The afternoon tea hour was quiet. In the room, the only sounds were the faint clink of cups and the soft rhythm of two people breathing.
Through the wide windows, the courtyard lay open to view. At its center stood Noa, forever radiant, quietly remaining in place like a constant star.
Bai Ming was still dressed in her maid outfit, but her mind was clearly elsewhere.
After the embarrassment from fooling around with Herta earlier had gradually faded, she finally began to process what Herta had said to her. The shock had been so overwhelming that she'd let herself be coaxed into sitting down for tea without even thinking straight.
She hadn't even asked what Herta had meant.
Was it a joke? A deliberate attempt to scare her? Or did she actually mean it…?
Should she ask?
Bai Ming snuck a glance at Herta, who looked as though nothing at all had happened.
But she had no idea how to begin.
How was she supposed to phrase it…? She couldn't just blurt out, "Were you confessing just now?" That would be way too—
Maybe she was just too young. Bai Ming honestly didn't think she had the kind of thick skin Herta did—able to toss around ambiguous, suggestive words without so much as a blush.
Seriously, did this woman feel nothing about that sort of thing?
Granted, a genius's pursuits supposedly didn't leave much room for romantic distractions.
But when Bai Ming had arrived earlier, Herta had deliberately dragged her chair close—right up against her own.
Even for close friends, sitting that near for afternoon tea would be unusual by The Blue's standards.
And yet Herta had spoken so casually, as if it were nothing at all.
Come to think of it, her aggressive teasing had only started after that. In the beginning, when Herta had been touching her, it had clearly just been for research into her Saint Graph.
Surely she hadn't pressed her close just to grope her—
And everything after that was just because Bai Ming had gotten flustered, so Herta had decided on a whim to mess with her?
When that thought surfaced, Bai Ming felt a flicker of something that startled her.
…Disappointment?
Realizing she'd even had that thought made her jolt.
No. She couldn't keep thinking like this.
If she kept going, she'd end up talking herself into it.
Herta already had an unfairly magnificent face. If Bai Ming let herself get led around by a few sweet words…
She'd fall straight in.
Absolutely not.
Bai Ming shook her head hard, forcefully pushing those tangled thoughts down.
Just as she finally gathered the courage to speak and turned her head—
"Herta—"
"What are you daydreaming about? Don't tell me you're still hung up on what I said earlier."
As if she'd predicted Bai Ming's thoughts, Herta cut her off cleanly, effortlessly seizing control of the conversation.
Startled, Bai Ming instinctively wanted to retort, but she held back.
She couldn't stay passive. If she kept letting Herta steer her around like this, who knew where she'd end up?
So instead of rushing her answer, Bai Ming took a deep breath, composed herself, and finally said,
"Of course I'd think about it. You outright said you wanted to do all sorts of things to me—how am I not supposed to overthink that?"
She couldn't chicken out.
Especially after what had just happened—she'd realized Herta clearly had a mischievous streak.
If she showed even a hint of weakness, Herta would seize the chance and push further.
This woman had even dared to throw around downright scandalous lines just to tease her.
She was terrible. Truly terrible.
"Heh."
Herta let out a soft laugh and turned her head to look at her.
"Did it really unsettle you that much? What I said. Interesting… This body really is different. I've done countless physical examinations before, but your reactions were much calmer back then."
"Hmph."
Bai Ming huffed and ignored the question.
Herta didn't press her. In her eyes, that reaction alone was answer enough.
"I'll take your silence as confirmation."
That was too much. Bai Ming's face flushed as she shot back, eyes wide, "Don't you dare twist it around! You're the one with ulterior motives, and you're seriously trying to flip black and white?"
Why was Herta so infuriating?!
"I have no intention of flipping anything. Even if you asked me again now, my answer would be the same. To me, it's just slightly more excessive than our previous physical contact. There's no need to make such a fuss."
"On the other hand, you seem to care a great deal. If that's the case… then perhaps today's you is finally the real, complete you. Though—hmph—you're still just a little thing."
By ordinary human standards, Bai Ming had long since reached adulthood when counting both past and present lives.
But compared to women like Herta or Ruan Mei—who had lived for centuries, if not close to a millennium—
She was undeniably young.
That part was only teasing.
What mattered to Herta was something else.
In past examinations, even if things hadn't been so deliberate or excessive, by common standards there had been plenty of close contact and an ambiguous atmosphere. Bai Ming had gone through the stages—shyness, excitement, and eventually calm acceptance.
And yet now, after gaining her own body, it was as if she'd been reset to square one.
Herta had to reconsider what Bai Ming's earlier explanations truly meant.
Using someone else's body had been like operating a game character through a device. She could sense all the feedback, but there was always a layer in between.
Herta had assumed it was just psychological—like remotely controlling a puppet.
But perhaps it wasn't.
Was the change because Bai Ming now had a body that was truly her own?
Or because Bai Ming herself was finally beginning to integrate into this world?
Or both?
That subtle difference sparked Herta's curiosity.
She truly adored Bai Ming. Not only was she creative enough, her very existence constantly produced new questions that ignited Herta's interest.
Now she wondered: the next time Bai Ming used someone else's identity—
Would she return to that previous state?
Or would this new sensation remain?
