“I just finished up with matters at The Church. I wanted to come see if you followed the instructions in the letter and arrived at this house.”
“I see…”
Mowan wanted to ask why she had entered someone else’s house without permission, and why she had walked in without even knocking to see if anyone was inside after seeing the bathroom light on.
But, since Iserin had given her this house after all, she didn’t feel like she could object.
Splash!
Without a word, Iserin lifted Mowan out of the bathtub.
“Ah!”
Mowan let out a startled cry.
This certainly wasn’t out of shyness or anything of the sort.
She was simply surprised and worried.
She was currently dripping wet, and with Iserin holding her like this, a great deal of water was soaking through Iserin’s clothes.
Mowan could even feel the fabric, which was originally silky, becoming sticky against her skin after getting wet.
“I have important matters to discuss with you. Don’t forget the task I assigned you: take good care of Her Highness the Princess. Once my working hours start tomorrow, it won’t be easy for me to come find you.”
The successive explanations finally allowed Mowan to set aside her suspicions of Iserin.
Entering without knocking and then pulling her from the bathtub without another word—Mowan didn’t suspect Iserin of wanting to murder her, but rather, she wondered if Iserin was being a bit too intimate.
Physical contact that was too close before a relationship reached that level only led to unease.
“I understand. I can walk on my own, Saintess.”
Mowan pressed against Iserin’s shoulders.
Iserin didn’t force Mowan to stay in her arms either. She slowly set Mowan down.
Mowan hurriedly grabbed a nearby bath towel and wrapped it around herself.
She turned her head, not daring to meet Iserin’s gaze.
The current situation was just too embarrassing, even if Iserin had urgent business and only happened to catch her asleep in the tub by accident.
Glancing at Iserin, she saw that the fabric on her body was indeed clinging tightly to her because it was wet. She instinctively apologized.
“I’m sorry, Saintess. I got your clothes wet.”
Only after saying it did Mowan realize how awkward her words sounded.
Mowan carefully and subtly sniffed the air.
There was only a faint fragrance; there were no other strange, unpleasant odors.
Iserin probably wouldn’t guess what she had been doing in the bathroom just a moment ago.
“It’s fine.”
Iserin raised a hand and waved it.
A faint glimmer of light drifted past, and the wet spots on her body returned to their original state in an instant.
After a moment of silence, seeing that the Saintess still didn’t intend to leave the bathroom, Mowan felt a bit embarrassed as she made a request.
“Saintess, could you please go sit in the bedroom first? I’ll come over and listen to your instructions once I’ve changed.”
“Alright.”
Iris thought for a moment.
She felt that her behavior just now was a bit scatterbrained, as if she didn’t understand shame at all.
She didn’t want to build such a persona in front of Mowan.
But she couldn’t say that she had intentionally come to see Mowan’s naked body; that would make her, the glamorous Saintess, look like a pervert.
“I thought you would reveal your Demon True Form while bathing.”
“That… I wouldn’t. I haven’t used my Demon True Form for a long time.”
Mainly, staying in inns meant being in public places.
Even if the bathhouses had stalls, it was easy to accidentally expose oneself.
In the wilderness, Rosa paid extra attention to her, so how could she dare to let her guard down for even a moment?
“Is it the same as your current body?” Iserin asked again.
“Why would it be different? Saintess, it’s not like you’ve never seen the Demon Race.”
“But I’ve never paid attention to the details. If possible, I’d like to see.”
“???”
Mowan stared blankly at Iserin.
What details?
Details above or details below?
Or did she just want to see the details of the tail and horns?
“Aren’t we friends? You were unwilling to recite the oath of the Visa Knight, so I thought that in your heart, you still consider yourself a member of the Demon Race. If you’re willing to treat me as a friend, I won’t mind if you show your truest form in front of me. I hope we can communicate honestly, without any reservations between us.”
Mowan gripped the edge of her towel.
Iserin… seemed to have seen right through her thoughts.
“Of course, only in front of me. If you ran outside in your demon form, you’d still frighten the common people.”
“Is it… really okay? Just in front of you?”
Mowan looked up, her eyes reflecting the lamplight, filled with earnest anticipation.
She loved her Demon True Form.
Her Demon True Form was her truest state and the one in which she felt most natural.
Iserin replied with a smile.
“It’s fine, just in front of me.”
