Patunasankus slowly untied the sash at her waist.
The fabric made a faint "rustle" as it brushed against her skin. The pure white dress slipped over her shoulders, gently caressing her arms before finally falling to the ground.
This was the first time Patunasankus had observed Latifa's body this way.
Her skin was smooth as milk, dazzlingly snow-white that one could hardly look directly at it, and her legs were slender and long.
Patunasankus wasn't the least bit self-conscious.
She thought, after all, she had transformed into this herself, so there was nothing wrong with looking. Besides, Latifa certainly wouldn't mind.
And she had never particularly cared about human concepts of shame. Rather than appreciating human physical beauty, the evil dragon preferred to admire her own obsidian-scaled body.
Don't overthink it—she was simply, purely curious, that's all.
After slightly averting her gaze, Patunasankus looked at Evelyn who was jubilantly celebrating by the bath, thinking she should get this over with quickly.
"Let me think, the curse says, 'No one bathes with you, your towel can never dry your filth, never hope to see your reflection in the mirror.'"
Patunasankus bent down to pick up a dirty towel, examining it carefully.
It was just an ordinary towel with no trace of magic power, and such towels were everywhere in this abandoned mansion.
Clearly, Evelyn had tried countless times to wipe away her filth with it, but to no avail.
Curses that transform humans into monsters have always existed. Their origins might be very different, usually a wizard or sorcerer cast a curse, and the object of the curse would change form, though the effect might not appear immediately.
Patunasankus knew very well that those who cast curses would definitely leave a method to break the curse, just as some criminals often return to the crime scene to observe. Spell casters would also involuntarily leave some clues.
"If it can never dry, then let's just not use it at all."
The evil dragon firmly held down Evelyn, who was wrapped in a towel and fussing like a curly-haired baboon, forcibly pulling the dirty towel off her.
"Graw?"
Evelyn blinked at her in confusion, then grabbed another towel to wrap around herself. The ferocious beast's deep red eyes showed a rare hint of puzzlement.
What a mess, what am I even doing?
Patunasankus sighed, then pulled off the towel the ferocious beast had wrapped around herself again, patiently explaining to her.
"No, this won't work. You've been looking for a towel that can dry your filth, but none of them work for you. Since that's the case, let's not use any."
Evelyn stopped moving. Compared to her violent behavior when beating up Elaphia, she was surprisingly obedient in front of Patunasankus, showing no trace of ferocity.
Under the open-air bath of the abandoned mansion, black wax figures gathered around. In the mist-filled bath, green viscous water bubbled up, looking ominous.
Evelyn jumped into the bath, rolling frantically in the water, but the filth on her body refused to wash away, just as in her countless previous attempts.
Patunasankus walked down the steps, carefully extending her slender, beautiful calves. Her fair-skinned little foot touched the water's surface and immediately retracted.
"...If I had known, I would have just rotted in my lair," the evil dragon muttered softly.
She had no idea what ingredients Evelyn had added to the bath. Even a normal person "persuaded" by Evelyn would probably flee in panic after seeing this ominous pool of water.
A moment later, she stepped in anyway, allowing the green water to rise to her chest.
Almost instantly, a strong and stimulating sensation rushed to her head, making the entire dragon feel dizzy. The toxins in the water, even with a dragon's metabolism level, made Patunasankus as if drunk, wobbling and almost unable to stand.
But after adjusting a bit, Patunasankus found this feeling rather invigorating.
What was the last line of the curse again?
Never hope to see your reflection in the mirror?
"Hic~" The evil dragon hiccupped, resisting the urge to fall into a deep sleep, and said to Evelyn, "Open your eyes, you need to see what you look like."
Evelyn lowered her head. In the reflection of the green pool, she saw an extremely ugly face.
Just as everyone had described.
A humanoid outline, but filthy all over, a bloody maw extending from one ear to the other, lined with dagger-like teeth, covered in extremely dirty hair, eyes flashing red in the darkness...
Evelyn stood motionless, her gaze fixed on herself.
Suddenly, she screamed, her entire body glowing with an ethereal light. The mud-like filth gradually receded. This sudden change terrified Evelyn, and with what little rationality remained, she crawled and rolled away in escape.
The savage howls gradually turned into weak, delicate screams, finally transforming into a young girl's injured whimper.
"It seems to be working...though this medicinal bath is really making me high," Patunasankus rubbed her head. "I should go see how she's doing."
It took quite a while for Patunasankus to climb out of the bath.
She was completely drunk, swaying as she walked.
She headed toward the steps but stumbled and sat on the ground, then dizzily stood up again.
The thick, sticky fog before dawn surged into the abandoned mansion. After following the scent for quite some time, the evil dragon finally found the source of Evelyn's voice.
The cursed girl was lying naked and unconscious, leaning against a withered tree.
She looked very frail, with pale lips and a thin body. She was still dirty all over, with hair almost reaching her waist, now a dull black. The nails that had attacked Elaphia were now filthy and broken, still stained with blood...
She looked thoroughly disheveled, but she had returned to a normal human form, as normal as could be.
Patunasankus stood before the young girl.
She saw that Evelyn was indeed asleep, her head resting on the damp ground, hair covering her entire face.
Even in her dreams, Evelyn continuously called out another girl's name.
"...Latifa."