After just a few seconds, his breathing steadied and he fell into a deep sleep?
Herta didn't believe it.
She was certain Lumina was faking it.
Just finished taking advantage of me and falling asleep the next second?
If you told me he was too tired, I might believe it. But you've spent the whole day playing games, so tell me, where's the exhaustion?
Idle all day and night, and after teasing a beautiful young girl, he falls asleep in an instant. Go ask anyone in the entire galaxy who can pull that off.
Even Intellitrons have a shutdown time, okay?
So, in Herta's eyes, Lumina's state was definitely an act.
"Hmph!"
Herta snorted coldly, braced herself with her arm, and slowly raised her upper body.
The blanket was cast aside, exposing her purple pajamas to the air. A cool breeze brushed over the fabric, caressing Herta's skin.
Her originally fair skin suddenly flushed a deep crimson at an alarming speed.
It seemed as if she would burst into flames the next second.
This state, however, was not due to her skin being exposed to the air.
Rather, it was because Herta was about to do something mischievous...
Faking sleep? Faking sleep, huh?
Fine, keep pretending to sleep then!
I'm going to start playing with you!
You'd better not wake up halfway through!
Herta reached out with her other small hand, extending it toward Lumina's cheek.
Her straight fingers drew closer and closer to Lumina's cheek, so close she could even feel a faint warmth.
"!"
But the moment her fingers touched Lumina's cheek, they instantly curled. It was as if a straight-on attack had been blocked by a solid defense.
But that wasn't the case.
Since there had been no defense at all, there was no such thing as being blocked.
It was simply that the moment Herta's fingers touched Lumina, her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively withdrew her hand.
"Haa..."
Recalling the softness and smoothness she felt when her fingers touched Lumina's cheek, Herta felt as if tens of thousands of ants were crawling across her heart, scratching it relentlessly. It was an unbearable sensation.
Unbearable? Good.
If it's unbearable, then just let it all out!
Herta took a deep breath, deciding to hesitate no longer.
This time, she wouldn't hold back. She would strike directly.
"So... so comfortable."
In just a fleeting moment, Herta's small hand touched Lumina's cheek.
"..." Lumina's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.
Fortunately, Herta, immersed in the pleasant sensation, didn't notice.
Her small hand began to gently caress Lumina's cheek.
Eyelashes, eyes, nose, and... lips and the corner of her mouth.
"Ah ha..."
Finally, Herta's fingers stopped at the corner of Lumina's mouth.
Understanding that hesitation would lead to defeat, Herta was determined not to hesitate this time.
"Mm ah..."
But before Herta could do anything, before she could carry out any action, the "sleeping" Lumina turned over, shaking Herta's small hand off her cheek and completely crushing the idea in her heart.
Just touching her face was fine, but she was planning to take it a step further?
Keep dreaming.
The "sleeping" Lumina snorted coldly.
As expected, a guy like Little Herta shouldn't be given rewards.
The moment she's given a reward, she starts taking advantage of it!
"..." Herta's small hand paused in midair. Understanding that Lumina was definitely not asleep right now, and that Lumina had taken the initiative to give her this "benefit," Herta felt both shy and extremely happy.
Look, this is my status in Lumina's heart.
No other beautiful girl has ever made Lumina do this, but I, Madam Herta, have succeeded!
Doesn't this prove my superiority?
And since I, Madam Herta, can be superior for a moment, I can definitely be superior for a lifetime!
Lumina is already in my pocket!
At this moment, Herta looked extremely excited.
At the same time, she also became extremely confident.
"Hmph."
Herta gave a soft snort, fully expressing the joy in her heart.
Looking at Lumina, who was lying on her side on the bed with her back to her, Herta resisted the urge to hug her and lay back down on the bed.
She lay on her side, facing Lumina's back.
After hesitating for a moment, Herta twisted her body, moving inch by inch, like an ant or a snail, slowly advancing toward her destination.
"J-Just here, then."
But in the end, Herta did not reach her destination.
Looking at the distance where she could already see Lumina's body under the same blanket, Herta tactfully stopped.
