Sophia's Plea

"I'll faint if I soak any longer. Let's wash up first."

"Okay."

Angelina reluctantly moved her cheek away from Ye Chuan's arm. After leaving the hot spring, they sat on small wooden stools. Angelina picked up the goat milk soap nearby and gently rubbed it to create a handful of rich, dense lather.

She walked behind Ye Chuan, applying the soapy lather to his back and scrubbing gently.

"The ladies in town said the lather needs to be rubbed very fine to get all the dirt out," Angelina's voice came from right behind his back. Her long white hair hung down, the tips catching some soap bubbles, swaying gently with her movements.

"Be careful, don't slip." Ye Chuan glanced back at Angelina, noticing the snowy white curves dotted with a few bubbles.

He reached out and gently wiped the bubbles off her body, then picked up a wooden comb nearby and gathered her cascading long hair into his hand.

"Turn around, I'll wash your hair for you."

Angelina obediently turned around. Ye Chuan carefully massaged the goat milk soap lather into her hair, afraid of pulling and hurting her.

"I want bubbles on the front too."

"Alright."

The hot spring vapor swirled around them. Angelina leaned against his knees, eyes closed, the corners of her mouth curled up high, her long, thick eyelashes catching fine beads of moisture.

She had never imagined she could have days like this.

No longer afraid of being beaten, no longer afraid of going hungry, no longer having to curl up on a freezing floor. And there was someone who would gently wash her hair and truly care about her.

If only days like this could last forever.

...

The next morning.

Angelina, wearing a pale yellow apron, was busy in the kitchen.

Ye Chuan sat at the wooden table in the living room, carefully wiping his fine steel longsword. The blade was polished bright, reflecting his focused profile.

This weapon was quite handy. Though a bit worn, its quality was still decent.

Just then, a gentle knock came from the courtyard gate, followed by a soft, delicate female voice laced with hesitation:

"Excuse me... is Lord Ye Chuan home?"

"Hmm?"

Ye Chuan put down the sword and got up to open the door.

The moment he pulled open the wooden picket gate, he saw the little girl standing outside.

A petite figure, pointy ears, and a black tail trailing behind her—it was Sophia, the little succubus he had saved in the Black Pine Forest earlier.

She wore a clean linen dress and held a woven rattan basket in her hands. The moment she saw Ye Chuan, her eyes lit up, and she quickly gave a deep bow:

"Lord Ye Chuan! Benefactor!"

"Sophia?" Ye Chuan paused for a second, then smiled and stepped aside to let her in. "Come in and sit down. What brings you here? Have you been doing well in town?"

"Thank you, My Lord." Sophia carefully stepped into the yard. Looking at the courtyard full of blooming daisies and the clean, tidy house, a flash of envy crossed her eyes.

Angelina also walked out of the kitchen. Wiping her hands, she brought over a cup of warm honey water, placed it on the table in front of her, and offered her a faint smile.

Even though she was barely 1.4 meters tall, she had the air of a true hostess.

Sophia hastily thanked her, sitting awkwardly on the sofa, and handed over the rattan basket:

"Lord Benefactor, these are flower pastries my sisters and I made together. Thank you for saving us before. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even know where we'd have been sold off to by now."

The flower pastries in the basket were baked to a golden brown and carried a faint floral scent. It was obvious they had put a lot of heart into them.

Ye Chuan took the basket, smiling and waving his hand. "No need to be so polite, it was no trouble at all. Are you getting used to living in town?"

At the mention of this, the smile on Sophia's face instantly faded. Her pointy ears drooped, and her eyes filled with helplessness. She couldn't speak for a long while.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Ye Chuan noticed something was off and quickly asked.

Sophia bit her lip, her eyes turning slightly red. She finally spoke, her voice choking up a bit:

"Lord Ye Chuan, we... we've run into some trouble. We really have nowhere else to turn, so we came to bother you."

"Previously, a kind uncle took us in and let us help out in his shop, providing us with food and lodging... But a few days ago, his son opened a new shop in the Royal Capital and asked him to go help, so he's moving his whole family there."

"Once he leaves, we'll have nowhere to live and no work... We wanted to find jobs in town, but... but absolutely no one dares to hire us."

"No one dares to hire you?" Ye Chuan asked, puzzled. "Why? The people in town are very friendly, how could no one hire you?"

Sophia showed an embarrassed and troubled expression, explaining softly:

"Because... we are succubi. We are born with the talent of charm. Even if we don't intentionally use it, as long as we accidentally touch someone of the opposite sex, they will be charmed by our aura."

"When we were still helping out at the bakery, a male customer came to buy bread. My sister accidentally touched his hand, and the customer lost his mind on the spot. He almost caused a huge scene in the shop."

"Since then, none of the shops in town dare to hire us... The tavern, the grocery store, the tailor shop. Even if we don't ask for wages, they don't dare let us help, terrified of another accident."

"We also tried helping people mend and wash clothes, but mostly the men in town work outside, and their wives are a bit unwilling to let us touch their husbands' clothes. There's barely any work for us to do."

"Now that the uncle is leaving, we won't even have a place to stay... Lord Ye Chuan, we really are out of options, that's why we came to beg you. Could you... could you help us think of a way out?"

After saying that, she bowed deeply to Ye Chuan again. She was only in her teens, and with her sisters, they had no one to rely on. In this unfamiliar town, they simply didn't know how to survive.

Especially with their identity as succubi making things so awkward.

Hearing this, Ye Chuan fell silent.

He hadn't expected the succubus talent to cause them such immense trouble. No wonder they couldn't find work.

Triggering a charm effect just by touching the opposite sex was indeed a huge problem. It made sense that the shops in town didn't dare to hire them.

Ye Chuan nodded. Looking at Sophia, he asked seriously, "Sophia, besides mending and washing clothes, what else can you do? Are you good at anything?"

"Uh... we're actually willing to do anything," Sophia said.

"Anything?" Ye Chuan asked.

"Yes," Sophia nodded.

"In that case..." Ye Chuan pondered. If that was the case, there were quite a few options.

"Let's give it a try first." Ye Chuan stood up. "Let's go, we'll go see your sisters first."

After all, he couldn't make any final decisions right now anyway.