Late at night, in the royal palace of Bokape.
The palace interior was lavishly decorated. Ornate gilded carpets covered the corridors and halls, portraits of past monarchs and royal family members hung on the walls, and a golden throne stood on the dais, surrounded by sword hilts and banners symbolizing royal power.
"We must bring Luoleila back this time, no matter what."
The woman on the throne wore a vicious expression. All her plans had come to nothing because of that wicked dragon.
"Do not be angry, Your Majesty. Since the one from the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage accepted the marriage petition, she will surely help us bring the princess back clean and unsullied."
A man wearing thin, gold-rimmed glasses emerged from behind the curtain behind her. He placed his warm fingers on her pressure points, massaging them to soothe her.
"If she does not return, are we really supposed to marry our daughter to Liweisi's crown prince? That cruel, violent man?" the woman said bitterly. "Luoleila was supposed to become his sixth queen."
Everyone knew perfectly well how the first five had died.
Otherwise, he would never have humbled himself to seek the hand of a neighboring kingdom's royal daughter who was not born to its rightful queen.
"She will return. She is Bokape's princess. She belongs in the palace until she marries as a member of Bokape's royal family," the man said calmly, a faint, ambiguous smile on his face.
"You are right. A mere worm, dreaming of escaping its cage."
She doesn't know her own limits.
Hera carried Li Jia but did not leave the tavern. Instead, she asked the proprietor for two bedrooms. The little one was tired, so she would let her rest for a while. Otherwise, she would be listless and sickly all day.
She shared one room with Li Jia, while Winslow shared the other with Doreen. Winslow had initially refused, wanting to room with Li Jia, but one glance from the divine sovereign silenced her completely.
Hera felt that Li Jia was hiding many things.
Where she came from, where she was going, why she had approached her, and why she stubbornly wanted to become her attendant and no one else's.
And why, despite the Master-Servant Contract they had formed, which should have allowed them to share divine power and even their lifespans, Hera could feel her life fading away day by day, unable to connect to her lifeline.
If she wanted to get to the bottom of it, she would have to make a trip to hell and retrieve Li Jia's spirit-binding lamp from the Nether Abyss.
The Nether Abyss lay deep within the Underworld, imprisoning souls that could not be delivered.
Wards between the Underworld and Divine Mountain prevented either side from entering the other.
But it was not entirely impossible.
When that day truly came, even if she faced eternal damnation and punishment from all the gods, she would relight Li Jia's spirit-binding lamp and connect it to herself.
She would cut down anyone or anything that tried to take her away.
Hera laid the girl on the bed and stroked her fine, glossy hair. At last, a trace of obsessive darkness slipped into her red eyes. "Li Jia, you brought this on yourself. You were the one who provoked me. I gave you a chance."
A chance to choose someone else.
But now, that chance is gone.
In the middle of the night, Li Jia woke from the heat. She was about to roll over when her hand encountered a large hand at her waist.
She was sleeping in Hera's arms again.
She was nothing more than Hera's human body pillow. Li Jia clearly remembered the book saying that gods needed neither sleep nor food.
Ever since Li Jia had arrived, no matter how late Hera worked outside, she always returned to the Deep Hall to sleep with her. She was also particularly fond of pinching the soft flesh beneath Li Jia's arms.
Fine, it was arm flab. In a fit of indignation, Li Jia had decided to lose weight. Once Hera discovered her intentions, Winslow's meals grew more sumptuous and more suited to her tastes with every passing day.
Forget it. She gave up. She surrendered, because she was a salted fish.
Her dream was to have money without working. Why couldn't eating and waiting to die be her number-one goal in life?
People who thought dreams like that lacked ambition generally weren't bottom-rung folk like her.
How could someone who wasn't a fish know a fish's joy?
There was no reasoning with them.
"Are you awake?"
It was time for another late-night heart-to-heart. Li Jia had discovered that the devil had a particular hobby: whenever she came home at night and happened to find Li Jia awake, she would pull her up for questioning.
Her questions were incredibly dull, too. She asked what Li Jia had done in the Deep Hall all day, what she had eaten, and what she had been up to, like an old-fashioned parent.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Jia answered dutifully.
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"
A classic question. Li Jia quickly reviewed the entire day's events in her mind, checking whether she had done anything to upset this devil.
Suddenly, Li Jia sighed. She had known she wouldn't get away with it.
The age joke.
Hera would definitely question her about it, so she might as well hurry up and apologize first. They had been in full public view earlier, making it difficult for Hera to take her to task. Wasn't there a saying about not striking a smiling face?
She would be a simp and butter her up a little more. A simp who kept at it would have everything in the end.
Li Jia pulled out the arm pinned beneath Hera and traced circles in her palm with her fingertips, sending tingles through it.
When Hera said nothing, Li Jia knew she was enjoying it.
Hera's soul form was a snake. Snakes were cold-blooded animals that could not generate their own heat, so she liked holding Li Jia at night because Li Jia's body provided warmth.
She just wound herself around Li Jia very tightly every night.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
With her head resting against Hera's chest, the little one murmured the words sheepishly.
Hera's eyes were gentle. The single lamp in the darkness was not bright enough to reveal her expression clearly, yet it let her see every detail of the little one's face.
"Then tell me, what did you do wrong?"
Her tone was not angry, carrying a hint of teasing instead. Li Jia knew she wasn't upset. Thank goodness she had apologized in time.
"I shouldn't have called Your Majesty big sister while we were out today. I'm only Your Majesty's attendant. I shouldn't sully Your Majesty's name."
"Your Majesty recognized my worth and showed me kindness. If not for you, I would still be living like a forced laborer in the Vance Family. Sometimes, I don't even dare think too closely about these days, afraid that if I do, this dream will shatter."
Her words were half sincere and half a plea for pity.
Sure enough, Hera froze at Li Jia's words and immediately sat bolt upright. Li Jia fell from her chest onto the bed with a thump.
What's gotten into her now?
With Hera sitting up, Li Jia didn't dare remain lying down. She obediently sat up as well, one large figure and one small, Hera's silhouette enveloping Li Jia's frail frame.
Li Jia quailed inwardly. Just where had she gone wrong and offended this devil?
"Your Majesty... did I say something wrong and upset you?"
They couldn't just sit at an impasse on the bed like this. Waiting for Hera to speak on her own was probably hopeless. Li Jia wanted to ask what was wrong and get it resolved quickly.
"People shouldn't go to sleep upset. Gods are no different. It produces toxins that harm the body." Li Jia resorted to her old trick, tugging the edge of Hera's sleeve like a little puppy that had done something wrong, its ears drooping.
Hera raised her head to look into her eyes and let out a long breath, enunciating each word. "You are the attendant I chose. There is no need to abase yourself like this. In what way are you inferior to anyone else?"
Li Jia secretly rejoiced. She took the bait. She knew all too well what kind of god Hera was. The more she belittled herself, the angrier Hera became on her behalf.
Who would have thought she would transmigrate into this world with the script of a green tea white lotus in hand? Zeus thought his level of skill at pursuing girls could compare to hers?
Too green.
Li Jia secretly pinched her thigh, making little pearls of tears spill from the pain. "Receiving Your Majesty's protection is the greatest honor of my life. Your Majesty is the bright moon in the sky, while I am only a barren stone in the river. How could I dare casually lay claim to Your Majesty's radiance?"
With that, she looked at Hera with reddened eyes, as though she had been wronged.
"So what if you are a barren stone? If the moon's radiance shines on you alone, then you are a dazzling gem."
This was the promise she made to Li Jia, a god's oath, never to be revoked.
"What if other people want to hurt me? Like Zeus or Poseidon, or some other gods more powerful than Your Majesty, who want my life? What should I do then?" Li Jia tossed the question to Hera, then belittled herself again. "It's my fault. I shouldn't think so much and cause Your Majesty trouble."
Hera smiled. "Why would they want your life for no reason? If that day truly came, would you take me for dead? Or are you questioning my ability?"
Li Jia fell silent for a moment. "Then what if I want to hurt someone else?"
Hera said coldly, "You don't have the ability. If you wanted to hurt someone, you would have your reasons. Wanting to do something is one thing; doing it is another."
Fuck, who are you looking down on?
Why wouldn't I have the ability?
"Once we return, you can play for a while, but then you must begin lessons. No laziness. Train with Doreen every day. At the very least, you must be capable of protecting yourself."
Li Jia felt as though the sky were falling. Why did she still have to attend classes after coming here?
Hera explained the curriculum to Li Jia. She had asked Artemis about it, and her attendant, Little Penguin, was much the same as Li Jia. Neither could recognize more than a handful of words.
Both divine sovereigns felt strongly that addressing illiteracy needed to be put on the agenda.
It wasn't Li Jia's fault. Everything here was in English and Ancient Greek grammar. She could fumble her way through English by drawing on her past experience as a student, but there was absolutely nothing she could do about Ancient Greek grammar.
The two of them were simply put together in a study support group. Artemis's residence had many little animals and looked like a large zoo.
Considering that neither of them was very old, spending time with someone her own age would still benefit their physical and mental well-being. Teaching also had to proceed gradually. Swallowing everything whole without understanding it would do them no good.
So Hera would take Li Jia to Artemis's residence during the day and pick her up at night. Thinking that she already knew Linai and could take the opportunity to go out and play, Li Jia was less resistant.
In the end, following Li Jia's vehement protests, they adopted a five-days-on, two-days-off schedule, barely reaching an agreement.
Seeing that her anger had subsided and she was slowly lying down, Hera lay on her side again, but this time she turned her face away from Li Jia. Li Jia knew she was still a little upset.
So she gently tugged Hera's hair again and whispered into her ear, "Then you won't be angry if I call you big sister?"
"No," Hera replied in a muffled voice.
Li Jia continued bobbing her head like a chick pecking grain. "Then can I always call you big sister?"
"Yes."
"Big sister, I love you."
As though possessed, Li Jia breathed those words against the cartilage of Hera's ear. She took the initiative to wrap both arms around Hera's waist, but her arms were too small to reach all the way around.
Before she could react, Hera turned over and gathered her back into her arms, grumbling, "Go to sleep."
In truth, Li Jia couldn't explain it. Hidden within that "I love you" were little thoughts even she couldn't put into words.
She had been nothing more than a dead soul from another world. In that world, she had been superfluous to everyone. No one had needed her.
So, having been able to live again, Li Jia had no regrets. Every day she could scrape by was another day gained.
The system had assigned her a mission, and her fate seemed to have become bound to this cold, heartless woman from the book.
But this woman was lonely. Li Jia could feel how lonely she was. Li Jia was lonely too. Two lonely people had come together, and Li Jia could tolerate all her sharp edges and her temper.
In return, Hera sheltered her from every storm. This time here had been the most relaxed, comfortable period of Li Jia's entire life.
She no longer had to worry about being thrown out of her rented room, nor would she be followed by shady thugs. She could do whatever she wanted and be herself.
No matter how much she fooled around, Hera never interfered. Sometimes, she even came over to ask whether she could join Li Jia on her newly made seesaw.
With someone like that, Li Jia believed everything she said. If this was a dream, Li Jia hoped she would never wake.
As these thoughts drifted through her mind, Li Jia fell drowsily asleep in Hera's arms.
In the pitch darkness, a large swath of golden sand slipped down through the hourglass necklace around Li Jia's neck.