Chapter 166: Do you mind... adding another sister?
Himeko was already numb. She stared at Rovel, completely failing to grasp what was going on in his head.
"So, what exactly did you add to my wine?" she demanded, her voice laced with suspicion.
"Digestive tablets," Rovel replied smoothly, a half-joking smirk playing on his lips.
Himeko's eye twitched. "..." She didn't hesitate. Her fist shot out, planting a merciless, albeit restrained, punch squarely into his shoulder. Without waiting for his reaction, she spun on her heel, huffed all the way back to her bedroom, and locked the door with a sharp click. She collapsed onto her bed, convinced the guy was just deliberately messing with her.
Later that night, the apartment fell dead silent. Himeko was fast asleep, but her peaceful expression didn't last. Her brows knit together in a tight frown. Beneath her skin, the artificial stigmata etched into her back began to radiate a familiar, ominous heat.
"Ugh..." A muffled groan escaped her lips.
Even though she had endured this exact torment countless times, the sheer agony always managed to wring a cry from her throat. When the stigmata was first transplanted, her body would violently spasm, rejecting the foreign, burning energy. Over the years, she had learned to self-medicate with heavy liquor. Passing out drunk didn't erase the piercing, bone-deep ache, but it was infinitely better than suffering through it fully conscious.
Himeko curled into a ball, biting down hard on her blanket. She clamped her hands over her mouth, determined not to make a sound that might wake the others.
But then, something impossible happened.
The searing heat didn't escalate. Instead, the pain rapidly dissolved, washing away like a receding tide. In its wake came a deep, sweeping sensation of lightness. Her limbs, usually weighed down by the chronic fatigue of her failing body, felt completely unburdened. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in years.
Himeko bolted upright, her eyes wide in the darkness. She flexed her hands, pressing against her chest, feeling the steady, strong rhythm of her heart in utter disbelief.
'Am I dying? Is this that final burst of terminal lucidity before the end?'
That was the only logical explanation her battle-hardened mind could conjure.
Throwing on her clothes, Himeko rushed out into the night. She headed straight for the Nanwu City branch base and bypassed all standard protocols to board the Hyperion.
"Eh?! Major Himeko?" Ai-chan's holographic projection flickered to life, her cabbage-like buns bouncing in alarm. "Why are you here in the middle of the night? Did something happen?!"
Himeko narrowed her eyes, catching a suspicious movement behind the console. "...Ai-chan, you aren't doing anything bad, are you?"
"I... I'm just an AI! What bad things could I possibly do..." Ai-chan stammered, her digital hands frantically, and silently, hiding a bundle of unauthorized power cables behind her back.
"Forget it. Just help me run a full body scan." Himeko waved off the obvious electricity theft. She didn't have the patience to scold the AI right now. She immediately climbed into the medical scanner and lay flat.
The machine hummed, bathing her in a cool blue light. Moments later, the complete physical examination report materialized on the main screen.
"Ah?!" Ai-chan shrieked, the sudden noise nearly giving Himeko a heart attack.
"Himeko, your... your body!"
"Alright, calm down and just show it to me," Himeko said, her jaw tightening. She braced herself for the worst, fully expecting to see her cellular degradation reaching a critical threshold.
However, as her eyes scanned the holographic data streams, she froze.
"According to the cellular comparison data," Ai-chan practically vibrated with joy, "Himeko, your current physical condition has completely reverted to the state it was in three years ago!"
For Valkyries burdened with artificial stigmata, the biological trajectory was cruel but predictable. Following the initial transplant, their physical capabilities would spike, showing an upward curve for roughly two years before beginning a slow, agonizing decline. If a Valkyrie received the transplant at age twenty, she would hit her absolute physical peak at twenty-three. From there until age thirty, her bodily functions would rapidly deteriorate.
Himeko was already twenty-seven. She had received her transplant at nineteen, meaning her physical functions had been in a steady downward spiral since she was twenty-two.
