alone in the room, Herta might have half-reluctantly agreed to take off her clothes after Lumina's words.
After all, "we" naturally included Lumina as well.
Herta would definitely never agree to take off her clothes alone.
But if both of them took off their clothes, Herta would only think that she wouldn't lose out anyway...
But things were different now. It wasn't just her and Lumina present.
The two little ones, Castorice and Hyacine, were also... and "we" naturally included them as well.
Um...
Could Lumina actually be wanting to play...
No, no, absolutely not.
Herta would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen!
What kind of joke is this, Lumina actually wants to...?
When did she become so... so fond of seeking thrills?
Herta's mind raced, desperately trying to find a solution.
No matter what, if Lumina really wanted to..., Herta would absolutely never allow it, she would absolutely stop her.
"S... Sister Lumina, what... what do you mean by this?"
Not only was Herta unable to do such a thing, but Castorice and Hyacine also found it impossible to comply.
Taking off clothes... it... it wouldn't be right, would it?
A... Although everyone was a girl, to take off all their clothes in one room together was still... still a bit, a bit hard to do.
As they thought, Castorice and Hyacine's faces turned unusually flushed.
Perhaps their minds were imagining something.
"Hmm..." Seeing the expressions on the faces of Herta, Castorice, and Hyacine, a smile of a successful scheme instantly hooked Lumina's lips.
But she quickly hid it.
And then she feigned confusion, asking back, "What... what are you thinking about?"
"Isn't bathing in the hot spring a tradition of your Amphoreus?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Lumina's words, both Castorice and Hyacine froze.
Then they asked cautiously, "If it's for bathing... we probably shouldn't take off everything, right?"
"How could you possibly take off everything?" Lumina, on the other hand, looked puzzled by their words.
She tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion.
It seemed she had never even considered it in that direction from the start.
"Are you two..." Lumina glanced suspiciously at Castorice, then at Hyacine, asking doubtfully, "Could it be that you are the ones who want to take off everything?"
"Hmm..." Lumina fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
Before she had even finished thinking, and before Castorice and Hyacine could deny it, Lumina reached a conclusion.
Like a supportive older sister, she spoke gently to Castorice and Hyacine, "If you want to take off everything, then go ahead."
"I won't mind."
"But..." At this point, Lumina suddenly seemed a bit "embarrassed," "I'm not from Amphoreus, not an Okheman. I'm still a bit conservative about my body."
"Regardless of whether you two take off everything or not, I will definitely keep one piece of clothing on while bathing."
At this moment, Lumina had somehow become the "victim," while Castorice and Hyacine were the "perpetrators."
"No, no, no, we... we didn't mean it like that."
Misunderstood by Lumina, Castorice and Hyacine immediately became anxious.
They waved their hands hastily in denial.
"Okhemans actually don't have this tradition either. Bathing is only for relaxation, and in public baths, everyone wears swimsuits or something similar."
"I see..." Lumina murmured, then nodded, looking at Castorice and Hyacine with a serious expression and saying solemnly, "Don't worry, Castorice, Hyie. Everyone has their own little hobbies."
"As long as this little hobby doesn't disturb others, and as long as this little hobby is allowed by others, then there's no problem at all."
"I will respect it!"
Lumina "seemed" to have "misunderstood" something again.
Castorice, Hyacine: ?
Faced with this beautiful "misunderstanding" by Lumina, the two of them couldn't react immediately, first being stunned for a while.
Then, with faces full of anxiety, they hurried to explain: "Sister Lumina (Lumie), you've misunderstood!"
"We don't have that kind of hobby!"
"We don't have a hobby of stripping completely naked in public baths!"
"And we don't have a hobby of liking to expose ourselves either!!!"
Their voices were loud and unanimous, conveying a great deal of anxiety.
They were worried about being misunderstood, but they were even more worried about being misunderstood by Lumina.
After all, this kind of hobby... no, this kind of thing wasn't a hobby at all, it was outright perverted behavior!
Being seen as perverts by Sister Lumina (Lumie) was absolutely unacceptable.
This made the two of them even more anxious than being seen as perverts by Lady Aglaea.
"Huh?" Lumina's small eyes widened, and then she also realized her mistake, hurriedly apologizing: "Sorry, sorry, I misunderstood you."
After saying this, Lumina scratched her head in embarrassment.
A hint of an embarrassed blush appeared on her fair, delicate face.
"Mm..."
This unprecedented sight instantly made Castorice and Hyacine catch their breath, freezing in place.
So beautiful... so cute.
Really so beautiful, really so cute.
A blushing Sister Lumina was truly super cute... It instantly gave Castorice and Hyacine a suffocating sensation, as if their hearts had stopped.
Um... this so-called suffocating sensation meant they were about to be killed by Sister Lumina's beauty.
"An apology requires showing your stomach, my dear Miss Lumina."
Just as the three of them were each lost in their own thoughts, a sudden voice rang out clearly and loudly in everyone's ears.
The sound of this voice instantly pulled the three of them back to reality.
Looking in the direction the voice came from, they saw the owner of the voice at a glance.
It was Herta, her arms crossed, the corners of her lips curved upward as if she were watching a good play.
Noticing the gazes cast upon her, Herta waved her hand and repeated: "An apology requires showing your stomach. If you don't show your stomach, wouldn't that mean you aren't sincere?"
