episode_0034

The day after the exchange meeting.

Gently, gently.

From the morning, Elin’s stupid hair was shaking pleasantly.

It was nice that Luke read me a storybook last night for the first time in a while.

“… It’s quiet.”

Even Dien was dragged away by Ranian.

Now only Luke and Elin remain.

We can finally go back to our daily lives together, just the two of us!

Ellen was happily waiting for Luke to arrive.

– I have an appointment with the Duchess, so I will be back shortly. I have good news for you, too, so you can look forward to it.

Luke headed to Natia’s office in the morning.

What is good news?

I sat on the bed and swung my legs in the air.

however.

The fun didn’t last long.

Step by step.

Snap.

Your inadvertently enhanced hearing detects footsteps outside the door.

This is definitely the sound of Luke’s shoes.

But it’s strange.

You could just use teleport.

Why do you insist on walking here?

The question was soon resolved.

Thud thud.

“!”

Unfamiliar footsteps were heard next to Luke.

Neither father nor mother.

Then who is it?

-May I come in, Your Majesty?

When Luke arrived at the door, instead of knocking, he called Elin.

“Yeah, come in.”

Squeak.

The door opened.

As expected, Luke was not alone.

“Oh? It’s so cute?”

Scars left here and there on white skin.

Sharp shark teeth.

A chest of violent size revealed by roughly buttoning up the buttons.

I was with a woman who looked like a delinquent, but was dressed like a maid.

“Let me introduce you.”

Luke pointed to the bad woman.

“I am Anne, who will be the Princess’ exclusive maid from today.”

“Please take care of me!”

Even the way he bends down makes him seem like he’s from a back alley.

Shudder.

Elin trembled without realizing it.

* * * * *

“Seo, teacher.”

Ellen quickly clung to Luke’s back.

I thought there were only two of them.

A man with an unprecedentedly ferocious appearance has appeared.

“Huh? What did I do that you’re saying?”

Anne looked around the room, her ears perked up.

“Hiya, I never imagined I’d be working in a place like this. I’m really reaping the benefits of my friend, huh?”

“… Ugh.”

I pinched my nose.

The smell of cigarettes wafted in the air as Anne passed by.

Luke snapped his fingers with an “Oh no” expression on his face.

“If you want to work here, you’ll have to quit smoking.”

Exactly.

The air around Anne is sucked in.

It’s better than before, though.

It was impossible to completely eliminate the smell of cigarettes.

“Of course! I’m already quitting smoking.”

“How long has it been since you quit?”

“Has it been an hour?”

“… … ”

“Hey, who are you looking at with that kind of look? Why don’t you just cut it off?”

Anne giggles, showing her sharp teeth.

He squats down and bows his head to Elin.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, so I might smell a little bit… .”

“… … a lot.”

“It might fly a lot, but I’ll cut it off right now, so just trust me and leave it to me.”

Instead of answering, Ellen clung more tightly to Luke’s back.

And then he glared at Luke.

It was a silent protest as to why this kind of person had been brought in.

“Don’t look at me like that. I brought him here because he’s the most family-friendly person I know, even though he looks like a back-alley punk.”

“Assumption… ?”

He peeked his head out.

As soon as our eyes met, I quickly closed my eyes.

It was instinct.

The fear instinct that is triggered when the prey encounters a predator.

No matter how I look at it, it seems closer to a ‘family’ than a ‘home’.

“Oh, really? It looks like my first impression was wrong.”

“That’s why I told you to dress up a little more neatly.”

“Even if I wear the biggest size, my chest is tight. What do you want me to do?”

Anne shrugged.

I pounded my chest.

In fact, it was close to being soft because of the cushion effect.

“I can’t lose this sweet job. I guess I’ll have to show you through my actions! Your Highness, you haven’t taken a bath yet, have you?”

Ellen nodded slowly.

“That’s great. I’ll help you take a bath.”

“… … Yes?”

“Hey, I won’t eat you, I won’t eat you. Don’t be scared and come here.”

Elin looks up at Luke as if asking what to do.

“I understand why you’re scared, but please trust me just this once just to see my face. I’m a fellow academy student with really solid skills.”

“… Okay.”

I feel a little reassured because he said he was an academy classmate.

