Still a long way to go, sweetheart.

"Ugh...! I hate myself!"

Nova shook her head while Luca was grunting on the same bed she was sitting on. The latter kept grumbling, rolling lazily on the bed, recalling the occurrence of the night before.

"Why even ask yourself to eat if you're going to puke before eating?" Nova could not help but let out a 'tch', disappointed at her human servant's frail resolve.

"Nova... I'm so dumb." Luca wept as she lay flat on the mattress, staring at the ceiling with utter regret. "I shouldn't have backed out."

"You shouldn't have flirted, you say! You missed the opportunity!" Nova meowed aggressively, making Luca frown.

Last night was fun. Luca flirted with the guy who approached her. He was a fun guy and excellent company, but alas, when their conversation came to a point where they looked at each other in silence...

Luca winced the more she recalled it.

"Ughh!!!" she grabbed the pillow and placed it on her face, muffling her screams.

"How hopeless." Nova shook her head, lying leisurely on the side of the bed. She had watched Luca last night and how she was supposed to lose her virginity. However, when the guy leaned his face forward and tilted his head, Luca suddenly sprung up from her seat.

Her human servant said nothing aside from the cliche, "I have to go," and then hurriedly picked up her bag and Nova. Luca didn't even say goodbye to Georgina and Xander as she went straight to the hotel, where she chugged down the bottle of wine lying in her room and wept because she left. Now, even when the sun was up, Luca was still weeping about it the moment she woke up.

"You are so complicated," commented Nova to her human owner. "Why even flirt when you're not ready or haven't moved on?"

"Who said I hadn't moved on?!" Luca tossed the pillow away and sprung up until she was sitting upright. She pointed at herself, eyes at Nova. "Me? Hah! For your information, that piece of trash can just rot in the bin!"

"Then if that is the case, why did you refuse the guy?" Nova's brows rose, her eyes carried genuine intrigue. "You said so yourself. The guy last night was handsome, had a perfect body for your taste, was a smooth talker, and had a charming personality. So... will you care to explain, why?"

Luca ran her tongue across her inner cheek before she let out a long-suffering sigh. What Nova said was all Luca's 'review' to the guy last night. But why did Luca freak out?

"I don't know..." whispered Luca, her shoulder relaxing, feeling a little weak at the emotions she had been releasing the moment she opened her eyes. "Last night was great, and he actually made me laugh. But when he leaned closer, I... my body just reacted. I don't know what got into me, but it's like my gut feeling told me I shouldn't."

"Tsk tsk tsk. This is what happens when you try to become someone you aren't." Nova shook her head. "How disappointing, but I have kinda seen it coming."

Luca frowned as she looked back at Nova with a dull countenance. "What should I do? I let go of a very delicious piece of meat."

"Nothing. You do nothing until you are starving."

"You're so harsh."

"But that's your own words, and you swallowed your own puke just like that." Nova scrunched her nose up, looking back at this woman, who was full of contradiction in dismay. "You said you're successful already and you have nothing to prove anymore. Therefore, you want to lose your virginity and have some fun. We're still in the first phase of this whore journey, but you prove it challenging."

Luca sighed, running her fingers through her tousled hair. "How come I lost it easily the first time?"

"For your information, you didn't just easily lose your virginity the first time but all your six senses!" the cat harrumphed, causing Luca to lower her head like a child being scolded for being a failure as a dominatrix. "Just what the hell do you really want? Revenge? Pleasure? Let's do it one at a time!"

Another sigh slipped past Luca's lips.

"I want revenge, of course. But... I also want..." she trailed off when Nova hissed, biting her tongue to tell herself to be careful in the words she would spew. "I mean... I think I know the problem."

"Spill the tea."

"I think I'm in love with myself."

"..." It took Nova an entire minute to process Luca's answer, and when she did, she jumped to claw Luca, only to realize her nails were newly trimmed. "Are you fucking with me!? Do you want this story to end now, hah?!"

"Ouch... Nova — stop." Luca shielded herself with her arms while her cat slapped her with her little heavy paws. "I'm serious — please, don't kill me!"

The cut huffed as her eyes glinted. "Are you going to sacrifice your virginity to yourself now since you're in love with yourself?!"

"No!" Luca blew a sharp breath to the little strands of hair falling on her face. "I'll marry myself — ack!"

Nova exercised human cruelty at the level of ridiculousness that had been crossing Luca's mind. First, the latter was so determined to lose her virginity and ruin Xander, and then the next day, she wanted to marry herself! Why doesn't Luca tell Nova she wanted to eat cat meat since the stress she was giving her cat was the same?

"Goodness! What am I going to do with you?" Nova huffed when she was already panting after beating Luca some senses. "I feel like I'm aging faster after bringing you back."

"But… I'm serious." Luca, who finally felt a little relief, frowned deeper. "I should just marry myself and enjoy looking at men for now. When I'm ready, I'll spread my legs like the gospel to the perfect man of my choosing."

"Perfect — pwe! Last night was perfect."

"But he's... yes, he's too perfect," Luca murmured with a pout. "He's too good… and I feel like he will ask for more right after."

Nova let out a deep exhale and shook her head. "So the problem is not the person, but what can happen later on, huh?" she summarized, watching Luca nod reluctantly. If Luca said this earlier, then she wouldn't have to go through Nova's wrath, but the woman chose stupidity over anything else when she woke up.

"He should be a man who will not fall in love with me, and someone I won't fall in love with," Luca added under her breath as her reasoning grew clearer in her muddled mind. "A relationship with no string attach… like fuck buddies or some sort."

"Goodness, woman." Nova let out a long-suffering sigh, now understanding the dilemma. Although Luca was sexy and very attractive physically, she could be very naive in love. Luca wouldn't be in this situation if she wasn't aware of what she could do for love. Hence, she was trying to prevent it.

"I feel like this keeps straying from the harem plot I had in my head," Nova mumbled whilst sighing. "Someone who won't fall in love with you and won't ruin your image, huh? We have a long way to go, sweetheart."