Volume 2, Chapter 24 – Doubt

Sigh…

In a sense, Yumo was still quite reluctant to part with the silver-haired girl before her. If Mengxi were to lose her memories of this period once her soul strength recovered, she would return to being the knight maiden she once was.

If that happened, the child-like version of the female lead currently standing before Yumo would cease to exist, and this experience they shared would vanish like smoke.

Yumo couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness at the thought. Although she would still frequently deal with Mengxi until the Main Character Group eventually destroyed her, she would likely be saying goodbye to this version of the female lead forever. It was for this very reason that Yumo chose not to refuse Little Mengxi’s request to bathe together.

Besides, in her haste to save Mengxi earlier, she had directly smashed the Steel Earth Dragon into pieces, causing herself to be splattered with disgusting bloodstains. Although she had already done a bit of light cleaning, the stickiness between her hair strands and the heavy, fishy stench on her body made Yumo quite displeased.

She had originally intended to wait for Mengxi to finish her medicine before taking a bath alone, but now it seemed there was no need for that. She would simply grant the girl’s request and soak with her for a while. Fortunately, the tub was not small, and accommodating two people would not be an issue.

“Alright, let’s wash together. But you have to take your medicine obediently afterward!”

Yumo looked solemnly at the slightly dazed silver-haired girl. In response, Mengxi nodded excitedly and even began to splash the water happily.

“Mhm, mhm!”

“Sigh, you little troublemaker.”

Watching the silver-haired girl fussing about her desire to bathe together, Yumo couldn’t help but reveal a ‘there’s just no helping you’ smile.

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Then, under Mengxi’s watchful eyes, Yumo slowly raised her hands to tie up her beautiful black-and-red gradient hair. She gradually unfastened her collar and shed the black gauze outer garment stained with the blood of the Steel Earth Dragon. In truth, Yumo’s clothing was very thin.

The piercing winds of the Deepwinter Forest felt like nothing more than a light breeze against her skin. She didn’t need to wrap herself up like a zongzi ¹ a traditional Chinese rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with a range of fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Thanks wikipedia. as those adventurers did; her clothes only needed to cover her body.

Therefore, aside from the black gauze outer garment draped over her and the beast-hide underwear covering her private areas, Yumo wore no other clothing.

Once the black gauze was removed, Yumo’s slender and lithe body, as translucent and flawless as fine jade, was revealed before Mengxi. Likewise, Yumo’s rough beast-hide underwear was exposed to the silver-haired girl’s gaze.

One had to admit that pairing such a delicious and tempting body with a crude piece of beast-hide underwear was a terrible waste and a complete eyesore.

Upon seeing this scene, especially that pair of beast-hide underwear, a strange and imperceptible emotion flickered within Mengxi’s pale violet eyes. That inexplicably odd gaze caused Yumo, who had just shed her last bit of cover, to shiver as a mysterious chill ran through her.

Yet when she looked back, the silver-haired girl, who was leaning against the edge of the tub watching her, was still blinking her watery pale violet eyes, gazing at her with a look of pure and expectant innocence.

‘Was it just my imagination?’ Yumo wondered after failing to find the source of the chill.

Even though Mengxi was staring intently at her body, Yumo didn’t feel any discomfort. After all, the female lead was currently an innocent child, so what strange thoughts could she possibly have? Yumo didn’t feel shy either. To her, this was like an older sister bathing with her younger sister, so what was there to be embarrassed about?

And so, Yumo walked naked toward the tub.

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Seeing this, the silver-haired girl obediently made room for her Sister Yumo. She reached out for Yumo’s small hand and quickly pulled her into the bath.

“Honestly, what’s the rush?” Yumo gave a doting smile.

As Yumo slowly sat down in the bath, the silver-haired girl beside her immediately broke into a breathtakingly sweet smile. She threw herself affectionately into Yumo’s arms, nuzzling against Yumo’s cheek. An enticing scent of jasmine suddenly wafted into Yumo’s nose. Those two completely unobstructed “white rabbits” collided forcefully with the two “small buns” on Yumo’s chest.