Herta's focus was on Lumina's back, where her own front would collide with Lumina's back. But obviously, this distance was absolutely impossible.
Based on Herta's understanding of Lumina, if she really reached this destination, then the best result awaiting her the next second would be returning to the starting point.
In that case, it was better to stop while she was ahead.
At this distance, Herta was already very satisfied.
Previously, although Herta and Lumina slept in the same bed and covered themselves with the same blanket, the distance between them was very far. Even though the blanket followed the curve of Lumina's body, the end result was still that it touched the bedsheet.
In this situation, what was the difference between this and covering themselves with two blankets?
Now, at this distance, after following the curve of Lumina's body and then being enhanced by the curve of Herta's body, it finally didn't touch the bedsheet!
Rice must be eaten bite by bite, and naturally, a relationship must also be built step by step.
One cannot cross the line, for crossing the line would bring no good fruit.
Herta lay on her side on the bed, her hands folded together as she rested her small head on them, looking at Lumina's back and the back of her head with a fair amount of affection.
"Good night, Little Lumina..."
After leaving a single sentence, Herta closed her eyes with a smile on her lips...
A little bit of progress every day, each node in every step, is a key to a beautiful future!
-
"Another day full of energy!"
"Which beautiful girl are you going to play with happily today? Castorice or Hyacine?"
Unfortunately, no plot where they fell asleep and ended up hugging each other happened.
They woke up quietly, got out of bed quietly, and everything went as in an ordinary day.
After finishing all their morning preparations, Lumina and Herta sat facing each other on the sofa, feeling the usual sunlight as they quietly browsed their phones.
A moment later, Lumina also began her usual "food hunting" session.
Although Herta found this quite frustrating, she had also gotten used to it.
This was just what Lumina was interested in, so how could she change her interests?
Of course, Herta had the desire to do so, but she completely lacked the strength to make a change.
"Hmm... how about, I leave the right to choose to you?" After thinking deeply for a moment, Lumina suddenly thought of a good idea and handed the decision to Herta, "You decide whether I go play with Castorice or Hyacine."
"Of course, Aglaea, Stelle, and the others are also fine, as long as it is you who says it, as long as it is you who chooses, that will be my next target."
"I get to choose?" Herta's eyelashes fluttered slightly, momentarily unable to figure out what Lumina was planning.
At the very least, in Herta's view, every one of Lumina's actions had its own logic; everything Lumina did was to fulfill her grand Empire of Beautiful Girls.
Herta didn't believe Lumina would hand the choice over to her for no reason.
But... but even for a genius like Herta, she couldn't think of anything that fit this situation.
Regardless, since Lumina had given the choice to her, Herta naturally wouldn't let her down.
"I choose myse..."
"You can't choose Herta~ You can only choose a beautiful girl other than Herta."
Since the rule was 'a beautiful girl', Herta wanted to choose herself so Lumina would spend the whole day by her side.
But before Herta could even finish her sentence, Lumina interrupted her.
Anticipating this outcome, Herta wasn't angry and continued, "Then I choose..."
"Beautiful girls outside of Amphoreus are also not allowed; you can only choose a beautiful girl within Okhema."
And Lumina had predicted Herta's prediction, knowing what she was going to say, and once again announced the outcome ahead of time.
Herta: "..."
This time, Herta was also at a loss.
Choosing a beautiful girl outside of Amphoreus to see if she could quickly leave this "troublesome place."
The result was obvious: not allowed.
"Then I'll choose..." Herta rested her chin on her hand, her eyes cast downward, a hint of conflict appearing on her face.
Since Lumina was letting her choose, she wouldn't be so wicked as to tell her afterward: "I only let you choose who will become my next target. But I never said I would listen to your choice and complete the goal."
Hmm... that actually seemed possible.
"I'll choose Tribbie." After a moment, without dwelling on it further, Herta gave her answer.
This answer was a bit... questionable.
Or rather, it was precisely because it was questionable that Herta chose her. Although Tribbie had the appearance of a child, she was indeed a beautiful girl.
The scope of "beautiful girl" is very broad, and lolitas are naturally included.
