The bathhouse was filled with swirling steam, the sound of warm, flowing water echoing within the cramped space.
Teresa’s words continued to ring in Selis’s ears, causing her earlobes to turn so red they looked as if they might drip blood.
‘Eat… eat her up?!’
‘Did I misunderstand? Did Teresa really mean that?’
‘Isn’t she being too bold?!’
Selis was thrown into a state of panic by Teresa’s incredibly blunt words.
She instinctively tried to push Teresa away, but her wrist was gently caught.
“Wait…” Selis’s voice carried a slight tremor she hadn’t even noticed herself.
Her cheeks were flushed. “Teresa, this… this isn’t appropriate…”
“What is inappropriate about it?”
Teresa pressed herself almost flush against Selis.
Her wet hair brushed against Selis’s shoulder, bringing a faint, cool itch.
“Didn’t Lady Selis say she would ‘thoroughly’ check me?”
She deliberately emphasized the word ‘thoroughly,’ her eyes shimmering with a cunning light, as if she truly were just fixated on the matter of a physical examination.
In the next moment, she guided Selis’s trembling hand, placing it gently over her own heart.
“Look, here. My heart seems to be beating a bit fast. Is this also the influence of Divine Grace?”
A warm and powerful pulse thrummed beneath Selis’s palm.
Through the damp, slick skin, it hammered against Selis’s nerves, beat by beat.
For some reason, she felt as if her own heart was gradually spinning out of control.
It nearly hammered through her chest. She wanted to pull her hand back, but her fingertips felt weak.
“And here, I feel like the lines of my waist aren’t as smooth as they used to be… Lady Selis, can you help me check? Is it just my imagination?”
Teresa was relentless. her voice was moist with the surrounding steam as she leaned close to Selis’s ear, her breath brushing against the sensitive curve of the shell.
Selis was forced backward until her spine pressed completely against the cool edge of the bathtub. She had nowhere left to retreat.
The icy sensation cleared her head slightly, but the sight of Teresa’s expression—a mix of innocence and seduction—and the proximity of her delicate body made Selis’s head spin.
“Teresa… you…”
Selis took a deep breath, attempting to reclaim the dignity she usually held as a Saintess, but the words that left her mouth were soft and feeble, sounding more like a weak protest.
“You can’t do this…”
“Can’t do what?”
Teresa blinked, tiny water droplets clinging to her long eyelashes.
“I’m just so worried about my body, and…”
She lowered her head slightly, her voice suddenly tinged with an indiscernible trace of fragility and reliance.
“It’s only when Lady Selis touches me that the ‘squirming’ sensation disappears. It’s the only time I feel like… I’m still my real self.”
Those words were like a gentle arrow, accurately piercing the softest part of Selis’s heart.
She looked at the mixture of hope and anxiety in Teresa’s eyes, and her mental defenses crumbled once more.
Finally, she let out a sigh. She stopped trying to evade and instead turned her hand over to gently grasp Teresa’s.
After a moment of hesitation, her other hand moved to rest upon the girl’s waist.
“Here… it is perfect.”
Selis’s voice gradually grew husky.
She forced herself not to let her thoughts wander, but under Teresa’s deliberate seduction, it was impossible to remain purely calm.
“Really?”
Teresa’s eyes instantly lit up. Seizing the opportunity, she pressed even closer to Selis, leaning almost her entire weight against her.
Her arms naturally wound around Selis’s neck.
“Then… what about the other places? Lady Selis, please check them carefully for me, alright?”
Amidst the thick steam, their bodies were pressed tightly together. Their breathing intertwined as the temperature rose.
Selis did not answer immediately. With a flushed face, she stared into Teresa’s eyes, slowly feeling the warm touch of the girl’s body and the intoxicating fragrance lingering in the air.
Ultimately, her last shred of resolve as a Saintess collapsed.
Inside the bathhouse, nothing remained but the sound of splashing water and their increasingly clear, ragged breathing…
Once the water in the bath had grown lukewarm, Selis dried herself off, only to be suddenly scooped up by Teresa and carried to the bed.
The Rose Knights’ Dormitory provided by the Snow City Fortress was quite excellent.
However, even so, the large bed let out a series of creaks and groans. The quilts slid onto the floor, but no one cared.
…….
A young woman’s energy was exceptionally abundant.
It wasn’t until nightfall that Teresa finally stopped.
Seeing that she had fallen into a deep sleep, Selis stared blankly at the ceiling, slowly regaining her composure.
However, the moment she recalled the scenes from earlier, her entire face turned crimson.
When she had come to find Teresa today, she had never imagined they would end up in such a relationship.
Yet, as soon as she thought of Teresa’s reliance on her, her gaze softened again.
In Teresa’s eyes, she was an indispensable existence.
Pushing those thoughts down, Selis glanced out the window.
Noticing how late it had become, she sat up and gathered her scattered clothes from the floor to get dressed.
She frowned, and after a moment’s hesitation, she reached under the pillow.
She had felt it earlier while they were in bed.
Though the pillow seemed soft, it felt hard when pressed, as if something was hidden beneath it.
She hadn’t mentioned it then because they were in the heat of passion, and it hadn’t felt appropriate.
She curiously lifted the fluffy pillow.
By the light of the cold moon, Selis saw a book with a suggestive cover titled ‘Forbidden Love’ lying quietly on the sheets, like a silent thunderclap.
