“Sigh…”
The figure within the steam let out a faint sigh.
“Holy Throne, you’re still as meddlesome as ever.”
By now, Roman could be certain—the current Lady Catherine was definitely not herself.
Or rather, she was being controlled by something.
Sylvia carefully shielded Roman behind her, staring at the blurry Lady Catherine in the mist for a long time.
Her gaze gradually shifted from confusion to understanding, then settled on Lady Catherine with a complex expression.
“I didn’t expect you’d end up like this because of that incident.”
“Why call it ‘because of’?”
Within the steam, Catherine’s fully exposed body stretched lazily, stepping out slowly in front of Sylvia.
As she walked, she brought something trailing from below to her lips with her finger, savoring it as if tasting sweet nectar.
Roman stared at the increasingly clear Lady Catherine.
At this moment, she felt completely unfamiliar— a pink mark on her belly was now fully visible.
“On the contrary, I think of this as a rebirth—shedding the old and emerging anew.”
Lady Catherine, emerging from the steam, showed no shame at being seen, instead striking a seductive pose.
She shamelessly slid her hand down, thoroughly ‘cleaning’ little Roman, then lightly touched her lips with a fingertip, laughing softly.
“Who are you?”
Roman demanded.
“Who am I?”
Lady Catherine paused, then flirtatiously blew Roman a kiss.
“Of course, I’m your dear aunt, and you’re my good child~”
Roman shook his head blankly. He could tell—even though he had only suspected it earlier—that Lady Catherine, while odd, still shared some familiar traits.
But now, she was a stranger.
“Lola, the so-called curse you cast on Catherine back then wasn’t a real Curse, was it?”
Sylvia asked coldly.
“Of course not. I’m not the type to go down together~”
The woman seemed quite satisfied with Lady Catherine’s body, squeezing her chest, then her waist, then slapping her snowy buttocks.
The enticing curves rippled with each motion.
“This body is truly excellent. I bet no man can resist my temptation, right? Hehe.”
Her true form was that Domain-level Monster— the Demonic Flower.
The Demonic Flower was a creature of the Dark Domain, akin to a Succubus, feeding on the essence of men to grow stronger.
It was hard to imagine how many men a Domain-level Demonic Flower had drained to date.
“Speaking of which, if not for this child’s magic power, I would have had to wait until Catherine was on the verge of death to possess her. That would have been risky—any carelessness would have alerted those around her.”
“But now, after mingling with this child, I directly possessed this woman with her pure magic, and in her prime at that.”
No wonder Lady Catherine had suddenly become so restless—it was due to the influence.
Watching this desecration of Lady Catherine’s body, Roman couldn’t help clenching his fists.
“I originally wanted to spend a lovely night with this child, make him obsessed with ‘me’ and unable to leave. With him by my side, perhaps even surpassing the Holy Throne wouldn’t be impossible.”
Lola said regretfully.
Sylvia, however, eyed her in puzzlement.
“Being able to use a Curse to seize Catherine’s body is impressive. But I bet you never expected to be caught by me today, at a time like this, did you?”
“Naturally. After all, I’m no Prophet.”
The woman shrugged.
“Now that’s odd…”
Sylvia studied her calmly.
“Running into me is far worse than any scenario you could imagine. Yet you’re so calm?”
It wasn’t narcissism— it was fact.
A mere Demonic Flower possessing Lady Catherine right before Sylvia was no different from signing a death sentence.
“Good child, I’m not dead yet. Could you really let this woman kill me?”
Lola said to Roman with a playful smile.
“Unless you have the ability to force me out of her body. Otherwise, if you kill me, you’ll bear the consequences~”
Though a monster, her cunning had already noticed Sylvia’s deep, complicated emotions toward Roman—most likely her illegitimate son.
Roman seemed to have a mother, but wasn’t her type of woman always careful about childbirth? Who knew~
What a messy world~
Who could say which lucky man was favored by this woman.
Lola’s mind was filled with yellow fantasies.
As she mused, she quietly activated her Sacred Seal.
Despite her show of confidence earlier, she still aimed to distract Sylvia.
If Sylvia were even momentarily distracted, she could make her escape.
After that, who could stop her?
Suddenly, she saw Sylvia flash a strange smile at her.
‘Separation.’
Sylvia recited silently in her mind.
The next second, Lady Catherine’s eyes widened as her body collapsed uncontrollably into the spring, while Roman, equally wide-eyed, stared in disbelief at the ‘thing’ in Sylvia’s hand.
That thing in Sylvia’s palm throbbed and pulsed, oozing bright red blood.
Roman felt a wave of dizziness— the proximity made him instinctively cover his mouth and retch.
Even though ‘it’ was now almost devoid of red, shrouded in black mist, Roman recognized it instantly.
It was Lady Catherine’s Heart.
In the split second when Lola lost focus, Sylvia had reached across space and seized the heart that sustained her existence.
“No!!!”
With Lola’s despairing scream, Sylvia slowly pulled it out of Lady Catherine’s heart.
A black, orb-like mass, bristling with twitching tendrils, emerged.
“Filthy thing.”
Sylvia said coldly.
Then she spread her palm and slowly closed her fingers.
The space around Lola seemed to compress into her grasp, and in an instant, it was utterly crushed.
Everything returned to normal—nothing remained.
It was as if Lola had never existed.
Silence.
Roman blinked, half-wondering if it had all been a hallucination.
No doubt—the plan was insidious and terrifying, and worse, it had nearly succeeded.
Yet before Sylvia, in the face of overwhelming strength, years of plotting became nothing more than a clown’s trick—gone in a fleeting glimpse, leaving only gossip for the audience.
Sylvia then pulled Catherine from the water and placed the still faintly pulsing heart back into her chest.
Then she stroked Roman’s hair, setting Lady Catherine gently before him.
“I’ll leave the rest to you.”
She said gently.