"Himeko, how did you do this?!" Ai-chan demanded, completely forgetting standard military decorum in her excitement.
"I... I don't know..." Himeko murmured, her mind racing back through the events of the day.
The only anomaly was Rovel. If that blond idiot at the bar hadn't been lying, he really had seen Rovel slip something into her glass.
Himeko's breathing hitched. If Rovel hadn't already logged off for the night, she would have marched back to the apartment, dragged him out of bed, and demanded answers right then and there.
If Rovel truly possessed a method to repair her failing body... did that mean her death sentence was lifted? Did that mean she could actually pursue a real future?
A fragile, quiet glimmer of hope took root in her chest. She remembered his words from earlier, the serious weight behind his gaze: if she was willing to treat this relationship with absolute seriousness, with marriage as the premise, he would choose to accept it.
Sitting alone in the quiet medical bay, a deep sense of relief washed over her. As she recalled her recent moments with Rovel, a soft, genuine smile unconsciously graced her lips.
It seemed she had fallen for him all over again, and this time, the pull was impossible to ignore.
The next morning, the moment Rovel's consciousness synchronized and he logged on, he was greeted by quite the sight.
Himeko was lounging on the living room sofa, dressed in an exceptionally light, silky slip that left very little to the imagination. She held a crystal glass, casually swirling a measure of deep red wine.
"It's barely past New Year's, and the heating in this room isn't even on," Rovel remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"
Despite his practical words, his eyes unreservedly swept over her graceful, dangerous curves. Even with a Valkyrie's enhanced constitution making illness unlikely in this temperature, one still had to be careful. After all, even a MANTIS like Pardo could catch a fever and end up bedridden.
"Do you want to come over and warm me up?" Himeko purred. She set her wine glass down on the coffee table with a soft clink.
Before Rovel could process the invitation, she stood up, closed the distance between them in two long strides, grabbed his wrist, and forcefully shoved him backward onto the plush sofa.
Rovel, currently suffering from his in-game weakened state, couldn't possibly match a Valkyrie's raw physical strength. And honestly, even if he could resist, he probably wouldn't have bothered.
"Ugh... It's not exactly spring mating season yet, is it?" Rovel grunted as he hit the cushions. "Himeko, what's gotten into you?"
He looked up into her crimson eyes. The ravenous, predatory glint in them made him feel like a piece of prime steak about to be devoured.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Himeko murmured, leaning in close. The intoxicating, mature scent of her perfume mixed heavily with the rich aroma of red wine, clouding Rovel's senses.
"What exactly did you do to me yesterday?" she asked, her voice dropping to a soft, dangerous whisper. "Why has my body suddenly improved so drastically?"
A few strands of her fiery red hair slipped loose, brushing against Rovel's cheek and leaving a teasing, tickling sensation in their wake.
"Your body actually improved?!" Rovel's eyes widened, a genuine, visible look of joy breaking across his face. He had worried that yesterday's dosage was far too small to trigger any meaningful effect. He hadn't expected it to actually initiate the repair process on her damaged genetics.
"You still haven't answered my question." Himeko lowered her head even further. The distance between their lips was now less than ten centimeters, the air crackling with tension.
"Actually..." Rovel started, trying to find the right words to explain his system rewards.
Click.
The apartment door was suddenly, slowly pulled open.
"Morning, Himeko Tea—cher?"
Mei stepped into the living room, her hand raised in a polite morning greeting. She froze mid-syllable.
Her violet eyes swept over the scene: Himeko, dressed in practically nothing, straddling Rovel and pinning him firmly against the sofa cushions. Mei's polite smile shattered, her expression gradually turning completely blank as her brain short-circuited.
Himeko didn't even flinch. She didn't scramble off, nor did she bother to hide her blatant desire for the man beneath her. Instead, she turned her head slightly to look at the stunned girl at the door.
"Morning, Mei," Himeko said, her tone utterly straightforward and unapologetic. "Do you mind... adding another sister?"
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