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Chapter 2: Ruan Mei is one path, but Herta is another!
The massive influx of information washed over my brain like a tidal wave, making it difficult to fully digest at once.
Ruan Mei was pregnant, and her "Path" potential had been activated as a result. Then, for the sake of deeper research, she left me behind in an empty villa, along with a casual, offhand comment that she "permitted me to take a few more wives"... What on earth was all this?
The dreams of Penacony were bizarre and kaleidoscopic, but reality seemed to be even more beyond imagination. My journey of Trailblazing seemed to be sprinting in an increasingly absurd direction.
After Ruan Mei left, the place felt exceptionally vast. The air seemed to still linger with that unique scent of hers—a mixture of ink and cool, floral fragrance—reminding me of everything that had happened over the past while. Our "newlywed life" in the name of research, those days and nights spent recording data and analyzing energy interactions in the laboratory, and... those intimate encounters that went far beyond the scope of research.
Everything felt like an unreal dream. Now that the dream had ended, I was left all alone, clutching the jade token of supreme authority for this villa, with a bittersweet mix of emotions in my heart.
A sense of loss was inevitable. Ruan Mei's intelligence and beauty were beyond question, and the time spent with her, even if the intent wasn't pure, held a unique allure. Now that she had left with our child—albeit for the sake of "noble research"—I couldn't shake a hollow, indescribable emptiness in my heart.
I sat under the courtyard veranda, watching the koi swimming lazily in the pond, feeling somewhat distracted. Sunlight filtered through the meticulously pruned branches and leaves, casting dappled light and shadows on the ground; a light breeze swept by, bringing waves of herbal fragrance. It was beautiful here, and very quiet—so quiet that I could almost hear my own heartbeat, which only magnified the bewilderment inside me.
Just as I was immersed in this silence mixed with confusion and longing—
Ding-dong—
A crisp, melodious doorbell rang without warning, shattering the silence of the villa.
I snapped back to reality, feeling rather surprised. Who would come here? Ruan Mei had said this was a secluded place she had carefully chosen, almost completely cut off from the outside world. She had only left a short while ago, and given her personality, it was unlikely she would return so soon, let alone ring the doorbell.
Could it be... a local administrator of the Luofu? Or had someone discovered what Ruan Mei and I were doing here? A trace of wariness rose in my heart, but curiosity took over.
I stood up, patted my clothes, steadied myself, and walked toward the heavy wooden door carved with elegant patterns. My footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, sounding exceptionally clear.
I slowly opened the heavy courtyard gate. The figure standing outside made me freeze slightly.
Greeting my eyes was a beauty with silver hair reaching her waist, deep violet eyes resembling star-nebulae, and a signature, slightly playful witch's hat on her head. Her features were exquisitely stunning, carrying a unique charm that blended logic with mystery. In terms of beauty, she didn't lose out to Ruan Mei in the slightest.
However, unlike Ruan Mei's gentle yet cold demeanor, the person before me seemed more slender, and her entire being radiated a... well, an indescribable aura, as if she understood everything yet remained somewhat indifferent.
Moreover, she gave me an inexplicably familiar feeling, as if I had seen her countless times before, yet something felt different.
Was it her temperament? Or... a sense of physical presence? The image of the petite puppet that sat in the space station's master control zone all day, occasionally getting knocked over by Curios, flashed quickly through my mind.
Just as I was frozen in thought, she glanced at me with those beautiful violet eyes, a slight, playful curve appearing at the corner of her mouth. She spoke first, her voice clear and cool, tinged with a hint of mockery:
"What's the matter, Gray-hair? Haven't seen me in a few days, and you don't recognize me anymore?"
The title "Gray-hair"...
She paused, seemingly satisfied with the expression on my face—a mix of surprise and hesitation—before slowly adding, "Right, I suppose this is the first time you've seen my 'true body.' Listen well—standing before you is the unparalleled, incredibly intelligent, beautiful..."
"Herta!"
"—Miss Herta!"
We shouted the name almost simultaneously, though my tone was full of sudden realization, while hers carried a pride that took it for granted.
It was Herta! No wonder she felt familiar yet foreign; this was my first time seeing her actual human form, not the puppet we were more accustomed to interacting with. I had to admit, the impact of her real body far exceeded that of the puppet; that radiance, born of absolute self-confidence and intelligence, was almost impossible to look at directly.
Herta didn't seem to mind that I had cut her off before she could finish her self-praise. Instead, she nodded and looked me up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. "Hmm, decent reaction speed. However," she changed the subject, eyebrows slightly raised, "upon seeing the unparalleled Miss Herta gracing you with her presence, you're still standing there at the door without even inviting me in. How increasingly impolite."
"Ah! My apologies, my apologies!" I finally reacted, quickly stepping aside and making a gesture of invitation. "Please, come in, Miss Herta! It's no good standing outside; please, come in, come in!"
Flustered, I invited Herta into the villa's living room and led her to sit on the soft, comfortable sofa. Seeing this major figure, whom I usually only "happened upon" at the space station or in the Simulated Universe, sitting alive and real in the living room of the "newlywed" villa Ruan Mei and I shared, felt truly surreal.
I quickly brewed a pot of tea, poured it into white porcelain guest cups, and carefully placed it on the coffee table in front of her. Only after doing all this did I sit on the sofa opposite her, unable to help scratching my head, and with a heart full of questions, I cautiously asked: "Um... Miss Herta, why did you come here so suddenly today? Is there something you need?"
Herta didn't answer my question directly.
Her deep violet eyes seemed to be evaluating something, and then, to my surprise, she stood up from the sofa opposite me and, with a gait that was elegant yet possessed the precision typical of a researcher, sat directly beside me.
The distance between us shrank instantly, and a faint, cool fragrance—like stardust mixed with some high-end instrument—drifted into my nose. I couldn't help but stiffen, not quite understanding what this major figure from the Genius Society wanted to do.
Following that, she tilted her head slightly, her nose almost touching my neck, and sniffed the scent on me lightly, as if identifying some rare specimen.
"Hmm..." she let out an ambiguous nasal sound, then spoke as if to herself, yet deliberately for me to hear, "I really didn't expect that after you spent so long testing the Simulated Universe by my side, going back and forth and being washed over by the power of Aeons countless times, you were still hiding such a huge secret..."
My heart skipped a beat. Did she know? How much did she know? About Ruan Mei? Or...
Before I could sort through my thoughts, a slender yet strong hand suddenly grabbed my collar, pulling me closer to her. Her warm breath brushed against my ear with an undeniable intensity. Herta's voice dropped low, as if sharing a world-shattering discovery, or perhaps announcing a conclusion that allowed for no rebuttal:
"Ruan Mei... she actually dared to bypass me and reach the fundamental mystery of 'Path' alteration first. Heh, this is truly... a naked provocation against me, an Emanator of 'Erudition'."
There was no obvious anger in her tone, more of a cold, playful interest, as if she had been provoked to the limit of her curiosity and... perhaps a hint of competitiveness.
Just as I was stunned by her words, with the warmth of her breath still lingering on my ear, she abruptly released my collar and pulled back slightly, returning to her scrutinizing posture. However, what she said next was even more shocking than her whisper:
"So," she locked eyes with me with those violet eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything, a corner of her mouth hooked into a standard Herta-style smile—blending confidence and indifference, "from today on, I am your second wife."
"..."
My brain felt as though it had been precisely hit by an antimatter bomb; it went blank, buzzing.
Second... wife?
Herta watched my flabbergasted, system-crashed expression, seemingly finding it very interesting, and added another line, her tone as flat as if she were saying, "Nice weather today."
"Be grateful, little Gray-hair."
Me: "???"