The devil slept soundly beside her while Li Jia spent most of the night discussing things with the brainwaves, sorting through the plot and making a strategy plan.
Not until the horizon turned pale with dawn did the system yawn and say it needed to go back and recharge, telling Li Jia to call it if she needed anything.
Distracted and sporting dark circles under her eyes, Li Jia murmured, "Mm."
The brainwaves vanished from her mind.
Li Jia picked up the hourglass necklace around her neck and sighed deeply.
She had been here for more than half a month. How had only two grains of sand fallen?
Li Jia and the system agreed that if she wanted to stop Hera from marrying Zeus, she had to hold a very important place in Hera's heart. Li Jia's idea was simple.
She only needed to be about as important as Winslow.
At the very least.
Could she become Hera's friend?
She wasn't as powerful as Doreen, either, and couldn't go through life and death with Hera.
If she had a place in Hera's heart, Hera would trust her, and everything Hera did would be in her favor.
Then, when Li Jia interfered to break up her marriage to Zeus, Hera wouldn't object.
Actually, she wasn't sure whether Hera would marry him again because of the Authority of the God King.
The Authority of the God King belonged solely to the God King.
The God King possessed the greatest power to create and destroy worlds in the entire book. He could maintain the world's framework and order, or create new ones, and he could also use his earth-shattering power to reduce everything to nothing in an instant and remake it.
In the original story, Zeus's Authority of the God King had the power to suppress all gods. Even the three creator gods might not come out ahead against him.
At the point in the story where she currently found herself, there were only the Twelve Gods, and Zeus had yet to become the God King.
So what exactly was the basis for becoming the God King?
Li Jia had only read two-thirds of the book, and she had skimmed through it. She somewhat regretted not finishing the whole thing and asked the system for the remaining third of the plot.
The system would immediately start sounding an alarm and display a message saying she lacked permission. It awkwardly told her that she could only see the whole plot by following the story into its latter half. Seeing it now would be a spoiler, so all she could see was a mosaic.
Li Jia had no choice but to give up and take things one step at a time.
She had already completed the first step of her strategy plan: successfully getting to Hera's side.
The key to the second step was just one thing: favorability.
Li Jia had to grind favorability like crazy so Hera would listen to what she had to say.
But how was she supposed to raise it?
That was another problem. Hera was often away from Hot Spring Ravine, and most of the times Li Jia had seen her had been at night. Hera only came back to sleep, and by the time Li Jia woke up, she was gone.
A saying came to mind: They were all hotels; only I was home.
For some reason, Li Jia felt a little angry.
What was this? Hera had forcibly brought her back, only to leave her sitting on the bench every day.
The more Li Jia thought about it, the angrier she got.
For a fire sign, getting angry only took an instant.
After their conversation the night before, Li Jia had grown bolder. She reached out and shook the arm of the person beside her.
Hera had actually woken up long ago. She watched the little one in her arms with her divine sense as all sorts of expressions crossed Li Jia's face, happy one moment and sad the next.
Hera found it even more interesting that she could see so many messy expressions on one face.
She wondered what Li Jia wanted to do and what she wanted to say.
Hera didn't open her eyes when Li Jia shook her the first time. If she woke up right away, she would seem a little... less than reserved.
So she kept her eyes shut when Li Jia shook her a second time.
Li Jia really thought she was asleep and didn't dare continue provoking her.
Who would have thought the arm would bump into her of its own accord?
The devil opened her eyes, her gorgeous red pupils gazing at her reproachfully.
Li Jia stared in shock. What the hell!
She sat bolt upright in fright.
Heavens above!
Bear witness to the truth!
She hadn't done anything!
Under that sinister gaze, Li Jia tremblingly tugged at Hera's sleeve and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Your Majesty, you're awake. Did you sleep well last night?"
"I slept... all right." Hera raised an eyebrow. Lying on her side with her head propped up on one hand, she looked at Li Jia and asked softly, "Is there something you want to say to me?"
At that moment, most of the fire that had flared up in Li Jia went out. She stole a glance at Hera, who seemed to be in a good mood. This might be a good time to tell her.
If she didn't say it now, she had no idea when she would see her again. How was she supposed to grind favorability if she couldn't even see her?
Li Jia hesitated for a few breaths and decided to work on favorability first. If she didn't, she would be headed for a dead end.
Who knew whether Hera might be bewitched by some random cat or dog while Li Jia wasn't at her side?
"As Your Majesty's attendant, I should be at your side at all times. Serving you is my mission, but right now I only get to see you occasionally at night." Her voice grew quieter as she went on. "So, could you take me with you when you go out from now on? I promise I won't embarrass you."
Li Jia lowered her head slightly, tracing circles on Hera's sash with one finger. The corners of her damp eyes drooped, a layer of misty tears lingering in them. She looked utterly aggrieved.
Her voice was light and hoarse, as though something were lodged in her throat.
Ever since discovering that Hera responded to softness rather than force, Li Jia had weighed her approach.
If she put on a pitiful act like this, Hera wouldn't be able to find fault with her or say anything too harsh.
Hera said, "All right."
Li Jia said, "Fuck?"
Why had she agreed so readily? Li Jia had thought she would have to pester Hera for at least a few nights before Hera agreed to take her along.
Seeing the shock on Li Jia's face, Hera was in a rather good mood.
Even if Li Jia hadn't brought it up herself, Hera had intended to keep her close.
She wanted to see what tricks the little one was planning to play.
There was plenty of time. Sooner or later, she would slip up.
That included what she actually wanted to get from Hera. Her words were full of lies and not credible in the slightest.
"Then get up."
Hera rose and got out of bed. Looking down, she glanced at the salted fish sitting on the bed, dumbstruck, and inadvertently caught sight of her two grapes. She turned around and spoke indifferently.
"Huh? This early? Why get up so early?"
The sun hadn't even fully risen. Li Jia estimated it wasn't yet seven. She didn't have to go to work or school, so why get up so early with nothing better to do?
Hera said, "To inspect the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage and solve their problems."
Oh, all right.
So she did have to work. No wonder Hera got up so early every day.
Li Jia said sheepishly, "But it's so early. Will people really come to make incense offerings this early?"
Hera said, "The early bird catches the worm. What else? Are you waiting for the incense offerings to deliver themselves into your mouth?"
Li Jia could only nod. Hera told her to get ready and wait in the main hall.
Ugh, why did I still have to work after coming here? It's all this stupid strategy plan's fault!
Li Jia let out the roar of a corporate slave three times.
She got up reluctantly and began choosing clothes. After thinking for a while, she decided to wear the uniform she had commissioned. Most of Hera's clothes combined black and red, so she wanted to match her.
At the very least, outsiders would be able to tell they were together. Li Jia had specifically asked the goddess of weaving to make her a black uniform and pleated skirt, paired with a red bow. She had also asked her to make two red wavy hair clips.
She tied her hair into twin ponytails and walked over to the bronze mirror in satisfaction.
Not bad. It's got that Hell Girl feel.
Li Jia walked slowly to the entrance of the main hall, second-guessing herself all the way. Why had Hera agreed to her request so readily?
When something was out of the ordinary, there had to be something behind it. She just didn't know what Hera wanted to do.
Now it was her turn to be confused.
"Why haven't you come in yet?"
Sensing the little one lingering and dawdling behind the door, the person in the hall looked faintly puzzled.
How had she found the courage to ask to come along just now, only to be too afraid to enter the door?
Hearing Hera call her, Li Jia had no choice but to brace herself and walk in. As soon as she entered, she smelled food and couldn't help swallowing.
Li Jia had almost forgotten about breakfast, but didn't gods have no need to eat it?
Why did the main hall smell of food?
She had been planning to sneak off and find Winslow to see whether she could slip her a couple of pieces of bread to eat on the way.
"Come up here."
The god in the high seat crooked a finger at her. How could Li Jia dare disobey? She could only trot happily over.
Li Jia had also noticed that as long as she behaved and obeyed Hera in everything, she would have all the food, drink, clothes, and money she could want.
She stood obediently beside the woman, who looked up and examined her face and the unfamiliar outfit before nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad."
What exactly was not bad?
Li Jia was baffled, but before she could figure it out, a pair of large hands lifted her onto Hera's lap. With the difference in their heights, Li Jia had no room to resist.
Suddenly pressed so close to Hera, Li Jia's throat bobbed twice, but she couldn't make a sound. Only her heart pounded like a drum in her chest, making her eardrums buzz.
Her gaze fell on the food on the table in front of them: toasted slices of bread, mashed potatoes with chopped parsley, slices of beef fried golden on both sides, a fried egg, and a large porcelain bowl of grapes.
Li Jia's attention was completely drawn to the food. She forgot her momentary panic entirely and let the woman stroke her back and the soft flesh of her arms.
"Eat."
With that, Hera picked up a grape from the table, peeled it, and placed it in her mouth. Li Jia swallowed it straight down. It was sweet and juicy.
She thought to herself, Who would have thought the cold, merciless god from the book would have such strange habits? She likes human body pillows, and she even likes buying clothes for them and feeding them.
Why did she feel more and more like Hera was playing Love Nikki?
Winslow stood to the side, her eyes full of delight at shipping them. Even though she tried her best to restrain herself, the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably, the smile growing wider and wider. She simply covered her mouth, though her shoulders still trembled slightly.
Finally, she slipped out of the main hall on the pretext of getting more food for the road.
Doreen stood to the side like a block of wood, playing the part of a hundred-thousand-volt light bulb. Winslow couldn't stand watching anymore and told her to come to the kitchen and help pack things.
"Aren't you two eating?"
Li Jia had eaten her fill and was in a carb coma in Hera's arms. Seeing the two of them acting sneakily, she asked in a daze.
"We've already eaten, already eaten. I'll go to the kitchen and pack you some cookies." As Winslow spoke, she covered Doreen's mouth just as she was about to say, "We haven't..." and dragged her out of the main hall.
"Don't spoil Her Majesty's fun."
Winslow spoke in exasperation at her failure to understand.
"What fun?"
"You really are a block of wood. Her Majesty is like an iron tree that blooms once in a thousand years. When have you ever seen her eat breakfast in Hot Spring Ravine? She even sent me a divine message this morning to have me prepare it."
"Goodness, goodness, my art can finally be put to use."
Doreen thought that it wasn't just Her Majesty who was acting strangely. Winslow wasn't normal anymore either.