Bai Ming, who hadn't expected to get straight to the point like this, awkwardly averted her gaze.
She had originally intended to just drop a few hints and feel things out.
Instead, Herta had brought up all their past accounts at once, laying everything bare. It was a direct, upfront move that left Bai Ming with no room for retreat.
"I'm sorry... I never told you about Acheron."
Bai Ming apologized quite bluntly, prioritizing a display of the right attitude. But ironically, this only made Herta unhappy.
"What are you apologizing for? I'm not so unreasonable that I'd demand a deity leak their believer's secrets to . Besides, I wouldn't even want to hear them."
It was just as Ruan i had surmised. Aside from Bai Ming herself, Herta had actually prepared herself ntally long ago.
The person she had entered into an intimate relationship with was an Aeon known throughout the world. Was she supposed to demand that an Aeon divulge every single secret just because of a close bond or a few feelings? Herta had never considered such an unrealistic path.
Seeing Bai Ming apologize so decisively actually made Herta feel like so sort of irrational woman, which was irritating.
"What I'm trying to say is, if you wanted to talk, why didn't you talk to ? And why use such clumsy thods to keep in the dark?"
"..."
Bai Ming scratched her cheek and thought for a mont before finally deciding to co clean about everything regarding Acheron and Ruan i.
Of course, she started with Acheron. As for Ruan i's more... provocative words, those were pushed back for a mont; she wanted to see Herta's reaction first.
Herta had already deduced so of it previously. After all, Acheron was a Self-Annihilator, and Bai Ming was attempting to decipher Nihility.
It wasn't hard to connect the dots on what Bai Ming would do once she mastered Nihility. Considering what Acheron had been doing and her past experiences, Herta had more or less pieced the picture together.
What she hadn't expected, however, was that the catalyst causing Acheron's thoughts to "spoil" into sothing else was actually this girl Bai Ming's own doing.
"Sotis I really think you're too much of a do-gooder. You help everyone, and then you pour your heart and soul into it. You shouldn't be the Aeon of Elation; you should open up a new Path of Philanthropy."
Herta couldn't help but complain about Bai Ming's habit of unconsciously stirring up trouble everywhere. To Bai Ming's ears, however, the comnt felt a bit strange.
"...Is that really appropriate coming from you? The Amphoreus incident wasn't that long ago, and considering the dozen or so crises at The Blue, I don't think you're much better than ."
"At least I don't flirt with people's emotions after doing the deed and then refuse to take responsibility."
At this, Herta shot Bai Ming a look. Though she didn't say it, her expression clearly conveyed the words: I despise you.
"What do you an, 'refuse to take responsibility'? I just wanted Acheron to have a new life, rather than projecting all her hopes and desires onto ."
"Then did you ever ask her if she wanted to chase the vastness of the universe? What if she just wants to follow you?"
Herta fired back without rcy. Before she was done, she continued:
"Besides, the only reason you're confessing so easily is because of sothing Ruan i said to you a couple of days ago, isn't it? Otherwise, you definitely wouldn't have planned to ask for my opinion."
"..."
This was why, even now, Bai Ming felt like she still didn't truly understand these geniuses.
What "normal" person, when faced with this kind of situation, would actually seek out the party involved to ask for their opinion?
Seeing Bai Ming's complicated expression, Herta sighed softly.
"I'll just say it straight: You are an Aeon walking the mortal realm. You are destined to have believers who are close to you. I accepted that fact from the very beginning; otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen to take this step further with you."
"Since Acheron is the Emanator you chose, don't go pushing her away at a ti like this. Even Aha wouldn't do sothing so nasty."
Herta actually began lecturing Bai Ming, telling her to have a bit more self-awareness as a deity. Even Aha wouldn't actively abandon their own believers; you'd better just stay put and take responsibility.
Hearing this, Bai Ming scratched her head.
She realized once again that her relationship with Herta was indeed unique. And, even after all this ti, she still didn't understand Herta—or any of them—well enough.
"As for ."
Herta raised her hand, her finger tapping the mark in her palm.
"I know you were helping from the shadows when I was dealing with Kakamond. I could feel it."
Bai Ming gave an embarrassed smile. She had been so careful, yet she'd still been caught? Embarrassnt aside, she explained:
"I know you're incredible. Even if I hadn't stepped in, you definitely would have found Kakamond, defeated her, and returned in triumph. But even so, I won't forget that you are also soone I want to protect, regardless of how strong or weak you are."
"...Well, you certainly know how to sweet-talk."
Herta's face flushed slightly. This girl was suddenly dropping these honeyed words out of nowhere. But despite the reflexive complaint, Herta felt happy—and wanted more of it.
She just didn't want Bai Ming to see that she wanted more. So, Herta picked up her cup and lowered her head to drink tea, trying to hide her reddening cheeks.
"Right, how is Ruan i's research going?"
