As a classic attraction of Septimont, the bathhouse indeed had its unique charm.
When the body slowly immersed into the warm bath water, an indescribable sense of relaxation naturally arose.
The perfectly balanced temperature was like a pair of gentle hands, softly wrapping around every inch of skin. Every pore relaxed and unfolded under this warm comfort, incredibly pleasant.
After soaking enough in the bath, getting out brought a completely different refreshing feeling.
"How about it? I won the bet."
Standing inside an office in the bathhouse that Augusta had borrowed, Noah spread his hands toward Iuno:
"Until the sky turned completely dark, I never went to the girls' bathhouse. Genius Priestess, do you have anything to say?"
"This… how is this possible."
Iuno's face turned slightly pale. She bit her lip, her eyes full of disbelief.
She had clearly seen it with her own eyes. The other party's future was that he would definitely break into the girls' bathhouse today. She even remembered the exact time shown on the clock inside the bathhouse clearly.
Yet she had personally stood guard in front of Noah's private bath room the entire time and never saw him come out.
Could it be that her prophecy was really wrong? Or had fate made a mistake?
Then hadn't she wrongly accused someone?
"I… I keep my word! Since I lost, I will honor the bet and accept the punishment."
The content of the bet's punishment was one part letting Noah write on her body, and the other part going to the most crowded place in Septimont to shout "I was wrong" a hundred times.
What a vicious punishment!
Iuno slightly lowered her head. Her long eyelashes trembled gently, as if trying to hide the panic in her heart. She slowly walked in front of Noah and stretched out both hands.
"Why are you stretching your hands out?" Noah took a step back.
"Of course it's to honor the bet and let you write the words 'Guilty'."
"I never said I would write it on your hands."
"Ah——"
Iuno suddenly raised her head and glared at Noah. However, there was not much intimidation in that look. Instead, it carried a pitiful and delicate charm, which Noah found rather amusing.
On the side, Augusta also couldn't help but find it funny.
Having known this close friend for many years, it was the first time she had seen her in such a state.
"Then then then… then where do you want to write it?" Iuno started to stammer, then suddenly tried to act fierce again:
"I warn you, don't go too far."
"Is this the attitude of the genius Priestess when asking for something? You only regret it now, but it's already too late."
Noah casually took out a thick brush from his bag, his gaze lingering on Iuno's smooth and delicate cheek.
"No, you can't write on my face." Iuno covered her face, peeking at Noah through her fingers. Seeing his gaze move downward, she hurriedly spoke again:
"My neck is off limits too… Are you a pervert? My chest is definitely not allowed, my waist isn't either, my stomach and legs aren't allowed!"
"This isn't allowed, that isn't allowed. When you slandered my reputation and wanted to drive me out of Septimont, you didn't think anything wasn't allowed, did you?"
Noah deliberately teased her and pretended to be angry:
"Now that you've lost, I'm not hitting you or scolding you. I can write these two words wherever I want. Do you think you have a choice?"
"You, I… Augusta…"
Iuno was momentarily at a loss for words and turned to look at Augusta beside her. However, as a clear bystander, Augusta had long realized that Noah was only teasing Iuno.
"Sorry, Iuno. As a person of Septimont, we must honor agreements. I don't have any good solutions either."
With her last retreat gone, Iuno stiffened her neck and continued bargaining:
"Then… writing it on my feet… is that okay?"
"You won't even apologize to me."
"I—— I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"
As a heaven's favored daughter since childhood, she had never experienced such treatment. She felt Noah's gaze pricking her like needles. The sense of shame flooded over her like a tidal wave, making her wish she could find a hole to crawl into:
"I shouldn't have… slandered you. It was my fault."
On the side, seeing that the situation had developed enough, Augusta stepped forward to give both sides an out:
"Mr. Noah, my good friend Iuno has already realized her mistake. Could you please waive the punishment from this bet?"
"Waive half of it." After soaking in the bath and receiving an apology, most of Noah's anger had already dissipated. Seeing Augusta come forward to protect her, he said:
"The punishment of shouting 'I was wrong' a hundred times in the most crowded place in Septimont is waived."
