The moonlight was gentle, the breeze pleasant.
The wind lifted Saori Kido's nightdress slightly, making her long, straight legs look exceptionally alluring.
Saori Kido brushed back her purple hair, letting it fly in the air as her shoulders showed and her proud red lips parted.
Those blue eyes gave off an uncanny radiance—positively mesmerizing.
Damian drew in a sharp breath.
He felt a flame burning in his lower abdomen.
"Is Saori flirting with me?"
Damian caught on at once.
Yes, Saori was flirting with him.
She was using her feminine charm to bewitch him.
It was clear Saori was, at heart, quite calculating—deliberately toying with fire using her allure.
She alighted gracefully across from Damian, hair flying, fragrance wafting.
As if seeing his distraction, Saori Kido lifted a piece of foie gras with her slender jade-white fingers and smiled slightly. "Ladies first. I'm a carnivore by nature, and my hobby is eating. Come on, dig in—don't stand on ceremony."
Seeing her start, Damian immediately tucked in. Starving, he ate fast, grabbing whatever was in reach and tossing it into his mouth without bothering with knife and fork—none of it cost him anything anyway.
He tried to keep his table manners from looking too awful, but in a few minutes he had packed away three big steaks, five slabs of foie gras, and around twenty oysters—finally filling his empty stomach.
No helping it—the greater the strength, the greater the appetite.
Making such a ravenous spectacle of himself before a goddess did make him feel a bit rude and embarrassed.
But when he looked up, that all vanished—and he was suddenly stunned.
Half the table in front of Saori Kido was already cleared. Her cherry lips were moving at an unbelievable pace; in a blink she polished off a plate of pasta, then went to work on a remaining steak.
That palm-sized steak was torn apart and swallowed in an instant.
Uh!
Damian was a little dumbfounded. The goddess ate very quickly, though with decent grace, but she almost didn't chew—gulping to the limit. It was incredible.
That appetite, that speed—downright outrageous!
It was as if the person before him wasn't a slender beauty, but a five-hundred-pound giant.
Under his astonished gaze, Saori Kido finished eating and drinking, dabbed her lips elegantly with a napkin, and showed a charming, slightly shy smile. "Pardon me. Very few people know I'm a big eater."
"An honor, Athena!" Damian hastened to say with a smile.
"No need to be polite. You... what did you call me..."
Saori Kido's face changed, doubt filling her beautiful eyes, as if she hadn't heard right. "Who did you just address?"
"Miss Athena—meaning you... Your grandfather, Mitsumasa Kido, should have told you your true name is Athena."
Damian got straight to the point.
Saori Kido's expression shifted, then that dazzling smile returned to her lips. "Yes, my grandfather Mitsumasa Kido told me that—that I'm the reincarnation of the goddess Athena—and told me not to tell anyone."
"This is a secret. I'm very curious how you know. Only Grandpa called me that. Only he knew."
"It's been a long time since anyone addressed me that way."
Damian smiled. "Miss Saori, your true name isn't much of a secret."
"All you need to know is that I personally bear you no ill will."
Saori Kido blinked, poured Damian a glass of wine, poured one for herself, picked up her glass, tilted her slender white neck, and took a sip.
Then, perfectly composed, she looked at Damian. "Ask whatever you want. If I know it and can tell you, I'll answer truthfully."
"Good. Do you know where the corpse of the brave man who saved you thirteen years ago is?"
Damian asked directly.
"That brave man?"
Saori thought a moment, confusion clouding her face.
"You don't know?"
Damian was puzzled.
Saori nodded. "I can't remember. To be precise, Grandpa never said where that person was buried."
"He never said."
Damian was flummoxed.
Could the corpse of Aiolos, the Sagittarius Gold Saint, really have not been buried?
Or was it cremated and scattered?
"Maybe Tatsumi knows something."
Saori glanced at the unconscious Tatsumi on the floor.
"Miss Saori, don't try anything. Tatsumi can't beat me."
Damian narrowed his eyes. "You were thinking of waking him and pressing the alarm under the table?"
Saori's face shifted, but she did not answer.
"I'll ask you again—where is that warrior's body?"
"Sorry, I truly don't know where he was laid to rest."
Saori Kido remained impassive, looking innocent.
Good acting. Deeply calculating. Neither servile nor overbearing. If not for the microexpressions giving you away, I'd find no flaw.
Definitely has the makings of a scheming bitch.
"Fine. We've got time."
Damian smiled, finished everything on his plate, stretched, then lay down on Saori's big soft bed.
"What are you doing?"
Saori was a little bewildered.
"Full belly, full heart—time to sleep."
Damian smiled and patted the soft mattress. "Come on, you too."
"What did you say?"
Saori immediately covered her chest with both hands, finally showing a fearful look.
She couldn't figure out what this man wanted.
He'd seemed a gentleman a moment ago—now he wanted to take advantage.
Had her little display backfired?
"What are you afraid of? I'm not going to eat you."
Damian chuckled and asked, "Saori, are you a normal woman?"
"What do you mean, a normal woman?"
Damian asked, "Physiologically normal—like the kind who gets stomach cramps every month."
"A physiologically normal woman?"
Saori blushed.
"Forget it, we don't need to talk about that. I can learn slowly. Worst case, I'll rummage through the trash for some big band-aids."
Damian waved it off, then smiled. "Saori, do you need a bodyguard? A close one."
"A close bodyguard? I already have Tatsumi and Jabu, plus my private security team."
Saori declined.
"Don't worry, I don't charge. Just room and board—and I guarantee you'll be perfectly safe."
Damian recommended himself.
"Sorry, Mr. Damian, I don't have such plans for now."
Saori politely refused.
"Oh, what a shame. Well, starting today, I'm your close bodyguard."
Damian winked at her.
"You... you're really strange."
Saori stamped her foot, setting off a rippling wave.
Damian asked again, "Have you provoked any weird characters lately?"
"Weird characters?"
Saori had no idea what he meant.
Then Damian suddenly moved, tackling her to the floor. At the same time, a rocket-like object flew in through the window.
Boom!
A violent explosion ripped through the room, debris and shockwaves rolling.
Pinned beneath Damian, Saori first felt terror, then realized she was unharmed—enveloped by a layer of translucent golden glass, as if the blast had nothing to do with her.
Damian, above her, flashed a row of white teeth. "Told you—you need a close bodyguard."
(End of Chapter)
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