Good Children Must Never Stay Up Late

"Magic Puppet?"

The Granger couple were filled with questions.

However, after learning that there was no danger, the two were relieved.

However, before the two could even breathe a sigh of relief, the little snake in Hermione's hand, which had been motionless, suddenly raised its head.

It glanced around, its gaze lingering on the Granger couple for a moment before finally settling on Hermione.

A blur flashed by, and the little snake bit Hermione's wrist.

"Oh, damn it! Let go of my daughter, you damned bastard!"

Mr. Granger disregarded the danger and strode forward, trying to grab the damned snake and keep it away from his daughter.

"I've decided, if I ever get the chance to see that guy named Bell again, I'm definitely going to strangle him!"

"No! Daddy! Don't do this!"

Hermione quickly reached out to stop her father. She knew this was the Ten Thousand Snakes's ceremony of recognizing its master, so she wasn't nervous.

Fearing he might hurt his daughter, Mr. Granger quickly withdrew his hand and nervously watched his daughter and the damned snake.

He vowed that if anything happened to his daughter, he would make that Bell pay the price, no matter what!

Hermione, are you really alright?

Mrs. Granger asked with concern.

"Don't worry, Mom. This is the Ten Thousand Snakes recognizing its master. After it absorbs some of my blood, only I will be able to control it."

After calming her parents down, Hermione excitedly looked at the Ten Thousand Snakes in her hand.

At this moment, the Ten Thousand Snakes had completed the ritual of recognizing its master and lay motionless back in Hermione's palm.

This Ten Thousand Snakes was different from the previous small, emerald-green serpent; its entire body was crimson, like a beautiful Gemstone.

To Hermione's surprise, for some reason, only one of the Ten Thousand Snakes's eyes was open, while the other eye remained closed.

Even Hermione, who didn't know much about snakes, knew that snakes don't close their eyes.

However, no matter what, it didn't affect Hermione's love for this beautiful Ten Thousand Snakes.

After playing with it for a while, Hermione controlled the Ten Thousand Snakes to crawl onto her wrist, just like before, disguising it as a bracelet.

"Mom and Dad, I need to take care of something, please don't bother me!"

After saying that, Hermione ran upstairs.

"Honey, breakfast is almost ready."

Mrs. Granger called out to Hermione's retreating figure.

"We'll talk about it later."

Hermione disappeared at the top of the stairs, leaving the Granger couple staring at each other in bewilderment.

Back in her bedroom, Hermione slammed the door shut. Then, she took out her Personal Terminal and eagerly sent a video call request to Bell.

The video call connected quickly, and Bell Grylls appeared on the screen.

"Bell!? Are you alright?"

Seeing Bell's current state, Hermione, who had just been incredibly excited, immediately felt as if she had been doused with a bucket of ice water, chilled to the bone.

At this moment, Bell was a far cry from his usual clean and tidy self. His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were stained. His pale face accentuated the deep dark circles under his eyes. Bell even gave the impression of being on the verge of death.

"It's okay, you won't die."

Bell said weakly.

However, Hermione couldn't tell at all that anything was wrong.

"Bell, what happened to you? How did you end up like this?"

Hermione asked nervously.

"It's just a few days without sleep, nothing serious. By the way, when was the last time I slept?"

Bell was dazed and confused, as if he would collapse to the ground at any moment.

"Haven't slept for days!?"

As a truly good young woman, Hermione always went to bed on time every day. Therefore, Hermione was utterly horrified that Bell hadn't slept for several days!

"Then why aren't you going to sleep yet?"

"I've been waiting for your message. Lim just came back and told me that the things have been delivered to you. I figured you should be messaging me by now. So, how's the new Ten Thousand Snakes? Do you like it?"

Bell tried his best to force a smile. However, his pale face gave the impression that he was making his final arrangements.

"I really like it! Thank you, Bell! I didn't expect you to remember that. But you should go to sleep right now!"

Hermione said reproachfully.

Hermione was naturally delighted and deeply moved by the Ten Thousand Snakes Bell had sent her. However, she was also very angry at Bell's behavior of not valuing his own body.

"Okay, I'll go to sleep right away."

Bell readily agreed.

Even if Hermione hadn't said anything, he would have gone to sleep right away. He really couldn't hold on any longer.

Fortunately, Bell managed to complete his "grand plan" before the deadline. Now, he really needs to take a break.

"One last thing."

"Bell said, looking at Hermione on the screen."

"The Ten Thousand Snakes in your hand is called ' Red Scale,' and it's a pair with the ' Black Scale ' in mine."

Bell raised his right hand, revealing a black Ten Thousand Snakes on his wrist.

"I think you should have noticed that Ten Thousand Snakes has one eye closed."

That eye was made from the eye of the Basilisk. Although it couldn't kill the person it looked at like the Basilisk could, it could petrify them. Just like those people who were petrified last semester.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, do not allow Ten Thousand Snakes to open that eye.

In fact, you can't command it to open that eye right now.

I've pre-set it so that the Ten Thousand Snakes will only fully obey your commands after 10 days of acknowledging you as their master. I think that should be enough time for you to become familiar with how the Ten Thousand Snakes operate.

That's all for now, I'm going to sleep.

"... I love you, Hermione."

After saying that, Bell hung up the video call.

silence...

After an unknown period of silence...

"Ah--!"

With a scream, Hermione buried her head under the covers.

This was the first time Bell had ever said those three words to her!

This was so sudden, she wasn't prepared at all!

"Honey? What's wrong? Are you alright?!"

Mr. Granger's tense voice came from outside the door.

Mr. Granger had been worried ever since the little snake bit his daughter. Now, upon suddenly hearing his daughter scream, he immediately rushed over.

"It's okay! Don't worry about me! Let me have some peace and quiet!"

Hermione dared not open the door at this moment. If her parents saw her with her face completely red, she would never be able to face anyone again!

"Honey, are you really okay? Come out and let Daddy see, okay? Also, your mom has prepared breakfast, come out and eat, okay?"

Mr. Granger was very worried. He wanted to see his daughter for himself.

"Oh no! And I'm not eating breakfast!"

Just kidding, Hermione isn't in the mood for breakfast at this point. Everything looks like Bell to her right now, so are you expecting her to eat Bell?

Meanwhile, a similar sound was coming from a bedroom in Menethil Castle.

Bell had no idea what had gotten into him. In short, he desperately wanted to disappear into the ground!

It must be because I haven't slept for too long! I'll never stay up late again!