A few days later, inside a certain mansion
The sound of dripping water echoed throughout the vast bathhouse, the mist rising like a thin veil, enveloping the two girls in the water and blurring their outlines, adding a touch of haziness.
The warm yellow candlelight reflected off the water’s surface, flickering gently with the faintest breath, the shadows dancing on the ripples.
“Ha… hmm…” A subtle moan, difficult to suppress, slipped out.
Whether it was from the steaming heat of the bath or the surge of embarrassment swelling within, one of the girls named Bella’s pale cheeks were flushed with a tempting red blush.
Tiny beads of sweat slid down her jawline, leaving a moist, glossy trail.
“Forgive me, Lady Aphrodite.” Bella’s voice carried a heavy guilt, her dazed eyes drifting to the exquisite figure immersed in the water nearby—like a delicate porcelain doll.
Yet, this body was destined not to respond to Bella’s apology.
Though the chest rose and fell with slow, steady breaths, there was not a trace of life.
The water rippled gently around her but failed to stir her in the slightest.
She sat quietly, her posture seemingly arranged by the most meticulous artisan—so flawless she looked like a perfect doll enshrined in a Sanctuary.
“If you knew I was doing this with your body… you’d surely be very angry, wouldn’t you?” Bella whispered softly, her fingertips acting as if they had their own will, uncontrollably and with infinite tenderness caressing Aphrodite’s face.
This intimacy, carried out secretly in the dark, with only the two of them, was like a hidden poison, bringing an unprecedented thrill and surrender.
Beneath Aphrodite’s tightly closed eyelids, those full, glossy red lips, blurred by the steam, were extraordinarily enticing—like ripe berries kissed by dew, silently tempting the long-suppressed, almost profane desire deep in Bella’s heart.
“But… Bella likes you so much, so very much, Lady Aphrodite…” she murmured almost pleadingly, as if searching for the tiniest excuse to justify what she was about to do, “Please forgive Bella—this one time, from childhood until now… for acting without permission…”
The dam of reason finally broke under the tide of emotion.
With her heart pounding nervously, almost stopping altogether, Bella inched closer and closer to those petal-like lips.
Each movement forward felt like probing the unlocking of a forbidden secret realm, making the blood race.
At a breath’s distance, the faint, elegant scent of jasmine—fresh and pure like newly melted snow—wafted from Aphrodite’s hair, weaving in and out, unmistakably clear.
This familiar scent, ingrained deep into her bones, made every nerve in Bella’s body tense, her heart hammering violently in her chest, as if about to break free.
Yet, just as the tension reached its peak, teetering on the edge of the unknown—
The girl called Aphrodite, whose left index finger had remained motionless in the water, twitched ever so faintly, almost imperceptibly.
This tiniest movement was like a splash of cold water into boiling oil, instantly snapping Bella out of her infatuation!
Her entire body froze, and in the very next moment, she halted all movements, pulling back half a foot.
“Lady Aphrodite?” Bella’s voice trembled slightly, tentative.
Silence.
No reply.
The surging heat receded like a tide, leaving only cold clarity and overwhelming fear—an absolute rationality akin to Sage Time taking over her mind.
The fire ignited by transgression was doused instantly by the chilling reality of “being caught,” leaving only awkwardness and regret.
“What… what am I doing…” Bella scolded herself, forcefully slapping her burning cheeks to dispel the shame.
“Lady Aphrodite trusted me enough to leave this body in my sole care… yet I… I have sunk so low, indulging in such disgraceful desires… I’ve truly let her down…”
Just as Bella sank into deep self-reproach, that voice—so familiar it shook her very soul—suddenly sounded beside her ear, carrying a trace of confused awakening.
“Bella?”
Bella shuddered violently and flung open her eyes, meeting a pair of deep sapphire-blue eyes, like the darkest ocean depths, just uncovered.
A faint, returning chill still lingered in them, yet they clearly reflected her image.
“L-Lady Aphrodite?!” Bella’s carefully maintained cold facade shattered instantly, her cheeks burning an even deeper crimson.
She practically leapt backward, splashing water everywhere.
Frantically, she tried to steady herself and coughed lightly to mask her embarrassment. “When… when did you come back?”
