He spoke slowly, detailing every event.
And Himeko just listened quietly, her expression unchanging, save for her blood-red eyes which rippled with an imperceptible wave whenever she heard Kiana's name.
When Aiden finished his story, a long silence fell over the room.
After a long while, Himeko sighed softly. Her voice carried a trace of gratification, a touch of relief, and an unnoticeable hint of exhaustion.
"Is that so... that child ended up shouldering far too much, after all."
Her voice was very light, like a passing breeze.
But soon, she shook her head, sweeping away that faint sorrow, replacing it with a relieved, free-spirited ease.
"Although it wasn't perfect, Kiana and the others have already done very well."
She smiled. That smile shed the danger and wickedness of the Blood Rose, reverting back to the hearty, warm smile belonging to the Murata Himeko that Aiden was familiar with.
"My part in that world's story is over, and I'm quite satisfied with my ending." She looked at her hands, as if recalling something. "To be able to save my most cherished student in the final moments of my life, to teach her one last lesson, to open the path to her future... I am already very content."
She looked up at Aiden, her blood-red eyes flashing with unprecedented brilliance.
"Besides, I no longer need to worry about the affairs of that world. Now, it's time for me to begin my... new life here."
She accepted her transformation into a Spirit with exceptional speed. For someone who had already died once, to be resurrected in another form and become the world's favored child, a "Spirit," what was there to complain about?
If she really had any regrets...
It was probably that she had never managed to find a proper partner before she died.
Thinking of this, the look Himeko gave Aiden suddenly turned somewhat playful.
When the system summoned her to this world, it also instilled a vast amount of necessary information into her soul. This included the fact that her former world was nothing more than a game called "Honkai Impact 3rd" to Aiden.
But she didn't obsess over it or agonizingly ponder the philosophical questions of reality versus illusion, or existence versus non-existence.
To her, everything she had experienced, the emotions she had given, the students she had protected, and the magnificent burning of her life at the very end—all of it was absolutely real.
And the man before her was still the familiar "Air-Splitting Janitor" who used to run around frantically on the bridge of the Hyperion, occasionally teased by her until his face turned bright red.
That was enough.
The next moment, Himeko stood up.
Stepping in those aggressive high-heeled boots, she slowly walked up to Aiden step by step. The distance between them closed until only a breath's space remained. Aiden could even smell her unique scent—a mix of faint wine aroma and gunpowder—radiating from her.
Then, she reached out her hand.
It was a slender yet strong hand, wearing a black lace glove.
With a touch of icy coolness, her index finger gently hooked under Aiden's chin, forcing him to look up and meet her eyes.
"Aiden," her voice turned incredibly deep and husky in that instant, full of fatal magnetism and temptation.
She leaned forward slightly, her blood-red hair cascading down like a waterfall. A few strands even lightly brushed against Aiden's cheek, bringing a tingling itch.
She brought her breathtakingly beautiful face right in front of his, the distance so close that he could clearly see her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
"I remember... you seemed to really like this outfit of mine, right?"
Her breath was like orchids, the warm air puffing against his face, making him feel as if his cheeks, and the blood throughout his entire body, had boiled over in an instant.
"Since we've both arrived in this brand-new world..."
Her gaze wandered unscrupulously over his face before finally landing on his lips.
"...and there's no annoying Honkai here either."
Her lips slowly curled into a devastatingly aggressive and provocative smile.
"So... do you want to have... an adult romance with me?"
Himeko's voice was like velvet soaked in wine—husky, mellow, and laced with a fatal danger.
The warm breath, mixed with gunpowder and wine, brushed over Aiden's cheek, making the blood in his veins feel as if it ignited all at once.
He opened his mouth, about to say something.
But Himeko, dressed in her Blood Rose attire, clearly wasn't going to give him the chance.
Her offensiveness, much like her highly aggressive outfit, was domineering and direct.
A split second before Aiden could speak, a teasing smile flashed in her narrow, soul-piercing blood-red eyes. Leaning forward, she unhesitatingly closed the already precarious gap between them.
Then, using her lips—those soft, warm lips painted with faint burgundy lipstick—she accurately and ruthlessly sealed all the words Aiden was about to say.
In that instant, Aiden's mind went completely blank.
This feeling was starkly different from Robin's feather-light, gentle kisses.
Himeko's kiss, just like the woman herself, was full of possessiveness. Her lips weren't particularly soft, but they were like a roaring fire that instantly incinerated all his reason and ability to think.
There was not a shred of tenderness or lingering affection; it was pure, adult dominance brimming with predatory intent.
She tilted her head slightly, deepening the kiss, forcing him to passively endure this sudden, scorching declaration.
And as coincidence would have it, just as the atmosphere in the room was stirred into a passionate ambiguity by this sudden kiss—
Click.
A soft sound echoed as the doorknob turned, and the door was pushed open a crack from the outside.
"Aiden, the summoning should be over, right? I brought you some—"
Robin's angelic, gentle voice abruptly cut off the moment she saw the scene inside the room.
Her hand, holding a cup of hot milk, froze in mid-air.
In her line of sight, an incredibly impactful image was being presented to her, entirely unfiltered and in high definition.
Her boyfriend, Aiden, was currently pinned in place and being deeply, assertively kissed by a red-haired woman she had never seen before—one with a figure so explosive it should be illegal.
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