"The Young Mistress is the One True Deity."
"Now that my mom sees me paying respects to the Young Mistress, she's finally stopped thinking I'm trash."
"Fire Moth, hurry up and make divine statues! What's with all the damn merchandise? Do I want merchandise?"
--+--
In the days that followed, the online commotion grew increasingly fierce.
Previously, to help everyone adore Kiana even more, Fire Moth had released a lot of merchandise after getting Kiana's permission.
Those products were basically things like figures, body pillows, badges, or mouses, keyboards, backpacks, phone charms, and so on...
Don't worry, it wasn't lewd.
They wouldn't dare make it lewd.
But now, everyone was starting to look down on that stuff.
They clamored incessantly.
"Even using a figure as a substitute just doesn't feel right!"
"Yeah, exactly!"
"Give us portraits, or divine statues, or sculptures! I want to pay my respects!"
"We can't actually burn incense to the Young Mistress's figure, can we? How utterly inappropriate would that be!"
It seemed like playful banter.
In reality, it was genuine belief.
Some even suggested online that Fire Moth shouldn't just focus on the Young Mistress. They could make statues of Lady Jyahnar and Lady Elysia too.
Then they could worship all three together, a heavenly trinity, seeking perfect fulfillment.
"So, what do you all think?" Kiana's mom couldn't help but laugh as she brought this up.
However, since this wasn't a trivial matter, Fire Moth still needed to respect the opinions of Kiana and the others.
"I have no opinion." What could Kiana even say?
While she didn't need incense smoke or faith per se, it was indeed a form of emotional energy that could help her manipulate fate.
If there were benefits, she wasn't exactly opposed.
Jyahnar was even more indifferent.
Elysia, however, said with feigned distress, "Then why don't you just make divine statues of all of Kiana's future wives and have everyone worship them together? A big, happy family portrait?"
Hey, now that you mention it!
That's actually a pretty good idea!
For families of average means, getting a hanging scroll, or a small divine statue, or failing that, just setting up a tablet inscribed with the Young Mistress's name, arranged like a household shrine, would probably suffice.
For those a bit more well-off, they could get a larger statue, or perhaps one featuring Jyahnar, Kiana, and Elysia all together.
Seeking that perfect fulfillment.
And for the truly wealthy?
Well then!
You could buy statues of all nearly two hundred of Kiana's future wives and worship them at home.
Think about it.
Over two hundred divine statues, all displayed together.
Heavens, even the Buddhist grottoes at scenic spots probably wouldn't be as spectacular as that.
Wouldn't that be just wonderful?
But!
There was no denying, while other places might be different, in Shenzhou, the piety was something else.
Shenzhou didn't keep idle gods.
But compared to Kiana, all the other deities seemed like idle gods.
After all, in the past, faith was just for seeking blessings. Now, casually paying respects to her actually felt... genuinely empowering.
Other celebrities got fan followings, but it was just about merchandise.
Now, Kiana had been elevated to a divine altar.
Fire Moth perfectly provided customized services for all sorts of divine statues.
Because everyone realized that hanging scrolls still weren't quite right; portraits always felt like they were missing something.
Statues were just better.
Various styles developed rapidly.
And all in such a short time!
That morning, Kiana woke up and saw her own statue placed in the living room. Three sticks of incense were burning slowly, their smoke curling upwards, and fruits and pork were arranged on the table before it. She just stood there for a long moment, utterly speechless.
The other girls couldn't hold back their laughter.
She shook her head.
Hesitated for a moment, then went ahead and paid her respects to herself.
Asking myself to protect myself.
Nothing wrong with that, right?!
It was obvious without thinking—either Elysia or Kiana's mom had done this.
But Kiana's mom admitted she was the one. Was there any problem with her asking her own daughter for protection?
Fair was fair.
"Anyway,"
"I sense that the Sky Screen will open again tonight at seven."
"So... let everyone know."
Kiana had finally finished all the video content for the Birthday Festival, just before her real-world birthday.
She told her mom about it.
And so, not just Kiana's mom, but even the other girls were surprised, a little excited, their attention instantly diverted.
"It's finally here! Is it the future Birthday Festival?"
"That's wonderful, Eden. We get a sneak peek at what our Young Mistress's birthday looks like in the future!"
"It won't be worse than ours, will it?"
"I think... that's probably impossible."
Soon enough, the whole world was buzzing with excitement.
The previous hype hadn't even died down, and now something new had arrived.
"Hell yeah!"
"Over here, preparations for our Young Mistress's birthday started over half a year in advance."
"Some places have even started celebrating early already."
"I wonder how our descendants in the future, shown in the Sky Screen, celebrated it!"
"It's definitely going to be spectacular!"
"Can't wait!"
Some bars, restaurants, shops, or malls
Immediately put up banners.
Which read:
'Young Mistress's Birthday Today - Everything Free!'
Good grief.
In the real world, while Kiana's birthday was indeed approaching, it definitely wasn't today.
But everyone's reasoning was simple.
The Sky Screen was showing the future Young Mistress's birthday celebration.
And that was happening today.
So, if you rounded it up! Didn't that basically mean the Young Mistress was having her birthday today too?
Same difference!
Many people wished the Young Mistress could have a birthday every day.
But that wasn't possible, right?!
Though, having one or two extra birthdays, just for the fun of it today, why not?
In the blink of an eye, it was past seven in the evening.
Elysia and Kiana's mom had skillfully laid out fruits and snacks as usual.
The adjustable lounge chairs were placed casually.
Whether you wanted to lie back for a better view of the sky, or sit up and chat, it was all fine!
The atmosphere was very relaxed.
The villa's rooftop was basically used for this purpose.
You could see the nearby villas doing the same, people nodding and waving to each other, the mood very harmonious.
It was like this all over the world.
Some people brought stools and gathered in open spaces to watch together.
Others simply sat right on the ground.
Some were on their balconies, neighbors chatting across the space between buildings, which was quite amusing.
Explorers found a clear spot to sit down.
Construction workers, in small groups, sat in empty lots at their work sites, smiling with simple, honest anticipation as they looked forward to the Sky Screen.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.