Seeing Yukino, the elegant ice queen everyone admired from afar, acting so cautious, flustered, and embarrassed was surprisingly entertaining to Adrian.
😏
A mischievous grin curled onto his lips.
“But weren’t you the one who invited me over? Why else would you call me here? So I could admire your beauty after your bath? I have to admit… it’s a very tempting sight.”
“Y-You… stop saying such ridiculous things!”
Her ears and cheeks were already burning bright red.
Yukino had completely lost her composure.
Noticing she was genuinely getting worked up, Adrian decided not to tease her any further.
He got straight to the point.
“So, what happened?”
As soon as he stopped staring at her and turned serious, Yukino gradually calmed down.
After taking a long, steady breath, she pressed one hand against the towel to keep it in place while grabbing Adrian’s hand with the other.
Not even bothering to ask him to take off his shoes, she hurriedly pulled him inside.
Out of habit, Adrian reached back and quietly closed the front door behind them.
Yukino led him all the way to the bathroom.
The bathroom door was shut.
There were still wet footprints and splashes of water on the floor outside, making it obvious she’d rushed out in the middle of her bath.
Pointing toward the door, she lowered her voice.
“There’s… a monster inside.” 😰
“A monster? Worse than zombies?”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
After everything she’d been through, what kind of creature could still frighten Yukino?
“It’s… different.”
At her urging, Adrian reached out and opened the bathroom door.
The instant it swung open, a grotesque black creature was practically pressed against it.
👁️🗨️
It resembled some hideous oversized insect.
Dozens of twisted arms writhed together across its body.
Hundreds of eyes rolled in every direction.
Every single one locked onto Adrian and Yukino.
Its raspy voice muttered over and over.
“You can see me? You can’t see me?”
“You can see me? You can see me?”
“No… you can’t. You can’t see me!”
…
The same words repeated endlessly.
Standing this close to such a disgusting thing made Yukino shudder.
Without realizing it, she gripped Adrian’s hand.
Instead, he sighed in disappointment.
“Sigh. I thought it’d be something interesting. Turns out it’s just the weakest kind of evil spirit. How boring.” 🥱
“You can see me?”
Ignoring the spirit’s rambling, Adrian gently squeezed Yukino’s soft hand, reassuring her.
Then he suggested,
“Yukino, want to see if your ability works on evil spirits?”
Evil spirit?
The name was unfamiliar to her.
But if Adrian called it that, then he clearly knew what he was dealing with.
That alone put her at ease.
His suggestion sounded worth trying.
If her powers worked against creatures like this…
…then she wouldn’t have to fear them anymore.
Under Adrian’s watchful gaze, she slowly raised her right hand.
The movement immediately caught the evil spirit’s attention.
Its hundreds of eyes flew wide open as it let out a shrill roar.
“You can see me! You definitely can see me! I’ll eat you!”
Its twisted body lunged toward her.
Yet somehow, the warmth and security of the hand she was holding gave Yukino complete confidence.
She didn’t panic in the slightest.
Her gaze sharpened.
“Ice.”
She spoke softly.
The air around her instantly crystallized.
Seven or eight ice spears, each over a foot long, materialized out of thin air.
❄️
The moment the spirit’s grotesque hands reached toward her, the spears shot forward together.
Its body seemed to be made of some strange substance.
The spears pierced straight through without making a sound.
But they worked.
The evil spirit froze in place.
Frost spread outward from every point where the spears had struck.
It crept across its twisted body.
Within seconds, the entire creature had become a block of ice.
Then…
It shattered.
💥
“It worked!”
Yukino clenched her fist in excitement.
Unfortunately…
She forgot one very important thing.
Her left hand was still holding Adrian’s.
Her right hand had been the one casting the spell.
Which meant…
Nothing was actually holding her bath towel anymore.
It was tied with a simple knot.
But Yukino’s figure was… modest enough that there wasn’t much to keep it in place.
Combined with her sudden movement…
The inevitable happened.
The towel slipped off.
Her fair, graceful body was laid completely bare before Adrian’s eyes.
😳
“…”
Adrian froze.
Completely captivated.
Yukino froze as well.
Too stunned to react.
Her mind had gone completely blank.
She didn’t even move to cover herself at first.
By the time Adrian had taken in everything within that brief instant…
Yukino finally came back to her senses.
Unlike most girls, she didn’t scream.
Nor did she panic.
Just like Exusiai before her.
The difference was that Exusiai had cheerfully asked him to step outside.
Yukino, on the other hand, calmly covered her chest with both hands.
She made no attempt to hide below, or perhaps she simply didn’t dare move.
Her face was crimson, yet her voice remained cool and composed as she said,
“…Could you turn around, please?” 🥶
“Ah? O-Oh! Right! Of course!”
Adrian hurriedly spun around.
Even through Yukino’s calm tone, he could clearly hear the trembling she was desperately trying to suppress.
“…..”