"It's fine, I'll wash it at my place... I have to wash anyway, let's go together!"
"This... how can this be?!"
Fafner trembled like a startled sparrow, his face instantly turning red.
Looking at his timid appearance, Mil pondered for a moment. Although Fafner rarely interacted with males, it couldn't be that he had never interacted with them since childhood, could it?
He suddenly frowned and mused, "Hiss... you kid, have you always bathed with maids?"
Fafner nodded blankly...
"Heh... you're quite reserved, aren't you? Between men, if you haven't bathed together, you can't be called a man!"
After speaking, Mil hooked Fafner's shoulder and looked at Lilith, "The magic for cleaning clothes... I'll have to trouble you again. Or perhaps you two could join us? It would save you the trouble of going back to bother your servants."
"Ah? Four people?"
Fafner exclaimed, and Mil tapped his head, "The bathhouse has separate sections for men and women. What are you thinking?"
Lilith, meanwhile, turned to look at Diana, then smiled calmly, "Then let's go together. We'll trouble Leia Tower's servants..."
Inside the bathhouse...
Steam condensed into beads on the glazed dome, dripping down the gilded vine patterns onto the milky-white marble floor.
The octagonal bath was filled with the fragrance of rosemary essential oil, and the oil lamps on the walls cast a warm glow, but the moonlight still penetrated the glazed dome, scattering tiny silver scales across the water's surface.
Mil felt a bit sleepy. He leaned his head back on the carved jade rim of the pool, his body submerged in the water, and let out a long sigh.
This kind of large bath for guests was only found in noble families of counts or higher.
Quality of life truly depended on one's birth.
After soaking for a while, the soft patter of bare feet on the tiled floor came from beyond the carved archway. It must have been Fafner's footsteps. Mil turned his head to look...
Fafner, wrapped in a frost-colored bath towel, stood at the intersection of moonlight and lamplight.
"Buddy, you're 16! Stop being so coy like a girl, pull that cloth off and come in!"
Mil flicked a flower petal off the water's surface with his finger, the splashing water startling the youth into taking half a step back.
Fafner, who had just rinsed his body, had his long silver hair dripping wet and hanging down to his waist, with un-wiped water droplets still clinging to the ends.
His skin was a faint cherry color from the steam, and his long eyelashes cast butterfly-wing-like shadows beneath his eyes.
His delicate face held a hint of shyness.
His fair skin was completely flushed.
His clean feet, with toes struggling against each other.
Even knowing the other person was male, looking at those exquisite and slender legs, Mil... still couldn't quite bear it.
Fafner bit his lip lightly, slowly pulling open the towel. His timid and unwilling expression made it seem as if Mil was bullying him...
This scene, in some way, carried a touch of tenderness and pity.
"Big brother, can't you be a bit more decisive?"
Mil slapped the white porcelain edge of the pool, calling out impatiently. Fafner gritted his teeth, loosened his fingers, and let his arms drop, allowing the bath towel to gently slide down...
However, when he clearly saw the scene before him, Mil froze like a statue in the pool, the rose-scented soap slipping from his palm.
His expression gradually changed from impatience to surprise:
"Brother, where's your brother?"
...
The gauze curtain hanging from the bronze lamp post by the pool was lifted by the night wind, revealing the swaying shadows of night roses in the courtyard.
After a brief conversation, Mil began to doubt life itself:
"Are you sure this is just some physical difference between before and after maturity for your dragon race?"
Fafner nodded, his long eyelashes blinking, his snowy white hair draped behind him:
"Yes! My brother is like this too..."
Wet hair snaked along his swan-like neck, and water marks collected in the hollow of his collarbone, glistening with his rapid breathing.
Upon hearing this, Mil's brows furrowed tightly, his mind blank, as if the folds of his brain had been smoothed out.
His thoughts raced from the birth of the universe all the way to the meaning of individual existence...
It felt like his left and right brain were fighting, while his cerebellum sat by, munching on melon seeds.
If this were his previous life, he would definitely say, 'Anyone who believes that is an idiot.'
But he had already transmigrated, and this was a world of magic, so what could be more bizarre?
Moreover, he said his brother was also like this! This indicated it wasn't an isolated case!
He remembered watching Animal Planet once, where two animals dueled, and whoever lost got pregnant.
Nature's craftsmanship was divine; they just hadn't grown up yet!
"Mm... come in..."
Mil nodded firmly, even reaching out to help him.
Fafner held Mil's hand, tested the water temperature with his toes, and then timidly, slowly sat down.
He leaned into Mil's arm, hugging his knees, his face growing redder and redder...
He could feel a certain... adult male scent emanating from Mil, a kind of "odor" he had smelled before.
But for some reason, smelling it now always made his heart itch.
Mil's brows were still tightly furrowed. Looking at Fafner's not-so-flat chest, he always felt something was off...
His petite figure, long and fair legs, and the faint cherry blush spreading on his porcelain-white skin made him look like a peach soaked in milk.
Taking a deep breath, Mil frantically chanted internally—
Male, male, male, male... is that okay?
No!
It was mainly that dragon males grew up too alluringly; he couldn't possibly have gender identity confusion!
If only his voice were a little coarser, it wouldn't be so strange.
Mil picked up a wine glass from the side. Amber liquid dripped down Mil's jaw, sliding over the contours of his well-defined chest muscles.
Fafner's gaze was drawn as if by a magnet, and a faint whimper unconsciously escaped his throat.
He suddenly plunged into the pool, his silver hair blooming like moonlight on the water's surface, his cool fingertips tracing the lines of the other's abdominal muscles.
"Mil, do you exercise often?"
"Yes, did you think that long self-introduction during our duel was just for show?"
As he spoke, Mil suddenly felt an itch in his stomach. He looked down to see a slender hand gently touching his abs underwater.
"So impressive... I exercise too, but I don't have any definition."
Fafner's eyes were hazy, his mouth slightly agape, his breathing a little hurried.
At first, Mil felt a bit awkward, but on second thought, it seemed normal:
"Maybe your training method is wrong. Let me see."
Upon hearing this, Fafner also straightened his legs and arched his back.
The youth's figure was like a tender willow growing in spring, his waistline curving into a breathtaking arc.
Mil looked at his slender waist, gritted his teeth, and only dared to lightly poke it with his finger.
"Hmm, normal. You'll be fine once you mature. Eat more beef leg bones..."
As he spoke, he put his arm around Fafner's shoulder again, but he felt Fafner's body getting hotter and hotter.
The two were silent for a long time, Fafner only feeling increasingly hot and bothered.
He had been taking continuous deep breaths...
Fafner swallowed, asking with some confusion, "Will it really grow out? Why don't you help me check?"
"This... wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
"Then... let me see?"
As he spoke, a sudden curiosity rose in Fafner's heart, and he slowly raised his hand...
"What kind of business is it for two grown men to be hugging in a bathhouse? Get away!"
As he spoke, Mil tried to slip away, but Fafner's strength was too great, and he couldn't break free.