"Little Herta, what about you tonight...?"
After extending her "invitation" to Hyacine, Lumina's gaze fell upon Herta.
It seemed she wanted Herta to join in this grand feast as well.
"What are you trying to do?" Hearing Lumina's words, Herta snapped back to her senses instantly.
She stared at Lumina, her face full of astonishment and awe.
Her purple eyes, as bright and brilliant as amethysts, were filled with shock.
Seriously, sister, is all this not enough to satisfy you?
Still wanting me to join in... aren't you... aren't you overestimating yourself and underestimating Madam Herta a bit too much?
How could the dignified Madam Herta possibly join in your farce?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Madam Herta only wants to play Pure Love, she will resolutely refuse to play some melodramatic four-way love affair!
No no no, let alone a four-way affair, Madam Herta will resolutely refuse even a three-way love triangle.
This was her standard as a human!
People like Castorice, Polyxia, and Hyacine are no longer worthy of being called humans!
Of course, someone like Lumina is not even worthy of being considered unfit to be human.
There seemed to be five people on the field, but in reality, perhaps only Herta was human.
The other four were all not human for various reasons!
And now, as the sole "outlier" on the scene, Herta naturally became their primary target.
But it didn't matter. Madam Herta's will was so resolute that she would certainly not let them succeed.
Herta would defend the honor of being a human!
Lumina: "?"
Lumina had no idea what Herta was thinking.
Although Lumina really wanted to know, if Herta wouldn't say, even asking would be pointless.
Fortunately, from the expression Herta wore, Lumina could still glimpse a corner of her thoughts.
Hmm... With this passionate expression, like a pre-battle oath, could she be thinking about how to defeat me?
This trick, which had failed countless times before, seemed to be falling short now.
It was truly strange that Lumina still couldn't peek into a corner of her mind through the emotions Herta was displaying.
But it didn't matter.
No matter what Herta was thinking, Lumina wasn't particularly concerned.
At least not today.
The three beautiful girls, Castorice, Polyxia, and Hyacine, were already more than enough for Lumina.
Adding Little Herta would naturally be better, but missing out on her would be no problem at all.
With this thought, Lumina stopped dwelling on the point and prepared to continue from where she left off.
"Little Herta, are you still going to sleep in our room tonight?" Lumina asked Herta.
Herta: "?"
Hearing this, Herta seemed to realize something and abruptly lifted her head, meeting Lumina's gaze.
"Little Herta, how about..." Without waiting for Herta to speak, Lumina paused, then said this complete sentence: "How about you go sleep in another room tonight?"
Lumina made this small suggestion.
"Get lost!"
But this small suggestion was met with Herta's gritted-teeth refusal.
Little Lumina, Little Lumina, she had truly gone mad.
Herta hadn't even said anything, yet you're telling me, Herta, to go sleep in another room?
Reversing the natural order, are you?
Isn't that room the one Aglaea gave the two of us? When did it become your decision alone?
Squeak, squeak, squeak—
Herta was extremely angry right now, looking at Lumina with extreme displeasure, wishing she could swallow her alive right now.
"Ahaha, I was joking, just joking..." Feeling Herta's gritted-teeth expression, as if she wanted to swallow her alive, Lumina admitted she was indeed a bit scared.
She gave an awkward smile, indicating that her previous words were just a joke, and Herta didn't need to take them to heart at all.
"Hmph!" Herta crossed her arms and let out a cold snort.
Just because Lumina said it was a joke, doesn't mean Herta would believe it. Herta wasn't some naive sweetheart like Castorice, Polyxia, and Hyacine, so how could she possibly fall for Lumina's trick so easily?
But since Lumina had already said it, Herta lost the desire to continue pursuing the matter.
Of course, the main reason was that Herta knew Lumina was thick-skinned. Even if she kept pressing, there was a high probability she wouldn't get any satisfactory result.
Instead of wasting time, it was better to use this moment to think carefully about how to face the "difficult problem" tonight.
