"U-um, hello, Miss Elysia! My name is Seele."
Looking at Elysia, her second wife, who had gotten so close the moment they met—even taking her hands in her own.
Confronted with this sudden, intimate assault from her beloved Elysia, Lunelle at that moment felt a bit dizzy with happiness, her mind swept away.
So much so that Lunelle's already impossibly cute and beautiful little face instantly transformed into a steaming kettle.
After all... after all, this was her dear Elysia taking the initiative to get close!
Even if it was just holding her hand, being able to observe her lovely wife from such a close distance—Elysia was just too beautiful!
'Hehehe, Elysia! My darling Elysia!'
However, while Lunelle was internally squealing over her first direct contact with her beloved Elysia, there was another, rather green hatted girl watching from the side!
Watching from within their shared consciousness as Elysia shamelessly held little Seele's hand—taking advantage of Seele's soft, shy nature to secretly tickle her palm—well, someone wasn't having it.
Ah!!!!
That wretched woman!
That damned hussy!!!
Get away from Seele!
Away, I say!!!
How dare you touch my Seele?!
And so, in a corner of Lunelle's consciousness she couldn't see, the proud and tsundere Dark Seele was quite domineeringly engaging in her own form of "squealing"!
Sadly, being the stubborn tsundere she was, even if Dark Seele were to die, she'd never willingly let Lunelle—the one she adored—see her current adorable state of rampant jealousy, all because Lunelle had her hand held.
Thus, although Dark Seele muttered all sorts of nasty things in that corner of Lunelle's mind, not a single word actually reached Lunelle's ears.
But what the proud Dark Seele didn't realize was that, given her status as the number one wife in Lunelle's heart, if she were truly that bothered by Lunelle getting close to Elysia, Lunelle would probably tone it down a bit.
"Ahem? Has our cute little Seele-chan gotten so shy just from meeting me? My, my... this is quite a predicament, isn't it~?"
Seeing the utterly adorable little creature before her blush from mere reflex, sparking such a strong impulse in Elysia to get even closer, to snuggle right in, well—Elysia couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
After all, having such an irresistibly charming little cutie right in front of her yet being unable to freely shower her with affection?
For someone like Elysia, who had zero resistance to cute girls, that was truly a torturous thing!
"Huh? Miss Elysia, are... are you taking Seele to the execution grounds?"
Noticing a flicker of conflict on her beloved Elysia's face, as if there was something difficult she couldn't bring herself to say, Lunelle—maintaining her pessimistic outlook on her own situation—kept up her delicate, fragile persona while cautiously probing her wife's intentions for taking her out of prison.
"The execution grounds? What ever is our cute little Seele thinking? Me... I'm just here to take Seele to a safer place, not to any execution grounds, okay?~"
Seeing the little cutie before her, likely imagining something frightening, and even associating a flawless beauty like herself with an execution ground, Elysia gently ruffled Lunelle's hair.
"B-but... if Seele stays alive, everyone at the orphanage... they'll... they'll all die..."
But Elysia hadn't expected that, upon hearing they weren't headed for execution, Lunelle's face—which had been adorably flushed with shyness—would suddenly turn deathly pale.
A faint aura of death even began to seep from around her!
!!!!!!
"Oh dear! Don't be afraid, Seele! I'll help you take care of the orphanage situation, okay~?"
Sensing that intense, spreading aura of death, Elysia quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around the now-distressed Lunelle, doing her best to convey her goodwill.
"Wah... Even if Seele doesn't die, everyone at the orphanage... can be safe?"
"Mhm! Elysia promises you, Seele! So don't be sad, don't be upset. A cute, beautiful girl like you looks best when she's smiling, you know~?"
Feeling the terrifying death aura that had nearly erupted gradually settle under her soothing, Elysia inwardly let out a sigh of relief, though not without some lingering tension.
But in her heart, she now held a firm resolve to utterly eradicate the scumbag forces that had pushed this little one to such a state.
Seeing that her beloved Elysia was likely completely taken in by her flawless performance, a mental "Mission Accomplished" sticker flashed in Lunelle's mind.
So why had Lunelle specifically put on this act?
Well, it turned out this whole voluntary surrender had involved a bit of cunning on her part.
For instance, since Lunelle already knew exactly how this kidnapping situation would play out, she had carefully staged it to look like she had been abducted by thugs working for those vile capitalists.
(The reality was that she had summoned her darling Dark Seele, who showed just enough mercy to utterly cripple the scum, then forced him to lead the way.)
Then, when brought before that bastard young master and on the verge of losing her purity, she had suddenly and "inexplicably discovered" that the young master had "committed suicide"!!!
(In reality, Dark Seele had stormed the place and, using the Authority of Destruction, directly suffocated the bastard with concentrated death energy.)
Having narrowly preserved her innocence, Lunelle had fled without a second thought.
But since she was the only suspect at the scene of the young master's death, Lunelle had ultimately been forced by the manhunt launched by the capitalists to turn herself in at the police station and accept blame for a crime that should have had "nothing to do with her."
Here, Lunelle really had to give credit to the bastard father who'd lost his worthless son.
Because this old turtle was exactly the kind of brainless, blindly-protective dumb-dog antagonist template Lunelle had hoped for.
Even without Lunelle's prompting, the old capitalist had instinctively used his wealth and influence to provide the perfect cover for her.
So, what was actually Lunelle personally committing murder, successfully twisted—with the old capitalist father's enthusiastic "help"—into an ugly "truth": "Vile capitalists force a pitiful orphan girl to confess under torture."
While the news of this forced confession would surely be tightly suppressed with money, Lunelle knew all too well just how obsessively Fire Moth pursued matters related to Herrschers.
She seriously doubted that a mere capitalist scum she could casually obliterate had any hope of hiding all the evidence of forcing her confession under Fire Moth's comprehensive investigation.
What's the point of hiding the news anyway?
If you Fire Moth folks have the nerve to come after me later, I'll just keep throwing this whole mess back in your faces.
After all, if you Fire Moth can't figure things out, that's just your own incompetence.
Even if I do go dark, it'll be because you pushed me there without a shred of reason.
So Lunelle's whole deal is this: stand on the moral high ground, point fingers like there's no tomorrow, and do it all with a clear conscience.
Because honestly, if Lunelle hadn't stepped up and admitted she was the one who took a life…
"Then the children at the orphanage probably wouldn't have made it…"
That's exactly what that bastard of a so-called father warned her, word for word!
And this arrogant threat? Lunelle, with all her overwhelming power, secretly recorded it on a voice recorder!
She believed that as long as she stuck to this basic principle—that any wrongdoing on her part was driven by circumstance—then even if she were forced onto a villain's path for now, with evidence in hand, if things ever turned desperate and she faced defeat, wouldn't there still be a chance to try and clean the slate?
So, following this carefully crafted persona, Lunelle simply admitted to the crime of excessive self-defense as an ordinary person.
As for the fact that she had become a Herrscher…
Lunelle's stance on that was simple: if you ask me, I'll just play dumb!
As long as I act like I know nothing about Herrschers or the Honkai, surely you Fire Moth folks wouldn't expect me to suddenly go berserk and stir up trouble, right?
And just as Lunelle predicted, after Elysia learned about her seemingly justified ordeal and coupled it with Lunelle's own lack of awareness about becoming a Herrscher, Elysia's mind naturally filled in the blanks with the exact narrative Lunelle wanted her to believe.
So Elysia didn't outright reveal the truth about Lunelle becoming a Herrscher.
With a gentle smile, she promised Lunelle she'd protect the orphanage children and give her a satisfactory resolution.
Only then did the faint, lingering aura of death around Lunelle seem to stabilize, as if calmed by her returning composure.
And of course, this whole display was just an act Lunelle put on for her dear Elysia.
It was her roundabout way of warning Fire Moth: even if I don't know I'm a Herrscher, if some fool provokes me and I "accidentally" let a bit of power slip in a moment of emotional turmoil, well… don't go blaming me if someone ends up dead!
Lunelle couldn't help but feel grateful for her ability to slip seamlessly into the role of the sweet, delicate girl—the persona of her beloved Seele from the simulations.
This flawless performance, in her eyes, was so convincing that even Dark Seele, who knew Seele inside and out, wouldn't spot a thing!
Fire Moth's knowledge of Seele was limited to written reports at best.
Even if Elysia, with her keen sense for a girl's heart, was perceptive, how could she possibly tell that everything Lunelle showed her was a carefully staged act during their first meeting?
Having successfully played the victim card in front of Elysia and sneakily enjoyed some sweet moments with her, Lunelle felt utterly pleased with herself…
Though a certain dark, jealous someone who'd worked herself into a frenzy wasn't having any of it.
So when Lunelle entered her consciousness, intending to praise Dark Seele for their teamwork, she was abruptly pounced on by an impatient Dark Seele!
What followed was another round of… ahem "consciousness-stream intimacy between lovely girls," best left undescribed.
To this, Lunelle could only say it was a mix of pain and pleasure. The pain came from the humiliation of being pinned down and teased by her "wife," while the pleasure…
'Hehehe, Dark Seele is so soft, so sweet… we should do this more often!'
Just a tiny glimpse into Lunelle's true feelings during these "humiliating" moments should give you a clear idea of just how much she was enjoying it~
Afterward, under Elysia's escort, Lunelle officially began what was called being "transported to Fire Moth headquarters."
But Fire Moth's higher-ups were deeply worried that Lunelle—temporarily classified as a high-risk individual—might cause unexpected trouble along the way.
After some deliberation, they decided Elysia didn't need to rush back with the live Herrscher specimen immediately.
Instead, she was to regularly monitor and report on Lunelle's Honkai Energy fluctuations.
If there were any signs of the Honkai Energy going out of control, Elysia would have to immediately fulfill her duty and eliminate the threatening Herrscher on the spot!
So, a journey that should have taken just a few days via high-speed fighter jet was altered by Fire Moth to a combined land and sea route.
Fortunately, although the return trip became incredibly tedious, all of Elysia's expenses during the journey were covered by Fire Moth.
With a generous expense account to eat and drink as she pleased, Elysia certainly didn't hold back.
Thus, what Lunelle expected to be a tough, arduous journey somehow turned into something rather…
Luxuriously comfortable?
Ever since tagging along with Elysia, Lunelle had been eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well.
In fact, she realized that the time she spent actually walking was far less than the time she spent relaxing and enjoying herself at various stops.
From Lunelle's perspective, this comfortable life felt just like a "honeymoon trip" with Elysia after getting married!
But before this honeymoon with Elysia could conclude, Lunelle's first week in the simulation world came to an end.
Just as Elysia was feeding her, the simulator's notification tone suddenly echoed in Lunelle's mind.
[Congratulations, host, for safely completing one week of daily life! Daily simulation status assessed: Secure. Automatically proceeding with phase settlement…]
Lunelle: Huh? But I'm not done enjoying myself yet! Since when does this simulation force a settlement, dammit?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.