Herta had the faint feeling that if she could unravel the process of Bai Ming gradually integrating into this world, she might even brush against certain mysteries of the world itself.
Though even for her, that would be a daunting, long-term research project.
And the more she thought about it, the more her desire to make Bai Ming completely her own grew stronger.
"Now that I think about it, I do quite like you. In every sense. Having you become mine doesn't sound bad. After all, only another genius can walk alongside a genius."
This woman said it again so casually!
Bai Ming was convinced Herta was deliberately trying to desensitize her in one go—completely heedless of her mental well-being.
Herta watched her with a bright smile.
She guessed Bai Ming hadn't yet realized just how different her reactions were from before—or at least hadn't thought deeply about it.
Eventually, she would.
But why waste the moment? If this state was going to change someday anyway, she might as well enjoy it first.
Herta tilted her head back, drained the last of her tea, and stood. One hand came to rest on the back of Bai Ming's chair as she looked down at her.
"Let's go."
"…?!"
Go where?
Bai Ming stared at her in shock.
You can't be serious.
No—surely not?
Maybe it was just the lab. Probably she wanted to further study the compatibility between her body and soul.
Yes. That had to be it. A research fanatic like Herta wouldn't be burning with that kind of passion.
Bai Ming clung to that excuse.
"Where?"
"Be grateful. I'm taking you to my private room. Not even Ruan Mei has been there."
That single sentence shattered all of Bai Ming's mental defenses.
Her private room?
What exactly was this woman planning to do?
What kind of thing required going somewhere so private—and somewhere even Ruan Mei had never seen?
"Why so quiet? Overjoyed?"
Herta's smug, superior tone—practically radiating a "you wouldn't dare" attitude—made it obvious she knew exactly what Bai Ming was worrying about. And she was pretending not to.
Infuriating.
She couldn't let Herta win like this.
They'd known each other for so long—when had she ever been so thoroughly cornered?
If anyone was going to do the eating, it would be her.
"Fine. Let's go!"
Bai Ming steeled herself and agreed.
She even began plotting—if things really went that far, she'd cheat a little with her abilities and pin Herta down instead of the other way around.
Seeing her answer, Herta lifted her hand from the chair and straightened.
With a snap of her fingers—
Neither of them moved a step, yet the carpet beneath them rose into the air. The table, teacups, and pastries were gently pushed out of its range by an unseen force, settling without the slightest wobble.
The flying carpet carried them out of the room, across the courtyard, brushing past Noa.
It finally descended before a door inside another tower.
The carpet settled neatly in place, blending seamlessly with the surroundings as though it had always belonged there.
Herta strolled to the door and tilted her head slightly, signaling Bai Ming to follow.
"Come. Let's talk inside. This place is very private to me. You're the only one I'd bring here."
"Gulp…"
Bai Ming swallowed.
There was no backing out now.
She squeezed her eyes shut, braced herself, and pushed the door open.
But beyond it wasn't a bedroom.
It was an enormous—
Walk-in closet.
"This is… a dressing room?"
"Of course. And this is only a small part. I've got plenty more stored in a dedicated space station."
Herta stepped up behind her, amusement in her voice.
"I figured since you just got your own body, aside from that dress you manifested with your Saint Graph, you probably don't own a single outfit."
"…You're not wrong."
Bai Ming tugged at her lips awkwardly.
It wasn't hard to craft a little tool for automatic cleaning of body and clothes. And character cards came with indestructible outfits.
Strictly speaking, she'd never seriously collected clothes since coming to this world.
She'd rarely needed to.
At most, when visiting Herta before, she'd changed into a few pajamas Herta had given her.
"I mean, I didn't really need them. Just auto-clean and you're good. No need to change."
"Tch. Sometimes I truly don't know what to do with you. Do you think people buy clothes only because they're dirty?"
Herta clicked her tongue, faint disdain in her tone.
She'd known it. Bai Ming simply hadn't bought clothes because she thought she didn't need to change.
"…Isn't that the point?"
"Of course not. Just as treasures require fitting vessels, these clothes exist to highlight my perfection. And now that you have your own body—and that face—you should use clothing to bring it out."
Herta sincerely believed the world's beautiful designs existed to complement her.
And she'd acted accordingly.
Most of the outfits and accessories on the market that caught her eye, she'd already collected.
Hearing this, Bai Ming felt both relieved—and slightly disappointed.
She'd thought Herta was taking her to a bedroom.
Turns out it was just a closet.
What a scare.
"Stop standing there. Come in. Let me put together a few outfits for you. That dress is lovely, but I don't want to see you in the same thing every time."
Bai Ming answered and followed her inside.
The dressing room was massive—so vast they needed the flying carpet to move between sections.
And the clothes?
An overwhelming number.
Could Herta even wear all of these?
Watching Herta happily selecting outfits ahead of her, Bai Ming couldn't help asking,
"You've worn all of these?"
"Huh? Of course not. Plenty of them are for my puppets."
When she had free time, Herta rather enjoyed dressing up her puppets—big and small alike.
And since Bai Ming's face bore some resemblance to Herta's—
It had triggered Herta's most narcissistic instincts.
She suddenly very much wanted to treat Bai Ming like a dress-up doll.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL