"I think you should ask him!" Faced with Number One's question, Herta promptly passed the buck to Chu Mu. "You heard me. I'm willing, but he keeps hemming and hawing, going on about souls and bodies. I don't get it either."
Herta put on a troubled expression.
At that, Number One smiled and said:
"Don't mind him. My brother's just like that. He has trouble letting go."
After a pause, she said:
"But as far as I'm concerned, that isn't a problem. As long as you're warm enough, you could thaw him even if he were a block of ice."
"What do you mean?" Herta adopted an appropriately bewildered expression.
Seeing this, Number One lowered her guard considerably. What threat could a silly girl like this pose?
Smiling, she offered some advice:
"Didn't you talk to him for a while? Since he likes listening to stories, keep telling him stories until he falls for you."
"Oh, um!" Herta lowered her head, her voice hesitant. "Would... would he really like me?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Number One smiled. "You didn't see him before you arrived. He sat by the radio every day, listening to your station."
Hearing this, Herta pretended to be quietly delighted:
"Is... is that so?"
Number One took in the feelings Herta betrayed and became even more convinced that she was just a young girl who couldn't hide what she was thinking.
She no longer felt wary of Herta.
Herta chose that moment to ask:
"Do I have to stay here forever? Can I go back? My companions are still outside."
"Forget those people. You and they are no longer on the same path," Number One said coolly. "From now on, you have your own path, your husband, and your family."
In other words, she couldn't leave!
Of course,