"Urgh... I really feel like smacking their heads. What a waste of their beauty!" Aoto sighed to himself, feeling completely unmotivated.
"I always used to go after bad bitches specifically, but I guess they are beyond bad!" He thought to himself, a bitter taste in his mouth.
Aoto then turned his head towards Chiyoko. He had a conflicted expression on his face. "What matters most is what he is thinking? Will he betray Scarlett?" Aoto thought to himself. It was only natural to be suspicious of him now.
At that moment, Nikke spoke once again. "As an act of goodwill, we will extend the limit of your max level to 500 for now. Once you convince or kill Scarlett, it'll be raised to 1,000," she said calmly, as if she were offering a treat to a dog.
"Also, don't you two dare talk about this to anyone or think of running away. As long as you are in chetna, we can kill you anytime. You are basically our puppets with self-awareness," she added, her voice as prideful and egoistic as ever.
"You don't have to say it so many times!" Aoto muttered to himself, rolling his eyes, but he didn't dare say it out loud.
"Well then, I should send you back," Aphrodite said with a simple clap of her hands.
"Wait, since we are here, can we stroll around a bit? I always wanted to see heaven, especially the 5th heaven sounds more special than just heaven!" Chiyoko said, finally asking for something that could be considered good.
But both of them shook their heads.
"No. Know your place. This is not a place where humans are even allowed to take one step. You should feel honored that you got to see it for a few minutes!" Aphrodite said calmly, nodding her head with a final, dismissive tone.
Chiyoko's face turned dim, but he didn't say anything back. Aphrodite waved her hand, whispering some ancient words.
The next moment, two magic circles appeared beneath both of them. The very next moment, they both vanished and arrived at the exact places where they had been before.
Aoto looked forward. He was standing outside of the room, in the hallway, just like before.
"Damn, I'm safe!" He exhaled loudly, the tension leaving his body for a second. "No, definitely not safe. I should tell Scarlett about this!" he thought to himself and was about to go talk to Scarlett immediately.
But the moment he took a step, he immediately paused. "No, this is not the right time. What if they are watching me right now?" He thought to himself, a chill running down his spine.
Since they couldn't fully tell about his and Scarlett's relationship, it was certain that they couldn't watch them all the time. But it didn't mean they couldn't watch them at all.
Not to forget, they mentioned that talking about their conversation or running away from them is futile. They must have their way to silence both of them, permanently.
"We both are under a contract. I have to think of a way to break this contract, or else who knows, they might end up controlling my mind as well," He thought to himself, his worry only growing bigger with each passing second.
It was a forced contract after all. With the priestess who summoned them as the middle-woman, who knows what kinds of secret clauses the goddesses must have put in there.
****
Soon it was evening. The orange and yellow light of the sun poured over the royal palace, and the clouds were painted red and orange as the sun started to fade away.
Outside of Scarlett's room, Lunatic, Irish, and Reiza were standing. Their faces were pressed one beside another, peeking lightly inside the room.
"So you're saying is that Honey won't say no to any request we make?" Irish whispered lightly, a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Yep... but only if she doesn't realize that we know about her current weakness and are doing it on purpose!" Lunatic replied with a mischievous smirk.
"I-I'm not believing you," Reiza replied with a sneer, trying to sound tough.
"Not believing me, or are you asking me to show you some proof so that you can be absolutely sure that Scarlett will accept your fantasies?" Lunatic said back with a teasing tone.
"W-what? No way! What fantasies? I'm not into anything! I only asked because... because—!" Reiza's face immediately flushed a deep red. Her tsundere personality was popping up. In the end, she couldn't answer and gave up on completing her sentence, looking away in embarrassment.
Lunatic patted Reiza's back lightly. "Don't worry, I was just gonna give you a demo!" she said, her voice full of playful energy.
"But remember, after you see the demo, you need to be at your places. After all, we can't let her find out anything. I'll send her to you two soon enough!" Lunatic explained, her tone becoming serious for a moment.
"I'll be first!" Reiza added immediately, her voice eager.
"Ara~..Ara~, didn't you just say you weren't so into it?" Lunatic teased once again, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"You!" Reiza's lips twitched, her cheeks turning red once again.
But Lunatic immediately stopped teasing. "I was joking. I'll do that!" she said, turning towards Irish.
"You got any problem?" she asked.
Irish shook her head. "No. Just don't take too much time," she answered, her voice calm and steady.
Lunatic nodded. "So here I go then!"
Lunatic took her first step inside and then walked quietly inside. Scarlett was doing some paperwork inside.
There were documents and files laid out all over the table. Her pen moved fast, signing and reading each one with practiced efficiency.
Lunatic looked back towards the entrance to see if they were watching her or not.
After confirming they were still peeking, Lunatic walked towards Scarlett lightly.
"Lunatic?" Scarlett sensed her presence and looked up at her, her expression questioning.
She was about to remove her purple blindfold, but then Lunatic immediately stopped her.
"Let it be. What's the point of removing it now?" Lunatic added as she sat down beside Scarlett on the couch.
She clearly knew that Scarlett would sense Reiza and Irish outside once she removed her blindfold, which sealed off most of her powers.
"What made you come here?" Scarlett questioned, her voice tired.
"Craving!" Lunatic said, her voice a soft purr.
"Craving?" Scarlett repeated, confused.
