Stelle felt as if she was in flames, especially her chest, which was incredibly hot.
Stelle had never experienced this feeling before; even the time her inner Star Core almost went out of control was far less scorching than this.
Before, Paimon said she seemed to have a large furnace inside her, and she just took it as a joke. Now, how did it feel like there really was something hot inside her?
What was going on...?
With this doubt, Stelle slowly opened her eyes.
Her brain wasn't fully awake yet, but seeing the small head nestled against her chest, she pretty much understood what was happening.
"Lumine!?" Stelle's sanity hadn't completely left her yet. She quickly pushed Lumine away, making her fall to the side.
Stelle immediately sat up, not even caring about anything else, and quickly retreated backward.
She couldn't be blamed; with the previous few experiences, she really didn't dare to do anything dangerous again.
But when she looked at Lumine again, she realized that things weren't as simple as she had imagined.
"Lumine? Are you, are you okay?!" Stelle returned to Lumine's side, looking down to observe her condition.
Her body temperature was frighteningly high, she was constantly gasping for breath, and her face was unnaturally flushed. Stelle didn't even dare to reach out and touch Lumine's body.
"How could this be? Is it Albedo's potion...?" Stelle could only think of this possibility now, as it was too abnormal.
"Stelle, I'm so hot..." Lumine could barely utter a few words, but her voice was noticeably struggling.
"You endure for a moment. I'll contact Albedo right now." Stelle immediately tried to get up, but just as she was halfway up, she was suddenly tackled back down by Lumine, who had sprung up.
"No, no need. Only... only you can help me." Lumine propped her hands on either side of Stelle, her eyes fixed intently on Stelle.
"Me, me?" Stelle felt this posture was very bad, but for a moment, she couldn't get up and leave.
She could even feel Lumine's hot and sweet breath on her face.
"Mhm, you definitely can help me..." Lumine reached out, took Stelle's wrist, and then slowly moved her hand downwards.
"!!!"
Stelle's eyes widened. She hadn't reacted at all, and her fingers seemed to have already arrived at a warm, moist place.
As Stelle's fingers made contact, Lumine let out a sound that absolutely could not be described, and then directly collapsed into Stelle's embrace.
"Stelle, please," Lumine whispered into Stelle's ear, her voice seeming to be crying, or perhaps holding something back.
The constant heat coming from beside her ear was destroying Stelle's last shred of sanity.
"Pai, Paimon is still..." Stelle made a final struggle, hoping to make Lumine understand that now was not appropriate.
"It's okay, she won't wake up. I did something to her food."
Lumine said words that shocked Stelle immensely.
She had been wondering why Paimon had fallen asleep so early. Although Paimon usually slept early, it wasn't to the extent of becoming so drowsy after only chatting with her and Lumine for such a short time.
Ah, she hadn't expected it. Lumine actually played such a trick, but when exactly...
"Stelle, please, I, I'm about to break."
"... "
Stelle gritted his teeth, no longer caring about anything else.
There was no other way; Lumine's condition seemed too poor, and if he didn't help her in time, something might happen.
Besides, in this situation… he couldn't go find Albedo, could he?
The following is omitted ----
Rosaria found it hard to sleep.
He had originally intended to see what Albedo was up to in the snowy mountains, but he hadn't expected to run into Stelle and Lumine along the way.
If it were just Stelle alone, he would have been very happy, but unfortunately, Stelle was accompanied by someone who made him feel a little annoyed.
He had no opinion of Lumine, who was an Honorary Knight, before this, until he saw her subtly trying to stick close to Stelle, and the way she looked at Stelle every time.
Rosaria could feel that she, like Acting Grand Master Jean, was a pitiful soul attracted to Stelle.
And like him, she was an unlucky person who desired something but couldn't temporarily obtain it.
Although, logically speaking, the two of them should be considered to be in the same boat and shouldn't be so hostile.
But unfortunately, he wasn't very good at talking.
Of course, he didn't need to leave a good impression on the other party either.
After telling them Albedo's location, Rosaria did not leave but continued to follow them.
He witnessed their conversation with Albedo, how they began to cooperate with Albedo on his experiments, and how the Traveler later drank the potion Albedo had concocted.
This was not a commendable act of bravery; even if Albedo himself drank a bottle first to prove his potion was fine, with an alchemist of Albedo's caliber, if he truly wanted to tamper with something, those two would never be able to detect it.
Fortunately, Lumine did not lose her mind as he had imagined, a result that seemed to surprise Albedo as well.
Albedo said it was best to observe them and told the two to rest at another camp.
Rosaria was a bit worried, so he naturally followed the two of them here.
He carried his own camping gear, and although the conditions were simple, spending a night was not a big problem when the weather in the snowy mountains was good.
But why was his heart so troubled…
Rosaria disliked this feeling, but there was nothing he could do to fall asleep now.
He thought for a moment, then simply got up and walked out of his temporary camp, planning to check on Stelle's situation.
His resting place was not very far from Lumine and Stelle's camp, which was for convenience of observation.
However, when he looked at Stelle's camp from a distance, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The light in the tent in the distance was not extinguished, and the shadows of two people were cast on the tent.
This was normal, but the posture and position of those two shadows seemed a bit too abnormal.
He didn't know what he should do, but as if by a strange impulse, he stealthily approached the tent.
"Stelle, please, help me…" Lumine's voice came from inside the tent.
Rosaria frowned.
Lumine's state seemed a bit off; could it be Albedo's potion taking effect?
Otherwise, even if Lumine had those thoughts about Stelle, she shouldn't be using this method.
He felt that he should rush in now, stop Lumine, throw her outside, and make her calm down.
But…
Rosaria looked at the shadows on the tent again, and a bold idea formed in his mind.
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