Don't be fooled by Aphrodite's habit of swanning around the graveyard in women's clothes after Damian helped unlock his cross-dressing skill, or by his cow-like falsetto when he plays at being a woman. He's a man through and through, very macho, and tough by nature.
After this period of contact, Damian more or less understood him.
Aphro's usual style is low-key and direct, brave in battle, a disciplined elite soldier who prefers to prove things with combat rather than argument. He uses honorifics with no one.
As a Gold Saint, he reveres only power and believes only power can protect peace. Strength is justice.
So even knowing the Pope's identity, he still chose loyalty.
Luckily he's a glutton. For a good meal he never haggles over payment—he just wants delicious food, especially sweets and spicy flavors, which he can't resist.
Damian had often used food as payment to invite this cross-dressing powerhouse to lend a hand; because of that, Aphro would drop by the graveyard from time to time to enjoy otherworldly dishes Damian made.
Kiki didn't know what was good for him. It seemed his lecherous attitude had angered Aphrodite.
But why was this killing intent wrapping around Damian too?
"Aphro, just say it… you're here to blow up at me for something else, aren't you?"
Damian seemed to guess his intent.
"Where's Pansy?"
Aphrodite asked in a low voice: "I actually saw Pansy walking with Marin, and Marin had Pansy call her teacher.
"Shaina will go crazy when she gets back!"
Damian shrugged. "Marin used Pansy to threaten me. I can't help it. You know I can't beat a Silver Saint. So scary, oh no!"
"You can't beat her?"
Aphrodite chuckled—and his smile only grew, his aura turning even keener. He murmured, "You clearly knocked Marin out."
"That was because she wasn't wearing a Cloth…"
This was bad!
Aphro never liked meddling. Why was he meddling today? And that temper—more outrageous than a girl on her period.
Completely unlike normal Aphro.
Thinking carefully—
Damian landed on a possibility.
Pansy!
The little brat was up to no good again…
Damian realized.
No doubt Pansy had hypnotized Aphrodite too.
She was something else—she could even hypnotize a Gold Saint.
She probably issued a kill order.
He didn't know how strong the hypnosis would be.
Otherwise, with Aphrodite's temperament, he wouldn't so easily bare fangs at the "caretaker" who feeds him.
"Damian, you've trained those muscles well, and you still look down on a Bronze Cloth?"
"Then today I'll see whether my roses are stronger—or your body."
Aphrodite extended a pair of jade-like slender hands, and a red rose appeared between his fingers. A chillingly seductive smile tugged at his lips.
"Hahahaha, hahahaha…"
Damian suddenly threw back his head and laughed, wild and unrestrained.
Aphrodite, ready to strike, froze.
"What are you laughing at?"
Aphrodite knit his delicate brows.
"Don't you want dessert anymore? Don't you want hotpot? Don't you want my massage? And you don't want that bloody diarrhea treated?"
With each question, Aphrodite's face fell a shade.
"I'll give you ten seconds to think. Apologize immediately, or forget about eating my tiramisu."
Damian spoke righteously.
"Tiramisu?"
Aphrodite swallowed.
"Not to brag, but while I was on mission in Sicily, Italy, I learned to make a very special dessert—many times better than the sweets you've had."
Damian wore a faraway look.
"Tiramisu is really that good?"
Aphrodite's eyes lit up. He narrowed them, suspicious. "You're not trying to distract me, are you?"
"Of course not. Who do you take me for?"
Damian said seriously, "It's just that tiramisu is extremely complex to make and requires a new cooking technique. But the texture is many times better than an ordinary cake. I was going to make it for you to try—to thank you for always helping."
"Count you as having a conscience."
Aphrodite swallowed. The frost on his pretty face melted into allure; fox eyes shimmered with curiosity. "It's really that good? Then what are you waiting for?"
"Waiting for your apology."
Damian lifted his chin and puffed his chest.
"My fault!"
Aphro owned it cleanly and even bowed with elegant grace, showing sincerity.
Kiki, who was faking unconsciousness to the side, couldn't help his surprise.
This beautiful "lady" had radiated such killing intent, and now she listened to the gravekeeper?
So weird!
What was their relationship?
.
Tiramisu came out of the oven an hour later.
For the first time, Damian used cream as a layer, then somehow crafted a softer sponge cake, and used cocoa powder. After cooling, he dusted a bit of vanilla powder on top.
A simple tiramisu was done.
"Smells so good! This is tiramisu?"
