An Unexpected Dip

Li Yue stood in the shower, the warm water cascading over her head.

She gazed down at her body, both alien and intimately familiar, a complex swirl of emotions churning within her.

Though more than a year had passed since her transformation, a faint sense of unease still prickled her every time she bathed.

While such thoughts might be excusable in her own home, surely she couldn’t indulge in lurid fantasies while showering as a guest in someone else’s?

She was no monkey in heat, nor did this body still hold such novelty.

Li Yue, for the most part, could rationally maintain her composure.

“Alright then! Just a plain, ordinary shower it is!”

As if steeling herself, Li Yue murmured to herself in the bathroom, then shed her clothes, tossing them into a bamboo basket before stepping into the shower.

“…As expected of a wealthy household’s bathroom, even the floor beneath is warm.”

The warm water streamed from above, and Li Yue mumbled, closing her eyes, allowing the currents to wash over her body.

It began at her neck, then her shoulders, her arms…

Yet, as her hand glided to her chest, Li Yue couldn’t help but pause.

Even though she had grown accustomed to this body, a peculiar sensation always arose whenever she touched that particular spot.

‘Never mind,’ she thought, ‘it’s not the first time anyway.’

Thus, Li Yue consoled herself, swiftly completing her simple wash.

Afterward, her gaze drifted towards the indoor hot spring.

Though an indoor private spring, its pool was not vast, yet it was exquisitely designed.

Verdant bamboo surrounded the room, and a landscape adorned with pebbles cultivated a harmonious natural ambiance.

“Tsk, they even have a private hot spring… Just how rich are they?”

To claim she felt no trace of jealousy would be an outright lie.

She was, after all, the Hero who had saved the world, yet the reward she received from the Goddess had merely allowed her to live a comfortable life, a far cry from the opulent families seen only in television dramas.

“And yet, she’s supposed to be the Demon Lord?”

Li Yue cautiously dipped her toes into the hot spring, testing the water’s temperature.

The warm spring water enveloped her toes, bringing with it a wave of comforting warmth.

“Hmm… the temperature is just right.”

She mumbled, stepping her entire foot into the water, then half-squatted, reaching to feel for the steps along the pool’s edge, finally settling into the forty-degree Celsius spring.

“Hoo—”

Leaning against the pool wall, she stretched her legs beneath the surface.

Though the posture might be considered a tad inelegant, Li Yue clearly paid no mind to such trifles, simply allowing the warm currents to wash away the day’s fatigue.

Despite some initial reluctance before entering, once fully immersed, she found herself thoroughly enjoying this rare moment of relaxation, even humming a tune whose melody she knew, though the lyrics and title eluded her.

Just as Li Yue was comfortably soaking in the hot spring, she suddenly heard the sound of a shower running from outside.

“…Someone else? Wait, why?”

She was still in here; had someone unknowingly entered?

‘No, that’s not right…’

According to Ms. Dong Lu, there were currently only three other people in the manor besides Li Yue herself…

Mo Linyu and two maids.

There was no second door leading to the hot spring area.

If she rushed out now, she would surely run into them.

Thus, Li Yue could only shrink her body beneath the water, letting the surface cover her shoulders, then cautiously pricked up her ears.

However, it was Mo Linyu who walked in.

Or rather, of course, it was Mo Linyu!

In fact, Li Yue had already recognized the sound of water.

Whether by nature or influenced by the Demon Lord’s memories, this Miss Mo was quite audacious in certain aspects.

Upon their first meeting, she had unbuttoned her collar to reveal a chest wound, and since then, she would occasionally ‘leak’ something, leaving one to wonder if it was confidence, a lack of inhibition… or perhaps even a touch of something more pejorative.

Li Yue had no doubt she had deliberately entered after Li Yue had already begun her bath.

After all, Mo Linyu herself had pushed her in; how could she possibly forget that?

“Hey! What are you doing in here! Get out!”

Li Yue had already closed her eyes the moment the door swung open, and now she was blindly yelling towards the entrance.

“Look at you, saying such things,” Mo Linyu retorted.

“This is my family’s hot spring to begin with, why shouldn’t I be allowed in?”

At that moment, she was draped in a bath towel, her long, dark purple hair coiled atop her head with another towel.

“Then at least wait until I’ve finished and left!” Li Yue exclaimed, hastily turning away.

“What does it matter?” Mo Linyu’s tone carried a hint of teasing.

“Aren’t we both women? Besides, it would be quite dull to soak in such a large pool all by oneself.”

“I’m a man.”

“Who’s to say?”

Li Yue heard Mo Linyu’s soft chuckle, followed by the ripples on the water’s surface as she entered.

Li Yue’s heart leaped into her throat, her body stiffening beneath the water like a block of wood.

Mo Linyu’s movements stirred the currents within the pool, and in such a moderately sized basin, the sensation was all the more pronounced.

Thus, even with her eyes closed, Li Yue knew she was drawing near.

No, precisely because she couldn’t see, her brain’s uncanny ability to fill in the blanks began to run wild.

Though not intentional, the inadvertent touch from riding the motorcycle still lingered on Li Yue’s back.

Coupled with the ‘tip of the iceberg’ she had witnessed yesterday, her mind was now vividly manifesting the contours of that sensation.

An overactive imagination, perhaps, wasn’t always a blessing.

“Hoo~”

Mo Linyu let out a purr of comfort that sent shivers down one’s spine.

“Hmm, though not large, the shape is quite nice… at least there’s not much sagging.”

Realizing what Mo Linyu was appraising, Li Yue instantly clutched her chest and shrank into a corner of the hot spring.

Mo Linyu, however, merely countered, “Oh? What’s wrong? Aren’t you a man?”

“You—you—you pervert!”

Li Yue was somewhat flustered and exasperated; such a reaction hardly seemed ‘manly.’

Yet, Mo Linyu was precisely the kind of person she found herself ill-equipped to handle.

She was far more adept at solving problems with her fists, but she could hardly beat Mo Linyu here, could she?

“Why say such things, Hero? I was merely complimenting you,” Mo Linyu purred.

As Mo Linyu spoke, her hand approached Li Yue’s waist and abdomen from beneath the water, her fingertips lightly grazing her stomach, eliciting an involuntary gasp.

To Li Yue, however, it was a humiliating sound.

“Oh, quite firm, aren’t we?”

Back on Earth, Li Yue had maintained her exercise regimen, and even as the maiden Hero, the fruits of her labor had not betrayed her.

“One can faintly discern some abdominal muscles, yet you still possess such a slender waistline.

It’s rather enviable.”

Feeling Mo Linyu’s hand still wandering beneath the water, Li Yue abruptly rose from the spring.

“Don’t touch me!”

Water splashed everywhere.

Though Mo Linyu was drenched, her smile only widened.

She even exclaimed delightedly, “Thank you for the treat! Now that you’ve stood up, I can see even more clearly~ Indeed, your legs and… are also quite lovely~”

Li Yue, who had quickly crouched back into the water, couldn’t quite comprehend it at that moment…

She was supposed to be the delinquent who fought all day, so why did this noble young lady seem more like a lecherous hooligan?

****