Because we saw the case of Lanian and Dien.

Yeah, I don’t think Luke really brought the bad guys.

Gulp.

Make up your mind.

I approached Anne hesitantly.

“Oh my, this is going to take a while.”

Anne came closer with brisk strides, feeling frustrated.

Flash.

He lifted Elin up and placed her on his side.

“Seo, teacher… !”

Elin, deprived of her physical freedom, struggled in the air.

“Please take a thorough bath.”

Luke just waved his hand.

* * * * *

It’s been 30 minutes since I came into the bathroom.

“Princess. If someone saw me, they would think I was doing something really bad.”

Just give me a moment.

Time passed after Ellen said that.

“I’m, huh? I’m not trying to hurt you, Princess. I’m just trying to clean you up. If I do this, I’ll be upset?”

“… … Phew.”

After observing for 30 minutes.

The conclusion is slowly coming to fruition.

Despite her rough appearance, Anne was actually very quiet and waited.

Although he grumbled, he did not disobey orders.

If it was a maid assigned by my mother, she would have already poured cold water on me and dried my body.

“What, I guess the maid acted like trash last time?”

Tiyong.

The hairs on my head stood out.

“How did you know?”

“So I guess I got in through connections, right? Bertain is a place where a commoner can dare enter.”

Anne sighed with an expression that suggested she wanted a cigarette.

“That curse of restriction on speaking? I just came here with something like that. If I get kicked out of here, there’s no answer. I have a lot of families to feed, so I will never neglect them.”

The expression on his face was surprisingly serious.

Elin sat up from her crouching position.

Knock knock knock.

He approached Anne as if possessed.

Then Anne frowned.

“Oh my, you must have been sick. Now I understand why you even put a curse on me.”

Back, waist, arms, legs, etc.

Because I saw scars left here and there.

There hasn’t been much to do lately since the Duke has been away in the North.

The scars from before still remained.

“I’ll be gentle, so if it hurts, please let me know?”

“… Yeah.”

Shoo-

Water pours out of the magic engineering shower.

“What’s the temperature?”

“… Okay.”

“Okay. With this much warmth. I’ll remember it.”

Anne poured some warm water on Elin’s head, which felt good.

“It doesn’t hurt, right?”

It wasn’t to the extent that it didn’t hurt.

The gentle acupressure made my whole body feel relaxed and tired.

“Ugh… .”

“Heh, I bet you’ll like it like this.”

Anne, who smiled cutely, continued to wash Elin thoroughly with her mysterious hand movements.

“Are you okay? Should I go a little slower?”

Unlike the polite gestures that kept popping out, his touch was extremely gentle.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sorry. I’m really sorry. I would never do that, so please forgive me just this once.”

If I touched the scar by any chance, I apologized profusely.

Elin, whose guard was gradually lowered, told her what the maid had done last time.

Okay then.

“Huh? Have you ever seen such a bad girl, touching the princess’s belongings without permission? Should I go and beat her up? I’m confident in my ability to exert myself.”

I received a huge amount of sympathy.

“There’s no need to do that… .”

I witnessed a tendon popping up.

If we just left it alone, it seemed like it was going to really break, so Ellin had to stop it.

“Next time I see you, I’ll just…! How’s the temperature here?”

“It’s okay.”

Anne only calmed down after Ellen got into the bathtub.

“Oh my, our princess’s eyelids are about to close.”

When I finally got into the bathtub, all my tension was gone.

Because I’m forcing myself to strain my eyes.

Anne gently stroked his back.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Even if you fall asleep, I’ll take care of everything. Why don’t you just take a deep breath and wake up?”

“Ugh… .”

Elin was taken aback by those words.

“Koo… .”

For the first time in my life, I fell asleep in the bath.

* * * * *

Talk.

Knock knock.

The feeling of someone touching your body.

The mind that had been deeply sunken is gradually rising.

“Ugh… .”

Toss and turn.

I didn’t want to have my restful sleep disturbed.

“… … Mr.”

Shake shake.

“… please.”

But attempts to wake Elin did not stop.

“Your Highness!”

“Hot.”

Eventually, Ellin opens her eyes wide, awakened by the husky voice.

“… Huh?”