Aphrodite, unable to wait any longer, inhaled a deep breath of the warm tiramisu's fragrance, as if immersed in a world of milk and sweetness.
The tiramisu looked like five colorful layers, stacked and layered; the cake body was coffee-colored, with white soft paste-like parts within.
On the top were little blossoms, milk-white and pink, like a blooming meadow, steeped in rich milk and cocoa aromas.
Aphrodite scooped up a big spoonful. The cake was very soft—like bean paste—and the white parts deformed a bit.
Without hesitation, he put it into his mouth—fragrant, smooth, sweet, rich—gentle yet full of textural shifts. The taste wasn't just sweetness; with vanilla and milk added, there was a faint, elusive aroma wrapped in thick dairy.
Another deep spoonful added brown layers—neither as soft as an egg tart nor as monotonous as an ordinary cake. Tiramisu was richly layered and varied.
A gentle spoonful in the mouth—cool but not cold. The mouth felt fresh; fresh cream's unique cling wrapped lips, tongue, and teeth. As it slid down, that tender sweetness spread through every inch of the body.
"Healing Needle!"
Damian lightly tapped Aphrodite's shoulder, delivering a Healing Needle.
The sweet dairy fragrance filled the mouth and straight up to the mind—endlessly lingering, intoxicating. Waves of the Healing Hand's warmth pulsed through his body. Aphrodite couldn't help letting that cow-voice out:
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Tiramisu—only heaven can match it, hahahaha…"
After three straight "Ah"s, he shoveled spoon after spoon, head swaying, cheeks flushed, hands and feet moving—elegant and carefree—yet with a unique air of peerless allure.
The androgynous advantage really showed—man's boldness and woman's charm fused into a special aura, a perfect blend of yin and yang that made everyone turn their heads.
Anyway—so beautiful! So seductive!
Even Kiki was stunned by Aphrodite's allure—and even Damian went a little dazed.
This cross-dressing queen could easily win a Miss World crown.
As long as he didn't speak with that bull-voice.
"Aphro, if you want more later, just tell me."
Damian smiled. "I'll need your help with something after."
Aphrodite patted his bouncy chest. "No problem. Say the word—just give me tiramisu."
Damian couldn't help but wonder what filler Aphro had stuffed into that chest to get such tsunami waves.
He also confirmed the limits of Pandora's hypnosis. These mental-type hypnotic arts can't forcibly change a person's true heart; they can only control mind and thought to some degree.
The effect probably varies with mental strength. For instance, it worked strongly on Cassios—he came at Damian despite knowing he was overwhelmingly strong.
Aphrodite's will is firm. After outside interference, when he encountered a special event, the hypnosis effects were overturned and suppressed.
That was as far as he could infer for now. He still didn't know whether her hypnosis would work on him—or on that lunatic Saga…
"Is… is this tiramisu really that good?"
Kiki watched Aphrodite pat his chest, drool flowing even faster.
He was already getting lost in the dreamlike scent.
"Desserts can make the brain secrete dopamine—let people feel joy and delight."
Damian smiled at Kiki. "Want to try tiramisu? I saved a piece just for you."
He set a smaller piece before Kiki with a gentle motion.
"Dopamine? Th-then I won't be polite."
Kiki swallowed.
At that moment, that cultured, magnetic voice murmured at his ear: "Kiki—ah—open wide."
Kiki looked up, and a spoon slid into his mouth.
Damian was feeding him, a warm, easy smile on his face—sunlight in winter—so comfortable.
What?
He was feeding him.
Before he could blush, a rich sweetness filled his mouth. The layered flavor and sugar—he'd never tasted such a delicious cake.
So good!
At the same time, Damian's Healing Needle tapped him lightly on the head.
Kiki tilted his face up forty-five degrees, narrowed his eyes, and let out a deep sigh from his soul: "Ah!"
Tears still flowed, but the taste was sweet, and his heart sweeter still.
Strange—his butt didn't hurt anymore.
So comfortable!
"Kiki, you ate my tiramisu, and I treated you."
Damian's voice turned impossibly gentle. "Now it's your turn to repay me."
Kiki's big eyes popped. He nodded hard and thumped his chest. "Whatever you need—say it. I'm a man who repays kindness."
He sneaked a glance at Aphrodite and put on a little man's pose.
"Good. Help me forge a Gold Cloth."
Kiki: "I…" (｀Д)!!
(End of Chapter)
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