"Woo-hoo~!!!"
Cecilia practically threw her arms into the air as she burst out of the underground water, her soaked hair flinging droplets everywhere like a wild spray of diamonds.
"It's so colddddd~!!!" she squealed, her voice echoing off the damp cave walls.
And honestly?
She wasn't exaggerating.
The water was frigid.
It was a biting, skin-prickling kind of cold that instantly jolted the nerves awake.
It flowed from the deep veins of the cave, untouched by sunlight, untouched by warmth, and unforgiving in how it wrapped around your body like icy silk.
But damn, it felt amazing.
The shock of it crashing against my skin, the way it numbed me at first only to awaken a buzzing sense of clarity—I hadn't realized how much I missed this.
Bathing, I mean.
Just the act of feeling clean again after days of grime and sweat layering over my skin like a second set of clothes.
"I miss bathing! I haven't had a bath in days!" Cecilia said, her voice thick with relief as she floated with her arms spread wide, looking like she was melting into the water.
She wasn't alone in that sentiment.
Considering the brutal stretch of travel behind us—and the nearly nonexistent access to clean water—this little spring was a miracle.
A divine oasis tucked inside cold stone and darkness.
And Gods… it really did feel like a relapse. A guilty, indulgent one.
The moment I lowered myself into the freezing depths, I could feel my muscles relaxing, the tension that had been wound up in me like a coiled rope beginning to untangle.
The water seeped into every part of me, dulling the aches and sharpening my senses.
But something else caught my eye.
From the edge of my vision, I noticed the Goddess with her face turned slightly, her cheeks lit with a soft crimson glow that even the cave's dim light couldn't fully hide.
"Hey," I said, shifting toward her, "Are you okay?"
"Huh? W-Well, yes. Of course I'm alright," she answered a little too fast, eyes darting away like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't.
It wasn't just the blush.
Her breathing was a little uneven, too. It was a quick, shallow rhythm, like her lungs weren't working quite right.
Was she feeling sick? Or cold? Or…
Then I noticed something else.
My body was… off.
Warmer than before.
Not from the water.
It was deeper, like something was boiling inside my core.
My heart was pounding harder.
My skin felt hyper-sensitive.
And in the pit of my stomach, there was this strange sensation… like butterflies mixed with heat and tension, fluttering and pulling tight.
What the hell was going on?
"Haa…~ This feels so good…~ I feel like I'm gonna melt like putty in here…" Cecilia moaned, her body floating effortlessly, hair splayed out behind her like a fan.
And maybe it was the way she was floating, or maybe it was just the timing, but I couldn't help but notice—
Her breasts.
They were... big.
Huge even.
And they floated along with her, rising and falling gently with the ripples of the water.
It looked almost unnatural how they bobbed there, perfectly shaped and defying gravity, like they had a mind of their own.
I had a feeling her massive tits were the reason she was floating so easily. They were practically acting like floats with all that natural buoyancy.
Afterward, we boiled some water for the next leg of our journey. It was something we'd need for tomorrow's journey.
We changed into dry clothes, and the soaked ones we had worn were set near the fire the Goddess conjured with her magic, their edges curling with steam as they dried.
As I sat there, trying to soak in as much warmth as possible—the night was getting colder—I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was staring at me.
Actually, it wasn't just one. There were stares coming from both sides.
When I looked at the Goddess, she immediately averted her eyes.
And the moment our gazes met, she looked away.
Then I turned to Cecilia.
She was staring too.
Blushing.
Her face bright red, and yet she grinned sheepishly when our eyes met, laughing awkwardly with a "Hehehe…"
Something was off. I knew it. I could feel it crawling under my skin.
My body… was heating up again.
And my eyes—my gaze, which I'd tried to control—began wandering on their own.
Cecilia's tits were massive.
The fabric of her new clothes was clinging tightly to her chest, each curve outlined with unforgiving definition.
Her nipples were probably hard underneath, judging by how the shirt strained.
And the Goddess… Her legs.
I didn't know what it was, but they looked… thicker? Softer? Juicier, even.
It was hard to explain, but it made me remember the times I'd slid my member between them.
The way they squeezed…
I swallowed hard, a dry gulp scraping down my throat.
Sweat started beading on my forehead, crawling down my neck and spine like hot drops of wax.
The heat in my body was raging now.
Why the hell was I like this?
No. Wait. It wasn't just me.
Cecilia was flushed and her breathing was shaky.
