‘How naïve. You’re horrified at the idea of showering together, huh.’
Laika shrugged and picked up the clothes scattered on the floor, slipping them on.
Iris, embarrassed by the way he’d turned his back on her, hurriedly dressed as well.
Watching her flustered movements, he smirked and pointed toward the restroom tucked away in the corner—right near the showcase where the <Perception> skill had just activated.
“There’s no need to go first or anything since there are multiple restrooms. Hmm, you wash up over there. I’ll use the master bedroom.”
“Ah! Th-there! Y-yes, alright…”
Of all places, the restroom was right next to the showcase. It felt almost fated. Wasn’t this just like something out of a manga?
Iris recalled the message that had popped up the moment she awakened—the one about entering the manga’s storyline—and hesitated on her way to the restroom, stopping in front of the showcase.
Just as she cautiously reached out to examine it, Laika’s voice stopped her, coming from where he was tidying the side table.
“Iris. Don’t touch the showcase. There are a lot of strange things inside, and you might get curious, but if you break even one thing in there…”
“I-I won’t touch anything!”
“…Then you’ll be my slave for life. You get what that means, right?”
She hadn’t even laid a finger on it, yet he was already making such a terrifying threat. Iris shivered and stepped back from the showcase, swallowing nervously before glancing over her shoulder.
“Wha-what? S-slave?”
“Yeah. Imagine what kind of slave you’ll be, then. Heh.”
Laika’s face was full of mischief. Realizing she’d been intimidated into shrinking away, Iris let out a relieved sigh and grumbled under her breath.
“I’m not touching it! I just thought there were a lot of pretty things, so I was only looking for a moment.”
“Good. Don’t touch. If you do, I’ll torment you all night.”
Laika chuckled and bent down, busy fixing the disheveled side table.
While he was distracted cleaning, Iris wondered if she might sneak a touch of the showcase. But ultimately, she had no choice but to head into the restroom.
Even if Laika was joking, the repeated warning made it clear she shouldn’t touch anything.
Having been intimate with him, she briefly thought maybe he’d let her cross the line just a little—but that was a mistake.
Laika was a villain who could reveal his cruel true nature at any moment. Underestimating him would be a one-way ticket to the afterlife.
Closing the restroom door behind her, she let out a deep, earth-shaking sigh. She wanted to check the showcase, but the headache of thinking up a way to do it without Laika noticing was unbearable.
‘Haa, how can I touch it without Laika noticing? There was definitely something in there that triggered <Perception>, but judging by how he acts, Laika seems clueless… Or does he know?
If it were like his usual personality, he’d have told me to look at it proudly, but since he’s warning me not to touch it…’
She stood under the showerhead and turned the lever, letting the warm water cascade over her pale, naked body. After soaking under the warmth, she began to lather up, lost in thought.
From a glance, the showcase held small statues and various models. Among them were a few old items that looked like antiques.
From what she understood, Laika wasn’t an object-awakening type hero. That meant he couldn’t use skills through objects.
So what was the white aura she’d seen? One of the objects in the showcase must have activated a skill on its own, triggering <Perception>…
‘Maybe <Perception> has other functions too. Like revealing the sacred aura embedded in objects or something.’
First, she needed to find the object radiating that white aura to unravel the mystery. She couldn’t approach the showcase recklessly for now, so she decided to search secretly while Laika was asleep.
As she rinsed off the foam under the running water, her gaze suddenly stopped on something.
‘Hoo… What’s this? Look at the mark on my chest. That’s right, I did have sex with Laika, didn’t I? I was so distracted by the showcase, I completely forgot. Some things are better not forgotten.’
Tracing the congestion imprinted on her pale skin with her fingers, Iris’s face flushed bright red. Alone in the space, she suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her.
A dull ache lingered between her legs where she’d taken Laika’s massive member.
Not only that, but her thighs and hips, which had been relentlessly pounded by his firm body, throbbed painfully, and her whole body trembled as she tried to stand still.
Though she retained memories of sex from a previous life, this was the first time in this body. Even if her mind was unaffected, her body had certainly taken damage.
‘Ugh, and he wants to do it again? Laika really has zero consideration for a woman’s first time.’
Despite grumbling inwardly, a small smile crept across her lips. Laika’s sex skills had been damn impressive.
Spreading her arms diagonally, Iris rubbed her back with the shower towel and hummed a cheerful tune.
Although the ache between her legs remained, the thought of doing it again with Laika gave her a quiet thrill.
‘I’ll pretend to hate it, then give in like I can’t help it. Just one more time. If I do it any more than that, my body won’t hold up.’
Nodding softly to herself and blushing, she made sure she hadn’t missed a spot while washing. Then, she draped the shower gown over her and stepped out.
Steam drifted out from the gap of the snow-white gown. The living room was quiet when she emerged.
Licking her lips, Iris stared quickly at the showcase and examined the decorations.
‘The horse statue looks unremarkable, and the small frames don’t have anything special… Huh?’
<Perception> activates.
At that moment, triggered <Perception> once more.
Iris’s eyes sharpened as she followed the source of the white aura. It was coming from the open jewelry box placed in the middle of the third row.
Looking closer, there was a gold ring inside. A red jewel adorned the center, and a white Symbol was engraved on the golden band.
Leaning close to the showcase, Iris’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
‘I want to open this door and take the ring right now.’
Near the handle of the showcase door, a tiny hand twitched slightly.
If she opened it just a little, quietly, maybe he wouldn’t notice?
Even if one item disappeared, with so many expensive pieces around, he probably wouldn’t care about this small ring… If it were truly precious, wouldn’t he have locked it in a safe?
It was true that Laika didn’t treat the ring as precious, but he wasn’t completely indifferent either. There were several reasons he left it in the living room showcase.
One was that the ring showed intense rejection if anyone else touched it.
The ring already had security stronger than a safe, so there was no need to hide it tightly.
Moreover, because Laika had gained his current immense power thanks to this Relic of the Goddess ring, his father and the researchers recognized him as its rightful owner.
More precisely, they couldn’t touch it, so it was entrusted to Laika.
The second reason was that Laika’s house didn’t have a safe at all.
This lack of a safe was largely due to his arrogance. Keeping valuables in the living room was as secure—if not more so—than a typical, meticulously concealed safe.
Any skilled villain fully aware of Laika’s watchful eyes wouldn’t dare to steal from the showcase. The apartment’s security was thorough as well.
If a clueless thief somehow breached it and entered the house, they’d face a grisly fate at the hands of a powerful villain.
Trying to steal while Laika was away? The ring’s rejection would dry their body out and kill them instantly.
Just as she hesitated whether to open the showcase door, Laika’s voice called from afar.
“Iris! Are you done washing? Come here.”
“Y-yes? Ah, okay!”
Hearing Laika’s voice brought her wandering mind back to reality. Iris cast a longing glance at the showcase, then headed toward the sound.
Passing through the dining room and reaching the end of the corridor, the space suddenly expanded to reveal another living room.
Smaller than the main living room but still far larger than an average household’s, it felt spacious.
As she looked around, Iris soon spotted Laika leaning against the door.
He wore the same color and size shower gown as hers, but unlike her, who had tied the straps tightly to keep it from slipping, his fit him perfectly as if measured with a ruler.