Li Jia's overall feeling could be summed up in three words: she was stumped.
After Hera left, no matter how hard she tugged at the ring, it wouldn't come off.
What could she do?
She couldn't just chop off her finger.
How was this any different from having a GPS tracker and a time bomb attached to her?
Even if she completed the conquering mission, wouldn't she still be doomed?
Hera had said she would die if she left her. Once she returned to the modern world, wouldn't the ring kill her? Though she didn't know how she would die.
Maybe she could ask the system if there was a way to remove the ring "painlessly."
If she died, the system wouldn't gain anything either.
Li Jia called out to the system several times in her mind, but there was no response.
She recalled what the system had told her before it left.
Sigh...
How could she have forgotten? The system had crashed.
Li Jia got out of bed and sat on a wooden chair beside the round table in the middle of the inner room. She propped her cheeks in her hands, her brows nearly twisting into knots, her lips pressed tightly together and her chin tucked in slightly. A dark cloud hung over her, refusing to disperse.
Only when two figures, one in black and one in white, entered the room did Li Jia come back to her senses. She had been lost in thought for so long.
But the aroma of food caught her attention before the people did.
Stuffed grape leaves, chickpea and onion soup, and fried cheese...
Heaven knew how much she loved cheese.
Li Jia couldn't help swallowing. She hadn't eaten for two days and two nights, and unlike the gods, she hadn't long since risen above the pleasures of food.
Not only did she love eating, she was also a glutton. A large part of the reason she wanted to return to the real world wasn't because she had attachments there, but simply because she couldn't bear to part with all that delicious food.
"Little beauty, time to eat. We knew you were hungry, so Doreen and I rushed over without stopping."
The cute girl in the white maid outfit placed the food in front of Li Jia, her eyes smiling as she nodded to signal that she could start.
The other girl, dressed in a black maid outfit with her hair in a high ponytail, set down the plate she was carrying.
Doreen pushed it in front of Li Jia without a word, then turned and went out. She didn't leave, however, and stood guard by the door.
Doreen was a head taller than Winslow, with sharp, cold features and an air of frost about her.
Only then did Li Jia notice the two long sabers covered in golden patterns strapped to her back. Their black hilts and silver blades made quite an impression.
Seeing Li Jia looking at Doreen, Winslow leaned close to the ear of the girl beside her and murmured unconcernedly, "Don't be upset. Doreen is a little shy around strangers, but she's a really good person. I'd stake my life on it."
Li Jia found her earnest expression adorable and gave a goofy smile. "I believe you."
She was starving, and they were all girls, so Li Jia had no reservations. She picked up her chopsticks and dug in.
Seeing her eat so heartily put Winslow in a particularly good mood.
She could eat and sleep well. She seemed easy to look after.
It wasn't as though they had never considered choosing an attendant for Her Majesty Hera before, but those people hadn't had the courage or resolve to choose her.
And so the matter of an attendant had been left aside for all these years.
Since this little beauty was willing to choose Her Majesty and stand by her side, they would naturally treat her sincerely.
Once Li Jia had eaten and drunk her fill, she put down her bowl and chopsticks, rubbed her round belly and let out a burp. Seeing that Winslow was still there, she began chatting with her.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear a hundred battles.
She had now successfully become Hera's attendant and moved into her residence.
The plot had already entered its first third. She needed to learn Hera's habits and keep "trash" from sticking to her.
Winslow was a little chatterbox with no guile.
She answered everything Li Jia asked, and before long, Li Jia had a clear understanding of her situation.
Hera's divine residence was located in Hot Spring Ravine. Including Li Jia, there were only four people in the residence. Hera liked peace and quiet, so they didn't disturb her on ordinary days, and she had always turned a blind eye to trivial matters.
Winslow and Doreen were orphans she had taken in, and Hot Spring Ravine was their home.
"Then what kind of person do you think Her Majesty the goddess is?"
Li Jia carried a tray to the kitchen with Winslow and asked the question curiously on the way.
After thinking for a moment, Winslow said softly, "She's cold on the outside but warm on the inside, reserved and subtle."
"She is the best goddess in the world."
After saying that, she added a little sheepishly.
"Is that so? It seems I worried too much."
Li Jia felt a little apologetic. Counting it up, she had only been in this world for four days. Aside from the book's description of the goddess as temperamental, she had no other way to learn about her.
The only system that knew how the plot in the book unfolded had now gone mute as well.
She had even wondered whether what the book said was really true. She hadn't had much contact with Hera, but Li Jia firmly believed she wasn't a jealous person. Otherwise, Winslow and Doreen wouldn't have stayed in her residence all this time.
"Li Jia."
Seeing that she had zoned out, Winslow took the plate from her hands and put it on the kitchen counter.
"Don't be afraid. Her Majesty Hera won't make things difficult for you. Even though you're nominally her attendant now, she won't make you do degrading work like a slave."
"Her Majesty believes everyone is equal. As long as you don't make a serious mistake-even if you do, she'll still protect you when you're outside. Once you enter Hot Spring Ravine, you belong to the goddess."
"She protects her own."
