"Really?"
"Of course it's true."
Hearing Herta's explanation, Lumina gasped inwardly, feeling utterly unable to continue the conversation.
Is this what it feels like to be intellectually crushed? Lumina murmured inwardly, feeling utterly helpless.
"Then let me see your phone," she said, brushing aside her doubts and extending her hand to Herta.
"What for?"
"I want to check the group chat."
"Uh... fine..." A flicker of hesitation crossed Herta's flawless face, but she eventually relented and handed Lumina her phone.
"Enter the password."
Taking the phone, Lumina lit up the screen and saw the password prompt. She immediately handed it back to Herta.
"424242." Seeing her hesitation, Herta didn't take the phone back but simply recited the password.
"So straightforward. Seems you have nothing to hide on your phone," Lumina remarked, raising an eyebrow in surprise as she typed in the password and successfully unlocked the home screen.
If it were Lumina, she might hesitate before giving someone her phone password, since it contained a few personal secrets.
But seeing Herta's decisive demeanor, Lumina abandoned her plan to secretly browse Herta's browser while checking the Chat Group.
Herta's desktop wallpaper was a purple lily, a surprisingly understated choice.
Lumina had assumed that someone as narcissistic as Herta would have her own photo as the wallpaper.
She swiped across the screen, searching for the chat app.
"Hmm... what's with this ominous feeling?"
As Lumina searched for the chat app on the desktop, Herta couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
After all, she never looked at such things herself. There was no embarrassing history from short video platforms in her browser. Even the photos in her album were just normal selfies, nothing worth hiding.
Yet... a strange panic churned within her.
It was as if she had overlooked something crucial.
Lumina wants to see the Chat Group? Fine, let her look.
What harm could come from just seeing the Chat Group?
Hmm... Chat Group, Chat Group... Chat app...
!
In the next moment, as Herta continued to ponder, she suddenly realized the oversight she had missed.
Chat app!
In the chat app, I had pinned Lumina's account and the group chat to the top!
"Ah, I've found it."
"Herta, you have so much stuff on your phone!"
By sheer coincidence, just as Herta cracked the case, Lumina also found the chat app on her phone and tapped it open without hesitation.
"Wait—wait!"
Panicked, Herta lunged forward without thinking.
It's just a pinned chat, it doesn't mean anything... Bullshit! Who pins chats in a normal relationship? Only someone with a close, cherished bond would do that.
And she had even pinned the group chat! If Lumina saw it, her earlier explanations would crumble into dust!
Lumina must never see this.
"Huh? Mmmph!"
"Herta, what are you doing?!"
Lumina showed no suspicion or defense. Faced with Herta's sudden action, she didn't react in time and was immediately pinned beneath her, her phone snatched back.
After retrieving the phone, Herta swiftly unpinned both top chats in a fraction of a second, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
But that sigh of relief quickly morphed into panting...
She was now straddling Lumina, who lay beneath her in bewildered shock. Lumina's slightly disheveled white hair spilled across the floor like an unfurling white lily.
With her hands raised above her head, Lumina's chest rose and fell rapidly, as if she were still in shock. Herta's abrupt actions had genuinely terrified her.
"Um... Herta, calm down."
"I don't know what's on your phone, but could we at least sit up first?"
Snapping out of her daze and seeing Herta straddling her, Lumina showed no concern.
Her mind was entirely consumed by an overwhelming curiosity that threatened to spill over.
Since meeting Herta, this was the first time Lumina had witnessed such an intense reaction from her. It would be a lie to claim she wasn't curious.
"Oh, oh..." Herta quickly regained her composure, quashing the dark thoughts that had begun to surface. She slowly rose from Lumina and settled back into her chair.
Clap, clap, clap.
As Herta stood up, Lumina felt a sudden emptiness where she had been. She rose, brushed nonexistent dust off her clothes, and smoothed her slightly disheveled hair before settling back into her chair.
"What was that all about? Why did you suddenly get so worked up?"
Lumina propped her cheek in her hand, her eyes fixed on Herta with intense curiosity, as if trying to pry secrets from her face.
Whatever had caused Madam Herta, Genius Society #83 and Emanator of Erudition, to react so violently had piqued Lumina's curiosity so intensely that she completely forgot about their earlier, rather intimate moment.
"N-nothing," Herta said, her lips clamped shut, refusing to utter another word.
"Is that so?" Lumina tapped her cheek thoughtfully, her mind racing to understand the origin of Herta's sudden outburst.
When Herta handed her the phone, nothing seemed amiss. Even when giving her the password, she showed no unusual reaction.
There were no issues as Lumina swiped through the home screen.
But the moment she found the messaging app and tapped to open it—still on the loading screen, nothing yet visible—Herta's sudden action had startled her.
What exactly did she do on the phone then?
Lumina replayed the scene in her mind. She recalled that after Herta took back the phone, she tapped it twice without swiping at all.
So, Herta was operating within a messaging app at the time.
But what could she have done with just two taps?
Leaving a group chat or deleting a friend certainly wouldn't be that simple...
Hmm... I can't guess.
I'm so curious.
Lumina's heart ached with curiosity, her eyes fixed on Herta as if trying to pierce through her skin to see into her thoughts.
"Herta, give me your phone. I want to check the group chat."
After a moment of fruitless speculation, Lumina asked for Herta's phone.
"Here you go."
Having already removed the pinned message, Herta had no reservations and handed over her phone without hesitation.
Looks like she's cleared everything...
Taking the phone, Lumina sighed softly, feeling a pang of regret.
If only I'd been a few seconds faster back then...
Judging by the two taps Herta made, whatever she was trying to hide would have been visible as soon as she opened the app...