While eating, the shame and confusion in Hyacine's heart gradually dissipated.
Although much of her shyness towards Lumie still remained, she had mostly recovered.
Her slightly flushed face could be blamed on the "heat."
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong~
Just as they finished eating, the Stone on Hyacine's person emitted a series of beeps.
Upon hearing this, Hyacine did not immediately take out the Stone, but instead turned to Lumina, asking for her opinion.
Feeling Hyacine's questioning gaze, Lumina felt somewhat helpless: "You don't need to worry about my thoughts. If there's a call, you can just answer it directly."
Why is this Hyacine just like Castorice? It's not a super important or solemn meeting right now, so if there's a call, just answer it directly. Why ask for my opinion?
But to be honest, although Lumina felt extremely helpless about Hyacine and Castorice's behavior, she didn't dislike it.
In fact... she even liked it very much.
After all, in Lumina's view, this was a performance of completely manipulating a beautiful girl.
As long as she was by their side, no matter what they did, they would come to ask for her opinion. If it were an ordinary person, perhaps she would feel annoyed by this.
But what if it was a super beautiful girl who was pleasing to the eye, even if placed in the Galaxy?
So, besides a wooden block, probably no one would find this annoying, right?
A beautiful girl who obeys you, sweet and sensible, is simply the perfect goddess everyone dreams of... in their hearts!
In this kind of situation, one wouldn't even have time to be happy enough; how could they possibly find this annoying?
"Eh?"
After receiving Lumina's gesture, Hyacine took out the Stone from her person and looked at the message sent on it.
A moment later, she let out a confused sound.
"What's wrong, has something happened?" Lumina asked upon hearing Hyacine's confused exclamation.
"Lady Aglaea has something to ask me, she wants me to go to the Marmoreal Palace." Hyacine briefly replied, informing Lumina of this matter.
Lady Aglaea had said that Lumie was the most noble guest in all of Okhema. As long as she asked a question or made an inquiry, the answer to any question could be told without hiding anything.
Hearing this, Lumina's eyelashes twitched slightly.
This scene... how does it feel a bit like a déjà vu?
The last time seemed to be Castorice coming too?
At that time, it seemed to be the major event of returning the Coreflame? Then now it won't be a major event either?
"No, no, it's nothing major." Seeming to have noticed something, Hyacine hurriedly waved her hand in explanation. "Lady Aglaea did not ask me to go to the Marmoreal Palace immediately, but asked me to go to the Marmoreal Palace after I finished the things in my hands."
"So it shouldn't be anything urgent."
"Since it's not urgent, it's probably not a major matter either."
"I see." Lumina nodded slightly, not saying much more.
To Lumina, there was no obvious difference between major matters, minor matters, or urgent ones.
"Lumie, Hertie, do you have anything else to take care of right now?" Hyacine asked softly. "If not, let's go to the Marmoreal Palace to see Lady Aglaea together."
Lady Aglaea's golden threads were spread throughout the city, and since the two had nothing to hide, they were naturally under her gaze.
When sending the message to Hyacine, Aglaea had also said that she could come to the Marmoreal Palace together with Lumina and Herta.
"Then let's go." Lumina nodded slightly, deciding on their next destination.
Since they were just wandering aimlessly to begin with, Lumina naturally had no objections now that they had a destination.
Besides,
Lumina remembered that Aglaea seemed to have something to discuss with her?
Something about thanking her?
In any case, it was just the right time to go find Aglaea with Hyacine and resolve this matter.
And while they were at it, she could see if she could treat Aglaea as "lunch"...
-
Okhema, Marmoreal Palace.
Taking the stone slab "elevator" up to the Hero's Bath, a golden figure appeared before them, seeming to have been waiting for a long time.
"Hyacine, Sister Lumina, Sister Herta, welcome to the Marmoreal Palace." Sensing the movement behind her, Aglaea turned to face the three of them and smiled gently.
"Good morning, little sister Aglaea," Lumina replied with a gentle smile.
Herta and Hyacine also gave light acknowledgments.
