"Uh..."
When Aglaea acknowledged Lumina as her older sister, and Lumina accepted Aglaea as her younger sister, almost everyone present fell into silence.
A man with half of his upper body exposed and a bewildered Castorice beside him exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
It seemed that to these Chrysos Heirs, the fact that Aglaea acknowledged Lumina as an older sister was simply a bit outrageous.
After all, Aglaea hadn't told them the specific details about Lumina.
Castorice was a bit better off; at least Aglaea had told her that Lumina was an honored guest and had briefly explained that she was an Outworlder.
But that man was truly completely baffled. He knew the Lumina before him was an honored guest, as Aglaea had told this to all the Chrysos Heirs.
As for her identity as an Outworlder, Aglaea hadn't said much about it.
However, that wasn't important; it didn't matter if it was mentioned or not.
The important thing was,
wasn't the Lumina before them the honored guest of Amphoreus, Okhema, and Aglaea?
How did she suddenly become an older sister?
The man clearly couldn't understand this sudden change in relationship and muttered a few confused words to himself.
But soon, seeing that nothing major seemed to be happening, he dismissed his doubts.
Forget it.
Whatever, this was Aglaea's business.
He just needed to treat her as an honored guest.
Regardless of the relationship between Aglaea and Lumina, for him, as long as he treated her as an honored guest, it was fine.
In that case, there was no need to overthink it.
Beside him, Castorice thought the same.
Miss Lumina and Lady Aglaea becoming sisters made no difference to Castorice.
She would still call her Miss Lumina, and she would still address Aglaea as Lady Aglaea.
There was no difference, so there was no need to care.
But... was that really the case?
For the man, it certainly was.
But for Castorice...
That definitely wouldn't do.
Lumina wouldn't allow it. Letting a beautiful girl become distant from her was something Lumina absolutely would not tolerate.
Therefore, after sorting out her relationship with Aglaea and giving her a smile to acknowledge it, Lumina's gaze fell upon Castorice.
"Castorice, you also..."
"Ahem! Little Sister~ Agy~" Just as Lumina was about to treat Castorice the same way she treated Aglaea, before she could finish her words, Herta coughed and leaned in close to Lumina's ear, speaking first to interrupt her.
From that sarcastic tone, Lumina knew she definitely couldn't continue.
Otherwise, Madam Herta would flare up with an anger that could be extinguished with just a little coaxing.
That's right, an anger that could be smoothed over with just a little coaxing.
There was nothing she could do about it; her Madam Herta was just that tsundere, and that easy to coax.
But even so, Lumina still restrained her behavior a little.
"You... One at a time is enough. What are you trying to do, taking on two at once?" Seeing Lumina back down a little, Herta coldly snorted, the fire in her heart—which couldn't even really be called anger—was instantly blown out by a gentle breeze.
Taking down Aglaea one at a time was one thing, but this Lumina actually wanted to deal with Castorice while she was at it.
Even a bulldozer wouldn't be as fast as her, right?
If all the beautiful girls in Okhema were here, wouldn't she take care of them all at once?
Herta grumbled in her heart, feeling incredibly helpless and speechless.
Although there was a bit of exaggeration in this statement, if there were only 23 or 34 beautiful girls here, Lumina might actually do just that...
While Herta was harshly condemning Lumina's behavior in her heart, in response to Herta's words, Lumina feigned confusion and asked in return: "Little Herta, what do you mean?"
"I just want Little Sister Agy and little sister Castorice to not be so overly respectful to me. I just want them to treat me like a friend."
"I merely want to be friends with them, what bad intentions could I possibly have~"
"Why is it that when it comes to you, you make it sound like I'm doing something immoral?"
During her journey through the Cosmos spanning several Amber Eras, what grand spectacles hadn't Lumina seen?
When it came to intimate actions, Lumina might have a few flaws.
But when dealing with such normal behaviors, she navigated them with absolute ease.
Lumina's face showed no embarrassment at having her inner thoughts exposed. Instead, she put on an expression of extreme confusion and bewilderment, playing dumb as if she had no idea why Herta would say such a thing.
Furthermore, this was the kind of expression where everyone knew she was playing dumb, yet they absolutely couldn't find a single flaw to tear away her disguise...
"..."
Sure enough, when faced with Lumina's flawless act, even someone as formidable as Madam Herta fell into a moment of silence.
