So hot.
The air above the river, with no shade from trees, shimmered and twisted in the high temperature.
Clara gripped her fishing rod, wiping away sweat that trickled down to her chin.
Shouldn’t a real tropical rainforest be cool and refreshing? With the water this warm, would any fish even float up to the surface? They must all be hiding motionless in the depths!
The resort station, aiming for that perfect summer vibe, had set the temperature of the atmospheric dome way too high.
And we ran all the way here from Central City’s freezing winter!
Such an extreme temperature difference is enough to make anyone sick!
No matter how much she grumbled inside, Clara still had to face the camera, so a cute smile remained fixed on her face — she wasn’t wearing a gas mask at the moment; it was way too stuffy for that.
“Hey, Clara-chan! Want some ice cream?”
At that moment, that grinning, cocky guy — Verdant Reverberation — approached, holding a cup of ice cream, looking ready to feed her himself.
Even if this green-haired guy left the factory a few years before Cysta, as an artificial human, he shouldn’t be that old. How does a brat like him manage to be so frivolous?
“Oh, just leave it there~”
Clara smiled and pointed to the large rock she was sitting on, but her tone made her distance clear.
But Verdant Reverberation shamelessly replied, “Clara-chan, your hands are full, right? How about… I feed you?”
Heh, Clara sneered inwardly.
Just as Verdant Reverberation said, she needed both hands to hold the fishing rod, so she couldn’t eat while fishing. Asking her such a question on camera — he probably thought she wouldn’t refuse, right?
This guy’s scheming is really something.
Honestly, Clara did want ice cream, but she didn’t like this frivolous greenhead. Being fed by him would just make her annoyed, and might even stir up jealousy among his fans…
But with the live camera rolling, she didn’t dare show any displeasure toward the greenhead.
Still, there’s always more solutions than problems.
“Big Brother Bai~”
She’d played this trick plenty of times by now.
So much that she did it naturally, so much it could make anyone’s heart tremble, so much it brought her a refreshing sense of clarity.
But this time, she put real effort into sweetening her voice, to the point that even Pure White Storm visibly shivered — yes, she definitely flinched a little.
“Clara little… sister?” Cysta hesitated over how to address her.
“Could you feed me some ice cream~?”
Just as Clara couldn’t refuse Verdant Reverberation in front of the camera, Pure White Storm couldn’t refuse Clara’s request either. After all, right now, they were a pair of loving “siblings.”
Even if it was only temporary.
“Of course……”
“Oh my, looks like I’m not as popular as Fourth Brother, huh?”
Verdant Reverberation didn’t seem upset at all; instead, he graciously handed the ice cream to Pure White Storm and also took the fishing rod from her hands.
“…Don’t you want to fish yourself?”
“Heh, my rod isn’t for catching fish — it’s for catching something else… Why not try biting my bait?”
He said the last part right at the camera, even winking boldly. The professionalism of these designed artificial humans was honestly terrifying.
“Well then, Clara little sister.”
Cysta sat down next to Clara, removed the ice cream lid. The scorching heat had already softened the ice cream’s surface a little.
“Mhm, feed me~”
What was Clara really thinking as she asked to be fed?
As long as she told herself it was all part of “acting,” she could convince herself this was just what the ideal Clara would do.
[Is this really something the ideal Clara would do?]
Nyx’s pointed question shook the self-deception in Clara’s heart.
Just then, Cysta scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and brought it to Clara’s mouth, even making an “Ah—” sound.
Clara opened her mouth and accepted the cold treat, but her cheeks didn’t cool down; instead, they flushed even redder thanks to the ambiguous feeding gesture.
Who knew how many people were watching the livestream at that very moment? Playing out this feeding play in front of so many viewers — no matter how thick her skin, Clara found it impossible to stay unaffected.
By comparison, Cysta’s reaction was much more natural.
Giving up a man’s pride just for a bite of ice cream.
Was all this… worth it?
“Is it good?” Cysta asked.
“It’s good…”
Clara answered shyly, inadvertently revealing a cute expression.
“Let me have a taste too.”
With that, Cysta took the same spoon Clara had just used and brought a bite to her own mouth.
“Wah! Couldn’t you just go grab another cup!?”
Clara’s fishing rod trembled, and the fish that had finally come close swam away, startled.
Ogata Daruma and the other staff had set up a canopy by the river, with a whole cooler full of ice cream. Cysta could easily have gotten another one.
“That’d be a hassle, wouldn’t it? I just wanted one taste.”
“But you can’t use the same spoon as me!”
Clara protested, but Cysta just looked aggrieved, as if she’d done something wrong but didn’t understand what. Lowering her brows, she whispered, “But… there’s only one spoon… I won’t eat any more, you can have the rest.”
She scooped up another bite, carefully holding it out to Clara’s mouth.
A mysterious sense of guilt welled up inside Clara.
[That’s just the kind of “child” she is. You should be used to it by now, shouldn’t you?]
Nyx’s words stopped Clara from snapping at Cysta while the camera was pointed at her.
[What are you afraid of? You didn’t mind sharing a straw when drinking bubble tea before.]
Maybe Clara really didn’t care that much.
Thinking about it calmly, she wasn’t even sure what she was fussing over. If it came to who was “dirtier,” inside or out, it should be her — thirty-five years old — not Cysta.
Cysta was undoubtedly pure, so innocent she barely understood gender, as spotless as her hero name.
If you viewed her actions with impure thoughts, then the one in the wrong was yourself.
“Hoo…”
She needed to shift her mindset — Cysta wasn’t really a pretty boy, she was just a one-year-old seventeen-year-old girl. Clara should treat her with a forgiving heart.
Clara, a master of self-hypnosis, finally convinced herself to bravely open her mouth and accept the spoonful of melting ice cream.
She tried not to think about it, but amid the vanilla sweetness, she could still taste a hint of Cysta.
[Because she tasted a beautiful girl’s saliva, Clara’s heart began to flutter.]
Hey! Don’t go making up weird inner monologues for me!
And so, Clara was fed spoonful after spoonful of ice cream by Cysta.
Meanwhile, the “Dragonfly” drone filmed the entire scene from close by.
Even though nothing much was happening at this hour, maybe it was Clara’s irresistible cuteness, or perhaps the ambiguous chemistry between the two — the livestream’s viewer count had actually surpassed the morning’s “Love Breakfast” event.