With a slight nod, Aglaea turned her gaze to Hyacine and asked, "Hyacine, do you know why I asked you to come over?"
"Uh..." Hearing this, Hyacine's small eyes widened considerably, feeling somewhat bewildered.
Lady Aglaea's demeanor at this moment was just like the teacher Hyacine had during classes in the Grove of Epiphany. Even though she was the one who had asked the student to come see her, she would then turn around and ask the student why she had called them here.
In such a situation, Hyacine's mind was forced to bring up all the bad things she had done in her life, churning through them in a tumble-dryer-like cycle of thought.
Then, she confessed to all the bad deeds she had committed.
This was a truly insidious move for a student. Even for someone who wasn't a student, it was still incredibly insidious.
Fortunately, after thinking it over, Hyacine realized she hadn't done anything bad lately. Coupled with the fact that she detected no hint of anger from Aglaea, she figured this probably wasn't what the latter intended.
She's probably just testing me.
If so, there's only one thing worth testing.
"Lady Aglaea, is this about the [Sky] Titan?" Though Hyacine phrased it as a question, her tone sounded very certain.
"Yes, the time to conquer the [Sky] Titan is soon." Aglaea nodded and continued, "The return of the [Death] and [Reason] Coreflames was the smoothest part of the Flame-Chasing Journey so far. No one was injured, and certainly no one died."
"After resting and adjusting for a while, we can proceed to the next step."
"I see..." After receiving Aglaea's confirmation, a wave of nervousness immediately washed over Hyacine, covering her face.
The [Sky] Titan was likely very different from the other Titans.
What everyone was about to face was very likely a complete Titan...
The others should be fine, after all, most of them had already become [Demigods].
Even if Sir Phainon wasn't a [Demigod], his combat power was still extremely formidable.
As for herself... although she usually practiced and trained in combat techniques, she was still a bit lacking before a Titan.
If it were a conquest of other Titans, it would be fine, but this time they were conquering the Sky Titan, the [Mission] that Hyacine needed to complete.
Hyacine was the most central figure in this...
If she were to hold anyone back and cause some unimaginable problems to occur, Hyacine would never be able to forgive herself.
While Hyacine was mentally draining herself with self-doubt, a small hand gently rested on her shoulder, a warmth surged from the shoulder, sweeping through her entire body, gently smoothing away all her self-deprecating thoughts.
Hyacine snapped back to her senses and turned her head to look, and what met her eyes was Lumina's gentle smile.
"Don't worry, Hyacine, I'm here."
As a considerate big sister, how could Lumina let a beautiful girl fall into a soul-damaging cycle of self-doubt?
While gently comforting her and offering warmth, she also quietly released a surge of power, channeling it into Hyacine's body to soothe all the negative thoughts in her heart.
Could words alone soothe negative thoughts? It was possible. But to accomplish this with just a few sentences was definitely impossible.
Therefore, the most crucial part of this was the energy.
"Mm-hmm, thank you, Lumie." Hyacine did not refuse Lumina's kindness and nodded, her face practically spelling out the word "touched."
A hint of admiration still lingered between her brows.
Even without speaking, one could still see from her expression a glimpse of the words she wanted to say to Lumina.
"As expected of Lumie, she's so amazing! Lumie is incredibly brilliant! Lumie is a beauty that makes fish and geese swoon! Lumie is peerless in the world!"
In front of them, Aglaea, who witnessed the interaction between Lumina and Hyacine, still wore the same expression, but there were still some slight, subtle changes.
Her brow relaxed, and it seemed she was much more relieved and at ease?
Only after the two finished their interaction did Aglaea continue to speak: "Hyacine, this matter still needs to be planned. I'm just telling you in advance now to give you some mental preparation."
"The difficulty of defeating the Sky Titan and obtaining the [Sky] Coreflame is very high, but it should be much lower than we imagined."
"With Castorice present, many problems will become very easy."
After suspending Hyacine's heart, Aglaea gently comforted her a few times, calming her suspended heart.
Although Lumina had already completed this step, it did not prevent Aglaea from performing it a second time.
Aglaea had already decided on the candidates to defeat the Sky Titan. The fixed candidates were Hyacine, Phainon, Stelle, and Dan Heng.
The non-fixed candidates were Castorice and Cipher.
Aglaea herself needed to defend Okhema to prevent their home base from being stolen. Mydei had to resist the Black Tide at Castrum Kremnos. The three Teacher Tribbies were likely of little use against the Sky Titan, so these were the only final candidates.
As for why Castorice and Cipher were non-fixed candidates, it was because of the Flame Reaver.
That guy's strength was unknown, and at least one combat-ready Demigod would be needed to restrain him...
The only candidates were Castorice and Cipher. To prevent any accidents, Aglaea planned to let both of them go.
And Aglaea's earlier claim that having Castorice present would make defeating the Sky Titan much easier was simply a way to comfort Hyacine.
She didn't actually intend for Castorice to participate in this Titan expedition.
"That's great, Castie is our savior!" Hyacine had absolute faith in Castorice.
Her heart, which had already been calmed by Lumina's words, now completely settled.
Everyone else was so powerful. All Hyacine needed to do was protect herself and not hold them back. After the others defeated the Sky Titan, she would simply return the Sky Coreflame to the Vortex of Genesis.
It was a simple task, so there was no need to worry or be nervous at all.
"Hyacine, you can put the Twilight Courtyard matters on hold for a while and go to The Grove to train with Phainon and the others," Aglaea said, looking at Hyacine as she gave the simple instruction.
"Yes, Lady Aglaea, I understand." Hyacine didn't argue.
Although the Twilight Courtyard had been exceptionally busy lately, things were gradually returning to normal.
Under these circumstances, it didn't matter whether she went to the Twilight Courtyard or not, but the others would have to work a little harder... Okay, more than a little.
Hyacine played a major role in the Twilight Courtyard. Without her, the burden on everyone else would instantly become much heavier.
Still, this was nothing compared to the time when everyone from the Grove of Epiphany had mysteriously appeared outside Okhema City.
That was when they were truly busy.
Aglaea nodded to Hyacine, then turned her gaze to Lumina, a faint smile on her face. With an earnest expression, she said softly, "Sister Lumina, thank you."
"Not just for Castorice, and not just for Hyacine, but for everything you've done for them, and for me, during this time."
As she spoke, she opened her palm. A golden light erupted from her hand, eventually condensing into a set of pure white garments.
The outfit was primarily white, with gold trim and hints of purple, green... in fact, it incorporated all the colors of the Chrysos Heirs.
The design followed Okhema's style but was not revealing. Perhaps Aglaea had noticed Lumina's preference for modest clothing, so she had designed it to be conservative.
The skirt was long, appearing even more modest than Hyacine's attire. Only a small portion of her neck was visible; the rest of her body was completely covered.
"Sister Lumina, I made this outfit myself. I hope you like it."
Handing the clothes to Lumina, Aglaea thanked her once more, "Truly, thank you so much."
This thank you was for herself, and for everyone in Okhema.
Aglaea understood all too well what would have happened to the Chrysos Heirs and the Scholars of the Grove without Lumina.
Anaxa would have been completely extinguished, Castorice would have been permanently confined to the Nether Realm, and the Scholars of the Grove would have been nearly wiped out by the Black Tide's erosion...
These were only conservative estimates; the actual situation would have been far worse.
Under such circumstances, verbal thanks were completely useless.
Of course, material thanks would likely be useless too.
But no matter what, a concrete action was still necessary.
Aglaea didn't know what gift to give Lumina, so in the end, she chose to personally make her an outfit.
"Sister Lumina, although it's just a small..."
"Sister Aglaea, thank you so much~"
Aglaea knew that the gift she had prepared could never match Lumina's deeds, but this was essentially the best thing she could offer.
The handmade clothing contained a great deal of [Romance] divine power, and with all the intricate details... Aglaea believed there was nothing more "precious" than this.
She wanted to explain further, but before she could finish, Lumina didn't take the outfit from Aglaea's hands. Instead, she rushed forward and hugged her.
Using a real action to express the "joy" in her heart.