Chapter 259

Chapter 259

“Shall we go in, Your Majesty?”

I couldn’t bear to have the naked Emperor in front of my gaze, so I went ahead and entered the bathroom. As expected of a bathhouse for the Emperor, it was incredibly spacious and luxurious, even though it was meant for just one person.

However, contrary to its splendor, the maids who were supposed to manage the bathhouse had either died in Glen’s attack, fled, or were hiding, leaving the spacious bathroom empty.

Before getting into the bath, I headed to the shower area to wash my dust-covered body. Even though the only person who would be using this bathhouse was Emperor Cecilia, there were surprisingly multiple shower facilities.

Since I needed to shower anyway, I found a spot and started washing myself. I thoroughly soaked my body, washed my hair, and cleaned myself using the provided products. As expected of products used by the Emperor, the scent was very pleasant.

“Your Majesty…?”

However, while I was washing myself, Cecilia just stood there, not letting a single drop of water touch her body.

“Didn’t I tell you? You are to attend my bath today.”

“…?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what Cecilia was saying. Of course, I had followed her to attend her bath, but what did that have to do with her not getting a drop of water on her body?

“If you’re done washing, don’t just stand there blankly. Hurry up and wash my body thoroughly, every nook and cranny. Do I have to tell you everything?”

“Yes…?”

At the Emperor’s words, I was momentarily flustered and involuntarily asked again. Of course, since I wasn’t the Emperor herself, I had no way of knowing how she lived her life. But even so, would she really rely on someone else’s hands to wash her own body?

However, since Cecilia had no reason to lie to me, it was likely that she, as the Emperor, actually entrusted the task of washing her body to her maids.

“Ah, and don’t use a towel, as it might damage my skin.”

Ultimately, having already promised to attend to her, I had no choice but to follow her words and approached her from behind.

First, I thoroughly wet her body with water. I worried if the water was too hot or if water would get into her ears, but fortunately, she showed no signs of discomfort.

Next, I started lathering her hair with shampoo. Her hair, always tied back, was now let down, flowing long past her shoulders.

Of course, I had to wash her hair with a more delicate touch than I would my own, but it wasn’t a difficult task.

The truly difficult part was next.

After washing her hair, the next step was naturally to wash her body. If I could use a towel, it wouldn’t be so bad, but the Emperor herself explicitly stated not to use one, saying it would damage her skin. This meant I had to use my bare hands.

“Is there a problem?”

I had squeezed a generous amount of liquid soap into my hands, but as I hesitated to touch her body, I heard her voice urging me on. In the end, I closed my eyes tightly and reached out to her body.

I placed my hands on her shoulders. Was it the smooth soap, or her skin? To quell my inner turmoil, I closed my eyes, but limiting my sight only made the sensation of my fingertips touching her body more acute.

With one hand on her shoulder and the other under her armpit, I slowly washed her forearm, down to her fingertips. For a moment, she intertwined her fingers with mine, surprising me, but she soon released them, perhaps to lather soap between her fingers.

After finishing lathering with the other hand, I moved my hands to her back.

I slowly traced her smooth, shapely back from top to bottom, meticulously lathering every inch. However, with my eyes closed, I didn’t know how far down to go, and I almost put my hand between her buttocks, startling me and causing me to pull my hand away.

My hands, having thoroughly lathered her back, then moved to her waist. My hands, encircling her waist as if embracing her from behind, washed her stomach. In the process, I lightly caressed her navel with a single finger, as if tickling her.

Following her stomach, I slowly moved down her sides to her hips, and then further down. I felt the firm touch of her thighs, continuing from her hips, against my fingertips. Without stopping, I moved further down from her thighs, starting to lather from above her knees. When I tickled her soles, she wriggled her toes as if she was ticklish.

Now, every part of her body that I could reach had been lathered. I removed my hands from her body and took a step back.

“Hmm? The lathering isn’t finished yet?”

“B-but, shouldn’t the remaining parts be handled by Your Majesty yourself…?”

Even so, how could I wash the most embarrassing parts of a woman’s body? I’m not even the same gender, and I was originally male.

“Hmph… Is your sense of responsibility only this much? In the end, your loyalty towards me was just empty words.”

However, our Emperor doesn’t seem to think so. Even though she knows full well that I was originally male, and even though I’m in a woman’s body now, she doesn’t see me as a man at all and demands that I finish washing her, with a mocking tone.

How could I refuse when she speaks like that? In the end, I was the one who had to surrender.

I don’t know why the person being touched should feel more embarrassed than the person doing the touching, but I suppressed my embarrassment and reached for her chest.

The soft yet firm touch of her breasts. As expected, with my eyes closed, it felt even more sensitive.

From below her breasts to above. And then from above to below again. Something snagged my fingers in the middle, but I pretended not to notice and quickly finished lathering, then removed my hands.

Next, I reached for another spot that hadn’t been lathered.

I slid my hand along her buttocks and into the space between her legs. Even if Cecilia was unbothered, I was the one who was bothered. I couldn’t touch her explicitly, so I just brushed past with the back of my hand as I lathered.

Yes. It wasn’t my fingertips, so I didn’t feel it properly. I’ve done all I could. Of course, I felt a slight ticklish sensation in the process, but let’s not question what it was.

