"Why didn't you just admit it earlier?" Seeing Lumina's gaze fixed on Robin's retreating figure, Herta leaned in and nudged her.
"Admit what?" Lumina asked, puzzled.
"Admit that the final Blessing you bestowed during your battle with Sunday was your masterpiece."
Herta said casually. She wasn't particularly concerned about the Charmony Festival's relocation to the Radiant Feldspar. What surprised her was Lumina's refusal to take credit for the rescue. After all, how could Lumina, with her flamboyant personality, ever feign modesty in front of a beautiful girl?
"Little Herta, you just don't understand, do you~?"
Hearing Herta's confusion, Lumina, the self-proclaimed "Teacher Lumina," began her lesson.
"If she doesn't know it was me, then I'd admit it to impress her."
"But if she already knows, why would I bother?"
"If she knows I did it, what's the point of saying it out loud?"
Lumina struck a pose, one hand on her hip, and beamed at Herta as she delivered her lesson.
"If I simply agreed, I'd probably just get a 'thank you' and a useless gift."
"But if I deny everything and pretend I know nothing, I'll leave a much stronger impression on her."
Lumina said this with a straight face, even though she was making it all up.
Her real target was the Player, but she couldn't exactly say, "It's for the Player," since Herta had no idea what a Player was.
Still, her approach wasn't entirely wrong; it was definitely better than simply agreeing.
After all, only this kind of bold defiance could leave a truly lasting impression.
"Heh, whatever makes you happy." Herta rolled her eyes, speechless.
Though she didn't understand Lumina's antics, Herta respected her choices.
"Let's go. I've already told that... you know, what's-her-name, to run the Divergent Universe test on the Radiant Feldspar." Herta turned and walked away, dismissing Lumina entirely.
"She has a name! It's Stelle, not 'what's-her-name'!"
"Little Herta, you're really making people hate you, you know."
Seeing this, Lumina quickened her pace to catch up.
"Who cares if they know what I'm saying? What does it matter?" Herta retorted. "As for being hated, that's never going to happen. And even if it did, so what?"
Herta remained unfazed by Lumina's words.
As a member of the Genius Society and the Emanator of Erudition, she couldn't care less about what others thought.
"Yes, yes, yes~" Lumina cooed.
"But please remember, her name is Stelle, not 'that someone'!"
"Remember, okay? If you call her that again, I'll spank your little bottom!"
"To protect your little bottom, you'd better keep this warning in mind!"
Watching Herta's nonchalant attitude, Lumina nagged like an overprotective mother, droning on and on.
Herta: ...
"I get it, I get it! Stop droning, it's so annoying!" Herta pressed down on the pointed Witch Hat perched atop her head, her expression sour.
However, this displeasure wasn't directed at Lumina's words, but at Lumina herself.
Blathering on and on about someone else right in my ear... how annoying!
"Little Herta is being so obedient! I'm so happy!" Lumina reached out with her small hand, pinched Herta's cheek, and smiled gently.
"Tell me, Little Herta, what reward do you want?"
"Whatever reward you desire, I'll give it to you."
Lumina said these words with such confidence.
Yet, despite claiming to grant any reward, the final interpretation remained firmly in Lumina's hands. She had no fear that Herta might demand something outrageous and leave her in an awkward position.
"The reward I want can't be broadcast," Herta said coolly, swatting away Lumina's fingers from her cheek.
"?" A large question mark popped above Lumina's head.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said."
Herta's tone remained calm, her expression perfectly composed.
But beneath the curtain of her hair, the tips of her ears flushed a faint crimson.
"What does that mean?"
"If you don't understand, don't ask, you little Lumina," Herta snorted, refusing to elaborate.
Lumina: ?