Ch.67Return (1)

Generally, a body that has undergone Rebirth emits a serious stench.

This is a natural phenomenon that occurs because all waste materials that existed inside the body are expelled during the reconstruction process.

So even though mine was artificial, I too should have experienced the same after going through Rebirth.

But strangely, among the smells my nose detected, there was nothing that could be called a stench.

“Sniff, sniff.”

At first, I thought perhaps there was no smell because everything had frozen due to the ice energy I had expelled from my body, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

It couldn’t have all frozen because I could smell other scents.

‘Why am I smelling a fragrant scent instead of a stench?’

With a pleasant fragrance tickling my nose instead of the expected stench, I wondered if something was wrong with my head. It seemed possible that having contained so much energy, my brain might be misinterpreting stench as fragrance.

While I was sniffing with a mix of concern and curiosity, it didn’t last long.

Splash-

This behavior of mine was stopped by Cecilia, who dropped a bucket of water on me as if she couldn’t stand watching me anymore.

“What are you disgustingly sniffing at?”

“Well, there’s this fragrant smell coming from me… I was wondering if something might be wrong with my nose.”

“Your nose is fine, so you can stop sniffing. And regardless of whether it smells fragrant, filth is filth, so hurry up and wash it off.”

After saying that, Cecilia splashed another bucket of water on my head as if still disgusted, and then sent me out of the room with final instructions to go outside and wash.

‘I’m sure… there was a bath in the lair.’

It seemed unrealistic that there would be a bath in this lower level, but considering it was a dragon’s lair, it wasn’t so far-fetched.

Among the eccentricities dragons displayed, there were countless things that couldn’t be understood.

“Well, at least I’ll be able to wash…”

Grateful for the fact that there was a place to wash, I was about to leave the room. That is, if Lilly, Kitsune, and Kirara hadn’t caught my eye.

The three of them had apparently been waiting for me to come out as soon as the elixir absorption was complete, as they were sound asleep in front of the door to my room.

‘Judging by their stronger energy compared to when I last saw them, it seems they all absorbed the elixir well.’

As I examined the energy of the sleeping trio, I could also see their condition.

Even as a white lie, none of them could be described as clean. Their clothes and hair were quite disheveled after the arduous deep journey.

‘Since I’m washing anyway, it might be good for everyone to wash rather than just me.’

Although it was obvious we would get dirty again on the way back to the surface, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to wash up a bit since it would make us feel better.

With that thought, I shook the sleeping companions awake.

“Would you all like to wash together?”

“Huh…?”

“Um… Frey? Wait… wait a moment… could you move your face away…?”

And when the two woke up and saw me, they showed truly unexpected reactions.

Kitsune, who first made eye contact with me, suddenly blushed and lowered her head, unable to continue speaking.

Confused by Kitsune’s reaction, I looked at Lilly, who showed a similar response and pushed my face away with her tiny hands.

“Um… okay.”

These were bewildering reactions to me, who had been planning to show off to Lilly that I hadn’t fainted this time.

At first, I thought it might be because of the smell coming from my body, but that thought didn’t last long.

Kirara, who had just woken up, was calmly approaching me and rubbing against my body.

‘What exactly is the problem…?’

Since our eye contact had been very brief, I couldn’t tell what emotions they felt upon seeing me, which made it even more puzzling.

Regardless of my confusion, the two turned their backs completely, seemingly preparing themselves mentally for something.

After finishing deep breaths, the two turned around to face me as if they had calmed down.

“Phew, I’ve calmed down.”

“I think I’m okay too, so… Frey, what did you want to do together?”

They seemed somewhat shaky but otherwise normal. Thanks to that, I also felt relieved and continued with what I was trying to say earlier.

“Ah, I was going to ask if you wouldn’t like to wash togeth…er…?”

“”Kuhup..””

And upon hearing my words, Lilly and Kitsune simultaneously got nosebleeds, revealing their hidden emotions.

It was clearly lust.

Thanks to their reactions, I too remembered two facts I had forgotten.

One was that I was a succubus, and the other was that my stats had increased during Rebirth.

‘What… is my charm stat right now…?’

* * *

Fortunately, the unfortunate situation where I couldn’t control my charm and ended up enchanting Lilly and Kitsune didn’t occur.

“Hide your charm.”

Thanks to the power of the True Word, I was able to suppress my charm as much as possible.

I would still be perceived as beautiful, but fortunately, I could lower it enough not to affect their minds.

‘I never expected it would affect even Lilly to this extent…’

No matter how much my charm had increased, I hadn’t anticipated that even Lilly, who was still stronger than me, would be affected.

Perhaps their mental barriers had been lowered due to our closeness, but even considering that, the result was shocking.

‘I guess I’ll have to keep this True Word active if I want to live a normal life.’

It seemed beneficial in many ways not to release it unless I wanted to see people of all ages and genders courting me.

“Anyway, so… I’m planning to go wash now, would you like to come with me?”

“Um… I’m sorry..! I just don’t have the courage to see Lady Frey naked..”

“Yeah. I think it would be difficult for me for similar reasons…”

I won’t be able to control myself if I see it, surely.

Lilly looked at me while holding back her words, but even without those words, I was already wearing a sufficiently embarrassed expression.

I had no intention or plan whatsoever to enter the bath with the two of them.

“Um, that’s not what I meant?”

“Pardon?”

“Huh…?”

Although I had become quite accustomed to this body, I didn’t have the confidence to boldly show my naked body just because we were all women.

And the same applied to seeing their naked bodies. In other words, I had no intention of bathing together with them.

“Then… when you said let’s wash together…?”

“I just meant it would be unfair if only I bathed, so I thought it would be nice if everyone washed up after I finished.”

“Ha… haaah!?”

I calmly answered Kitsune’s question, which she asked in what seemed to be a trembling voice out of shock, as if I was stating something obvious.

Lilly also looked at me with a shocked expression for a moment, but soon collected herself and began to interrogate me.

“Wait, Frey. You deliberately phrased it with that nuance, didn’t you?”

“Huh? What would I have to gain from doing that?”

I tried to deny it with the most innocent expression a succubus could muster, but it didn’t work on a fairy who could detect lies.

In truth, Frey had anticipated this outcome, but a succubus’s mischievous nature was hard to resist.

“So, are you done with your excuses?”

“Everyone looked so cute sleeping soundly that I just… couldn’t you forgive me just this once…?”

In any case, having played a prank and been caught, it was time to face the consequences. And those consequences couldn’t be resolved with just a bit of aegyo.

“You… you… succubus who doesn’t understand a woman’s heart!!!”

Zaaack—!!!

Lilly’s full-power smashing, filled with anger and shame, struck my back.

* * *

“Ugh… my back is still burning.”

After taking Lilly’s heartfelt blow on my back, I immersed myself in Cecilia’s bath.

Cecilia’s bath was so luxuriously decorated that it made me forget not only that this was the lower level but also that this was a fantasy world.

Perhaps it was also due to its enormous size. It felt like I had rented an entire high-end bathhouse for myself.

“It hurts, but this kind of distance is good.”

I recalled what had happened with Lilly earlier. Lilly, who had struck my back with magic and left, seemed quite upset.

But that didn’t mean our relationship had soured. Although there had been enough mischief to upset Lilly, we were still friends.

No, rather, thanks to such pranks, we remained as friends.

If we didn’t remind ourselves that we were friends through such pranks, the line might suddenly be erased at some point.

“Because we’re too busy to forget the line and move beyond it.”

It wasn’t a lie that a succubus’s mischievousness wells up, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t control it at all.

So sometimes not controlling it and playing pranks – that was my own way of maintaining boundaries.

“I wonder if it would have been easier to be a character with a dense attribute who couldn’t read emotions.

Neither Lumia nor I have ever been in love, so I know nothing about this area.”

In fact, even if I had been in love before, I wondered if anything would be different.

Isn’t there a saying that you can know ten fathoms of water but not one fathom of a person’s heart?

“It’s really difficult.”