"Fairly smoothly. Nous hasn't hidden anything, but parsing the data itself takes ti."
"Oh. I'll talk to Ruan i later. Hopefully we can find sothing interesting."
After Herta said this, she fell into a temporary silence.
Bai Ming had thought Herta would continue—perhaps demanding compensation or finding so way to vent her frustrations despite the sweet-talk. Bai Ming was already prepared to be a good girl and listen.
Instead, Herta suddenly stopped talking, simply keeping her head down while drinking tea and eating snacks.
The silence lingered between them for a while. Finally, Bai Ming took the initiative to restart the conversation.
"What do you think of Ruan i?"
"What do you an, 'what do I think'?"
"I an... Ruan i has similar intentions."
"?"
At first, Herta didn't react, not understanding what Bai Ming ant by "similar intentions." But when she looked up and saw the subtle, awkward expression on Bai Ming's face, it clicked.
The "intentions" she was talking about were similar to Acheron's—and her own. aning Ruan i wanted to take her relationship with Bai Ming a step further.
"You an Ruan i has those kinds of thoughts too?? That Ruan i, who hates social interaction? She wants to establish an intimate relationship with you??"
Beyond any other emotion, Herta's primary reaction was disbelief and shock. Her pupils even dilated, as if she had just learned sothing utterly inconceivable. It left Bai Ming feeling bewildered.
"Just what kind of image do you have of Ruan i in your head...?"
"An emotionally cold, reclusive person. Is there a problem with that?"
"...No problem. Actually, I thought so too."
Bai Ming shrugged helplessly. On this point, she and Herta were in complete agreent. They both felt this shouldn't be happening to Ruan i. But unfortunately...
"She said it exactly like that. Though her tone made it sound like she was asking if a snack tasted good."
Herta pursed her lips, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.
After all these years, Herta and Ruan i could be said to know each other intimately. That was why she was so surprised. Was this really sothing that Ruan i would do?
"Then did you ask why?"
Herta blinked at Bai Ming.
Her eyes held no resentnt over a friend competing for Bai Ming's affections; instead, they were filled entirely with curiosity about why Ruan i would make such a choice.
"..."
Bai Ming was a bit speechless. You could always count on a genius to spend their whole life obsessed with curiosity. They always focused on the most peculiar details.
"Dial it back a bit. Even if I asked, it wouldn't be right for to tell you. What are you thinking?"
"Tsk, boring."
Herta rolled her eyes and looked away, disinterested. But then she quickly snapped back, looking at Bai Ming again.
"Almost forgot. You, ssing around with everyone and their mother—I haven't settled that score with you yet. Tell , besides Acheron and Ruan i, who else have you been provoking?"
"..."
She really wanted to complain that Herta was just looking for an excuse to push her around. But she opened her mouth and nothing ca out.
Bai Ming thought through the list: Jingliu, Fu Xuan, Sparkle, Demiurge, and so on. She had indeed helped them a lot and done plenty for them.
But surely their feelings hadn't "spoiled" into sothing else, right? These people weren't like Acheron or Ruan i—lonely wolves with hardly any friends.
Jingliu still cared about the High-Cloud Quintet, and now that she'd joined the Stellaron Hunters, she probably cared deeply for her new companions.
Fu Xuan's ultimate goal was to beco the General of the Xianzhou; her feelings for Bai Ming were basically just admiration.
Sparkle didn't even need to be ntioned—she was a pure agent of chaos. If you asked her, she'd manifest a persona that was "in love" with you right on the spot.
Qingque probably felt a mix of love and hate for her right now, but she likely didn't have those kinds of thoughts.
Demiurge was traveling with Evernight and was close friends with Cyrene; she didn't lack companions or intimate besties, so things probably wouldn't turn weird there.
Silver Wolf... Silver Wolf was only in her teens, just a girl with an internet addiction; she wasn't even part of the discussion.
As for the others... it was mostly the sa. Bai Ming, at least, didn't feel like she had done anything that would make them fall for her. So, she shook her head earnestly in denial.
"No one else."
"Really? You seem to be on pretty good terms with a whole crowd of won out there. You even abducted Celenova and brought her back."
Herta did a ntal count and realized she could na several off the top of her head. For instance, that girl Typhon was purely after Bai Ming's body and barely bothered to hide it.
Celenova was also wandering around the space station every day in a maid outfit, showing off those long legs.
The debt of gratitude Jingliu owed wasn't small either. And that Xianzhou woman, Fu Xuan—she frequently invited Bai Ming to stay over at her place.
Could that really be considered a normal relationship between a deity and a believer?
Did those people really have no special intentions? Or was it simply that Bai Ming was oblivious? After all, until recently, this girl hadn't even been able to grasp Ruan i's or Acheron's true feelings.
She was pure, unadulterated negative emotional intelligence.
-- --
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL
User Comments
0 comments from readers