Amphoreus, Okhema, Castorice's home.
"W... Welcome. I, I don't usually tidy up much... P-Please excuse the mess."
Feeling the person standing behind her, Castorice pushed open the door and stepped into her room, feeling exceptionally nervous.
Anyone would feel nervous when a friend visited their home for the first time, wouldn't they?
Let alone...
Castorice stole a glance at Sister Lumina, and the nervousness she felt as a result grew even stronger.
"Is my room clean? Did I tidy up? There shouldn't be any other smells, right?"
After entering the room, Castorice hurriedly looked left and right to observe the environment, her small nose sniffing the air in the room. Although she found no messy or terrible spots, nor did she smell any strange odors, she still couldn't relax at all.
Castorice wasn't a fastidious person. Although she would feel a bit nervous when a friend came to her home, it would never be this intense.
She could normally calm herself down with just a little effort.
But this time was different... because, because Sister Lumina was here.
Sister Lumina's presence, her visit, left Castorice's heart unable to find peace for a long time.
She was afraid that some behavior in her room might be seen by Sister Lumina, and that she might feel a hint of disgust...
Although, although Castorice knew Sister Lumina wasn't the kind of person who would feel disgust toward her, and she couldn't even imagine Sister Lumina looking disgusted, she was still incredibly worried, incredibly scared.
Because she cared, she was afraid.
Because it was special, she was nervous.
Without letting herself think any more, Castorice hurriedly suppressed the emotions in her heart. Although she couldn't completely suppress the feelings she had for Sister Lumina, it was enough.
The door to Castorice's room wasn't a large one, but a small door that only allowed a single person to pass through.
Therefore, Castorice stepped aside, fulfilling her duty as a host, and stood by the door inside the room, raising her hand to gesture for everyone to enter.
After everyone entered, Castorice hesitated for a moment before finally closing the door.
For a time, the room fell exceptionally quiet, with only the soft breathing of the beautiful young women remaining.
The room, already filled with a mysterious fragrance, became even more pleasant at this moment.
Sharing a room with several beautiful young women was undoubtedly paradise.
At least for Lumina, it was.
The moment she stepped into the room, Lumina's mood became extremely lively.
And this liveliness continued to intensify as Castorice closed the door...
But Lumina's disguise was perfect. Only Herta sensed something was slightly off, giving her a suspicious glance before her expression turned to one of speechless exasperation.
No one else noticed Lumina's expression.
Not even Castorice, who was keeping a close eye on her Sister Lumina as she moved to the group's side, acting as their "attendant" for the visit.
She was terrified that Sister Lumina might show any displeasure or negative emotion toward her room, so she had been watching her intently ever since they entered.
After watching for a while and seeing no displeasure or negative emotion on Sister Lumina's face, Castorice breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness... Thank goodness Sister Lumina didn't mind anything."
"Thank goodness my living habits... aren't so unseemly."
Looking at the clean and tidy environment of her own living space, a small sense of relief welled up in Castorice's heart.
If her living habits had been unseemly, with all sorts of things strewn and thrown about, and her room in a total mess... if Sister Lumina had seen that, Castorice would truly have wanted to quickly dig a tunnel and crawl into it...
Fortunately, there were no "ifs." Her living habits were good, and nothing unseemly had appeared in front of Sister Lumina.
At this thought, a faint smile once again bloomed on Castorice's face.
But quickly, recalling the purpose of this trip back home, the faint smile on Castorice's face completely disappeared in an instant.
Going from "hee hee" to "not hee hee" took only a short second.
Fortunately, only Lumina and Herta noticed her in this state.
Lumina was so captivated by Castorice's adorable posture that she said nothing.
Herta, on the other hand, didn't mind at all.
"Lady Cipher, please... please wait a moment."
Although this was a "not hee hee" matter, Castorice would neither regret it nor resist.
Though it hurt her heart and her wallet, as long as she could find the [Death] Titan, become the [Death] Demigod, solve Miss Stelle's problem, and earn Sister Lumina's praise, it would all be worth it.