A light rain began to fall outside, and mist spread through the mountains. Damp air seeped in through the gauze-covered window, and the chill brought a little more clarity.
The dim secret room was filled with the dampness of the rainy season and the fresh scent of herbs. A wooden bed lay in the darkness at the far end, and the mottled light of a candle at its head flickered gracefully in the breeze slipping through the cracks.
The tall figure on the bed cast a shadow on the wall in the candlelight. She had removed her clothes, revealing bloodstains along her spine.
Doreen glanced at her and counted roughly in her mind. There were exactly twelve wounds, no more and no less.
Not one too many.
Not one too few.
Suddenly.
A few cold raindrops slid down the steel plate on a ceiling beam and fell onto the back of her neck, then spread along her spine. Before long, her back was like a red canvas soaked in blood.
Doreen couldn't help frowning at the horrifying sight, while the person on the bed remained calm, her expression showing no emotion.
Doreen went to the medicine shelf beside her, picked up a small porcelain bottle and poured out two pills, offering them to her.
There was no way to alleviate divine punishment. All Doreen could do for her was give her solid tonic pills to stop the sweating and keep her from becoming dehydrated.
Without hesitation, she reached out with her fair, slender fingertips, picked up the pills and swallowed them. Then she waved her wrist and used a little divine power. The blood on her back was instantly washed away, leaving only crisscrossing scars.
For harming her fellow gods, the Divine Mountain would naturally bring down divine punishment. Twelve streams of divine power surged and swirled within her body, until she could hold on no longer and retched up a mouthful of blood.
"Your Majesty, why put yourself through this..."
Doreen hesitated, not knowing what to say. She and Winslow had followed the goddess for nearly three hundred years, and she knew Hera wasn't one to meddle in others' affairs.
That girl was her attendant, the first in thousands of years to choose her without complaint or regret.
What standing or right did she have to make a decision for Her Majesty the goddess?
"Leave. Don't tell anyone I'm recovering from my injuries."
"Including her."
"Three days will be enough."
Three days were enough to endure the divine punishment and repair her soul body.
The sweat beading on her forehead revealed her weakness. As her divine power dissipated, her golden hair grew dry and lost its luster, and her vision blurred. She could barely keep her back straight.
Doreen took a deep breath and blew out the candle.
She didn't want anyone to see her frail and sickly appearance.
Including herself.
Doreen withdrew and locked the door to the secret room.
With a creak, the door closed. The person on the bed fell heavily onto it and closed her eyes. In the pitch-black secret room, only the sound of shallow breaths remained.
Doreen said a few words to Winslow, telling her that she was going on a long trip with the goddess to handle some troublesome affairs and asking her to take good care of Li Jia.
Winslow readily agreed without growing suspicious. Hera sometimes took Doreen along to handle troublesome matters, and she had also asked Winslow if she wanted to come, but Winslow had declined.
Winslow was a salted fish who only liked lounging around the residence, so whenever the two of them were away, she was the one who looked after it.
She had felt a little lonely before, but now there was another person in the residence to keep her company. She couldn't have asked for more.
For the rest of the time, Doreen kept watch outside the secret room without leaving her post.
Knowing Hera wasn't in the residence, Li Jia finally set her mind completely at ease. She wasn't ready to face the target of her conquest yet.
Everything had happened so suddenly that it had caught her off guard. She needed to calm herself down and rethink her strategy plan.
Over those three days, Winslow dutifully played the role of housekeeper, showing Li Jia every part of the residence, big and small. Afraid she would get lost, Winslow even gave her a map of Hot Spring Ravine.
"But there's a secret room on the back mountain that you can't go into. There are things in there that are hard to describe."
Winslow led her to the back mountain and solemnly pointed beneath a pool.
"Every time Her Majesty Hera and Doreen come back, they go in there for a few days. According to Doreen, they 'refine' those evil spirits inside. But Her Majesty Hera is amazing. She's the only god in the divine realm whose divine power is on par with Zeus's."
As she spoke, her eyes were full of admiration, but the disgust was plain when she mentioned Zeus.
A promiscuous stallion who slept around everywhere-how was he worthy of standing alongside Her Majesty Hera?
"Does Her Majesty Hera have to handle affairs personally too?"
Li Jia asked curiously.
"That's a long story. Each of the Twelve Gods has their own duties, but some gods don't want to fulfill their own obligations, so they take in lots and lots of attendants to help them. Take Demeter: she has more than a dozen attendants helping her sow crops and tend the fields and plants."
"Or, like the sea god, they have more children and share their divine power with them, so their children can help handle these affairs."
"Her Majesty has no attendants, and she doesn't want to get entangled with any man, so she personally carries out all her divine duties. She's fair and just, and has saved many unhappily married couples and women, so people offer worship at her temples from the bottom of their hearts."
"The Temple of the Goddess of Marriage has always had the most worshippers, and Her Majesty Hera's divine power is also the strongest."
Winslow's face shone with unconcealable pride.
In heaven and on earth, there was only Her Majesty Hera.
Entrusted by all people.
Honored by the submission of all.