Since Little Lumina had resorted to playing dumb, without any evidence, Herta really couldn't do anything about her.
But it didn't matter; she had already accomplished her goal of stopping her anyway.
So what if she couldn't do anything about her?
Herta didn't care.
But just because Herta didn't care didn't mean Lumina didn't.
Seeing Herta backing down, Lumina chose to press her advantage.
"Are you thinking that way, Little Sister Herta, because... you're having some immoral thoughts?" Lumina lowered her voice and asked Herta with a smile.
Lumina kept her voice very low and leaned her head in close to Herta's.
Therefore, their conversation was not heard by anyone else present.
And the others present did not interrupt their exchange, simply waiting quietly for them to finish chatting.
But there was one exception.
That was a certain Little Grey.
Her amber eyes reflected Lumina and Herta huddled together in their secret conversation. She stared deeply at them, making it hard to guess what exactly she was thinking...
Meanwhile, hearing Lumina's slightly teasing words, Herta rolled her eyes, completely unbothered.
"I'm thinking whatever you're thinking."
Herta paid no mind to Lumina's harmless Follow-Up Attack.
If this had been back when they first met, before she understood Lumina's personality, Herta might have felt a little embarrassed by this Follow-Up Attack.
But now, now that Herta was thoroughly familiar with Lumina, she wouldn't react in the slightest.
Thus, after a sneer, Herta leaned back away from her.
Crossing her arms, she closed her eyes to rest, ending this conversation with Lumina.
"Sigh... Little Herta has grown up and become a bit difficult to handle." Seeing this, Lumina let out a silent sigh.
Her tone was filled with the world-weariness eroded by the years.
It was just like the sense of powerlessness an old mother feels as she watches her daughter grow up day by day, only to watch helplessly as she becomes increasingly rebellious.
"What the hell are you sighing about?"
"Gotten a little too into character, have we?"
Lumina's sigh reached Herta's ears clearly, causing the corner of her mouth to twitch. She suspected that Lumina had gone crazy because the number of beautiful girls she met in Amphoreus hadn't reached her desired quota.
Hmm...
According to the calculations of the genius Herta.
The probability of this scenario was as high as 91%.
As for the remaining nine percent?
Was there even a need to wonder? It was obviously because Lumina was a lunatic to begin with, so it was no surprise at all that she was acting this way.
Herta shook her head, putting the thought aside. She closed her eyes to rest once more, ignoring Lumina.
Having just been interrupted by her, in the current situation, Lumina probably wouldn't continue to lay her wicked hands on Castorice.
To not even spare data...
She really... sigh.
Herta sighed silently in her heart.
If Herta didn't know that Lumina lacked no beautiful girls by her side, she would probably think that she was a bit thirsty...
"Agy, aren't you going to introduce me?" At this time, ending her chat with Herta, Lumina looked at Castorice, then at the man, and finally at the door they had just walked out of.
Eventually, her gaze fell back on Aglaea, smiling at her.
"Mhm." Aglaea nodded slightly. Given Lumina's previous series of actions, Aglaea first introduced Castorice: "This is Castorice, Okhema's [Mortician], one of the Chrysos Heirs seeking the Coreflame of [Death]."
After introducing Castorice, Aglaea paused.
During this interval, Aglaea briefly observed Lumina's expression.
Seeing her face full of smiles as she looked at Castorice, Aglaea suddenly seemed to realize something.
Well... it's quite normal, I suppose.
Aglaea didn't say much more, muttering silently in her heart before moving on.
Her gaze shifted to the man, and she introduced him: "This is Mydei."
If Mydei wasn't present, Aglaea would have given a more detailed introduction about him.
But right now, with him being present, Aglaea felt it inappropriate to say it out loud.
So she simply introduced him by name.
"Sister Lumina... probably won't mind, right?"
Through her previous behavior, Aglaea had noticed that Lumina had a special fondness for "women" and treated them uniquely.
Whether it was herself, My Teacher, or Castorice, Lumina always treated them with a demeanor of absolute gentleness.
As for Dan Heng, Mydei, and Phainon, although she was still gentle, that gentleness was slightly less than when she faced women.
From this, Aglaea could tell that she favored women.
This was the conclusion Aglaea had reached.
And she was indeed correct.
Although the truth deviated slightly from what she imagined, it wasn't far off.
At least in her treatment of Aglaea, Castorice, and the others, it wasn't far off.
