All right.
She had already gotten used to it. Hera always liked coming to her for heart-to-heart talks in the middle of the night. This might have been a small part of some particular quirk of hers.
Understandable, perfectly understandable. After all, Hera was the boss, and the boss could talk whenever she liked.
"You slept a little longer today. Did school wear you out?"
When Li Jia heard the question, she nodded obediently. Studying really did burn through brain cells.
Hera said, "And you still failed."
Did she have to hit her where it hurt?
Seeing that she said nothing, Hera's expression darkened. "Why didn't you use Listen to contact me today?"
Li Jia: "?"
Wasn't this the sort of thing people in novels generally only used in matters of life and death? Besides, she had been having a great time chatting with Linai and hadn't felt bored at all. Why would she suddenly call her out of nowhere?
Li Jia wondered whether Hera had separation anxiety. Otherwise, why was she always so fond of going over the minutiae of her life with her in the middle of the night?
But Li Jia didn't dislike Hera's behavior, because she liked being on someone's mind, liked the feeling of being cared about.
After turning it over repeatedly and analyzing every word, Li Jia reached a conclusion: the boss wanted her to call.
She wouldn't dare say she had forgotten because she was chatting with Linai.
"Because you're very busy, Your Majesty. I'm not a child. How could I keep calling you over little things?"
Li Jia came up with a flawless excuse. She had laid on the flattery and rehearsed the wording several times in her head. Surely the boss wouldn't be angry now?
"They aren't little things."
The abrupt remark left Li Jia completely confused.
Seeing that she still looked bewildered, Hera stroked her forehead. "Nothing about you is a little thing to me. I'm selfish, so from now on, will you tell only me about these things?"
Her tone was almost that of someone coaxing a child.
Li Jia gave her a sweet smile. "All right. From now on, I'll only tell you, Your Majesty. Whenever anything interesting happens, I'll tell you right away too."
Noticing Hera's possessiveness, Li Jia decided to overcome hardness with softness. Going along with her wasn't particularly difficult.
Why did people insist on saying things out of spite? Why did they have to compete over who was more stubborn and who was less willing to give in?
As far as Li Jia was concerned, they ought to compete over who was braver and who was more steadfast.
Giving way a little was no big deal.
Hera was very satisfied with Li Jia's answer. It wasn't light yet, so Hera tucked her blanket around her and gave a soft chuckle. "Sleep a little longer."
Li Jia immediately closed her eyes. That was close, so close. I've figured out exactly what the boss needs. I just have to avoid dancing through her minefield.
When it was time for school the next day, Hera woke her an hour early to preview her textbooks. At first, Li Jia couldn't get up, but Hera urged her out of bed every day. With a human alarm clock, it was hard not to get up.
After half an hour of grammar, Doreen taught her the simplest sword techniques. Li Jia had disliked all this fighting and killing most of all to begin with. She had lived in a society governed by law. She didn't even dare kill a chicken, let alone a person.
Winslow rolled her eyes at her. "Her Majesty doesn't mean for you to kill people. She wants you to be able to protect yourself. The Temple of the Goddess of Marriage has always been this way: we leave others alone if they leave us alone, but if they attack us, we will strike back."
Seeing that she still looked listless.
Hera told her to concentrate and touch the ring on her finger. Soon, a miniature Judgment of the Dao was in her hand.
An exact replica.
Li Jia couldn't put it down. What girl didn't like shiny things?
Hera pinched Li Jia's cheek. "Can you settle down and learn now?"
Li Jia saluted her. "Yes, sir! I promise to study hard. I absolutely won't disgrace Your Majesty or Judgment of the Dao."
"Then can I make some accessories for my sword? It doesn't look very nice all bare." Li Jia liked this sword very much, holding Little Judgment of the Dao in her arms and stroking it over and over.
"Yes. The secondary ring has already recognized its master. What you choose to do is your business." Hera smoothed her hair. "Your sword is an offshoot of Judgment of the Dao. It possesses half its power."
Li Jia began pondering what sort of cool scabbard or sword tassel she could get for Little Judgment of the Dao. In the martial arts novels she had read, a sword was a swordsman's life, and the swordsman was the sword's home.
For some reason, Li Jia kept having the illusion that it was a love token.
Sword in hand, she followed Doreen through a set of basic sword techniques. Though she wasn't very familiar with them, she managed well enough by copying the movements, and it looked quite convincing.
After practicing every day without fail for over half a month, she could wield Little Judgment of the Dao with ease. It was a sword born for her.
Li Jia felt that Artemis was a very gentle goddess. Gradually, she could also understand why Linai wanted to stay by the Goddess of the Hunt's side forever.
"Li Jia, I love Artemis. I know that better than anyone."
One day at noon, while resting with her head on the desk, Li Jia asked Linai why she was so willing to stay by Artemis's side. Linai's answer shocked Li Jia, yet was also what she had expected.
"Then have you told her?" Li Jia paused, asking with forced casualness.
"No. I won't tell her." Linai's eyes darkened. "Artemis is the Moon Goddess. Remaining pure and unblemished is the source of her divine power. On my first day here, Luota warned me that Artemis would never fall in love with anyone. She would never marry anyone or enter into marriage."
"So all I ask of this life is to stay by Artemis's side."
Li Jia lowered her head without speaking. After a while, she asked dully, "Then if you don't tell her, and she never knows how you feel, won't you have regrets?"
"Li Jia, happiness doesn't need conditions for me. As long as I can stay by Artemis's side, I'm happy."
"I can do without recognition, without status, without anything at all. After all, when we first met, my wish was to stay by the Goddess of the Hunt's side forever. You wished that my wish would come true, and now it has."
Linai glanced at her bewildered friend. The saying that onlookers saw clearly while those involved were lost really was true. She pulled up her sleeves, propped her face in her hand, and asked with a smile, "What about you? Has your wish come true?"
Has my wish come true?
Li Jia asked herself. She had reached Hera's side without the slightest effort and gained everything she had never had in her former life. Here, she no longer needed to toil or worry over all those things from her past, and everything she had was something one woman had given her.
Li Jia's lashes fluttered slightly, and she answered softly, "I got what I wished for."
"That's good, then."
Before they knew it, Li Jia and Linai had spent nearly half a year at Artemis's residence. During those months, they had gone through failing courses, taking make-up exams, failing tests, and passing them together. In the end, their final exams brought things to a successful close with one scoring 80 and the other 81.
After collecting their report cards, they began their two-month winter vacation. Dian wouldn't let their studies slacken just because it was a holiday and prepared winter homework for them both. Dian specifically reminded Hera to supervise Li Jia's homework, preferably having her preview the next semester's curriculum as well, and gave Hera an extra set of the new textbooks.
Three Years of College Entrance Exams, Five Years of Mock Tests. Still the same old recipe, still that familiar flavor.
Who had she offended to deserve this? She had moved to another world to live, and she still had winter homework to do, still had to grind herself to death competing.
Li Jia: standing up to mock this world, lying down to get through this life.