Herta looked at the Light Cone in her hand, feeling very satisfied. But after putting it away, she extended her hand toward Bai Ming again.
Bai Ming looked at the outstretched palm, glanced at the hand, then at Herta in confusion. Then she tried placing her own hand on top of it, only for Herta to flick it away.
Even more puzzled, Bai Ming scratched her head and thought carefully for a moment.
As if she'd realized something, she bent down slightly, cheeks faintly red, and rested her chin in Herta's palm.
That move stunned Herta as well.
She had only wanted another one or two Light Cones that recorded yesterday's events as keepsakes.
Of course, they had to include scenes of Bai Ming.
Her own was covered with the one she'd just made, but Herta still wanted Bai Ming's. After all, in her memories, she'd been captivated by many different expressions of Bai Ming.
Since Bai Ming had taken the initiative to compress those memories into Light Cones, Herta naturally wanted to take advantage and ask for a few more souvenirs.
She'd assumed Bai Ming would realize she meant the Light Cones. Even if she didn't, watching Bai Ming think it over would've been entertaining enough.
But no matter how much Herta calculated—
She never expected Bai Ming's conclusion would be to place herself there.
Looking at Bai Ming with her chin resting in her palm, smiling foolishly at her—Herta pressed her lips together, but in the end couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Her fingers curled, scratching under Bai Ming's chin, lifting it like teasing a cat, pulling her closer before leaning in and planting a quick kiss with a grin.
"Are you an idiot? I was asking for another Light Cone. Why did you put yourself here?"
"Huh??"
Bai Ming froze, then her face flushed bright red.
She straightened up abruptly, heat rising all over her.
"What—if you wanted a Light Cone, why didn't you just say it? What's with just sticking your hand out?!"
Herta tried to suppress the corners of her mouth, but laughter still slipped out.
How should she put it… she'd thought Bai Ming had changed.
After all, she'd been aggressively attacked all night yesterday—but apparently it was just this idiot's brute force.
Today, one poke and she was back to normal.
"I only meant to tease you. Who knew you'd actually put yourself there?"
"…Fine, fine. You did that on purpose, didn't you? I shouldn't have helped you recover! I should've left you lying in bed all day!"
Bai Ming's face grew even redder.
It wasn't clear whether it was embarrassment or anger.
Herta reached out, laughing as she kneaded Bai Ming's cheeks.
Then she cupped her face and pulled her closer.
"Alright, be good. I want your Light Cone. Last night's you is worth keeping too."
"You want to collect me too??"
Bai Ming's pupils trembled.
Wait—she really wanted to save those things from last night and revisit them anytime??
"Of course. I like this face of yours."
Herta's fingertips brushed across Bai Ming's cheek as she spoke in a calm tone, sounding suspiciously like a playgirl.
Bai Ming blushed, but still extracted yesterday's memories and shaped them into a complete Light Cone.
The image on it showed Bai Ming and Herta facing each other, holding onto one another, gazing from inches away.
"You've got good taste."
Herta snapped her fingers and took the Light Cone. Although her own expression in the image looked more affectionate than she'd expected, Bai Ming's gaze toward her was equally worth savoring.
As for the memory inside…
Herta glanced at it once and immediately flushed.
Was she really that undone last night?
This was… a bit too much.
Even though she'd mentally prepared herself, seeing what had happened from a third-person perspective still brought a novel sense of embarrassment.
Bai Ming looked beautiful and captivating; those expressions under the ambiguous atmosphere, those emotional eyes, radiated charm, but on the other hand… seeing herself as the counterpart from a third-person angle was way too embarrassing.
Especially since she'd been the one on the receiving end yesterday.
Looking at those awkward moments, Herta's face heated up, and every time she saw Bai Ming's face she remembered her own expressions back then.
Her body even began instinctively recalling those sensations and emotions.
That made Herta avert her gaze, forcing herself not to look at Bai Ming for now.
Otherwise… if she kept watching this, she might end up completely conditioned into being the passive one.
Forbidden object!
Herta mentally labeled the Light Cone as such.
In the future, it would be sealed in her bedroom, never to see the light of day.
At most, she'd pick out a few favorite frames to recreate separately.
As for the original, it was better to look at it less.
To shift her attention, Herta quietly tucked the Light Cone away and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"
During yesterday's indulgence, neither of them had spoken the words to formally define their relationship. Because to them, compared to thin words, the intertwining of emotions was far more real.