"Yes, I wanted to drink tea so bad!" Lunatic replied.
"Then go and make it!" Scarlett answered with a sigh, trying to focus on her work.
Lunatic shook her head with a smile. "Nuh uh... I wanna drink tea made by you!"
"Huh? Where did that come from? I got other things to do!" Scarlett said in frustration, her pen pausing over a document.
Lunatic pouted her cheeks, making her look like a child. "C'mon, I always make tea for you."
Her pout then turned into a teasing smirk as she stretched the fabric of her clothes, showing off the curve of her chest. "With my own breast milk at that," she said softly, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"I would be a lot happier if you would make it with your breast milk as well," she added with a chuckle, her eyes glinting with mischief.
"My milk?" Scarlett's cheeks immediately flushed a deep, bright red. She instinctively imagined her own breast milk in a tea cup. She immediately shook her head, trying to push those weird thoughts away. "Absolutely not!" she stammered, completely flustered.
Lunatic extended her hand, cupping Scarlett's breast out of nowhere.
"They're quite big. They must have milk in them, right? I never tried squeezing them out, though!" Lunatic teased, her voice a playful whisper.
Scarlett immediately waved her hand, splashing Lunatic's hand away. "Don't just touch me out of nowhere, it's creepy!" she said, her voice a mix of shock and annoyance.
"Sorry... sorry. I'm fine with normal tea. It just has to be made from you!" Lunatic apologized immediately, putting on her best innocent face.
Scarlett's lips twitched. "I never told you to make tea for me!" she muttered to herself.
But considering how Lunatic delivered tea to her each morning without fail, her intentions were definitely pure, just a bit mischievous.
She exhaled deeply and nodded. "Fine, but just this once!" she said, standing up.
"I'll be back in a few minutes!" Scarlett added. She didn't look back, her footsteps echoing in the room as she elegantly walked out of the room.
After she left, a few moments later, Reiza and Irish entered with surprised yet joyful expressions.
"Did you see that? I was right, wasn't I?" Lunatic said, looking very proud of herself.
"No way, your words were actually real. I never saw Honey in the kitchen!" Reiza said in amazement, her eyes slightly wide.
"Me neither. She once said that she wasn't fond of cooking!" Irish replied, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Hehe, of course I know, because I love her the most!" Lunatic said, rubbing beneath her nose proudly.
But she didn't dwell any further on who loved Scarlett most, or else it might lead to a tense situation between them.
"Well then, be ready. We can have our little fun time while we can. Just make sure to not go off limits!" Lunatic suggested.
Both Irish and Reiza nodded in agreement, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
*****
Meanwhile, Scarlett walked in the hallway and then downstairs, going for the main kitchen room on the ground floor.
It wasn't her first time cooking. Although she wasn't very familiar with cooking, her mother had taught her how to make basic things. Like how to make rice, tea, noodles, etc. She herself had watched her mother cook these things several times, so she could say she was somewhat familiar.
"Just make it and get over with it!" she muttered to herself as she entered the vast kitchen room.
But just as she entered, she saw Aoto in front of her. He, too, froze in his position the moment he saw Scarlett.
He had several cookies in his hands and a mouthful of sweets in his mouth. He was, without a doubt, unexpectedly caught red-handed stealing cookies and eating sweets.
"Cookie thief? How disappointing. You could have just asked me!" Scarlett sighed in disappointment.
A mouthful of sweets fell down from his mouth as he waved his cookie-filled palms. "N-no, this is not what it looks like. Actually, it's been over a year since I last ate them!" he said, his voice muffled.
"Huh? Why?" Scarlett questioned, genuinely curious.
"Ingrassia! She never lets me eat them, always bragging about how it's bad for my health. I'm the hero, dammit! What can these puny things do to me?!" He stomped his foot on the ground in frustration, whining like a child who was denied candy.
"Wow, at least there's some other person other than Prez Yumi whom he actually fears!" Scarlett chuckled to herself.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Ingrassia!" she replied.
"Thanks. But why are you here?" Aoto asked back.
"Just to make tea. And now don't go asking why I'm making tea. It's because I want to, that's all!" Scarlett immediately shut down Aoto's future questions in advance, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Okay, I'll just stay here for a few minutes and eat a few more cookies while watching you make tea!" he said calmly, already relaxing.
"Fine by me!" Scarlett nodded.
She took a whole cup of water with some milk, tea leaves, and some other ingredients to make tea.
Aoto ate cookies one after another, watching Scarlett make tea with interest.
"Scarlett, I wanted to say something," Aoto said out of nowhere, his voice suddenly serious.
"Yes?" Scarlett replied. She didn't look at him, but she gave him her full attention.
"You know... I think you trust people quite easily. You can be betrayed. You should be more careful from some people... Like Chiyoko. Like me. Yeah, I'm quite the bad person myself!" Aoto said, trying his best not to sound suspicious.
Scarlett heard it and stopped her tea preparation mid-way. She looked back at him, her expression unreadable. "Where did that come from?" she asked, her voice calm but probing.
Aoto immediately rolled his eyes, acting as normal as he could. "I don't know, I'm just saying. I hate that idiot Chiyoko. He must have some kind of charm skill or hypnotizing skill, I'm sure of it! What if he hypnotises me?"
"Don't worry, I don't think such skills will have any effect on me nor you," Scarlett said, her voice confident and unwavering as she turned back to her tea.