Only in front of her… only in front of her…
Mowan repeatedly murmured Iserin’s words in her mind.
Sweetness and a sense of being moved filled her heart like bubbles; she felt as though she were floating on air.
“Then go wait in the room first. I’ll come back as soon as I’ve changed.”
When her mind was at ease, Mowan naturally dropped the honorifics for Iserin.
“Mm.”
This time, Iserin finally left the bathroom, leaving Mowan alone to change.
Pulling the plug at the bottom of the tub to drain the bathwater, Mowan unwrapped her towel.
She turned her head toward her back to glance at her own buttocks.
After much internal conflict, she boldly channeled the magic power within her body to restore herself to her truest form.
A slender purple demon tail extended from below her tailbone.
It was about a meter long and could move at Mowan’s will.
Mowan hooked the tail with her hand and lovingly stroked its heart-shaped tip.
Next were the horns on her head.
Mowan raised her hand and pressed them against her forehead; they felt harder than they had three years ago.
Finally, there were the ears.
Mowan pinched the tips of her ears and followed the rim all the way down.
The ears of the Demon Race didn’t have lobes; below the base, she only felt soft auricular cartilage.
Iserin wouldn’t be lying to me, would she?
Did she trick me into revealing my true form just so she’d have a real reason to arrest me?
No…
Mowan shook her head.
She cast aside those redundant thoughts.
If the Saintess wanted to arrest her, there was absolutely no need for such an indirect approach.
Putting on her pajamas and pants, Mowan made her tail slip out from her waistband.
The cute purple tail stood upright in the air like a cobra.
Taking a deep breath to prepare herself mentally, Mowan left the bathroom.
In the bedroom, Iserin was sitting quietly on the bed. Seeing Mowan enter, she propped herself up with both hands on the mattress and looked up to examine Mowan carefully.
Then, she curled her lips into a smile as usual.
Her eyes held only pure amusement, and there were no signs of anger or disgust on her fair face.
“You’re very nervous, aren’t you?”
“Mm.”
Mowan nodded.
Unlike the composed Iserin, Mowan’s face was flushed, her brow was slightly furrowed, and her mouth remained pursed.
The tail behind her wasn’t held as high as it had been in the bathroom; now, it drooped shyly, as if unwilling to meet the silver-haired human woman.
“Because usually, contact between the Demon Race and humans leads to conflict. If we met on a battlefield, I imagine your blood would be boiling right now, craving slaughter. Your horns, tail, and pointed ears would all be the reasons you fight.”
Mowan shook her head, immediately dismissing the possibility of ever engaging in close combat with Iserin.
“But that sort of thing won’t happen. I’m not a Demon Princess anymore. Though I’m still a demon, I wouldn’t draw my blade against you or innocent humans.”
The smile in Iserin’s eyes deepened.
It was as if she were slowly peeling away the Saintess’s icy outer shell to reveal her truest self.
She wasn’t acting.
Rather, she was feeling genuine joy; Mowan was following her intended plan perfectly, and she was very satisfied with Mowan’s performance.
“Let me see your cute tail. Like those kind and innocent commoners, it shouldn’t be a symbol of war. It’s just a cute tail.”
Mowan slowly moved her tail around to the front of her body.
But then, thinking it would be rude to point the tip toward Iserin, she twisted it so the heart-shaped tip pointed toward herself.
“Can I touch it?”
Mowan nodded.
Watching Iserin’s eager palm reach toward her tail, Mowan swallowed hard.
No one other than her parents had ever touched her tail.
When the unfamiliar sensation landed on the slender tail, a strange, stimulating feeling surged through Mowan’s spine.
Dangerous!
The realization suddenly struck her.
She finally understood why the people of the Demon Race collectively avoided touching each other’s tails.
Right now, her tail was in Iserin’s hands.
If Iserin wanted to, she could tear it off, and the excruciating pain would cause her to lose her ability to fight.
Having one’s tail held meant that their weakness had fallen into another’s hands; she couldn’t even shift her form anymore.
She wanted to pull her tail back, but the heart-shaped tip was caught between Iserin’s fingers, preventing her from retracting it behind her.
Seeing that Iserin was still curiously playing with her tail, Mowan’s breathing grew heavier.
This scene was simply too strange.
Weren’t they… supposed to talk about important matters?
How had things suddenly turned into this?