bookcurios Chapter 98 : Did It Pass?
Chapter 98 : Did It Pass?
Chapter 98: Did It Pass?
This excuse was so terrible that even Lilia wanted to slap herself twice.
Mud on a butterfly’s feet?
And even if there was mud, couldn’t she just wipe it off with her hand?
Did she really have to lean in with her mouth?
What was she, a woodpecker?
Lilia felt utterly guilty, cold sweat pouring down her back.
She didn’t dare look into Hera’s eyes, and could only fix her gaze on the few strands of “dirty hair” on Hera’s shoulder that didn’t even exist.
Hera said nothing.
She merely tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping over those strands of black hair.
Then, she raised her hand and brushed that lock of hair to the front of her chest.
“Dirty?”
There seemed to be a hint of amusement in Hera’s voice.
Lilia swallowed hard and forced herself to nod. “Y-Yes! There’s a… very obvious… stain!”
As long as I’m not embarrassed, then the embarrassed one is someone else!
Lilia could only stubbornly push forward now.
Hera looked at her, her golden eyes narrowing slightly.
That oppressive feeling of being completely seen through struck again.
Just when Lilia thought Hera was about to explode, Hera suddenly lowered her hand.
“Clean it.”
Hera said calmly, then slightly lifted her chin, exposing her slender, fair neck in a posture that clearly said, “Come serve me.”
Lilia was dumbfounded.
This wasn’t how the script was supposed to go!
Why was she actually letting her do it?!
Where was the dirt?!
That was a head of jet-black, glossy, silky hair that could star in shampoo commercials!
There wasn’t even a speck of dandruff!
How was she supposed to clean that?
Conjure some dust out of thin air?
“What are you still standing there for?”
Seeing that she didn’t move, Hera raised an eyebrow.
“Do you want me to stay this dirty forever?”
“N-No! Of course not!”
Startled by the urging, Lilia hurriedly stepped forward.
Her trembling hand reached out, her fingertips hovering over those flawless strands of hair.
Acting.
Now she could only rely on her acting skills.
Lilia took a deep breath, trying to make her expression look serious and focused, as if she were performing a delicate brain surgery.
She used two fingers to carefully pinch a strand of hair.
Pretended to blow on it.
Then rubbed it with her fingertips.
And even had to act as if she were struggling to pick something off.
“Th-This one’s a bit stubborn, haha…”
While fumbling around with the nonexistent stain, Lilia forced out an awkward laugh to cover it up.
Hera simply stood there quietly, letting her mess around with her hair.
This silent cooperation only increased the pressure in Lilia’s heart.
She felt like a primary school student pretending to be sick to skip class in front of a teacher—her clumsy acting completely transparent.
Every second stretched into eternity.
Fine beads of sweat formed on Lilia’s forehead.
She couldn’t keep this up.
This hair was cleaner than her face. If she kept rubbing it, she’d probably generate static electricity.
And if Hera asked her to show the “dirt” she removed later, she’d be completely doomed.
It wasn’t like she could just pull some dust out of her pocket.
Her fingers froze midair.
That overwhelming guilt and embarrassment finally shattered her mental defenses.
She suddenly withdrew her hand, took a step back, and bowed her head deeply.
“I’m sorry!”
Lilia’s voice trembled slightly, the sound of someone who had completely given up.
“I… I saw wrong.”
“There’s actually nothing dirty.”
“My eyes were playing tricks on me. I thought the lighting made it look dirty.”
“I lied to you.”
“Please punish me, Master!”
After saying this, Lilia closed her eyes, looking like a martyr ready for execution.
Come on!
Whether turning her into a frog or throwing her to the undead, just make it quick!
Anything was better than dying of embarrassment here!
The corridor fell into silence once more.
Only Lilia’s rapid heartbeat echoed in her chest like a drum.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The expected thunderous fury never came.
There wasn’t even the slightest fluctuation of magic.
Lilia cautiously opened her eyes a slit.
She saw Hera looking down at her own fingertips.
There seemed to be a lingering trace of warmth from Lilia’s earlier touch.
Hera’s expression was somewhat absent-minded, as if she were lost in thought.
After a while, she finally raised her head again and looked at Lilia.
A flash of extremely complex emotion flickered through those golden eyes.
It was a look Lilia had never seen before.
Not killing intent, not indifference, not mockery.
Instead… it was almost like she was looking at a fool?
Or perhaps… a kind of helplessness?
“Since there isn’t, then forget it.”
Hera turned around, her skirt tracing an elegant arc in the air.
“Follow me.”
She even forgave attempted forced kissing and deceiving the ruler?
Or could it be…
Lilia’s heart skipped a beat.
Was she holding back a bigger move?
Like pretending to be lenient now just to lower her guard, and then settling accounts later tonight with some “Top Ten Tortures of the Demon Realm” package?
【Ding!】
【Congratulations, Host! Mission “Reciprocity is the Essence of ‘Etiquette’” has been successfully completed!】
【Although the execution process was extremely clumsy and included severe lapses in intelligence, the system has detected that the host did indeed have “intimate contact” with the target character.】
【Distributing rewards…】
【Obtained Universal Skill Book 《Shadow Step (Intermediate)》 ×1.】
【Obtained Free Attribute Point ×1.】
The sudden system notification snapped Lilia out of her wild thoughts.
It worked?!
Lilia almost couldn’t stop herself from doing a backflip right there in the corridor.
That counted?!
Wasn’t this system’s judgment criteria a bit too loose?
What kind of “intimate contact” was that just now?
At best, it was a traffic accident scene!
But no matter what, the rewards were real.
That was an intermediate skill book!
With this, her survival rate when escaping in the future would increase by at least fifty percent!
Lilia instantly threw all her previous fear and embarrassment to the wind.
Fortune favors the bold!
The ancients truly did not deceive me!
Looking at Hera’s tall and upright figure ahead, Lilia suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of gratitude.
This was her sponsor—no, her benefactor!
Not only providing food and shelter, but also occasionally dropping equipment and giving skills.
Although her temper was bad and she had some… unusual hobbies, overall…
It was worth it!
Lilia quickly hurried after her.
“Master, wait for me!”
Hera didn’t turn around, only slightly slowing her pace.
Her hand unconsciously touched her lips.
There, a trace of soft warmth had brushed past earlier.
Although it was only for an instant.
Although that fool’s excuse was outrageously terrible.
But…
She didn’t dislike it.
At a place where no one could see, the corner of Hera’s lips curved into an extremely faint smile.
……
Council Hall.
Around the massive obsidian round table sat the top figures of the Demon Realm.
Any one of them, if taken out alone, could scare the human kingdoms on the continent into wetting themselves.
And at the very end of the long table sat someone Lilia did not expect.
Or rather, a succubus.
Camilla.
That succubus grand duke with a figure so explosive it should be illegal, who always mocked Lilia whenever they met.
Today’s Camilla was dressed more… lightly than ever before.
The outfit, which could barely be called clothing, was just a few pieces of fabric stitched together, unable to conceal her overflowing curves at all.
The moment she saw Hera enter, Camilla immediately stood up, her face filled with a sweet, cloying smile.
“Your Majesty~”
Following behind Hera, Lilia couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
However, in the next second, Camilla’s gaze passed over Hera and landed on Lilia.