I was definitely in the bathroom before I lost consciousness.

Before I knew it, I was lying in bed.

“You must have been so comfortable that you fell asleep while taking a bath.”

Luke’s voice is heard from the side.

Only then did I realize.

Oh, I fell asleep while taking a bath.

“If you like it this much, why are you being so dismissive? Huh?”

Anne grinned, showing her shark teeth, and stroked Ellen’s head.

Now that I look at it, my hair is softer than usual.

“Wow, the day has finally come when the bath products I bought you will be used.”

The lid to the bath products Luke had bought was finally opened.

“This is a world of luxury goods. You haven’t used it until now?”

“I can’t go in and help you myself.”

“That’s right.”

Anne nodded and clapped her hands.

“Come here, my lady. Let’s put on some lotion.”

“What is that?”

“There’s something good.”

Anne’s skills were proven just now while taking a bath.

This time, without any hesitation, I walked over and gave Anne my face.

Chop chop.

Apply the cold liquid onto your skin.

Chit-chit.

A sticky liquid was applied over it.

“Sticky.”

“Just bear with it for a bit, I’m trying to be pretty.”

“Is it pretty?”

“To be exact, it’s about preserving the princess’s pretty skin right now. If you don’t maintain this soft and smooth skin now, you’ll regret it later, right?”

“What happens?”

“It will get flabby and shriveled, right?”

Is that really a problem?

When I tilted my head.

“Then Luke probably won’t like it either?”

“… … !”

The stupid hair became an exclamation mark shape.

Ellen turned her head to Luke.

“… Really, teacher?”

“Why are you suddenly talking about me?”

Luke, who had been watching with his arms crossed, looked embarrassed.

“Will you hate me if I get wrinkled?”

“Huh? No, that won’t happen… … .”

Luke, who was about to shake his head, met Anne’s eyes.

“… I guess so, but my skin is good now.”

I quickly changed the subject.

If you had seen his expression, you would have known that he was receiving an unspoken threat.

Elin was so shocked that she didn’t have time to look at it.

“I’ll try to hold it in, it’s sticky.”

“Okay, okay. I have to preserve this precious skin for the rest of my life.”

Anne showed herself in the mirror with a satisfied smile.

“How is it? It’s shinier than usual, right?”

“That’s right.”

Elin’s skin became shiny.

It was so bright that the light was visible.

“Isn’t this better than being all mushy, Princess?”

“Yeah, this is better.”

“So you wash and apply it every day?”

“Okay.”

Anne, who naturally encouraged me to apply lotion every day.

chuck.

He gave a thumbs up so that only Luke could see it.

“That’s amazing.”

Luke was impressed.

I would have liked to have given them a standing ovation.

Not only did she use all the bath products I had never used before, she even took care of my skin.

As expected, my eye for people was not wrong.

“Okay! Then you must have taken a bath. Shall we go and have a delicious breakfast?”

Anne put her hands under Ellen’s armpits and lifted her up.

I was just about to go out.

Thump thump.

A knock was heard outside the door… something vaguely resembling a knock.

“Is there anyone coming?”

Anne put Ellen down on the seat.

“None.”

The Duke can’t be in Bertain.

It’s not even Natia’s knock.

“Well, you’ll know when you go out.”

Anne, who had been walking with slow steps, opened the door.

The person standing in front of him was an unexpected person.

A maid with brown hair and freckles.

A former maid who got into trouble after carelessly throwing away Elin’s rabbit doll.

It was Lara Shanein.

“Who, who are you?”

Lara was startled when she encountered Anne.

“Who are you?”

Anne was also embarrassed.

It was clear that the servants had no interest in Elin.

I didn’t know that another maid would suddenly come looking for me.

A meeting between a predecessor and successor that came about unexpectedly.

“I’m your exclusive maid, Princess. I’m seeing you for the first time. Where do you belong?”

“Aha.”

Anne, realizing the identity, lets out a snicker.

“You were my predecessor?”

“Predecessor…?”

“What a coincidence. I am also the princess’s exclusive maid.”

“… … Yes?”

Anne had already heard everything that happened to Ellen in the bathroom.

“What?”

Instead of explaining it kindly.

He glared sharply at his predecessor who had come shamelessly.