Hearing this, Iuno's heart rejoiced. She quickly asked: "Then what about the other half?"
"What do you think?" Noah tossed the brush in his hand with a half-smile.
...
On the other side, the three women — Carlotta, Cartethyia, and Zani — gathered in the changing room after soaking, chattering noisily:
"Didn't I say earlier that I was going back to the changing room to get something? After I got it, I got lost. A blue-haired woman gave me wrong directions and actually sent me to the girls' bathhouse!"
"Ah, that's too much. I also ran into that blue-haired woman. She was blocking the door to the Laureate's room. I don't know what she was doing there."
"Eh, was I the only one who fell asleep while soaking? If the staff hadn't knocked on the door saying time was up, I would've wanted to keep sleeping."
"Gotta say, it really was comfortable. Once you get in the pool, you don't want to come out. By the way, where's Tall Chestnut? He should be done soaking too, right?"
At this topic, Cartethyia paused. She released her perception and immediately locked onto another frequency belonging to Carlotta inside the bathhouse:
"I found him. Follow me."
The three women walked out of the changing room and headed toward Noah's direction.
On the other side.
The moist brush landed. Iuno's body trembled violently, as if struck by an electric current. Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson like the evening clouds at dusk, and her ears turned so red they looked like they might drip blood:
"Gentler, don't use so much force. It tickles."
"I'm using a brush. Where am I using force?" Noah rolled his eyes at Iuno in annoyance. "Switch feet."
Sitting on the moon bow, Iuno bit her lip tightly. She clenched her hands into fists, trying hard to stay calm, and obediently switched to the other foot.
Soon, Noah finished his work.
Iuno lowered her head and saw that on her fair and slender feet, one foot had the character "有" (Guilty) and the other had "罪" (Guilty). The black ink formed a strong contrast against the soft and delicate skin.
The characters themselves were extremely neat, but the more carefully one looked, the more an indescribable strange feeling rose from the bottom of the heart, like an inexplicable sense of immorality.
"You… you're bullying me."
"This is the bet you agreed to yourself. You have to accept the consequences of losing." Noah shrugged. "The matter is settled. You two can go back now."
Iuno was about to speak when a knocking sound suddenly came from the door.
"Laureate, can we come in?"
"Come in."
Cartethyia and the other two pushed the door open and entered. Inside the room, they saw Noah, who had already changed back into his clothes from the changing room, along with Augusta beside him and the person hiding behind her —
Blue twin-tails?
No, it was someone hiding behind the Ephor.
"Mr. Noah, tomorrow there is a match featuring the star gladiator Lupa. If you are interested, I will prepare a row of VIP seats for you."
"Then thank you, Ephor."
"Here are four lifetime premium hotel room cards for Septimont. Consider it a small token of goodwill. Please accept them."
After handing over the four room cards, Augusta took Iuno and bid farewell.
Cartethyia stared suspiciously at Iuno, who was walking stiffly behind Augusta.
Why was this woman acting so sneaky?
Her gaze scanned up and down, finally spotting the abnormality on Iuno. She then stared fixedly at the top of the other party's feet.
One foot had "有" written on it. The other foot had "罪" written on it.
In an instant, Cartethyia was greatly shocked.
She tried to understand it, but it nearly overloaded her brain.
No — she knew the people of Septimont didn't believe in gods, but she didn't expect them to be this godly. Looking at someone's feet and there's guilt?!
At this moment, Cartethyia's feeling was no less than someone on Earth having a QR code on their back. When others scanned it with their phones, the result was the sentence "Who told you to scan it?"
In a place Cartethyia couldn't see, Iuno's face had already turned as red as a ripe apple. She wished she could immediately wash off those two characters.
"Laureate… who exactly was that blue-haired woman?"
"Oh, she is the genius Priestess of Tetragon Temple in Septimont — Iuno."
Noah explained:
"Although she's a bit impulsive, she's actually a pretty good person. I'll introduce you to her when there's a chance."