"Mmm..."
"So comfortable..."
"Is this... Paradise?"
Lumina: (ノ>▽<.)ノ
Inside a room at The Reverie Hotel, Lumina lay sprawled across Herta's lap. The blissful sensation against her cheek and the fragrant scent filling her nostrils made her feel as if she had ascended to a paradise of happiness.
"Hey... can you... stop fidgeting?" Herta pursed her lips, her thighs tingling with constant movement as she struggled to maintain her composure.
This grown-up child is such a handful... Who thrashes around like this while enjoying a lap pillow?
Her white hair keeps brushing against my skin... it's so ticklish, you know!
Herta had initially assumed that a simple lap pillow would suffice, treating Lumina like a daughter and offering motherly comfort.
But Lumina turned out to be utterly restless!
Wiggling her head this way and that, back and forth—if Herta hadn't already promised her, she would have tossed Lumina off her lap long ago. Why was she even putting up with this nonsense?
Herta was starting to regret her earlier decision. Allowing her thigh to become Lumina's personal pillow at any time, anywhere, for the mere price of being called "Mommy Herta"...
I could have paid that price myself!
Madam Herta was now regretting, regretting, regretting—utterly and desperately regretting. She wished she could defy the barriers of Time, travel back, personally veto Lumina's request to lie on her lap, and obliterate the very idea from Lumina's mind.
But clearly, now that the words had been spoken, even Madam Herta couldn't easily retract them.
Especially not a promise made to Lumina. If she went back on her word, wouldn't that give Lumina a fatal weakness to exploit?
Once Lumina grasped that fatal weakness, Madam Herta could already imagine the dark, miserable life she would endure for the rest of her days...
"If you keep fidgeting like that, you're off my lap. Do whatever you want." If this continued, Lumina's fidgeting would become unbearable.
Clenching her teeth, Herta reluctantly proposed a compromise.
"I won't fidget anymore. I won't fidget anymore. I won't fidget anymore."
Upon hearing this, Lumina immediately tripled down on her denial to affirm her compliance, lying obediently on Herta's lap without moving a muscle.
"Hmph," Herta snorted coldly, relieved that Lumina had finally stopped fidgeting.
But thinking it over, exchanging a single "Mommy Herta" for a lifetime of lap pillows... How had she suddenly become a philanthropist?!
Sigh... oh well, I guess it's not such a bad deal after all...
Watching Lumina lying on her lap, Herta found herself inexplicably reaching out, gently placing her palm on the girl's head and beginning to stroke it.
Lumina: ?
Feeling this motherly caress, Lumina's expression, which had been one of blissful contentment while enjoying Madam Herta's lap pillow, instantly froze.
"Hey... A lap pillow is one thing, but you're not actually treating me like your daughter, are you?" Lumina opened her eyes, gazed up at Herta's face, and muttered, utterly speechless.
Heh, looking down, I see my toes; looking up, I see her cheeks. This is...
Lumina lay on Herta's lap, involuntarily puffing out her chest as if hinting at something.
Herta: ...
As a genius, Herta naturally understood Lumina's meaning. Suppressing the urge to punch her, she returned to the previous question:
"If you're my daughter for a moment, you'll be my daughter forever."
"At least, while you're enjoying my lap pillow, you are my daughter!"
"Otherwise, you can get down right now?"
Herta snorted coldly, reaching out to grab Lumina's shoulder as if to push her away.
"Ehh, ehh, wait, wait, wait!" Seeing this, Lumina immediately protested, turning and burying her head deeper into Herta's lap.
"You know, Mommy Herta, you make a good point."
"Let's just stay like this. I'm going to sleep now."
With that, Lumina fell silent.
"..."
Herta sighed helplessly, her hand gently kneading Lumina's small head, a hint of indulgence flickering in her eyes.