She picked up the forbidden book and flipped through two pages. The blush that had been fading from her cheeks flared up once more.
Vaguely, she felt she knew where Teresa had found the courage to make a move on her…
Right then, the door was pushed open. Iserine’s head poked inside as she asked urgently, “Teresa! Lady Selis didn’t find out, did she?!”
Before the words had even fully left her mouth, her gaze met Selis’s eyes, which were shimmering with a cold light under the moon.
She also saw the incredibly familiar pamphlet in the Saintess’s hand.
Iserine froze instantly. she blinked, and the color drained from her face in a flash. Teresa also rubbed her bleary eyes and woke up.
“La… Lady Selis, you… you haven’t left yet?”
Iserine’s tongue felt like it was tied in knots, her voice trembling.
She instinctively wanted to retreat, but her legs wouldn’t move.
She truly couldn’t understand it.
Lady Selis had come to see Teresa this morning; why hadn’t she left yet? The Rose Knights had finished all their duties for the day!
Selis stepped onto the cold floor, the forbidden book clutched tightly in her hand.
She walked toward Iserine step by step, radiating an unprecedentedly heavy pressure despite the smile remaining on her face.
“Find out? Find out what?!”
Iserine’s body involuntarily shrank back, nearly tripping over the threshold.
“No—nothing! I was just speaking randomly. Haha… actually, I just remembered I have other things to take care of. I won’t stay! You two chat!”
She gave a forced laugh and turned to flee.
However, in the next second, Selis grabbed her by the back of her collar.
Even for someone like Iserine, there was no escaping her grip.
Selis shook the book in her hand, the pages making a soft rustling sound in the silence.
“Tell me. How many others in the Rose Knights have seen this book?”
“No… there aren’t any others. It’s just the two of us.”
Iserine pondered for a long time before finally sighing and choosing to come clean. However, Selis still held a seed of doubt regarding Iserine.
“Really? This is no small matter.” She paused deliberately, her tone becoming heavier. “If you dare to lie… even I will have to punish you severely!”
“It really is just us! I swear!”
Iserine raised her right hand, her expression full of sincerity.
Selis stared at her for a moment, seemingly judging the truth of her words.
Finally, she pulled back her aura and gave a small smile. She closed the book and held it against her chest.
“Very well. Since you two didn’t distribute such a filthy book to others, I won’t punish you too harshly. For the next two days, you will remain in the Fortress and copy the Rose Knights’ rules 100 times.”
“Huh? 100 times?!”
Iserine reacted like a cat that had its tail stepped on, looking completely shocked. Just as she was about to plead for mercy, Selis shot her a smiling glance.
“Cry out again, and I’ll double it.”
Pursing her lips, Iserine could only let her protests and pleas flow through her gaze.
Simultaneously, she looked toward Teresa on the bed, signaling her frantically with her eyes.
She couldn’t plead for herself, but Teresa could!
Selis had stayed in Teresa’s dormitory all day; they must have done something!
However, the previously silent Teresa looked up. With a blush on her cheeks, she spoke softly, “I… I am willing.”
“Huh?”
Iserine stood stunned. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought someone had just asked Teresa if she was willing to marry Selis.
“I—I—you—you… Argh!”
Looking at Teresa’s clearly strange state, Iserine fell into a state of incoherence. Finally, she could only let out a defeated sigh.
“Hmph. Accept your punishment honestly! Otherwise, I’ll tell everyone that you two were secretly reading forbidden books! When that happens, just wait for your comrades to look at you with strange eyes!”
Selis gave Teresa a quiet glare, shook the forbidden book one last time, and then left the dormitory, disappearing from their sight.
Only after she had left did Iserine frown and walk over to Teresa’s side.
It was only upon getting closer that she realized Teresa was completely naked under the covers…
Not only that, but the scent of lavender still lingered strongly on her.
That was the fragrance that always radiated from Selis…
Combined with Teresa’s current blissful state, Iserine’s cheeks turned red in an instant, and a feeling called envy ignited in the depths of her eyes.
……..
Half a month later, the Abyssal Magic in the air was exceptionally restless.
On the battlefield in front of the Snow City Fortress, the sky was dark and gloomy.
Turbulent flows of Magic hissed in the air, whipping up a gale that smelled of blood and rot, blowing back the strands of hair on Leanna’s forehead.
She stood side by side with Morton on the scarred main wall of the Snow City Fortress.
Beneath their feet was the cracked masonry of the wall itself.
Leanna’s gaze swept over the mountains of bizarre Demon remains piled outside the city, settling on the dark, distant horizon.
As if remembering something, she frowned slightly. Her voice sounded faint in the wind.
“Calculating the time, this should be the final wave of the Demons, shouldn’t it?”
Morton nodded, his eyes filled with exhaustion.
“Yes. The Imperial Capital of the Norwich Empire has been trampled by the human alliance. The Emperor committed suicide with Magic, and the Empire’s Elder Council has been disbanded.”
As he spoke, he pulled his hand out of a tattered glove and massaged the bridge of his nose forcefully.
“Barring any accidents, this is the Demons’ last push. However…”
Having said that, he turned his head and noticed Leanna’s unusually solemn expression.
He couldn’t help but ask with concern, “Leanna, you don’t look very well?”
Leanna did not answer immediately.
She placed a hand over her heart, feeling the unease rising within her like a tide.
“I just feel that the offensive of these Demons… has been a bit too simple.”