Chapter 3 : Cleaning the Body
Chapter 3: Cleaning the Body
Hera’s cold words echoed through the great hall.
“Take her away.”
“Wash her clean.”
Lilia’s whole body stiffened, and her limp form on the floor tensed up instinctively.
Wash her clean?
When that phrase came from the mouth of the Demon Queen, no matter how she heard it, it carried a bloody undertone.
Countless methods of “cleaning” flashed through her mind in an instant, such as using boiling magma, or a steel brush that could scrape off a layer of skin.
Just as her thoughts were running wild, a lazy yet somewhat sharp female voice came from the shadows.
“As you command, my Queen.”
Lilia looked toward the sound.
A figure slowly stepped out from behind a massive obsidian pillar.
It was a woman with a figure so explosive it reached the extreme.
She had a head of alluring, long purple curls, skin so pale it was almost translucent, and wore a boldly cut dark purple leather armor that barely covered her vital areas, leaving large stretches of snow-white skin exposed to the air.
Behind her, a pair of folded black bat wings fluttered slightly, stirring up a fragrant breeze.
This scent was very peculiar. Lilia’s 【Absolute Senses】 immediately broke it down—that was the smell of some kind of aphrodisiac pollen mixed with a trace of sulfur, sweet and cloying, yet dangerous.
Succubus.
That word immediately sprang into Lilia’s mind.
The newcomer was one of the Four Great Demon Generals under Hera, the Succubus Duke Camilla.
Camilla twisted her water-snake-like waist and walked to Lilia’s front, looking down at her from above as the corners of her mouth curled into a teasing smile.
“Tsk tsk, so it was just such a little thing, yet it actually made Her Majesty the Queen open her golden mouth.”
Her voice was soft and seductive, but Lilia could hear undisguised jealousy and scrutiny within it.
Camilla extended a finger. The nail was sharp and black, and lightly traced across Lilia’s dust-covered cheek.
The icy touch made Lilia shiver.
“Come with me then, Her Majesty the Queen’s new ‘possession.’”
She bit especially hard on the three words “possession.”
Camilla grabbed Lilia’s arm in one motion. Her strength was astonishingly great, completely unlike her charming appearance.
Lilia felt as if the bones in her arm were about to be crushed.
Staggering, she was dragged away from the throne hall where she had nearly lost her life.
Passing through a long corridor made of bones and obsidian, Lilia’s 【Absolute Senses】 worked again.
She could “hear” the deep magic pulses coming from within the walls. That was the energy core maintaining the operation of this Demon King’s Castle.
She could “smell” the various scents filling the air—the rusty smell of metal, the bitterness of magical potions, and even, from the distant kitchen, the scorched fragrance of roasted meat from some magical beast.
Everything here was filled with a savage, primitive, and powerful vitality.
Camilla said nothing, only dragged her forward, her high-heeled battle boots stepping on the stone floor and making crisp echoes of “tak, tak, tak.”
In the empty corridor, that sound seemed especially piercing.
At last, they stopped before a gigantic bronze door.
Countless entwined sirens and giant serpents were carved upon the door, lifelike in every detail.
Camilla did not even look at it. She merely gave it a gentle push.
The heavy gate slid open soundlessly.
A dense, sulfur-scented steam rushed toward them.
Lilia was stunned by the sight before her.
This was an extremely luxurious bath chamber.
So large that it was exaggerated.
The entire space was almost the size of a basketball court. The floor was laid with smooth black jade, and glowing deep-blue crystals were set into the walls, illuminating the entire bath chamber like a palace beneath the sea.
At the very center was a bath pool carved from a single enormous block of obsidian, filled with rolling steam and a pale violet liquid.
“Strip.”
Camilla coldly spat out a single word.
Lilia froze.
“Didn’t you hear me? Or do you need me to help you?”
A trace of impatience entered Camilla’s tone, and those black nails waved before Lilia’s eyes.
Lilia shuddered, and the instinct to survive overpowered everything else.
Under the oppressive gaze of the Succubus Duke, her trembling hands untied the already tattered cloth garment on her body.
When the final scrap covering her shame slipped away, that unfamiliar body of hers, belonging to a young girl, was completely exposed to the air.
The cool air raised a layer of goosebumps on her skin.
A tidal wave of humiliation crashed over her.
As Lin Feng, she had lived for more than twenty years. Forget stripping naked in front of others—even going to a public bathhouse had made him somewhat uncomfortable.
And now, he—no, she—had to stand completely naked before a hostile and unfamiliar woman.
“Heh, the body is not bad.”
Camilla let out a light laugh, her words full of contempt.
“What a pity, it’s just a little brat that hasn’t even filled out yet.”
She clapped her hands.
Two maids with horns and petite figures walked out from the corner. In their hands were rough loofahs and a black bar of soap giving off a strange smell.
“Wash her.”
“Remember, make her ‘thoroughly clean.’”