Even if, in the end, none of these goals were achieved... No, no, they would definitely all be achieved.
Clap, clap, clap—
Castorice reached out with both hands and gently patted her own cheeks, as if cheering herself on.
"Heh heh heh, Princess Homebody, your behavior is quite cute." Cipher hadn't noticed Castorice's earlier posture, but now that her posture was so obvious, it was hard for Cipher not to notice.
Turning sideways, she crossed her arms and teased gently.
"Ugh..." Hearing this, Castorice's small face instantly flushed red.
Then she hurriedly ran to a certain spot in the room, giving Lumina and the others no chance to speak.
Looking at Castorice's back as she ran away in embarrassment, a smile immediately appeared on Lumina's face.
It was a smile like a pervert's, but when this smile appeared on Lumina's face, it wouldn't cause any psychological or physical discomfort. Instead, it felt exceptionally pleasant.
There is a saying: If you smile lewdly, it's a problem with your appearance.
If you are exceptionally, exceptionally beautiful, then the word "lewd" has absolutely nothing to do with you.
Lumina was exactly like this right now, because she was beautiful.
Therefore, some behaviors that would be offensive if done by an outsider could all be categorized as "kind gestures" when she did them.
Being beautiful is justice. This phrase was an eternally popular topic on the Cosmic Forum.
-
"Um... this, this, and this. Let's put everything in front of Lady Cipher."
After a while, Castorice, who had fled in a hurry, finally returned to her normal state.
She began to take out all the valuables in her home, preparing to let Cipher choose eighty percent of them, keeping only the remaining twenty percent for herself.
Because the valuables in Castorice's home were not all stored in one place, she had to make several trips.
She would go to a certain spot, take out all the valuables there, and then return to Cipher, placing them in front of her for her to choose from.
Immediately afterward, she would continue to other places, bringing the valuables from those spots to Cipher.
After repeating this several times, Castorice came to her own desk.
Without much hesitation, Castorice pulled open the drawer of the desk.
"Huh? When did I put this in here?"
Looking at the book in the cabinet, Castorice scratched her head in confusion.
But she didn't think much of it, took it out, and casually placed it on the desk.
She took out all the valuables in the drawer, then returned to Cipher and gently set them down.
After completing this step, Castorice stopped moving.
"L-Lady Cipher, this... this is the wealth I've accumulated over the years."
With her hands clasped in front of her waist, Castorice spoke softly.
Then, before Cipher could say a word, Castorice took out a stone tablet. "Lady Cipher, let's add each other as friends. I'll send you my online savings too."
Castorice had many valuables, and these items already accounted for half of her wealth.
The other half consisted of cash and online funds.
"..." Hearing Castorice's words, Cipher didn't respond. Instead, she stared at the mountain of valuables piled before her.
Gulp...
Cipher swallowed hard, then waved her hand after a moment.
She said very generously, "No, that's not necessary. I'll just take these."
"You can keep the rest."
Cipher was stunned. She had underestimated Castorice's financial power.
This mountain of wealth alone could probably buy dozens of houses within Okhema...
The shock of this scene was likely second only to Aglaea's "Treasury."
Cipher could only say, As expected of a Chrysos Heir who has lived through ages? Truly breathtaking.
Well, of course, even though it was second only to Aglaea's "Treasury," the gap was still quite large if you compared the two.
"Huh? Oh, oh." Hearing Cipher's words, Castorice froze for a moment. A while later, she let out an obedient "Oh" and nodded. "Um... thank you, Lady Cipher."
Although she didn't know why Lady Cipher had suddenly changed her mind, it wasn't a bad thing after all.
So Castorice also said a word of thanks.
Immediately after, she asked, "Lady Cipher, when can we head to Styxia?"
Time passed minute by minute. Even if she herself could wait, could Stelle wait?
This kind of matter had to be completed against the clock.
And then there was the fifteen dawns. Who knew if Stelle's body would have some problem during the final few dawns?
The fact that you still had fifteen days to live didn't mean you could play vigorously for fifteen days.
Perhaps you'd play for five days, your symptoms would worsen, you'd spend the remaining ten days lying in bed, and then when the time after the fifteenth day arrived, you'd pass away in pain...
Castorice didn't dare gamble, nor did she want Stelle to suffer and feel distressed because of this.
This kind of matter, the earlier it could be completed, the better.
"Ah, heading to Styxia." Hearing this, Cipher's movements of placing these precious items that originally belonged to Castorice into her own bag did not stop.
After mumbling for a moment, she said, "After I finish packing these things, we can leave at any time."
Cipher originally wanted to wait one or two days before going.
But well, who told Castorice to give so much?
Plans never keep up with changes, so before the change arrives, one should timely adjust the plan.
In consideration of this much money, as long as Castorice gave the order, Cipher would take them all to Styxia on the spot.
"Mm-hmm, Sister Lumina, we'll be leaving later... Eh?" Hearing this, Castorice nodded, then turned her head wanting to ask for Sister Lumina's opinion.
As a result, she did not see Sister Lumina's figure.
"Mimi~ That guy is over there!" Noticing Castorice's confusion, Mem pointed a small hand behind Castorice's back.
Seeing this, Castorice turned around to look.
Lumina was currently standing in front of the desk, holding a book that Castorice had previously taken out of a drawer and placed on the table. She was lowering her head, constantly flipping through the pages, reading the content of the book with great relish.
"Sister Lumina?"
Seeing this scene, Castorice was slightly stunned, feeling a bit puzzled.
What kind of book could make someone as amazing as Sister Lumina show such an engrossed expression?
Wait—!
This book, it seems to be...
With a "swish" of the air, Castorice instantly transformed into a gust of wind, and in just the blink of an eye, she appeared beside Lumina and snatched the book from her hands.
She hugged the book tightly to her chest, her head lowered, her face completely flushed, not daring to look up at Lumina at all, much less say anything about it.
This book... this book.
It was a "little story" about herself and Sister Lumina, which she had written earlier in a moment of impulsiveness...
In this, this section of the story, she, she and Sister Lumina are... "lovers"...
Although the names of the two parties were different, the actions and identities were all, all very similar...
As long as one was familiar with them, they would basically be able to tell at a glance who the original models were.
And, and this book was also a, a... a bit of a lewd book.
Castorice felt like she was going to faint.
Why did she forget something so important, why did she let this book be, be seen by Sister Lumina...
If anyone else had seen it, that would be fine, Castorice could just blush and make an excuse.
But why, why did Sister Lumina have to see it!
Writing a little smutty story about herself and Sister Lumina, then having the actual person see it, why would such a thing happen in real life!
Now, now Castorice really wanted to dig a hole and stick her head inside...
"It's written very well, Little Sister Castorice." With the book snatched away by Castorice, Lumina's face showed no sign of displeasure.
She smiled gently, praising Castorice.
Lumina seemed to be completely unaffected by the contents of the book, her expression still so warm and gentle.
She looked at the contents of the book, yet still praised Castorice.
In this state, she seemed, perhaps, to have not discovered who the original models for the protagonists in the book were?
Hearing this, and seeing that Sister Lumina had no intention of blaming or questioning her, Castorice couldn't help but lift her small head. Looking at Lumina's gentle smile, her little heart beat rapidly, "thump, thump."
"Alright, let's go, let's head to Styxia."
Lumina reached out and rubbed Castorice's small head, then, after a gentle smile, returned to the side of the others as if nothing had happened.
Leaving Castorice alone, clutching the book tightly, staring blankly at Lumina's back.
After a moment, she hurriedly shook her head, her face flushed, and put the book in her arms back into the drawer before quickly catching up.
Whether Sister Lumina had discovered it or not, Castorice... could only pretend everything was normal.
Sister Lumina didn't say anything, didn't ask anything, so Castorice could pretend she knew nothing.
So, was Sister Lumina taking her feelings into consideration?
In her mind, Castorice immediately began to imagine a whole scenario.
Sister Lumina...
The admiration and a certain special feeling for her in her heart grew even more intense.