Her tone betrayed a nervousness she hadn’t even noticed.
“…Ah… just now…” Aphrodite blinked, slightly stunned by Bella’s sudden question, confused.
Why did Bella seem so strange?
And this body… how did it feel—
A faint frown crept onto Aphrodite’s face, clouded with puzzlement, but she quickly diverted her attention to the present situation.
Confirming with a question, “Bella… we’re in the bathhouse, right?”
“Y-yes…” Bella answered instinctively, but before finishing, she sharply sensed something odd from Aphrodite’s unfocused gaze and the spatial implication behind the question.
Those eyes indeed blinked, still beautiful, but a shadow of emptiness lay beneath, as if shrouded by an invisible veil.
“Yes, we’re in the bath.” Bella’s heart sank. “Lady… your eyes?”
Aphrodite didn’t deny it, merely nodded wearily, wet silver hair clinging to her cheek.
“Hmm… ran into a bit of trouble…” she said lightly. “Probably… won’t get better for a while.”
The disorienting darkness and lurking danger in her vision were unpleasant.
Aphrodite instinctively raised her hand, shielding those unfocused eyes with the back of her pale hand.
“Who the hell did this?!” Bella’s fury ignited instantly.
No longer caring about distance or decorum, she hurried forward, her fingers trembling with anxiety and concern as they carefully examined Aphrodite’s face, forehead, and around her eyes.
Droplets slid down the girl’s skin.
Bella’s warm, delicate skin and trembling fingertips pressed close—too close.
Aphrodite—Bacchros, the male soul inhabiting this body—felt overwhelming discomfort in an instant!
Too close. Far too close!!
Unconsciously, Aphrodite shivered, instinctively shrinking her shoulders and moving slightly backward.
A faint, nearly invisible blush spread silently over her graceful neck and behind her ears, fortunately concealed by the humid steam and earlier flushed embarrassment.
“The trouble’s already dealt with.” She forced calm, striving to steady her voice. “Just a side effect of a little accident.”
A little side effect… Bacchros bitterly contradicted the words inside.
The explosion that tore through his original body came at a terrible cost—soul fragments and precious memories ripped away, sunk into the abyss of consciousness, irretrievable.
If not for some special Origin Power quietly sustaining the lingering soul deep within this mysterious body called Aphrodite, she’d be no different from an ordinary person now.
Indeed, this beautiful girl’s body named Aphrodite was never his true form.
The core soul inside was none other than Bacchros himself, who had recently detonated his original physical body!
The body of “Aphrodite” was a war trophy Bacchros unexpectedly obtained during a covert mission into the Sancta Church to seize a Holy Artifact rumored to greatly enhance the Church’s power.
Back then, after he fought desperately to claim the fabled Destiny Star Disc, which supposedly brought Holy Relic Guidance, and returned to his secret research lab in his territory, he accidentally triggered the core rune on the disc during examination.
He only remembered a burst of white light that seemed to devour everything, and his consciousness was engulfed in darkness.
When he opened his eyes again—or rather “perceived” the world—he was shocked to find himself “lying” on an Experimental Lab table, his vision completely transformed into that of an unfamiliar woman! Meanwhile, his original body lay unconscious nearby, eyes tightly shut.
The terror of this first experience was etched into his memory forever.
Bacchros had almost bid farewell to his best friend for good.
Thankfully, after countless cautious trials, Bacchros confirmed that his soul could switch almost instantaneously and without consumption between Aphrodite’s body and his original one, ignoring spatial barriers and conventional warding spells.
It sounded like a divine skill.
But this damn ability had a fatal flaw!
Every time he controlled one body, the other had to be in deep sleep, completely immobile! This made it impossible to utilize both forms simultaneously.
From then on, he entrusted only Bella—whom he trusted implicitly—to take sole care of Aphrodite’s body.
But fate played a cruel joke.
Who would have thought this seemingly useless body would become the final lifeline?
“Since you say so, Lady…” Bella fought to calm her turbulent emotions, forcing herself to accept the truth.
She took a deep breath and stepped back a little to give Aphrodite more space, her voice regaining its respectful chill but laced with a grateful, solemn reverence born from surviving the ordeal.
“Welcome back, Lady Aphrodite.”