Someone gently tapped Li Jia on the shoulder as she slept and called her name. She opened her eyes to see Doreen's cold face.
And Winslow's reluctant expression.
"Can't you see I'm taking a nap?"
Spoiled by Doreen, Winslow had developed something of a princess complex. Still grumpy from not getting enough sleep, she got up and stood in front of Doreen. Unfortunately, Doreen was so much taller that Winslow could only glare up at her as she complained.
Li Jia couldn't help laughing aloud.
Winslow looked like an angry little bird, while Doreen watched her expressionlessly.
"You're laughing? I was standing up for your rightful interests too."
Li Jia immediately nodded to show how much she agreed with Winslow, afraid the cannon might turn on her.
Doreen said coldly, "It's already dusk. You can hardly call it an afternoon nap. Sleeping outside at night in the rain-if you catch a chill and fall ill, that's one thing, but don't drag her down with you."
Doreen's words left Winslow speechless. She stammered in protest, "We just overslept. We would've woken up on our own soon enough. It's not that easy to catch a chill and fall ill. It's not like our bodies are made of cotton."
Rain?
When did it start raining?
Li Jia looked at the damp earth and traces of water around her, clear puzzlement in her eyes.
It had rained, so why hadn't she or Winslow felt it? Their clothes weren't even the slightest bit wet.
But Doreen hadn't mentioned it, and Winslow hadn't asked. Why should an ordinary person like her fuss over it?
Doreen reached out and flicked Winslow very lightly on the forehead. "Stop arguing just for the sake of it," she said calmly. "Is this how you look after someone when Her Majesty and I aren't home? It's one thing if she doesn't know better, but you're just as thoughtless."
Winslow didn't dare make a peep. After all, Doreen was telling the truth.
"Her Majesty Hera wants to see you tomorrow." Having finished scolding Winslow, Doreen turned to Li Jia. "Don't go fooling around with her. Get some rest early."
With that, she glanced at Winslow, warning her not to drag Li Jia off on any more escapades.
However unhappy Winslow was, she still had to respect the divine ruler's authority. She rolled her eyes at Doreen out of the corner of her eye and muttered a disgruntled "Oh."
"Where am I sleeping tonight, then?"
The divine ruler had been away from the residence these past few days, and Winslow loved pestering Li Jia to tell her about recipes she'd never heard of, so the two of them had been sleeping together in Winslow's bedchamber.
"You'll stay with Winslow again tonight. Tomorrow, Her Majesty Hera will arrange a palace for you."
Everyone had a palace of their own, a space that belonged to them alone. Li Jia had seen Winslow's palace, which was like a small culinary training school, stocked with every kind of kitchen tool and mold.
Like a home of her own.
Li Jia longed to have a home of her own.
In modern society, given her salary and the rate at which housing prices were rising, she would have had to take on a mortgage for at least thirty years to own an apartment.
Like most girls, what Li Jia needed wasn't marriage, but a place of her own to call home.
Li Jia hadn't expected that, as Hera's attendant, one of the lowest and most despised servants in the book, she could have a palace of her own.
Just as Winslow had said, everyone was equal before Hera. She didn't seem to regard Li Jia as her slave.
Li Jia felt both nervous and delighted, and didn't know how to put it into words.
Tomorrow, she would come face to face with her conquest target: the ice-cold divine ruler.
At the same time, she would also get a palace of her own.
In the end, joy outweighed fear, and Li Jia fell peacefully asleep.
Night gave way to day.
When the first ray of morning sunlight came through, it was Winslow who woke her this time.
Unlike the calm Li Jia, Winslow was visibly nervous. Barefoot, she stood in front of the wardrobe, rummaging through it. Only when it was time to get dressed did she regret having so few clothes.
Her build was similar to Li Jia's, somewhere between 167 and 168 centimeters tall. Doreen and the divine ruler were both over 180 centimeters, so Li Jia couldn't wear their clothes.
If she'd known, she would have asked Neith, the goddess of weaving, to come and take Li Jia's measurements beforehand.
Winslow liked white, and most of her dresses were primarily white, in all sorts of styles. Unable to choose, she left the decision to Li Jia.
Amid the sea of white, Li Jia spotted a pale blue Ionian chiton at once. The dress fell to her ankles, with fine pleats and thin linen cords holding it at the shoulders. It was simple and elegant.
Winslow herself couldn't remember when she'd had the dress made, but since Li Jia liked it, she generously gave it to her.
Winslow helped her put on some suitably light makeup, though her skills were limited to making her face a little paler, drawing on her eyebrows, and painting her lips bright red.
Fortunately, Li Jia was naturally beautiful, so even Winslow's casual efforts looked quite good.
Winslow couldn't help exclaiming, "There's a master in every trade."
She hadn't expected that not only was her cooking delicious, but she was also so gifted at makeup.
Li Jia: ...
She suddenly wanted to know exactly what kind of environment Winslow had grown up in.
Winslow looked Li Jia over from every angle, thoroughly satisfied with her handiwork, and patted her on the back. "Her Majesty Hera will be completely dazzled by you."
Li Jia: ... That's a dangerous thought.
Winslow changed into a white maid uniform herself. Li Jia noticed it was the same style as Doreen's, only a different color, and asked curiously, "Is that our work uniform?"
"Work uniform?"
It was the first time Winslow had heard the term. It was novel, but quite fitting.
"Do you mean this?"
"This is a specially made service uniform. The divine ruler of each divine residence has uniforms custom-made for the attendants and servants in their residence, with symbols on them to show their identity."
"For example, we serve Her Majesty Hera and belong to the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage. Her Majesty Hera's divine mark is a silver serpent, so the mark appears on our chests."
Winslow pointed to her chest, where a pale red silver-serpent pattern was indeed flickering.
So it was a uniform with a built-in identification mark.
"What about the style..."
Li Jia still found it strange. Hera didn't look like someone with a special fetish...
"That's because Doreen and I were the only two people in the divine residence back then. Doreen didn't care what she wore, so my vote carried the day. I picked this one out of hundreds of styles. It's so cute~"
Winslow's girlish heart was overflowing, and she was absolutely certain she had made the perfect choice.
"Don't you like it?" Winslow asked timidly.
"Of course I do. How could I not? I like it a lot too."
Unable to bring herself to contradict the innocent look in her eyes, Li Jia gritted her teeth and spoke sincerely.
"That's good. Once you've met the divine ruler today and your palace has been assigned, Neith will come straight over to make your clothes. Then we can wear exactly the same uniforms."
All right, then. On top of free food and lodging, clothes for all four seasons were included too.
She could only accept it with tears in her eyes.
Winslow led Li Jia past mountain woods, palaces, and pools to the main hall at the center.
The main hall was hidden deep in a mountain ravine, built from silver-white gold leaf. Wood-colored reliefs like vines floated around its pillars, and two stone statues of winged serpents, each over ten meters tall, stood at the entrance. Their faces were expressionless, and rubies set in their eyes gleamed eerily in the shadows of the trees.
The temple had only a single, irregularly shaped arched entrance. Li Jia followed Winslow inside, walking over floors paved entirely with moonstone. Looking up, she saw countless opals set into the vaulted ceiling like an inverted starry sky.
The ground reflected the "moonlight," while "stars" hung overhead, making it hard to tell up from down.
For a moment, Li Jia had the illusion that she had married into a wealthy family.
So this was what it felt like to follow the right boss. No wonder some people were born loving to work. With a boss like this, just looking at her every day would fill Li Jia with boundless energy.
The people had faith, and life had something to strive for!
Li Jia followed Winslow into the main hall, looking around the whole way. It was just so lavish!
Everything was either gold, silver, or a priceless gemstone. Suddenly, she felt that the bag of gold coins Conrad had given her was nothing much. If she could just pry a gem off a pillar and take it back, she could live comfortably for three lifetimes.
Winslow brought her to the front of the hall. Doreen stood to the left of the steps, while Winslow obediently took her place on the right.
Li Jia stood in the very center of the hall, not daring even to raise her head.
The pressure was so intense she could barely breathe.
The divine ruler sat on a gilded folding chair atop the steps, her golden hair spilling down her arm as she rested her cheek in one hand, her elbow propped casually on the armrest.
Seeing how timid and hesitant Li Jia looked,
she really did resemble a timid little cat.
"Come forward."
"Raise your head."
Li Jia had no choice but to shuffle forward a few steps, timidly seeking to look up at the goddess above her.
Li Jia had actually thought this through. Hera had shown compassion even for a bird, and the fact that she had carried Li Jia out of the ring of fire by force was enough to prove she wasn't a cold and heartless person. There was also what Li Jia had coaxed out of Winslow.
This conquest target was clearly someone who responded to softness rather than force.
What was that called again? Right! A tsundere.
Cold on the outside and warm on the inside, with a sharp tongue but a kind heart.
She could try entering Hera's world from the perspective of someone weak.
The system wasn't around right now, so she couldn't discuss a conquest strategy with it.
But since the game had already begun, she naturally couldn't just leave it at that.
So she raised her head.
It was also the first time Li Jia had seen her face.
Her eyes were like autumn waters, her features like jade.
She was so beautiful that Li Jia was dazed for a moment, their eyes meeting.
In an instant, she realized how rude she was being and lowered her head again in alarm.
She shuddered, and her legs went so weak that she fell straight to her knees before the hall.
Li Jia couldn't help cursing herself inwardly for being so hopeless. How could she have been bewitched by someone's looks?
The woman's golden hair shone like molten gold, and her red eyes were like diamonds tempered in fire. The corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward, and as she looked down from above, she had an air of casual languor.
Though she showed no particular change of emotion, Li Jia felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles, as though a venomous snake were examining her again and again, trying to see right through her.
A black empire-waist gown fell past her calves, its neckline and cuffs edged and adorned with elaborate gold embroidery. Unlike Winslow and Doreen, Hera had the Silver Serpent Divine Mark engraved on her collarbone, seductive to the extreme.
On closer inspection, the entire divine mark could be seen moving, like a lifelike little serpent living on its master's body.
Black leather stilettos with red soles lengthened the line of her calves. Looking at the frightened kitten, she seemed to be teasing a pet.
The woman above counted out a beat, raising and lowering one heel, producing a crisp sound.
"Tap."
"Tap."
"Tap."
Li Jia's heart beat along with it, restless.
Beyond words.
She even felt as though she were about to die.
Like a game of cat and mouse: catch, release.
Catch again, release again.
Never tiring of it.