The Goddess kept fidgeting, stealing glances and then pretending like she wasn't.
Their weird behavior—it all made sense now.
So what happened?
It was probably the Tharnix.
Father used that sometimes, didn't he?
I remembered it now...
Um... Whenever he did, Mother would get all flushed and clingy, her eyes glazed, her cheeks red, and she'd cheer him on like a girl in love.
Wait… no way…
Don't tell me…
Was this… an aphrodisiac?
I'd never touched one before, so I didn't know what it was supposed to feel like. But this… this had to be it.
This feverish tension.
The heat.
The pounding heart.
The way my thoughts kept spiraling in dirty directions no matter how hard I tried to stay sane.
Yeah…
This was definitely what it felt like to be under the spell of an aphrodisiac.
"Well, it's getting pretty late now, so maybe we should all just head to sleep," I said to the two of them, my voice calm but deliberate, hoping to steer things away from the strange heat that had started building up in the air.
"Hehehe~..." Cecilia giggled again, the sound light and dreamy, like she was almost drunk. "I also feel a little sleepy… and kind of hot… I wonder what's happening..."
She blinked slowly, swaying a little as if dazed, her expression soft and unfocused. She genuinely seemed clueless, like she had no idea she'd just consumed an aphrodisiac that was now clearly beginning to take effect in her body.
"S-Sirius is right," the Goddess said with a hurried nod. "Let's get some rest… so that we can wake up early and continue our journey tomorrow. Considering how today turned out, we haven't made any progress getting to the next village yet, so we might as well sleep now and make the most of tomorrow."
Even as she said that, the Goddess kept glancing at me from the corner of her eyes.
Judging from her expression, she must've thought that when I said we should sleep, I was actually inviting her into my sleeping bag. Which, honestly, wasn't that far off the mark… but it wasn't entirely my intention either.
Still, her expression told me everything.
She looked like she was reaching the end of her restraint, like she could barely hold herself together.
"I see... That's right. That's right!. Well, we should get to bed now...~ Hehehe... I really feel weird, don't I?"
Cecilia let out another bubbly laugh.
Her cheeks were flushed now, and she swayed like someone tipsy. She was looking more drunk than horny at this point.
"Let's get to the sleeping bag now, Lady Goddess…!" she suddenly cheered, wrapping her arms around the Goddess in a hug that was anything but innocent.
Their bodies pressed together, and Cecilia's breasts—round, full, and barely contained by her loose top—mashed directly into the Goddess's chest.
The soft squelch of flesh against flesh echoed faintly.
The Goddess kept her gaze locked on me during the whole thing. There was something strange in her eyes. Intense. Maybe even desperate.
And then… she looked away.
A moment later, both of them made their way to their sleeping bags.
But after a while, one of them came out.
And headed straight for mine.
"Hey…" came a soft voice. "Hey… you're not asleep, right? Hey, I said."
She kept repeating "hey" under her breath, her voice low enough that Cecilia—who was likely already asleep—wouldn't hear a thing.
"I can't sleep together with Cecilia," she murmured. "So I need to get inside your sleeping bag. Is that okay…?"
I didn't say anything.
I lifted the edge of the bag slightly, giving her room to slip in.
She crawled in, face to face with me.
With our bodies so close, the heat between us built quickly, more than enough to shield us from the cold.
But with our bodies pressed this tight… there was no way to avoid some accidental contact.
My cock was now firmly pressed against her thigh.
"Y-You… you're not even trying to be subtle about it, huh?" she whispered. "Y-You really must have a thing for me if you're already this hard… even though I haven't even done the thing."
"You say that," I replied, "but I can feel your nipples pressing hard against mine like this. Don't you think it's a little rude to accuse me of having the hots for you, when clearly you're the one who's turned on?"
"You… You cheeky little…! T-There's no way I'd have that kind of thing for you. You're a hundred years too young for me to even feel a sliver of attraction, Sirius," she snapped and looked away. "I-I don't like you at all. You're cheeky. Bossy. And you always call me annoying."
"Well… you are annoying."
She shot me a glare.
Then sighed softly before continuing.
"…But I think you're also a good person," she said, almost like it hurt to admit it. "And the way you're doing all this just to help a friend… it's honestly impressive. W-Which is why… even though it's hard for me to believe it—even for myself… I don't think I don't like you at all…"
She hesitated.
"…as much as I want to admit that I do."
That was… one hell of a roundabout way to say you like someone.