["It's still a seed!"]
"I already told you I'm not thinking anything funny, don't slander me."
But Nenasha didn't believe him, sure that he was contemplating something mischievous, and warned: ["Besides, let me remind you, even if it grows, it's still thorn bushes… it will be very painful, you know."]
"Cough cough!"
Herbert's mouth twitched slightly, and he said with difficulty: "…Are you talking about hugging it? Hmm, that kind of thing is nothing."
["Ha, you know what I'm talking about."]
"…Come on, give it a rest."
["Hmm hmm~ I guessed right, didn't I! This time, I won~"]
Emerging victorious in this playful banter, Nenasha smugly hummed twice, then quietly made some adjustments to the seed.
She wasn't doing anything bad.
She was doing something good!
A very big good thing!
She gave the seed a small intervention, ensuring that this little one, when grown, would meet Herbert's expectations.
—She was making sure that it emerged with a self-awareness of being female.
