The Maid and the Master – 4

Before reading today’s chapter, I would appreciate it if you could play a barbershop shaving ASMR video on YouTube or somewhere similar.

As the sun prepared to return home and crimson hues began to paint the sky, Emma went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

She patted her chest with her palm, promising to serve a delicious meal for her master, who had regained his strength.

Inho was resting in the armchair, watching the setting sun through the window.

“The day isn’t over yet. It usually goes by so fast.”

He muttered, recalling the incidents and accidents he had been caught up in.

“Hmm….”

Sipping the tea Emma had made for him, he rocked back and forth.

The joints of the wood creaked.

“Good. This is nice too.”

He slurped, the warm liquid gently moistening his throat as it went down.

Not too hot, not lukewarm, but just the right temperature.

He was dumbfounded, as this was the first time he had received such treatment since he was the Young Cult Leader of the Black Heaven Cult.

“It’s a shame about this body, though.”

Inho examined his wrinkled face and hands.

And the prickly beard covering the area below his nose.

He glanced at his face reflected in the mirror on the table.

If he took good care of it, he could have a wonderful beard, but beards weren’t really his thing.

“It would be nice to have a razor. Forget Gillette, I wonder what I can use to shave here.”

Unlike the constant, headache-inducing survival strategies he had to consider after the Dimensional Shift, this time he spent his time with slightly trivial thoughts.

Perhaps because his body was old, he felt the day was incredibly long.

“This Dimensional Shift is definitely Emma.”

The person connected to his death must be Emma.

The basis for his deduction was that Emma hadn’t left the mansion when she wasn’t getting paid, which most people would have done.

Of course, she might simply be a person with a strong sense of loyalty, but the hardships Inho had experienced were not so insignificant as to allow him to entertain such naive thoughts.

“How will I die?”

He thought about his end.

The first thing that came to mind was death by overexertion during sex.

Emma, for some unknown reason, goes berserk and demands physical intimacy, forcing a relationship that leads to his death. It was certainly possible, given his old man’s body.

“If it’s death by overexertion during sex, isn’t that a decent death?”

Considering the ways he had died so far, Inho nodded to himself, thinking it would be a rather merciful end.

Indeed, it would be a hundred or a thousand times better than being stabbed to death, having his head explode from a palm strike, or dying of thirst from lack of water.

“Besides, with this body, it’s hard to wander around alone.”

Emma had said he had regained his strength, but Inho was currently in a very uncomfortable state.

It was similar to the feeling of finally returning home after working for three days and nights straight.

He felt weak and everything was a chore.

It was as if he was moving with heavy Sandbags tied to his arms and legs.

“Let’s stay home as much as possible. If I want to get some fresh air, the garden in front of the house will do.”

Looking through the window, it seemed to be a large mansion, even if it was old.

There would certainly be a course for taking a walk within the mansion grounds.

‘Stay as quiet as possible and do nothing.’

This was Inho’s conclusion after much thought.

Knock knock.

“Master, dinner is ready.”

“Yeah, come in.”

The door opened, and Emma wheeled in a cart.

The savory aroma of the food tickled Inho’s nose.

As Emma pulled out the bedside table next to the bed, Inho said to Emma.

“Emma. I’m sorry, but could I ask you a favor?”

“Sorry? Master, please feel free to speak. I am your loyal maid, after all.”

“I’m sorry to have you bring the food all the way here. But could we eat dinner in the dining room?”

Inho suggested, feeling that eating in bed would make him look even more like a patient.

“That’s a good idea, Master.”

It must have been hard to wheel the cart upstairs. Emma didn’t show any annoyance and took the dinner she had brought up back down to the dining room.

Five minutes later, Emma, having finished preparing the meal, came to his room again.

“Master, I will escort you to the dining room.”

Emma held out her hand, but Inho got up from the armchair without taking it.

Emma quickly approached and offered her arm.

“You need support, don’t you?”

“Hmm… no. I’ll try walking on my own. I’ll grab you if I feel like I’m going to fall.”

When Inho refused with a smile, Emma also smiled and maintained a reasonable distance.