“Th-then, I shall rinse off the soap now.”

To prevent Cecilia from asking for more, I quickly turned on the water and poured it over her body.

Fortunately, Cecilia didn’t seem to feel any discomfort and said nothing.

Despite all that happened, we managed to wash her body. Now it was time to get into the bath. However, another problem arose here.

As this is the Emperor’s bathhouse, the water in the tub should always be kept warm so it can be used at any time.

But as mentioned earlier, all the maids who managed the bathhouse had fled due to Glen’s attack, so the water that should have been warm had already cooled down to lukewarm.

“It seems the temperature-maintenance magic has worn off. Please wait a moment.”

It was impossible to let Cecilia get into water this cold. I asked for her understanding and quickly manipulated the controls to turn on the hot water. The facilities were good, and hot water gushed out, but given the size of the tub, it would take quite some time to heat up.

Meanwhile, I felt a gaze fixed on me from behind. As a former assassin, I was sensitive to detecting presences, so there was no possibility of it being a mistake.

If it were the other way around, perhaps, but as Emperor, she had no reason to stare at my naked body, which was also female. Then, why was she staring at me intently?

It must be to urge me on, of course.

Even though I had poured warm water on her once, if she stood still while wet, her body would cool down, and she would feel cold. Beyond the sharp gaze, I could feel her anger rising.

Her gaze, which seemed to pierce every inch of my body, felt like the Emperor’s reprimand, scolding me. But since it wasn’t my fault, I put on a thick skin and pretended not to notice her gaze, turning my back to her as if checking the water temperature.

How long did this uncomfortable time last? By now, the water was warm enough to get in, so I informed her.

“I think the water is ready now! Your body must be very cold, so please get in quickly.”

“…Yes. Let’s do that.”

However, unlike her earlier urgency, she replied with a listless expression. Well, she knew it wasn’t my fault that the water had cooled down.

Fortunately, the water temperature seemed to be just right for her, as her face quickly took on a relaxed expression as soon as she submerged herself in the water.

“Why are you just sitting there blankly? Aren’t you coming in too?”

“Me… too?”

“Is there anyone else here besides you? Stop making that stupid face and come in quickly.”

I was also feeling chilly, so I couldn’t refuse her consideration and went into the bath. It wasn’t just a bathtub; it was the size of a large public bathhouse, so there was no way it would be cramped even with one more person.

“Hmm? Why are you sitting so far away?”

However, as soon as I sat down in the bath, Cecilia asked me. As she said, I had sat as far away from her as possible.

“B-because, Your Majesty might feel uncomfortable if I’m too close…”

Of course, the real reason I sat so far away was to protect my conscience. My hands still retained the soft sensation of touching her body, and I couldn’t bring myself to sit close by.

“You seem to have forgotten while attending to my bath, but your current role is protection. If you sit so far away, how can you protect me in case of an emergency?”

Cecilia seemed quite shaken by today’s events, worrying about any potential emergencies.

Of course, with my skills, this distance is nothing. But if, as she said, an emergency were to occur and something happened to her, it would be a big problem.

Moreover, I couldn’t just leave the Emperor’s anxiety unattended. In the end, I got up and moved closer to her.

I sat right next to her and leaned back, but while my body was comfortable, my mind was anything but.

If I just rolled my eyes slightly, her fair skin would glimpse into my vision. Unfortunately, the bathwater only reached up to my chest, so every time the water rippled, it created a precarious situation where it was almost visible. The memory of her touch from earlier resurfaced, so I quickly looked up.

“Elysia.”

“Yes, Yes!”

Cecilia suddenly spoke to me. Just as I was lost in thought, her voice reached me, and I involuntarily shouted back in a loud voice.

“Do you know what kind of power you used today?”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind at all and got straight to the point. The power she was referring to was likely the power I displayed while fighting the Imperial Knights.

I had let it slide during the battle, but now that I thought about it, there were many questions.

The longer the battle went on, the more tired I should have become, but I actually moved more and more easily.

I unleashed stronger blows and dodged enemy attacks more nimbly. My attacks always hit, and enemy attacks always missed.

It wasn’t just that my strength was greater or my speed was faster. It was a power on a different level.

“Power wielded unconsciously… Perhaps Your Majesty has a guess?”

Unlike me, who couldn’t even guess, the Emperor seemed to have an idea. Come to think of it, when the Emperor rebuked Ferrent, her voice carried a similar aura to the power I had wielded.

“Do you want to hear it?”

“Of course. If I can learn the true nature of that power, it will undoubtedly be a great help in defeating the Demon King.”

“Hmm…”

But despite my earnest plea, she only let out a thoughtful groan. Whether it was difficult to explain or she simply didn’t want to tell me, I was the one who was disappointed.

“Please, Your Majesty.”

“Come to think of it, your hands are very soft for hands that have held a sword.”

Instead, she changed the subject by bringing up a completely unrelated topic.

“I enjoy massages whenever I bathe.”

Cecilia suddenly sat up. I instinctively turned my head towards her, then, startled, turned my head back in the opposite direction.

The sound of her wet footsteps as she stepped out of the water echoed quietly in the bathroom. Soon, after a few steps, her footsteps stopped.

“If you want to hear it so badly, then give me a massage while I tell you.”

…Oh God, to what extent will you test me?