"What's wrong? Zeus! Prometheus! Napoleon! And Zeus, where did you run off to during the fight just now?"
Big Mom stared at the three Homies above her head, her tone full of questioning.
"Mama! I… I…"
Zeus shrank in on himself, his voice stammering and timid.
"Hmph, Zeus is just a coward! The moment the battle started, he got scared and hid!" Napoleon, perched on Big Mom's head, spoke up directly.
"What exactly happened, Zeus?" Big Mom's voice sank, carrying a heavy pressure.
"Mama, let me explain."
Prometheus shook his flaming body and pushed Zeus aside.
"Since you didn't use your ability just now, Mama, you naturally didn't notice it. But we are creations made by your own hands, so we saw it very clearly."
"We felt your aura from Cain. We've never seen something like that before! When Zeus saw it, he got so scared he hid right away and didn't even dare take part in the fight."
"There's such a thing?"
Big Mom frowned, her face full of confusion.
Seeing this, Katakuri immediately stepped forward and repeated everything he had previously heard aboard the Queen Mama Chanter.
Those words left Big Mom full of doubt.
She could not help wondering whether she had actually given birth to Cain.
But she gave birth to children as easily as popping popcorn, so maybe she really had given birth to him somewhere without remembering.
"MAMAMAMA! NONE OF THAT MATTERS ANYMORE. IN ANY CASE, CAIN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT BASTARD KAIDO!"
Big Mom suddenly burst into loud laughter, then turned her gaze toward Perospero.
"Perospero, absolutely nothing can go wrong with this banquet! Make sure it is done properly. This may be our final chance to draw in the giants."
"Yes, Mama!"
Perospero answered respectfully.
Every tea party and every banquet Big Mom held had never been a simple gathering.
There was always some kind of scheme hidden behind it.
This grand banquet prepared for Cain was clearly far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.
…
As for Cain and Uta, the two of them had been lifted away separately by the crowd.
Uta was much lighter than Cain.
When they reached a corner, her figure vanished from sight.
That immediately made Cain anxious. He jumped straight down from the people carrying him and hurried off to look for Uta.
"LITTLE BROTHER CAIN, THAT DIRECTION ISN'T—!"
"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR? HURRY UP AND CHASE HIM!"
Cain ignored the calls behind him and rushed straight toward the corner he had just seen.
At a glance, he saw several women walking toward him.
They were the ones who had taken Uta away just now.
His gaze swept past them to the tightly closed door behind them. Uta was most likely inside.
At that moment, the people behind him caught up as well.
Seeing this, Cain charged straight toward that door.
The women at the front of the group—Charlotte Galette, Charlotte Broye, and the others—were all stunned when they saw Cain rushing over so quickly.
Cain took advantage of that brief moment of surprise, slipped past them, and lunged toward the door while shouting Uta's name.
"UTA!"
"This new little brother really is impatient. It clearly isn't time yet," Charlotte Broye said.
"Good thing we all came out already. Uta-chan is the only one inside… Should we go stop him?"
"Probably not… After all, Katakuri-nii-san did say… But what exactly is going on?"
Charlotte Custard looked at the younger brothers who had caught up, her face full of confusion.
After everyone explained what had happened, she instantly understood and could not help saying,
"Did none of you tell him…"
"That place is the bathhouse?"
…
The door, which had been locked from the inside, was forced open by Cain's brute strength.
And then he saw—
At that moment, one of Uta's feet was stretched into the milky-white bath.
Her red-and-white hair had been let down. This was the first time Cain had seen her with her hairstyle undone.
Usually, Uta only came out of the bathroom after tidying herself up, and every time he saw her, her hair was already tied. Yet just letting it loose gave him an entirely different feeling.
Her damp hair clung softly to her cheeks, as well as to her delicate neck and shoulders. Water droplets hung from the tips, moist and dazzling.
Warm white mist curled around her body, and the soft light of the bathhouse fell over her, wrapping her whole figure in gentle warmth.
Her slender neck, her exposed arms, and the calf peeking out from beneath the bath towel were all dotted with round droplets of water.
Whenever she moved slightly, they slid softly down her skin.
A bath towel was loosely wrapped around her body, and beside her was the milk bath glowing with a faint milky light.
A light fragrance of milk drifted over together with the steam.
Uta had originally been slowly lowering one foot into the bath. Hearing the movement at the door, she suddenly drew her foot back.
Threads of milk still clung to the top of her foot, flowing down her ankle and leaving faint milky traces across her skin.
Perhaps because the air around them was too warm, Uta's voice carried a faint tremble.
She panted lightly, looking confused as she said,
"Cain… why are you…?"
The sight struck Cain's eyes, and in an instant, heat rushed through his nose.
Blood surged upward, and he hurriedly clenched his fist before punching himself hard in the nose, forcibly covering up the blood that had almost sprayed out.
…
Uta moved closer, dipped her fingertips in warm water, and gently wiped the blood from the tip of his nose. She sighed helplessly.
"I really didn't expect you to charge in so recklessly… What if there had been other girls here?"
As Uta spoke, her expression gradually darkened.
Cain turned his head and nuzzled lightly against her fingertips before saying softly,
"I was worried about you. After all, they didn't tell me this was what they brought you here for… And what's with leaving someone here alone and just walking away?"
Uta glanced toward the small door in the corner of the bathhouse. Her fingers were still gently pinching the tip of his nose as she rubbed it softly.
"You clearly didn't listen properly. See that little door over there? As long as you press the bell, the Homi-cakes inside… will come out and provide whatever you need…"
"They're Homies."
Cain immediately corrected her, holding the hand she was using to pinch his nose.
"And I definitely didn't hear anyone say anything about that!"
Uta smiled and looked toward the door Cain had firmly jammed shut with his weapon.
Then she raised a hand, tucked the wet hair hanging over her shoulder behind her ear, and spoke in a light tone.
"Anyway, you're already inside now. Isn't that perfect? No one is here to disturb us."
After saying that, she paused and looked at Cain with a raised brow.
"Let's bathe together."
She leaned a little closer, tugged Cain's wrist, and shook it gently as she said in a soft voice,
"I heard from them that the milk bath here has a special design, so even Devil Fruit users can soak in it safely. Come on."
Unable to withstand Uta's gentle coaxing, Cain could only take off his outer clothes with a helpless and embarrassed expression, wrap himself in a bath towel, and let her pull him by the arm.
Stumbling slightly, he jumped into the milk bath together with her.
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator