Okhema, in the room.
The aftershocks of the recent scene had yet to fade, plunging the room into a deathly silence.
Two figures, faces slightly flushed, stood several meters apart. They had nothing to say to each other, their entire beings radiating awkwardness.
It was as if they had become complete strangers.
Why did something like that have to happen... Lumina bit her lip, the memory of the tingling sensation spreading through her body making her feel so flustered she thought she might burst.
Though Lumina appeared experienced in combat, she was actually the type who seemed tough but shattered at the slightest touch...
As for Herta, the warmth lingered on her palm. Her fingers repeatedly stretched outward, then curled inward, stretched outward, then curled inward again...
"Ahem, Lumina, let's just divide the bed."
"I'm a bit tired. I'm going to sleep."
Only after the last trace of warmth vanished from her palm did Herta's repetitive motion finally cease.
Glancing at Lumina, who still showed no intention of speaking, Herta knew she had to be the one to break the awkward stalemate.
I started this, so I have to end it.
So, after taking a deep breath, Herta declared she was tired and wanted to rest.
Herta was no fool, nor was she someone with low emotional intelligence.
While she usually spoke to everyone in the same tone, Lumina was different. With Lumina, Herta would patiently consider how to respond correctly.
On this awkward topic, Herta naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to let it linger.
Instead, she chose to end the conversation directly by saying she was tired.
This would smoothly resolve the situation.
"Huh? Oh, right... Then... let's divide the bed."
Just as Herta had anticipated, Lumina snapped out of her shyness upon hearing those words. She murmured a few affirmations, and the blush on her cheeks faded slightly.
Lumina didn't want to continue the previous topic either, so she went along with Herta's suggestion.
She suppressed all her inner thoughts, burying them deep within her heart.
Huuu...
Lumina took a deep breath.
In a moment, the Lumina who always wore a gentle, faint smile returned.
She stepped forward, closing the distance between herself and Herta.
She drew near, close enough for both of them to catch the scent of each other's presence.
Lumina didn't rush to speak. She leaned close to Herta and took a sniff.
A look of contentment spread across her delicate face. Then, her gaze shifted to the large, soft bed in the room. She gestured toward it and said to Herta, "Herta, this bed is really big, you know."
"I'm sure we'll sleep very comfortably tonight."
"Don't you think so?"
Lumina kept dropping hints.
Herta: ...
How could Herta possibly fail to understand Lumina's blatant hints?
She silently rolled her eyes.
From her behavior just now, it's obvious, Herta thought. She's all talk and no action. If we were really on a battlefield, she'd probably be even more cowardly than me.
Herta kept these thoughts to herself, saying nothing aloud.
She waited for Lumina's next invitation to share the bed tonight.
Sure enough, just as Herta had predicted...
The next moment, Lumina's gentle, pleasant voice, now laced with temptation, reached Herta's ears.
Even though Herta had braced herself, the sound still made her heart itch, sparking a slightly dangerous and bold idea.
Lumina, oblivious to this, smiled mischievously. "My dear Madam Herta, would you like to sleep with me tonight?"
"Would you like to sleep with me... in the same bed?"
"Don't worry, I sleep very still at night. I won't toss and turn."
After speaking, Lumina blinked and gave Herta a wink, causing the thoughts in Herta's mind to intensify.
Huu...
Feeling her body react against her will, Herta quickly activated her Path power to forcibly suppress the surging impulse.
Taking a deep breath, Herta crossed her arms and agreed directly. "Fine. We'll share the bed tonight."
Given Lumina's innocent-maiden act, if I weren't a bit of a coward myself, then...
If I were just a little bolder, judging by Lumina's reaction just now, I could devour her tonight...
Thinking about it, did Ruan Mei really not devour her back on the Xianzhou?
Was Ruan Mei not interested in her body, or did Lumina stop her at the critical moment?
Herta found herself intensely curious about this.
It was relevant to her future plans... to a crucial operation she was planning...
This plan, this vital operation, was one where Herta absolutely could not afford a single mistake.
If anything went wrong, Herta would never forgive herself.
"Uh..."
Hearing Herta's words, Lumina was momentarily speechless. Even though she had been the one to suggest it, she hadn't actually expected Herta to agree.
She found herself at a loss for words.
Based on her previous understanding of Herta, Lumina had assumed she would refuse.
But unexpectedly, she had agreed...
Not that Lumina minded—in fact, she was inwardly ecstatic.
Sleeping while holding a beautiful girl... isn't that the most perfect thing in the entire cosmos?
But because of what had happened earlier...
That moment when Herta had pinched her... it had planted a seed of...
Fear.
Ugh... No, no, no.
Sensing this fear rising in her heart, Lumina shook her head vigorously, trying to shake it away.
Me, afraid of Herta?
Afraid of little Herta?
What a joke!
How could I, Lumina, possibly be afraid of her?
I could suppress her with one hand. Why would I be scared?
After a mental storm, Lumina successfully suppressed her fear.
On the surface, she smiled faintly and nodded at Herta. "Okay. We'll share the bed tonight."
-
Splish... Splash...
Night fell over Okhema. Lumina lay in bed, listening to the sound of the shower running nearby.
Though she was scrolling through short videos on her phone, her gaze fixed on the screen, her attention was elsewhere.
Her focus kept drifting to the closed bathroom door.
To be honest...
Lumina might claim to be pure, but she wasn't that pure.
In situations like this—listening to a beautiful girl shower, the sound of running water filling her ears—an urge would rise within her.
An urge to walk over, open that closed bathroom door...
And step inside...
...to wash the girl like a mother would.
Splish...
Before long, the water in the bathroom abruptly stopped, leaving Lumina with a pang of emptiness and regret.
Huu... She took a deep breath, dispelling the hollow feeling.
Then, she shifted from lying down to sitting on the edge of the bed.
She stared at the closed bathroom door, waiting for Herta to emerge.
"..."
But time passed, and Herta still hadn't come out.
"Strange, why hasn't Herta come out yet?"
"Could something have happened to her in there?"
Puzzled, Lumina muttered to herself.
Her confusion quickly gave way to concern.
She hurriedly got up from the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom door.
Though the door completely blocked her view, preventing her from seeing anything inside, her heart began to pound faster the closer she got.
A wave of nervousness washed over her.
Huu...
Staring at the closed bathroom door, Lumina took a deep breath and raised her knuckles, about to knock.
She wanted to ask Herta if something was wrong.
But just a second before her knuckles made contact with the door, a voice from inside the bathroom stopped her mid-motion.
Hearing the words from within, Lumina's heart was flooded with a mix of tension and excitement.
"Lu... Lumina, I... I forgot my clothes. Could you... could you get them for me?"
Herta's voice sounded like that of an innocent young girl, filled with shyness and a slight tremor.
Judging by her tone and the fact that she hadn't emerged from the bathroom for so long, it must have taken her immense courage to say those words.
"Ah? Oh, right." Lumina nodded and answered.
"Wait... You... You're not right outside the door, are you?"
Inside the bathroom, Herta's completely naked body was exposed in the lingering steam. Her skin, fair with a rosy blush, resembled the finest jade, tempting one to hold it and admire it in their hands.
Hearing Lumina's clear voice from just outside the door, her already flushed face turned an even deeper shade of red.
"Uh... I... I saw you hadn't come out for a while and thought something might have happened."
"So I came to the door to check on you."
Lumina's clear, loud voice carried into the bathroom, making Herta's face burn even hotter.
Honestly, Herta was starting to regret her decision.
The decision to deliberately leave her clothes outside, wait until she finished showering, and then ask Lumina to bring them to her through a tiny crack in the door.
From their previous interactions, Herta knew Lumina was a coward.
But Herta herself was an even bigger coward...
She had overestimated her own courage.
She'd thought it would just be a tiny crack in the door, nothing to worry about.
But now, Herta regretted it immensely.
But it seemed there was no turning back now...
"Um... Herta, where are your clothes?"
"On the... the sofa. Look for them... it's... the black set..."
Herta clutched a towel to her body, one far too small to cover her sensitive areas, her only source of security at that moment. Hearing Lumina's clear voice, separated only by the door, she replied in a soft, trembling voice.
The thought that Lumina was right on the other side of the door...
The thought that she was in this state, separated from Lumina by nothing more than a thin door...
The thought that Lumina could simply push the door open and see everything... it made Herta's body go weak.
Yes.
Not only had Herta hatched this little scheme, but she hadn't even locked the door...
Her original plan had been: if Lumina burst in and saw her naked, Herta would pretend to be furious. She would then use this as leverage to force Lumina to submit and become her "good little sister."
But once again, Herta had overestimated her own willpower.
If Lumina really did burst in, Herta would probably just collapse on the floor, right?
But again, it was too late now.
Lumina was right outside. If Herta tried to lock the door now, the click of the lock would definitely be heard.
What would Lumina think of her then?
At this thought, Herta pressed her body against the door, ensuring that even if Lumina tried to push it open, she wouldn't be able to do so immediately.
"Okay, I get it. I'll go look. Herta, you just wait in there for a bit."
"Or... you could just wrap a bath towel around yourself and come out..."
Lumina's voice came again, but her last sentence trailed off, growing so quiet that Herta couldn't quite make it out.
Herta didn't pay it much mind.
"Just hurry up and go! They're on the sofa!" she urged, her heart pounding with endless embarrassment.
"Okay, okay, wait for me."
Outside the bathroom, Lumina recalled what she had just said, and her own face flushed red.
"Or... you could just wrap a bath towel around yourself and come out..."
That was what she had wanted to say.
After all, that's what Ruan Mei and March had done. They had no clothes, so they just wrapped themselves in bath towels and came right out, completely unconcerned about me seeing them.
Ruan Mei genuinely didn't care, while March was just being naive and literally had nothing else to wear.
So, a small part of Lumina hoped Herta would appear before her in the same way.
But Herta was completely different from Ruan Mei and March.
If I had said that last sentence out loud, would it have earned me Herta's disgust?
Lumina pondered this as she walked toward the sofa.
Arriving at the sofa, she scanned it briefly. It didn't take long to spot a set of clothes lying in the most conspicuous place.
Lumina picked up the clothes and headed back toward the bathroom.
As she walked, her gaze inevitably drifted to the garments in her hands.
Hmm... all black, very nice. If Herta wore this...
After a quick glance, Lumina's mind began to wander. She quickly shook her head and averted her eyes.
Reaching the bathroom door, she raised her hand and knocked.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Herta, I brought your clothes."
Creeeak—
As soon as Lumina finished speaking, the bathroom door slowly creaked open, revealing a small gap.
The door hadn't made the sound of a lock being undone, but Lumina, her mind completely preoccupied with Herta, failed to notice.
"G-Give them to me."
A fair, slender hand, still glistening with droplets of water, appeared before Lumina's eyes.
Gulp...
Lumina swallowed hard, the sound barely audible, and handed over the clothes.
Whoosh—Click.
The moment the hand touched the fabric, it snatched the clothes and retracted as if shocked by an electric current. Then came the distinct sound of the door being locked...