The last time, with just Castorice and Hyacine, Herta could still manage.
But tonight, with two old acquaintances and a newcomer, Polyxia, Herta didn't really know what to do.
Could it be... that she'll really have to sleep on the sofa?
Thinking of this, an image surfaced in Herta's mind: Lumina with one beautiful girl in each arm, and another beautiful girl sleeping soundly in her embrace on the bed.
And what about Madam Herta?
Madam Herta would be sleeping alone on the sofa, savoring the loneliness.
"No, no, this absolutely cannot happen." The moment this image surfaced in Herta's mind, she ruthlessly crushed it.
What difference was there between this and being an "impotent husband"?
Well... you couldn't even say there was a difference. It was practically identical!
The Impotent Husband, Amphoreus Okhema, Lily Fragrance Version.
It hurt, it hurt... A stifling feeling in her chest made Herta feel extremely uncomfortable.
No matter what, Herta had to figure out a way to deal with what was going to happen tonight.
Standing by and doing nothing was not in Herta's nature.
If it had been before, Herta might have actually stood by and done nothing.
After all, in Herta's eyes, this Little Lumina was just a "Big Talker" who only knew how to talk a big game and never took any actual action.
But since arriving in Okhema, after observing her time and time again, Herta discovered that Lumina had completely changed.
Although she still spent most of her time talking a big game, she... she also spent a small amount of time taking actual action.
For example, back in Styxia, if she hadn't been by Lumina's side, wouldn't Lumina's first kiss have been taken by Castorice?
No, this absolutely cannot happen!
Lumina's first kiss can only be hers!
Herta must fulfill the duty of a supervisor, "helping" Lumina to drive away all the bad women who dared to covet her body!
And she would continue to do so until she obtained Lumina's first kiss herself!
Well... after obtaining Lumina's first kiss, Herta could openly declare her status and completely put an end to that bad woman's foolish ideas!
However, talking about all this now was still just a fantasy.
The most urgent matter was to first survive this "dark" night...
-
Herta's mind raced with continuous thoughts.
If I, Herta, don't throw a fit, Little Lumina will really think I'm some kind of sick cat, won't she?
Once I come up with the perfect countermeasure, I'll take you down in a single night.
I'll make it so that from now on, you'll have to greet me with a sweet "Big Sister Herta."
Beneath the surging, magnificent waves, Herta immediately began to fantasize.
"Since Madam Herta didn't accept my proposal, then tonight's matter will be completed by the five of us together." Lumina's face showed no disappointment or regret; instead, the corners of her mouth curved upward, hinting at the posture of a scheme successfully executed.
If Herta agreed to this proposal, Lumina would be happy. Because then she could joyfully play with Castorice, Polyxia, and Hyacine... no, no, no, she would go with the three of them to properly complete that matter Lumina needed their help with.
If Herta refused this proposal, Lumina would also be happy.
Because this meant there were only two possibilities left.
One was that Herta would join this grand feast, and together with everyone else, go complete that matter Lumina needed to finish.
The other possibility was for Herta to watch from the sidelines as the three of them went to complete that matter Lumina needed to finish...
Although the second option did not involve participating personally in the completion of the matter, as an observer, as an observer whose presence could be sensed, her very action of doing so would, in fact, somewhat speed up the progress of the matter being completed.
Therefore, whether Herta agreed or refused, it would be completely without loss for Lumina.
Even if she didn't observe, turned her back to everyone and pretended to have seen and heard nothing, the final result would be exactly the same as the second possibility.
And the clever Madam Herta, at this moment, seemed to have failed to think of this point.
Seeing Herta's earnest expression in the midst of her deep thoughts, Lumina couldn't help but smirk to herself.
Silly Little Herta, calling herself a genius when she's being played like a fiddle in the palm of my hand!
The so-called Genius Society should hurry up and change its name to the [Fool Society].
As for what Herta was currently thinking about, Lumina had a vague idea.