Then, unsurprisingly, Yumo’s small buns were utterly suppressed by the absolute advantage of Mengxi’s white rabbits.

Although she had grown accustomed to Mengxi’s body, such direct contact still caused Yumo’s face to flush slightly. More importantly, the gap in quality made Yumo feel a subconscious sense of displeasure.

‘Even if her mind has regressed to a child’s, her basic hardware hasn’t been downgraded at all.’

Yumo pursed her lips and pushed Mengxi to the side. If they stayed stuck together like this, Yumo felt she might lose her self-control. That brief contact just now had sent an indescribable tingling sensation through her brain.

“Bathe properly, don’t move around so much,” Yumo said helplessly.

However, Yumo’s authority as an older sister didn’t seem to work this time. After sticking out her tongue, Little Mengxi made a “comeback”. This time, she was a bit more moderate; she simply hugged Yumo’s right arm and happily rested her small head on Yumo’s shoulder, her pale violet eyes full of joy.

Seeing this, Yumo said nothing more. As long as things didn’t go too far, she would tolerate such moderate physical intimacy. She was quite helpless toward this little sister who had become so dependent on her lately and loved to cling to her.

She didn’t choose to resist, letting Mengxi rub against her as she pleased.

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Even though Yumo still hadn’t figured out why the Chosen Maiden’s body could absorb Shadow Essence, it was an undeniable fact that absorbing it accelerated the recovery of Mengxi’s soul strength. Therefore, to speed up the female lead’s recovery, Yumo allowed Mengxi’s body to “unconsciously” absorb the trace amounts of Shadow Essence she released.

After thinking it through, Yumo had come to terms with it. It didn’t really matter why the female lead could use the power of an Abyssal Demon. If Shadow Essence could strengthen her, then it was a good thing. There was no need to overthink it.

The only trouble was that she would likely have to be more careful in the future to help Mengxi hide the fact that she could use Shadow Essence. After all, in the eyes of the Ashurmos Church, Shadow Essence was a sinful power and a symbol of evil. If people found out that the Chosen Maiden could use it, it would undoubtedly sow seeds of doubt.

The Church was already not very united, and many within its ranks would surely use this as ammunition.

‘It seems my future workload has increased,’ Yumo thought with a wry smile.

On the other side, as if sensing the faint trace of worry on Yumo’s face, Mengxi looked up and blinked curiously, asking with concern, “Sister Yumo, is something wrong?”

“Hmm? It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Hearing this, Yumo quickly hid her solemn expression and patted Mengxi’s head with a smile.

“Oh, okay,” Mengxi replied obediently, resting her head back on Yumo’s shoulder.

At the same time, the silver-haired girl’s beautiful eyes seemed to catch sight of the beast-hide boxers Yumo had discarded on the ground nearby. With childish innocence, she asked, “Sister Yumo, why do you wear that kind of underwear?””

“Huh? That kind?”

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“Yeah. Even though every time you change my clothes, you give me such pretty and cute underwear. Why don’t you wear them yourself?”

“Uh, that…” Faced with this question, Yumo shifted her gaze awkwardly. “Ah, maybe… just because I’m used to it.”

‘Wearing feminine lingerie and stuff still feels a bit weird,’ Yumo couldn’t help but complain internally.

“Hmm, used to it?”

“Yeah, don’t ask so many questions, you’re just a kid…”

“Mhm, okay.” Mengxi nodded obediently and seemed to lose interest in the underwear issue, quietly leaning against Yumo and enjoying the bath.

It wasn’t until a moment later that the long-silent Mengxi spoke again. This time, however, her words left Yumo slightly stunned.

“Sister Yumo.”

“What is it?”

“Why… are you so good to me?”