Camilla deliberately emphasized the last four words.
The two little demon maids immediately understood. Ill-intentioned smiles appeared on their faces as they supported Lilia from both sides and carried her into the bath pool.
With a “plop.”
The scalding liquid instantly wrapped around her entire body.
So hot!
Lilia nearly cried out.
This water was at least fifty degrees. An ordinary person would definitely be scalded if they entered it.
Yet strangely, after that burning sensation lingered on the surface of her skin for a moment, it transformed into currents of warmth that burrowed into every limb and bone.
The bruises on her body from before were actually fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The exhaustion in her body was also swept away completely.
This was… a magic hot spring?
Before Lilia could feel it properly, the “service” of the two maids had already begun.
The loofahs in their hands were so rough they were practically like sandpaper. Dipped in that black soap, they rubbed her body without the slightest mercy.
“Hiss…”
Lilia sucked in a breath from the pain.
This was not a bath at all. This was scraping scales off!
She could clearly feel the fiery, stinging pain coming from her skin.
She instinctively tried to struggle, but the two seemingly petite maids held her down firmly, leaving her unable to move.
Camilla leaned against the side of the bath pool, her arms crossed over her chest, calmly admiring everything.
“Little thing, now you know that Demon King’s Castle is not such an easy place to stay in, right?”
“Her Majesty the Queen’s mercy is not something just anyone is qualified to enjoy.”
Her voice was full of schadenfreude.
Lilia gritted her teeth and did not make a sound.
She knew that begging for mercy would be completely useless. It would only make the other side even more pleased with themselves.
Right now, the only thing she could do was endure.
If she endured it, she could live.
She could only use this sentence to hypnotize herself in her heart.
She did not know how much time had passed, but the two maids finally seemed tired of scrubbing, and only then did the force in their hands gradually lessen.
Lilia felt as if an entire layer of skin had been peeled off.
“That’s enough. Bring her out.”
Camilla spoke.
Lilia was fished out of the water, her entire body bright red, like a shrimp that had been boiled.
One maid brought over a soft black towel and wiped her body a few times in a perfunctory manner, then tossed over a loose white linen robe.
Lilia hurriedly put it on, finally covering her body.
She lowered her head, silver wet hair hanging over her chest, droplets of water trickling from the ends and falling onto the black jade floor with clear, crisp sounds.
“Raise your head.”
Camilla ordered.
Lilia slowly raised her head.
With the grime washed away from her face, an astonishing beauty was revealed beneath the glow of the deep-blue crystal light.
Her skin was fair and delicate, and her features so exquisite they seemed like the most perfect creation of a god.
Especially those ruby-like crimson eyes, which under the hazy steam appeared exceptionally clear, yet carried a trace of stubbornness.
The smile on Camilla’s face stiffened for a moment.
A flame of jealousy flashed through her heart.
She hated this sort of face most of all—pure, yet carrying an innate seductive charm.
“Hmph, with a fox-spirit face like that, no wonder you could seduce Her Majesty the Queen.”
She said it sourly.
Lilia paid no attention to her mockery.
She was only looking at a wall of obsidian nearby, polished so brightly that it could reflect a person clearly.
On the wall, a figure was distinctly reflected.
Silver hair, crimson eyes, a slender neck, delicate collarbones.
It was a completely unfamiliar figure, one belonging to an incomparably beautiful young girl.
Lilia’s heart felt as though it were being clenched viciously by an invisible hand.
Only at this moment was she forced to truly and clearly face her new identity.
Lin Feng was already dead.
Dead in that car accident.
The one alive now was Hera’s possession, a… Maid named Lilia.
A vast bewilderment and despair almost swallowed her whole.
At that moment, Camilla’s voice sounded again, interrupting her thoughts.
“Stop daydreaming. Come with me.”
“Her Majesty the Queen does not like waiting for people.”
Camilla turned and walked outward. After taking a few steps, she stopped, turned back, and threw down one more sentence, her tone full of warning.
“Remember your identity. You are only a toy in whom Her Majesty the Queen is temporarily interested.”
“If a toy dares to covet its master, the end… will be miserable.”
Lilia was brought to the changing room beside the bath chamber.
This place was equally luxurious. A row of enormous wardrobes stood against the wall.
Camilla opened one of them and took out a set of clothes from inside.
When Lilia saw that outfit clearly, her pupils suddenly contracted.
It was a set of… Maid clothes with an extremely complicated design and very little fabric.
The classic black-and-white color scheme was there, yet the hem, cuffs, and collar were all adorned with layers upon layers of lace and ruffles.
The underskirt was designed absurdly short, so short that it could only barely cover the tops of her thighs.
At the chest, a piece had even been boldly hollowed out, connected only by a few thin straps.
Together with it was also a pair of white over-the-knee stockings.
What the fuck kind of Maid outfit was this?
This was erotic lingerie, wasn’t it!
“Put it on.”