Chapter 120 : Hungry
Chapter 120: Hungry
The night was as dark as ink, draping the Palace of Eternal Night in an ambiguous veil.
Inside the study, the magical lamp wick crackled softly. Lilia filed away the last organized document and rubbed her sore, swollen neck.
This entire day, she had not only played the role of a Personal Maid, but also acted as a strategist analyzing the schemes of the Immortality Society, killing tens of thousands of brain cells in the process.
Fortunately, Hera seemed to have listened.
“Tomorrow night… Dark Moon Canyon.”
She glanced at Hera, who sat behind the obsidian desk.
At that moment, Her Majesty the Queen rested her cheek on one hand, her golden eyes half-lidded. Her other hand absentmindedly twirled a Feather Pen. Her collar had loosened slightly from leaning over the desk for so long, revealing the red mark on her collarbone left from last night, still not faded.
Lilia’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly withdrew her gaze.
This scene was far too unfair.
“Master.” Lilia respectfully performed a hand-over-chest salute, her tone carrying the relief of finally getting off work. “The documents have been processed, and I’ve fully memorized tomorrow night’s action plan. If there are no further instructions, I will take my leave. I need to rest and recover, so I won’t drag you down tomorrow night.”
After speaking, she turned and slipped toward the door, her steps light like a mouse that had just stolen oil.
As long as she got back to her little room and locked the door, no one could make her work overtime!
However, just as her hand touched the cold doorknob—
“Stop.”
Two light words, without much fluctuation, yet they froze Lilia in place like a binding spell.
Maintaining her door-opening posture, the smile on Lilia’s face slowly cracked. She turned around stiffly, forcing out a smile uglier than crying. “Mas… Master… any further instructions? Are you hungry? I can cook noodles for you? Or would you like some black tea?”
Hera slowly lifted her eyelids, her golden pupils flowing with a heart-stirring light under the lamp.
She set down the Feather Pen, her slender fingers lightly tapping the tabletop with a “tap, tap” sound.
“I am indeed hungry.”
Hera stood up. Her black silk robe flowed like rippling water with her movements, outlining a breathtaking figure. She walked around the desk, step by step approaching Lilia.
As she drew closer, that familiar cedarwood fragrance instantly enveloped Lilia.
Lilia instinctively retreated until her back pressed against the door, with nowhere left to go.
“Th-then… I’ll go to the kitchen?” Lilia swallowed, trying to read something from Hera’s increasingly deep gaze.
Hera walked up to her and did not stop. Instead, she directly raised her hand and pressed it against the door beside Lilia’s ear.
Kabedon.
That damned kabedon again!
Hera slightly lowered her head, her warm breath brushing against Lilia’s neck, raising a fine layer of goosebumps. She lifted her other hand, hooking Lilia’s left hand—wearing the Conjoined Heart Lock ring—with her fingertips, gently stroking the cold surface of the ring.
“The kitchen food doesn’t suit my taste.”
Hera’s voice turned slightly hoarse, carrying a dangerous magnetism. “And tomorrow night we’re going to kill… shouldn’t we warm up a bit tonight?”
Lilia’s brain exploded with a loud bang.
Warm up?
What kind of warm-up at a time like this?!
“M-Master…” Lilia’s voice trembled as she made a final attempt to struggle. “I also think warming up is important. How about we go to the training grounds to practice combat? Or I can play a few rounds of Flying Chess with you? Or if not—”
“The training grounds are too far.”
Hera interrupted her, her fingers sliding from the back of Lilia’s hand into the gaps between her fingers, interlocking them tightly.
At that moment, the Conjoined Heart Lock ring on her ring finger seemed to respond to its master’s will, lighting up again with a faint red glow. The fivefold sensory sharing activated instantly. Lilia clearly felt the warmth from Hera’s fingertips, and… that trace of extremely excited anticipation hidden beneath her cold exterior.
This wasn’t a warm-up—this was clearly replaying the game they hadn’t cleared last night!
“This place is fine.” Hera let out a soft laugh, her gaze landing on the carpet not far away. “Didn’t you say yesterday that my skills were too rusty?”
Lilia’s eyes widened in horror. “I never said that! That was the System slandering you!”
“Oh?” Hera raised an eyebrow. “Then we’ll verify it again tonight.”
Before Lilia could shout “I refuse 996!” or “Workers have rights too!”, Hera had already wrapped an arm around her waist. After a dizzying spin, space twisted.
The next second, instead of appearing on the carpet, the two of them directly teleported onto the large bed in the Bedchamber.
“Wait! There’s a group battle tomorrow night, Master! My body won’t hold up!” Lilia pressed her hands against Hera’s shoulders, letting out a despairing wail.
Hera looked down at her from above, the corner of her lips curling into a wicked arc.
“Don’t worry. I have healing magic.”
“As long as you’re not dead, I can pull you back.”
……
Facts proved that in the face of absolute power, all resistance was merely flirting.
That night, Lilia deeply realized a truth: there were only exhausted oxen, never plowed-out Demon Kings.
Although Hera’s practical experience was still lacking, she made up for it with enthusiasm for learning.
And that damned Conjoined Heart Lock ring was practically a cheating artifact.
Whenever Lilia tried to play dead to muddle through, the sensory sharing from the ring would mercilessly expose her true bodily reactions, making Hera even more interested as she took notes while improving her “techniques.”
Only when the sky began to lighten with a pale dawn did this so-called “warm-up,” actually a “torture,” finally come to an end.
“Damn capitalist…”
Lilia buried her face in the pillow, letting out a muffled curse.
Just as she was about to fall asleep—determined not to get up even if the sky collapsed—a cheerful electronic sound suddenly rang in her mind.
【Ding!】
【Congratulations, Host! Outstanding performance last night, excellent service attitude, customer satisfaction five stars!】
【Now beginning mission settlement…】
Lilia suddenly opened her eyes and sprang up from the bed like a resurrected corpse. The movement pulled at her sore waist muscles, making her grimace in pain.
“Settlement?”
Lilia scratched her messy silver hair, her face full of confusion. “What settlement? Did I even take a mission last night?”
She remembered clearly that the traitorous System had played dead the entire time last night to avoid suspicion, not making a single sound.
【Oh my, Host, did you forget?】
The System’s voice sounded especially punchable, carrying a sycophantic tone unique to a lackey. 【Right now, the highest authority holder of this System is Her Majesty Queen Hera! Although Her Majesty did not issue a mission through the System panel, her verbal ‘requests,’ after intelligent evaluation by this System, all fall under the category of mandatory missions!】
Lilia froze.
There was such an operation?!
“So… when she said ‘raise your legs higher’ last night, that also counts as a mission?” Lilia asked in disbelief.
【It counts! Of course it counts!】 the System answered loudly. 【That falls under an action guidance mission!】