Target: Athena / Chapter 475

"Lily, it's been so long since we last saw each other. I called you a few days ago, but you hung up after only a few words. It really hurt my feelings. I haven't been able to eat or sleep properly because of you."

With Ren absent, Erica was able to show her usual style.

"You cunning woman, you're not thinking about me at all, but about the new Ren, are you? You won't get any information about King Ren out of me!"

Liliyana flashed her little fangs, glaring at her old friend with a hint of anger.

To be fair, their relationship used to be quite good.

However, every time Liliyana had a heart-to-heart talk with Erica, the woman would try to extract information from her through various tricky angles. Over time, she came to realize Erica's cunning and malice, and therefore decided that when she was with this woman, she should try to speak as little as possible, or even not speak at all.

"Lily, how could you slander me like that? I was only acting out of concern. Besides, I've already been appointed Lord Ren's personal knight. Can't I investigate things myself and find out?"

Erica said leisurely.

Liliyana was stunned.

That does seem to make sense.

Diana's previous decision to block information, especially to guard against the Copper Black Cross Clan, seems to have been rendered useless by Ren's words.

"Then there's even less to talk about between us!"

After saying that, Liliyana turned to look out the window.

Seeing this, Erica's smile remained unchanged, "Actually, I'm quite curious about Lord Ren's reason for keeping you by his side, Lily. You were in Naples back then, weren't you? You're neither eloquent nor very proper, or did you fall in love with the King at first sight, Lily? I never thought that naive Lily would grow up to be this old."

"This... how is this possible?!"

Upon hearing those words, Liliyana screamed in a voice that sounded like she was on her deathbed.

"I... I'm in love with Lord Ren, and that's why I deliberately kept him by my side. It's definitely not for some random, inexplicable reason!"

"Then why did the king keep you here?"

"That... that's because of my identity as a knight, definitely not a relationship like lovers or spouses..."

Liliyana's cheeks were burning hot, and she didn't even know what she was saying. Her mind was in complete chaos, but she still didn't forget to retort.

"But you, woman, why did you deliberately get close to the king?! Is it because you've fallen for him too?!"

Yes, that's right.

Erica's bluntness completely shocked Liliyana.

"Although this is only my first meeting with the King, I wouldn't have survived the attack from God King Melqart if it weren't for him. As a mentally healthy woman, I think it's perfectly normal to feel something for him under those circumstances."

"Well, from a psychological perspective, this seems to be the suspension bridge effect. In dangerous situations, a person's heart rate increases. If they encounter a member of the opposite sex at that time, it's easy to misinterpret this physiological reaction as attraction and develop feelings for them, especially since Wang personally saved me."

"You said it yourself, it's the suspension bridge effect, so it can't be real!"

Liliyana mustered her courage and spoke eloquently.

"Hehe, it's all the same to me. It seems you approached the King with ulterior motives, Lily, but I didn't expect you to turn the tables on me. You've grown up quite a bit over the years."

Erica chuckled softly.

"That's... that's not the reason. I was also rescued from Perseus by the King in Naples, so I'm the same as you!"

Lily said loudly.

"Oh? So, Lily, you've developed feelings for the King? And to what extent? Are you an adult now?"

Erica asked curiously.

"That's too early. Besides, only my destined White Horse would do that kind of thing!"

Liliyana had barely finished speaking when she realized she had said the wrong thing. Her face stiffened, and she wanted to immediately bury her face in her hands and repent, wondering how she had fallen for this woman's trick again.

And then, this woman doesn't know how she'll mock herself next.

Really.

After Erica finished getting the information out of her, she couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.

"Lily, you... you've gone too far! If the King saw me laughing like this, clutching my stomach, all my ladylike manners would vanish! But you truly are a lady who's practically extinct in today's society!"

"But it really is you. The romance between a king and a knight seems quite suitable for a novel's plot."

"No, this kind of thing isn't popular these days, so it can't be said to be fate."

Despite Liliyana's strong desire to refute it, a passionate love affair that transcended social status and tradition still came to mind—a classic, entangled romance.

However, she still imagined Ren with a serious expression saying to her, "Of all the women I've met so far, you're the one who has truly moved me. I don't want anyone else but you."

The girl's face suddenly turned bright red.

But why is her White Horse an Asian, and a Campione! she's only recently met?

That being said...

But when Ren fought those two gods, Liliyana also felt a sense of disbelief.

I couldn't stop the fluttering in my heart; it was pounding wildly.

Chapter 470 People all like compromise

In fact, given Ren's hearing, hearing the conversations outside was quite easy for him.

If he had a favorability system right now, he would probably see that Liliyana's favorability has already risen to a very high level.

Although Erica also rarely speaks the truth, the situation is pretty much the same.

This is not surprising.

The hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress trope may be old-fashioned, but it's undeniably effective.

The attraction to someone is indeed largely due to the suspension bridge effect, but even so, this effect still requires modeling.

If it were Ryoko who saved the Gold and Silver Duo from the clutches of the God of Disobedience, the two would probably only sincerely thank Ryoko, saying they could never repay her in this lifetime and could only use the wealth of their magic society to guarantee that Ryoko would never run out of money.

"Rhode! Do you think we'll live like this from now on?"

Aphrodite and Ren were chatting leisurely.

She was sitting at the table, enjoying a meal specially prepared by a professional chef.

A happy smile graced her youthful and exquisitely beautiful face.

After finishing several servings of tiramisu, Aphrodite had her eye on a lamb chop next to Ren. Grilled to a golden brown, sizzling with oil, the chop was sprinkled with a lot of secret spices, and the aroma was enough to make anyone's mouth water.

"Ren, may I have a bite of the lamb chop next to you?"

"Eat it yourself."

Ren was currently holding a pistol leg, watching a video while gnawing on it.

Since it's not a public place, there's no need to worry about appearances.

However, after seeing how Aphrodite ate, he no longer cared.

After all, even this goddess didn't care about her image at all, tearing a piece of meat directly from the lamb chop and chewing it in big bites. Strangely, apart from her mouth, her clothes weren't covered in grease.

Because he ate too fast, he inevitably choked, and then quickly picked up the cup next to him and gulped down his drink.

After letting out a sigh of "I'm alive again," Aphrodite noticed that Ren was looking at her with a strange expression.

"What... what are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a goddess dining before?"

Ren wanted to say he had met her, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that although the women he knew at High School DxD were of many different races, there wasn't a single goddess among them.

"I've never seen anything like it before, and it's the first time I've ever seen a goddess reincarnated from a starving ghost. Are those lamb chops really that delicious?"

As Ren spoke, he took a few bites, still not believing it, and found that it tasted just like a normal chef's dish; it was good, but not amazing.

Ren had enjoyed this for the past few days, but he had never seen Aphrodite so unrestrained as she was today.

Of course.

Aphrodite nodded.

She originally thought that after being captured by Ren and turned into a Pokémon, she would have to live a dark life like a slave every day. However, she found that apart from being taken advantage of when sleeping and taking a bath, her daily life was more convenient than in the Divine Realm.

Tea was served to them, food was served to them, and their room cleaning and daily life were taken care of by dedicated servants.

Although she had slaves to serve her in the divine realm, and never lacked food and tea, the quality of life and the taste of the food were incomparable.

Take meat as an example. Although the types are almost the same, with chicken, duck, fish, sea cucumber, abalone, beef, mutton, pork, and donkey all available, the cuisine of the divine realm is completely inferior due to the lack of seasoning.

To put it nicely, it's authentic; to put it bluntly, it's bland and uninteresting.

However, in the new world, even a single lamb chop can be made into more than a dozen different flavors, and there are even many different kinds of drinks.

Especially the kind that makes your mouth water and burns your tongue, that became Aphrodite's absolute favorite.

Wine and juice, all of you, step aside!

"If you like it, then eat more. Besides these hot dishes, there should be many different kinds of snacks available these days. I'll take you to the supermarket later when I have time."

After hearing the explanation, Ren wasn't surprised by the goddess's excitement.

After all, the food in ancient times was incomparable to that of modern times. Even the emperors of ancient times did not eat as well as the common cattle and horses in modern society.

Although ordinary people may not be as strong individually, Earth's level of civilization development far surpasses that of the divine realm.

After all, according to Aphrodite herself, the mortals in the divine realm were like people on Earth in the late 13th century BC, or in the late Southern Song China of ancient China. Back then, let alone how well they could eat, it was a question of how many people could even have enough to eat.

After finishing his meal, Ren planned to take a bath.

He left the room and instructed his two bodyguards, the Gold and Silver Duo, to make preparations.

Erica immediately accepted the order, while Liliyana's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom when Ren went back to his room to rest.

Could it be that the king is so eager that he intends to capture both of them immediately after the battle?

After learning of Liliyana's worries, Erica also fell into deep thought.

Although Liliyana often indulges in daydreaming, she might not be wrong this time.

Campione! have all sorts of personalities. Marquis Voban is eccentric and loves hunting, while the Sword King is a battle maniac. So, the new king might actually be superhumanly strong.

Let's get back to the main topic.

Neither Erica nor Liliyana were ready to sacrifice themselves.

After all, they weren't the kind of women who rose to power through their bodies; they had their own pride and would refuse even the advances of Campione!.

The worst-case scenario is suicide to preserve one's innocence, thus avoiding tarnishing the magic society one belongs to.

However, since things had already come to this point, they could not refuse Ren's request before it actually happened.

Therefore, a bathtub was prepared as quickly as possible.

When Ren was brought to the scene, Liliyana looked ready for battle, and even Erica had changed into the uniform she usually wore for combat or training, instead of the deep red cleavage dress she had worn before.

Erica originally wanted to use her social skills to demonstrate her value and ability to Ren, and even figure out his attitude so she could make a change.

In the original work, this point shows that Kusanagi Godou was completely under his control.

She's assertive most of the time, but occasionally shows a touch of feminine charm—perfect for dealing with men in their adolescence.

However, Ren doesn't play by the rules. The methods used to deal with young people don't work on him. Erica's schemes are useless until she gets her hands on a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).

Of course, Ren wouldn't force any woman in that kind of situation.

However, some necessary discipline is still needed.

"You two come in too."

After Ren finished speaking, he saw the two women look troubled, but before they could finish, he continued, "Don't overthink it. I just want you to give me a bath. You won't do anything else. I guarantee that in the name of the Campione!."

Ren has already thoroughly understood the principle of "boiling a frog in lukewarm water."

Just like the way he dealt with Lavinia back then.

Not just people in China, people all over the world prefer compromise.

If you immediately tell them you want Superman Strong and they all need to take off their clothes and stand still, they definitely won't agree. But if you just ask them to serve as bathhouse attendants first, they'll agree after weighing the pros and cons.

Chapter 471 Target Athena

Chapter 475

In fact, this method of slowly boiling a frog in water wasn't very effective for Liliyana.

It wasn't that the girl was too strong-willed to even take a bath, but rather that she went too far. If Ren hadn't been physically strong enough, Liliyana could have even rubbed sparks off his body. Then, while she was scrubbing him, she started bleeding from her nose and fainted. Helpless, Ren had no choice but to let Erica take her away.