To put it simply, any good-looking girl can be called a beautiful girl.
And Lumina... she wouldn't resort to vicious methods against a beautiful girl who only looks like a child, right?
After giving her answer, Herta fixed her gaze on Lumina.
She wanted to know if Lumina had any morals at all.
You let me choose, so you can't just go back on it, right?
"Pick someone else." Lumina didn't go back on her word, but she calmly gestured for Herta to change her choice.
Herta: "?"
"Then Trianne."
"Pick someone else."
"Trinnon?"
"Change it again."
Herta: "..."
"Ugh, just tell me who you want me to choose."
At this point, how could Herta not understand?
What did she mean by letting her choose? It was clearly just giving her a small sense of participation, making her a part of Lumina and the beautiful girls' party...
"Huh? What does Madam Herta mean by that?" Hearing this, a small expression of pure confusion quietly crept onto Lumina's flawless face.
"Didn't I say it? The choice is yours, Madam Herta. You don't need to ask me."
"Perhaps Madam Herta was distracted just now and didn't hear clearly. Let me say it again." Lumina's voice was as gentle as flowing water as she slowly repeated her previous words: "You decide whether I go play with Castorice or Hyacine..."
Although the words were identical to what she had said before, if one listened carefully, they could hear the emphasis on the names "Castorice" and "Hyacine."
Alright, the choice was indeed given.
Choosing between Castorice and Hyacine, how could that not be considered a choice?
"Sigh, I choose Hyacine." With a soft sigh, Herta said nothing more.
Between Castorice and Hyacine, who posed a greater threat? That was undoubtedly Castorice.
Not to mention, Castorice had her sister by her side, while Hyacine was alone.
Whether to choose two or one, Herta was not foolish.
"Mhm, alright, let's go with Hyacine then." Lumina smiled faintly, nodded her head slightly, and agreed to the choice.
Look at me, what an understanding and kind older sister I am.
Asking my own sister's opinion before going out to play with beautiful girls, and even giving her the right to choose... I bet there aren't many sisters in the entire Galaxy who are as considerate as I am.
As expected of me.
Lumina praised herself narcissistically in her mind for a good while.
"..."
Herta didn't know what Lumina was thinking, but she could still tell from the lively and proud emotions she was radiating.
She must be feeling proud and touched by this act.
"Heh."
Herta was speechless, able only to offer two "hehs" in mockery.
When Herta becomes stronger in the future, when Herta pins Lumina down beneath her body, she will also give Lumina a choice.
"Front or back?"
Although this was a bit wishful thinking, a bit of a fairy tale, as a human who could create miracles, it was still okay to fantasize and rehearse in advance.
Herta firmly believed: Those who believe in miracles will themselves become a miracle.
Right now, Herta herself was a miracle, so the completion of another miracle must not be far off!
-
Okhema, Twilight Courtyard.
"Lumie, Hertie, why have you two come?"
The two arrived in the Twilight Courtyard but did not see Hyacine at first glance.
Lumina didn't bother to wander around the Twilight Courtyard, directly sensing Hyacine's aura at this moment, and brought Herta to stand before Hyacine.
Seeing the arrival of Lumina and Herta, the slight fatigue that had been on Hyacine's face vanished in an instant.
It was as if all the fatigue was healed at this moment.
Like a gentle spring breeze, saying that beauty could be eaten as medicine, it must be referring to Lumina.
She was beautiful to such an extent that when others saw her for the first time, the negative emotions in their hearts would turn to powder and vanish in an instant.
Of course, although it was said this way, it actually had nothing to do with her beauty.
Extremely high beauty would indeed make people's eyes light up and their bodies freeze, thereby temporarily forgetting the pain in their bodies.
But that was only for a short time, and it could not be cured fundamentally, and the pain would soon reappear in the body.
Hyacine would feel the fatigue in her heart dissipate simply because Lumina had subtly taken action to help her relieve the fatigue in her heart, and it had nothing to do with her beauty.
But it could give Hyacine a solid illusion, making her admire the Sister Lumina in front of her even more...