After an indeterminate amount of time, two Red Apples emerged from the room.
They stood motionless in the doorway, neither closing the door nor moving, nor speaking. They simply stood there, their intentions unclear.
"J-just now... nothing happened, right? N-nothing at all," one of the Red Apples, dressed in a white dress, finally broke the silence.
"Mmm... mm-hmm, n-nothing happened... n-nothing at all," the other Red Apple, wearing a pointed witch's hat, nodded in agreement.
"Then... should we go? They should have already started fighting by now..." the Red Apple in the white dress suggested.
"Mhm," the Red Apple in the pointed witch hat murmured softly.
"Let's go," Red Apple said, dressed in a white dress. She casually took the smaller Red Apple's hand, as if a mother leading her daughter through a bustling street, clearing any obstacles in the younger Red Apple's path, ensuring she walked on a protected road.
Undoubtedly, judging by their current disheveled appearance, what had just occurred in the room was far from ordinary—it must have been intense.
But the two of them had buried this incident deep within their hearts. No one else knew about it except them...
And the only two who did know silently pretended ignorance, sealing the event in the deepest, darkest recesses of their minds, refusing to dwell on it or recall it...
Though their intentions were noble, this event had clearly exceeded their capacity to bear.
In other words:
They couldn't forget it...
-
"It seems they've all gone to do what they need to do."
They walked in silence down the corridor, soon reaching the grand lobby of The Reverie Hotel. The two Red Apples, who had appeared briefly, gradually faded back into their normal forms.
Looking at the vast, empty space before her, Lumina knew the battle between the Astral Express Crew and Sunday had officially begun.
"So, what are you going to do now? Go back to the Sweet Dream to watch the show?" Herta couldn't care less whether Acheron and the others were in the lobby or fighting Sunday.
Right now, at least in Penacony, Herta only cared about what Lumina said...
"Hmm... I think I'll go check on them. Just in case the Astral Express Crew gets careless and fails to defeat Sunday, falling deeper into the Sweet Dream." After a moment's thought, Lumina nodded, deciding to go observe the battle firsthand.
"Hmph." Herta scoffed, a hint of displeasure in her voice. "You're such a bleeding heart, such a good Mother."
"Are you going to help Stelle? Or March 7th? Robin?"
"Or perhaps help all the beautiful girls here?"
Herta muttered something unintelligible, as if trying to express a deeper meaning.
Faced with Madam Herta's slightly childish demeanor, Lumina chuckled softly and explained, "I'm not helping Stelle, March 7th, or Robin. Nor am I helping all the beautiful girls here."
"I'm not helping any individual. What I'm helping is Penacony as a whole..."
"Sunday's ideal is sound: to create an eternal Paradise." Lumina began walking toward the central axis of the grand hall, speaking as she moved.
"But he's clearly forgotten one crucial point..."
"The foundation of Paradise isn't absolute power, but the hearts of the people."
"The Paradise Sunday has built can only last for a limited time. When Time runs out, it will be shattered by the will of the people."
"Many will be sacrificed then. I refuse to let that happen."
Lumina's gentle voice echoed softly through the empty hall.
"Hmph, such a bleeding heart," Herta snorted in response.
Yet within that cold snort, every trace of displeasure had vanished completely...
"Thank you for the compliment, Madam Herta," Lumina replied.
Lumina didn't consider the term "bleeding heart" an insult, especially when spoken by Madam Herta. In her mind, it wasn't just a compliment, but even a hint of Herta's playful arrogance.
Therefore, Lumina hummed lightly and accepted Herta's "praise" with a grin.
"You don't actually think I was complimenting you, do you? How shameless," Herta said, her gaze darkening slightly as she gave Lumina a speechless look.
While Herta hadn't intended to insult Lumina, she certainly hadn't meant to praise her either. Herta refused to believe Lumina couldn't grasp the underlying meaning of her words.
So, for Lumina to feign ignorance and brazenly claim it as a compliment? That was just shameless.
"Thanks, ha!" the shameless Lumina replied to Herta's "shameless" remark.
Herta: ...
"Forget it, forget it. Go find the Astral Express Crew already. By now, they've probably finished their fight." Flustered by Lumina's audacity, Herta waved her hand dismissively, signaling she had no desire to continue the conversation with the shameless woman.
She's shameless. What good will talking do?
The best way to deal with someone like her is to confront her directly and see if she truly has no shame...
Herta had already tested this theory, and the results were clear: Lumina did, in fact, still have some dignity.
"Come, let me take you into Ena's Dream," Herta proposed. Lumina nodded slightly in agreement and extended her palm, inviting Herta to take her hand.
Without hesitation, Herta placed her hand in Lumina's, all her former reservations long gone.
Clasping Little Herta's small hand tightly, feeling the warmth radiating from her palm, Lumina balled her other hand into a fist and punched the air before her.
Bang!
As Lumina's fist landed, a deafening crash reverberated through the air. The space where her fist struck shattered, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
In moments, a "door" materialized before them, its dimensions perfectly matching their height and width.
"Such violence! If your fans outside saw this..."
"If my fans outside saw this, they'd probably start glorifying my violent actions."
Watching Lumina's brutal methods, Herta had intended to criticize her.
But before Herta could finish her critique, Lumina cut her off.
"Um... you're right, I guess." Interrupted and hearing Lumina's words, Herta couldn't help but recall the Saintess Support Club's antics, inwardly agreeing with Lumina's point.
Given those people's fanatic devotion to Lumina, if she were to eat dirt, they'd likely spend all night pondering the meaning behind her action, and countless others would then mimic her dirt-eating behavior...
Of course, Herta wouldn't let Lumina eat dirt in the first place...
If Lumina ever accidentally capsized her ship during a voyage, Madam Herta would put aside their past differences and take her in~
As for the price of this acceptance...
Hmm, just give me... a little something.