Faced with Aglaea's introduction of Mydei, Lumina merely smiled at him in acknowledgment, without any objections.
Not only that, but after acknowledging Mydei, Lumina's gaze landed on Castorice again.
"M-Miss Lumina..." Castorice found it somewhat difficult to bear Lumina's unhidden, gentle gaze.
In just a brief moment, her skin, accustomed to staying indoors, gradually began to flush under Lumina's tender stare.
Her cheeks, her shoulders... all gradually took on a cute, rosy hue.
It made one want to pull her into an embrace and watch her blush until steam puffed from the top of her head.
Seeing Castorice like this, a bright gleam immediately flashed in Lumina's jade green eyes.
Lumina: It's a super easily embarrassed super beautiful girl~ o( ̄▽ ̄)ブ
This kind of beautiful girl, who was not only cute but also incredibly prone to shyness, truly struck a chord in Lumina's heart.
If it weren't for the others around, Lumina wouldn't have been able to control herself.
She would have rushed over to establish a good relationship with Castorice, gently pulled her into her arms, and softly whispered to her while tenderly stroking her head.
Watching her snuggle in her arms with a completely red face, Lumina would be able to attain a sense of satisfaction that couldn't be described with any words.
"M-Miss... Miss Lumina... i-is there a problem?"
Because Lumina's gaze gradually grew more intense, after reaching a critical point, Castorice could no longer bear it.
Fighting back the sudden sense of shyness welling up inside her from out of nowhere, she mustered her courage and asked Lumina.
"Hm? Oh, right."
Lost in her own fantasy world, Lumina was snapped back to reality by Castorice's sweet voice.
Realizing she had lost her composure a little, she hastily collected herself.
"I'm sorry, Little Sister Castorice, I was thinking about something else just now."
She tilted her head and smiled at Castorice, while looking at her current state. To prevent her brain from overheating and overloading, a silent wisp of pale green aura was gradually transferred into Castorice's body without anyone noticing.
"Phew..." After this aura entered Castorice's body, the blush on her skin dissipated, and her restless mood gradually calmed down.
"Little... Little Sister Castorice..."
However, because of Lumina's intimate term of address, Castorice's gradually calming mood began to grow restless once again.
She could no longer maintain her elegant and dignified posture. Even with the purification of Lumina's aura, her face was tinged with a flushed red, as if she had drunk too much fine wine.
Her hands, which were usually folded at her waist, were now gripping the hem of her skirt. Her figure, looking as though a gentle breeze could blow her away, noticeably shrank back. She turned her head to the side, her eyes darting around, not daring to meet Lumina's gaze, let alone look directly at her...
This was a feeling Castorice had never experienced before.
It was... so uncomfortable, but... but... but she didn't seem to particularly hate it.
If there were no one else around, and it was just Lumina.
Castorice wanted to get a little closer to her, just a little closer...
To lean in closer to her...
Could she, someone acknowledged as a powerhouse by Lady Aglaea, be... unaffected by [Death]?
For some unknown reason, Castorice began to fantasize in her heart about being alone with Lumina.
Herta: ...
Herta, who had originally intended to ignore this scene and rest her mind with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes.
She looked at Castorice not far away, and then at Lumina, who was currently smiling brightly.
After a moment of silence, Herta released her Power of The Emanator to carefully perceive the situation.
Hmm... apart from the mind-stabilizing aura that Lumina had channeled into Castorice's body, Herta did not sense the aura of any other power.
In other words...
This Castorice... just by directly facing Lumina's gentle smile, she turned into her current state?
"..."
"Where did this succubus come from?"
Even Herta, even though Castorice was currently just a piece of data, was somewhat shocked.
Herta knew that Lumina would be very popular with beautiful girls.
Therefore, making friends with beautiful girls was almost something that could easily be done naturally.
But... this naturalness was much, much smoother than Herta had imagined.
Herta glanced at Lumina beside her.
"..."
The next second, she held her breath.
"..."
Hastily withdrawing her gaze, Herta pretended that nothing was wrong on the surface, but an unusual emotion had already been born in her heart.
With just one look, even Herta, who had spent some time with Lumina, couldn't quite restrain herself.
One could well imagine just how powerful Lumina's... special attack against beautiful girls really was.
A succubus.
Without a doubt.
Lumina was a walking succubus with an extremely powerful special attack against beautiful girls...