"So, Miss Lumina, please lift your skirt, or take off the clothes on your body, expose your stomach, and then offer this apology seriously."
After Herta finished speaking, she even cocked an eyebrow at Castorice and Hyacine in a pointed gesture.
She was gesturing for them to quickly follow her lead and use their "beautiful girl" status to pressure Lumina into showing her stomach in apology.
"..." Lumina stared at Herta for a moment and immediately understood what she was trying to do.
But sorry, I reserve all rights of "interpretation."
If I'm unwilling, what can you even do to me?
Are you going to force me? Are you going to rush up and strip my clothes off?
If that happens, we'll just see who ends up stripping whom.
Giving Herta a faint smile, Lumina didn't immediately start acting like a rogue.
Instead, her gaze fell upon Castorice and Hyacine as she softly asked, "Castorice, Hyie, what do you two think?"
"If you need me to, I will follow Little Sister Herta's instructions for this apology."
Lumina had also figured out the personalities of Castorice and Hyacine.
Retreating to advance was the best method for dealing with their temperaments.
Just as Lumina had thought, neither Castorice nor Hyacine would ever force her to expose her stomach and apologize.
Lumina was filled with confidence, feeling utterly certain.
Castorice and Hyacine would definitely give her a response she would be very satisfied with.
As for whether the plan would fail, or what to do if it did?
Lumina felt that this wasn't a question she needed to consider right now.
Because it simply wouldn't fail, it was fundamentally impossible for it to fail, so there was no need to consider it at all.
Lumina was this resolute in her heart.
And in the next second, the answers from Castorice and Hyacine did not disappoint her.
"Sister Lumina, forget... forget it, this isn't a big deal, you don't need to apologize."
"Lumie... no need to apologize, the main issue is that we didn't express ourselves clearly enough."
Although they didn't speak in unison this time, the meaning they conveyed was still exactly the same.
After receiving this response, the smile on Lumina's face grew even more brilliant.
At the same time, she also gave Herta a provocative look.
It was as if she was saying, "Little Herta, there is no one on your side!"
Herta: ...
Understanding the meaning behind Lumina's provocative gaze, Herta immediately fell into a state of silence.
Were Castorice and Hyacine's brains not working properly?
Such a perfect opportunity to make Lumina suffer, such a perfect chance to take advantage of her and see her body, was just wasted by the two of them.
Herta felt both annoyed and regretful in her heart.
She was annoyed that Castorice and Hyacine "forgave" Lumina without any cost, and she regretted missing such a great opportunity.
She wondered if these two little ones, Hyacine and Castorice, would regret today's choice in the future...
She figured they probably would.
Hmm... But Herta felt that even if they had followed her own thoughts and made the choice to force Lumina to apologize by exposing her belly, the final result would likely not have changed.
Because Lumina would have started her "Grand Deception Technique" again.
And if this "Grand Deception Technique" failed, she would no longer hide her true intentions and directly start acting like a rogue...
Herta silently sighed in her heart and stopped thinking about this matter further.
It seems... my plan to join forces with those two little ones, Castorice and Hyacine, to deal with Lumina has met its end before it even formally began.
Once she realized this, Herta gave up on the idea of forming an "alliance" with them.
Forget an alliance; seeing how "devoted" they are to Lumina now, it would be lucky if they didn't turn around and team up with Lumina to deal with her instead...
"Hmm..."
Herta rested her chin in her hand and lowered her head, beginning to think of a new plan.
While contemplating this new plan, Herta also had to consider the possibility that all the other beautiful girls would side with Lumina.
Hmm... fine.
She couldn't think of a solution for that.
If all the beautiful girls in Amphoreus sided with Lumina and were duped by her to deal with Herta herself, then Herta shouldn't be thinking about how to control Lumina and become Lumina's big sister.
Instead, she should be thinking about a plan to prevent herself from being controlled by Lumina and becoming Lumina's little sister.
"Alright, Hyacine, Castorice, you two go change your clothes first."
"The dressing room is that one over there, it should have swimwear inside."
"Don't worry, there are several small rooms inside where you can change."
While Herta was deep in thought, Lumina pointed toward a certain room, smiling and gesturing to Hyacine and Castorice.
"Uh... um, okay."
Hearing this, Hyacine and Castorice exchanged a glance before finally nodding to Lumina.
They had originally come to Sister Lumina's room to hear a story. How did it mysteriously turn into bathing...
Although Hyacine and Castorice were somewhat confused, they ultimately agreed due to everything that had happened before.
And as they agreed and turned to walk toward the dressing room, the smile on Lumina's face deepened.
Can't accept the original price?
Then just raise the price by 50% on top of the original price, then discount that 50% increase, making the original price the discounted price. Would that make it acceptable?
It was the same logic just now.
If Lumina had directly suggested bathing, Hyacine and Castorice might have refused.
But if Lumina first said something misleading like "take off your clothes," causing the two of them to feel shocked, and then claimed she simply wanted to take a normal bath, not a "fully naked bath"...
In that way, with all the preceding actions and emotions serving as a setup, the two of them would definitely not refuse~
Of course, even if they had refused, the final outcome wouldn't have changed.
Once you've entered the wolf's den...
No, once you've entered my room, how could it be just a normal "storytelling session"?