As for Celenova, Herta had already moved on.
And for Herta, deepening the relationship didn't mean she'd demand Bai Ming stay for some time-wasting honeymoon.
In the end, emotional joy was just a delicious seasoning in Herta's life. She wouldn't allow it to interfere with her research and pursuits.
And she expected Bai Ming to do the same.
"I've already solved the Permanence Equation, but since Permanence itself has split, this Path isn't suitable for further study right now. So I plan to research Nihility next—"
Before she could finish, Herta slammed her cup onto the table with a bang, staring seriously at Bai Ming.
"Are you crazy? Even if Nihility doesn't affect you, there's no need to rush into studying it!"
"I'm not crazy. I don't expect to fully master Nihility. I just want to do something—to let those Self-Annihilators be saved, and free Acheron from that endless responsibility."
Herta silently locked eyes with Bai Ming for a long while.
Then she sat back down.
"You're bringing up another woman right in front of me? Aren't you afraid I'll kick you out right now?"
"Then I'll shamelessly come back and apologize until you forgive me."
"…How do you say something that cowardly with such a straight face?"
Herta rubbed her forehead and sighed.
Sometimes she really felt powerless against Bai Ming's total lack of self-awareness.
Did this person even realize she was an Aeon?
To go this far over something like this—and not even for fun like Aha—but genuinely lowering herself just to gain forgiveness.
To be honest, if it were Herta ascending to godhood, she'd probably become like the other Aeons, distancing herself from the mortal world to pursue her ideals.
So precisely because she couldn't do it, and Bai Ming could—and had even left a portion of that gentleness for her—that was why Herta's heart fluttered so strongly.
"Fine. Go wherever you want. But I only have one requirement—succeed, and come back whole."
Bai Ming smiled, warmly and gently.
"Okay. I promise."
Bai Ming didn't leave immediately.
She first greeted Screwllum and the others.
For the first time, Screwllum showed a hint of gossip, asking about her progress with Herta.
Bai Ming felt too embarrassed to share details, only saying she'd already soothed Herta and their relationship had grown closer.
She also thanked Screwllum for the earlier heads-up.
Even though most details were omitted, Screwllum seemed to be in a very good mood judging by his tone.
Bai Ming didn't think much of it, assuming he was simply happy the genius group's relationship had stabilized again.
As for Ruan Mei…
She was at a critical stage of pushing forward a new project, so immersed in research she seemed oblivious to everything else.
It was said she'd already achieved preliminary results and was now cultivating a complete form.
Who knew what she'd end up creating.
Ruan Mei didn't intend to explain, and Bai Ming didn't press further.
They chatted briefly about professional matters; Bai Ming answered some questions related to Immortality and Propagation, then ended the exchange.
As for Divine Herta…
Bai Ming chatted a bit more, though she still skipped most details.
Even so, the perceptive Divine Herta guessed it.
[Divine Herta: Interesting. So even I can fall in love. Though if it's you, it's not surprising—but still a little unbelievable.]
[Divine Herta: Is Herta still in Herta City? Mind if I drop by?]
[Nameless: …]
[Nameless: That curious, huh?]
[Divine Herta: That's Herta! Another me. Of course I'm interested.]
[Divine Herta: Oh, Herta replied. She said it's fine. Interesting. I'll arrange some work for Asta and then come over.]
[Nameless: That's rare. You personally arranging work for Asta? Wouldn't you normally just leave and become unreachable?]
[Divine Herta: Asta's too young, she needs guidance. And besides… maybe I've been influenced by those people from the Land of Light.]
[Nameless: …the Light again?]
[Divine Herta: Who's to say.]
Bai Ming raised an eyebrow at the reply.
The Land of Light didn't even have a Plasma Spark Tower—how would outsiders get influenced… oh right, her main body was the light-corrupted Irontomb.
Then being influenced by the attribute of Light wasn't strange.
Bai Ming quickly accepted that logic.
Divine Herta arrived pretty quickly, but Bai Ming didn't participate in the conversation between the two Hertas and instead returned to the space station.
Mainly because Divine Herta kept looking at her like she was some rare specimen, which made her uncomfortable.
Whispering to Herta while studying her with that gaze—it felt too strange, so she simply left early.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL