"Am I that frightening?"
It was just one short sentence.
The woman had only sounded curious, yet Li Jia felt her legs grow even weaker, making it even harder to stand.
I'm going to die.
I'm going to die.
I'm really going to die...
She couldn't help being afraid. Who wouldn't be afraid in her place?
The plan she had prepared in advance was useless now. Li Jia couldn't remember a thing; her mind was completely blank.
"You can't even stand steadily, yet you became my disciple."
"How very interesting."
This was the second time Li Jia had heard the woman call her interesting.
What could she do? If she had a choice, she wouldn't want to be so interesting either. o_o
What was so good about being targeted by a snake?
She didn't dare make a sound, afraid that one wrong word would displease the woman.
Suddenly, a pair of slender high heels appeared before her eyes. A faint fragrance of roses wafted to her nose, pleasant without being overpowering.
The woman's tall, slender figure enveloped her in a circle of light. Li Jia panted, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead. She didn't dare move.
The woman slowly crouched down and reached out to lift her chin, bringing their gazes level. Her fingertips were covered in a thin layer of calluses, and her knuckles were well-defined. They had the texture of finely carved jade, yet were also like a snake's scales, icy cold.
The back of Li Jia's neck was freezing too, as if someone had blown cold air down her collar. Cold sweat trickled down her back, slowly soaking her undergarment.
Li Jia had no choice but to force herself to meet her gaze.
Even from a distance, Hera had been breathtakingly beautiful.
Now they were practically touching. Wasn't this beauty a little too monstrous?
Of Hera's entire face, Li Jia loved her red eyes most. They weren't a pale red, but a vivid, intense one.
Like imported triple-J cherries.
Forgive her lack of culture. When she worked part-time at a five-star hotel over summer vacation, she had discovered for the first time that cherries could be so big and red, with a single one costing three figures.
As Li Jia gazed into those eyes, she became lost in her own thoughts. If Hera's eyes were cherries, they would probably be the most expensive and beautiful cherries in the universe.
"What are you thinking about?"
Seeing her vacant gaze, Hera was a little displeased. No one dared let their mind wander while speaking to her.
"Cherries."
Her mouth reacted faster than her brain, and Li Jia answered without thinking.
"What are cherries?"
Hera patiently searched the Book of the World with her divine sense. There was no category called cherries in it.
"They're a kind of fruit, as beautiful as your eyes, Your Majesty."
Li Jia belatedly realized what she had said and put on a flattering, ingratiating, and delicate manner.
"So you were distracted just now because you were looking at my eyes?"
Li Jia nodded like a devoted simp.
Hera knew Li Jia was lying, and that her acting was fairly good. An ordinary mortal would have been very receptive to her flattery.
Hera neither liked nor hated it. She was too bored. After living for over a thousand years, she had gradually begun to hate a life as stagnant as a pool of still water.
She continued with another question, one she had wanted to ask her all along. "Why did you want to become my disciple?"
Why?
Why else?!
Ten thousand grass-mud horses roared in Li Jia's heart.
If I didn't become your disciple, how could I secretly stop you from marrying Zeus?
If you don't marry Zeus, you won't be his wife, and it won't have anything to do with you how many mistresses he takes or how many hundreds of children he has. Persephone can be born without a hitch, and Hades won't start the War of the Gods.
Then I can go home without a hitch and get a healthy body too.
You won't have to marry a scumbag either. It's a win-win!
Of course, Li Jia couldn't tell the truth.
She couldn't very well say she had read the plot in a book.
Her mind raced, combining the hundreds of idol dramas, palace intrigue dramas, wuxia dramas, and xianxia dramas she had watched over the years.
She gave the answer she was most satisfied with in her life. "Your Majesty, because I love you."
"Liking someone is a choice, but love means it has to be you."
She added another cheesy line.
Li Jia's throat bobbed gently as she tried to swallow all her nervousness and unease.
She went over scene after scene of pledging loyalty from the dramas she had watched.
At last, confident of success.
Li Jia rose from the floor and stood straight before Hera. Then she slowly bent her right knee until it rested firmly on the ground. Her upper body leaned forward involuntarily as she reached out and kissed Hera's fingertips.
She gazed into her eyes with the utmost devotion and respect.
"Lijia Vance swore on her life. I promise I will be loyal to you forever, until the day I die."
Hera was momentarily taken aback, though her face remained largely expressionless. Li Jia stole a glance at her and inwardly sighed at how dull it was.
I've gone this far, putting my life on the line.
Shouldn't you at least respond somehow?
Why aren't you reacting at all?
Doreen, however, saw that the Divine Lord's brows, which should have been furrowed,
suddenly smoothed out, with a barely perceptible smile at the corners of her eyes.
Lady Divine Lord?
She smiled...
Winslow thought it made perfect sense. Her Majesty Hera was strong, on par with Zeus, and might even far surpass him in the future. Who could fail to love Her Majesty Hera?
It was only natural for Li Jia to love Her Majesty Hera.
Hera took the opportunity to crouch down and ask, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
As she spoke, she withdrew her fingertips and touched Li Jia's cheek.
She found that she liked touching her face. It was soft, even softer than the penguin Artemis kept.
Though she had never touched the penguin; it was all based on what Artemis had said.
Anyone who dared touch her penguin would probably be turned into a hedgehog by the Silver Feather Bow, and that went for her brother Apollo too.
"I am, but before I had time to be afraid, love had already taken root and sprouted in my heart."
Li Jia recalled another famous line. She was as deeply affectionate as Shuhuan had been on the day he confessed to Yiping in Romance in the Rain.
As long as she could make her boss happy, could her house, car, and money be far behind?
In Li Jia's eyes, Hera was no demon now. She was practically a gilded god of wealth, made of 999999-carat pure gold.
So Li Jia's love for the Divine Lord had reached such heights.
Winslow quietly edged over to Doreen and sighed. "I didn't expect Li Jia to be so deeply in love with the Divine Lord that she couldn't have anyone but her."
"Oh? Is that so? How can you tell she isn't a liar, trying to deceive Her Majesty?" Doreen watched the two people in the hall coldly. She thought Li Jia's hands, hidden beneath her skirt, were trembling terribly.
"See? All you do every day is fiddle with your knives. Unlike me, who reads widely, I can tell at a glance that she's sincere. I knew it-why else would anyone become the 'demon's' disciple for no reason?"
"Love is the greatest thing in this world."
Winslow lowered her voice, her analysis sounding perfectly logical.
Demon was the nickname outsiders had given Hera. They thought a ruthless woman like her was better suited than Hades to be ruler of the underworld.
"You read widely?"
"You mean those romantic picture books you got from Hermes?"
Winslow was about to retort that they weren't ordinary picture books, but spiritual sustenance through which she received information from the outside world, when the two below made a commotion, interrupting her conversation with Doreen.
"Move into the inner chamber today."
Hera glanced at her with interest, and Li Jia's sunflower-like smile instantly froze.
Wait, what? What happened to the residence you promised?
Where's my house?!
Why do I have to live with the person I'm trying to win over?
In fact, if the system had come online and seen her progress at that moment, it would surely have praised her lavishly.
You couldn't catch a wolf without risking a child. The closer she was, the greater her chances of success.
Li Jia was completely immersed in the pain of losing her house. Her tears fell uncontrollably, drip, drip.
She was filled with regret!
Li Jia finally understood what it felt like to buy an unfinished home.
In the future, she would only buy a completed home, never one sold before construction was finished.
Expectations and disappointment arose in equal measure. The greater the expectations, the higher the sunk cost, and the disappointment shot straight to its peak.
Seeing Li Jia "crying tears of joy," Winslow couldn't help feeling happy for her. It was only natural to be so excited at getting her wish that she burst into tears.
Winslow ran over to Li Jia and helped her stiff body to its feet. "Look how happy you are! From now on, you can come and go with Her Majesty and sleep in the same bed. You've gotten your wish, and you really are a devoted lover."
Stop.
Sleep in the same bed?
Li Jia looked helplessly at Winslow with wide eyes, then glanced at the Divine Lord beside her, who remained unmoved. In a voice as faint as a mosquito's, she said, "There's no need to sleep in the same bed... I'm just a lowly commoner. How would I dare defile Your Majesty's bed? Being able to serve at your side is more than enough."
"It's fine."
"You may."
Hera still showed little emotion, replying with only two short sentences.
Li Jia couldn't fathom what this unpredictable "demon" was thinking. How would she dare contradict her?
Whatever the boss said went.
"Then let's have the goddess of weaving come tomorrow to make clothes for Li Jia. I wouldn't mind sharing clothes with her, since we're about the same size, but the colors I like are a little too plain. She prefers brighter colors."
Winslow yawned and spoke lazily.
Hearing this, Hera looked Li Jia over from head to toe.
Indeed.
Plain-colored dresses didn't suit her very well.
"Just as well. I'll have a few made too. I have nothing to wear."
Winslow clapped her hands and complained plaintively.
Li Jia was speechless. Was Winslow referring to her mountain of brand-new clothes?
Doreen was equally speechless, though this was no great matter.
Even with Li Jia, there were only four people in the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage. They could afford to support one more salted fish.
"Then don't I have to wear a servant's uniform like theirs?"
"No."
Another brief answer.
That was wonderful.
Li Jia couldn't imagine what it would be like to hop around the residence all day in a maid outfit.
"But if I don't wear a servant's uniform and don't have a divine mark, how will others know I belong to you, Your Majesty? What if they hurt me by mistake?"
Nothing mattered more than her life.
"They won't. We signed a Master-Servant Contract, and the divine mark is attached inside your body."
Hera touched her collarbone, and Li Jia immediately felt a burning sensation in her own body. She looked down at the source of the heat.
At her collarbone was a Silver Serpent Divine Mark identical to Hera's.
Li Jia: "..."
In two lifetimes, her first rebellious tattoo had actually been put on her this way.
She still had to pretend she liked it. "Your Majesty really did think of everything."
Having given all the necessary instructions, Hera vanished from the hall in the blink of an eye.
Her Majesty the Divine Lord really did come and go in a hurry.
Only after she left did Li Jia breathe a sigh of relief. Winslow wore an "I understand" expression and patted her shoulder. "Sister, I couldn't tell! You should've said so sooner. Leave a little thing like this to me."
Li Jia could only give an awkward smile while calling the system a huge dumbass hundreds of times in her heart.
It kept crashing when it shouldn't.
She had really established her lovestruck persona now!