She was probably trying to figure out how to disrupt the matter Lumina wanted to complete tonight.
Regarding this, Lumina could only say.
Think all you want, Little Herta, you can use your genius brain to think for a lifetime and you still won't find a solution~
The gap in power was right here, and if Lumina got angry, she would directly unleash Lumina's Divine Power, imprisoning Herta firmly in mid-air, forcing her to witness everything that was about to happen...
The kind of situation where she couldn't even close her eyes...
When that moment comes, that scene...
As she thought of this, a picture involuntarily surfaced in Lumina's mind.
She, Castorice, Polyxia, and Hyacine were happily completing this task, while Herta was imprisoned in mid-air by an unknown force, forced to watch the scene before her eyes with no way to do anything.
She could only keep swinging her little fists, creating a negligible ripple for the force imprisoning her...
Just thinking of this scene, Lumina's heart skipped a beat.
Jie jie jie—
Little Herta, give up struggling.
You were born for this fate!
All struggles are in vain, all outcomes have already been decided!
Rather than struggling desperately toward a destined end, it's better to just rot in place and accept fate.
My destiny is mine to command, not Heaven's?
That sounds great, but sorry.
Lumina is bigger than Heaven!
If you won't submit to Heaven, then so be it, as long as you submit to me, Lumina.
"Who said I was going to complete this with you?" Just as Lumina had anticipated, hearing this, Herta immediately frowned and retorted.
This indicated that Herta would absolutely never do this, even if she were beaten to death.
"Oh, fine, then you can just watch from the side." Hearing this, Lumina nodded, her expression very calm as she agreed with Herta's statement.
Herta: "?"
Seeing Lumina react so calmly, Herta blinked her small eyes, feeling somewhat surprised and confused.
What's going on?
How could Lumina be so calm?
If she's so indifferent and unbothered by this, then why did she make that previous proposal?
Since it doesn't matter whether I'm there or not, why did she want to drive me away?
In just a short moment, Herta discovered a blind spot.
She found something extremely wrong.
Could she be... simply playing with me?
Whether Herta agreed or not, for Lumina, it was still a good thing.
"..."
For a moment, Herta became somewhat silent.
Because she felt the probability of this answer being correct was extremely high.
Or rather, this was the only perfect answer to the question.
No more perfect answer could appear, nor could any other answer...
That is to say, she had been toyed with by Lumina once again!
After realizing this, the raging fire already burning in Herta's heart became even more vigorous.
"...Stupid Lumina!"
Herta wanted to curse Lumina fiercely, but after thinking for a long time, the only curse word she could come up with was "stupid."
It's not that Herta couldn't think of more vicious curse words, as she had been frantically scrolling through short videos recently, in the chaotic environment of the internet, what kind of curse words hadn't she seen?
It was simply that she felt those curse words were not worthy of Lumina, and would defile Lumina's "sanctity," so she thought left and right for a long time, and finally came up with these words.
Actually, there was another reason for this.
But Herta refused to admit it, nor did she want to admit it.
The truth was, Herta couldn't bear to let those "curse words" enter Lumina's heart and hurt her.
In other words, Herta couldn't bring herself to harm Lumina...
With these two reasons combined, she finally uttered the "curse word" known as "stupid."
This "stupid," though called a curse word,
was not much different from a young girl's coquettish huff or a spoiled plea.
The only difference was perhaps that Herta said it fiercely.
Hmm... then it couldn't be called coquettish.
It should be considered... tsundere?
"Hehehe, Little Herta, you are really cute." Herta didn't realize this, but Lumina did.
Immediately, a smile appeared on her face, her mind stirring, and she couldn't help but reach out her small hand, gently resting it on Herta's head and rubbing it wildly.
"Hmm~ Little Herta, keep it up."
Feeling the wonderful sensation from the palm of her hand, Lumina's small eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a blissful expression.
Herta: "?"
And Herta, meanwhile, typed out a question mark...