‘Ugh. It’s not working out as I want. How did I move when I went to get water earlier…’

Inho muttered inwardly and carefully took a step.

It took time to go down the stairs from the second floor to the first floor, but when Inho managed to descend on his own, Emma, who was beside him, opened her mouth with an emotional tone.

“For Master to become this healthy… Today is the best day for me.”

“Haha. Thank you.”

With an awkward smile, Inho entered the dining room.

After finishing his meal and washing up, Inho returned to his room.

Perhaps because returning to his room had been quite a workout, the slight bloating he had felt was now gone. It seemed he had digested the food.

He looked out the window again.

Complete darkness had fallen on the street outside the window.

The sparse gas lamps cast a faint light, but it was not enough to clear away the darkness, nature’s blanket.

Rubbing his prickly beard again, Inho sat in the armchair.

‘I’ll spend some time like this and then go to sleep.’

Just as he thought that, Emma entered the room.

“Master. Are you asleep?”

It seemed she had finished washing the dishes and cleaning the dining room.

“No, not yet.”

“If you’re not going to sleep right away, may I help you with something?”

“Huh? With what?”Thud thud

Emma’s footsteps moved from behind to in front.”

Before Inho knew it, Emma was holding a small knife in her hand.

Inho flinched at the sight of the knife, and Emma stepped back slightly at his reaction.

“Y-you weren’t surprised, were you?”

“Ah, no. Well… that knife? What’s that?”

When Inho spoke again, Emma let out a sigh of relief and approached Inho again, as much as she had moved away.

“It’s a razor.”

“A razor?”

“Yes. I used to trim Master’s beard, but after your symptoms worsened, you became afraid of knives. So I couldn’t tidy it up for you.”

“That’s good. I was a little concerned about my beard. Can you clean it up nicely?”

Inho, having roughly grasped the situation, nodded in understanding.

“Of course.”

Emma said confidently.

Emma poured boiling water onto a towel and waited for a moment.

Soon, after placing her hand on it and confirming that it was at a suitable temperature, she wrapped the towel around Inho’s philtrum and chin.

The towel was wrapped like a mummy, leaving only Inho’s nostrils exposed.

After tilting the chair back to a semi-reclined position, Emma put the solvent in a small wooden bowl and swirled a brush made of animal hair.

Car camping car camping car camping

Making a sound that tickled the ears, foam began to form in the wooden bowl.

Emma squeezed the brush with enough foam, then foamed it again and repeated.

The more she repeated the action, the more foam was produced, and the particles became finer.

Emma removed the towel that covered Inho’s face.

After checking the moist state of his beard, Emma began to apply foam to his beard.

The foam began to be applied, and Emma carefully applied the foam so that there were no empty spaces.

Emma put a lot of effort into the work, and soon the area below Inho’s philtrum was covered with white foam without any gaps.

She took out the razor she had brought.

Then, she fixed the leather belt to one side of the desk and pulled the belt taut with her other hand.

She rubbed the razor back and forth against the leather belt.

Slick, slick, slick, slick

Emma, who was working, held up the razor and brought it to her eyes.

“Hmm….”

Emma, having checked the raised blade, walked lightly and positioned herself at Inho’s head.

First, the goal was the fine hairs on his face.

She gently scraped the fine hairs that had risen slightly on his forehead and cheeks with the blade.

Crunch crunch crunch

A pleasant sound was heard.

She rubbed the hairs attached to the blade on a towel placed next to her to remove them.

Next, the beard from below his neck to his chin.

As Emma leaned her body slightly, her chest lightly brushed against Inho’s forehead.

Emma, unconcerned about such things, raised the blade slowly upwards from below her neck.

Swoosh swoosh

Each time she raised the blade, the thickly grown beard was cleanly cut off.

Emma wiped the cut hairs on a towel and carefully cut her master’s chin beard.

In the middle, she re-applied the brush to the areas where the foam was lacking.

Cutting the beard with a blade, applying the brush, cutting again, applying.

“Hmm.Emma smiled with satisfaction, as if he had returned to his usual wonderful appearance, not the appearance of a weak old man.

After taking the towel again and wiping off the remaining foam on his face, she soaked a cotton pad with disinfectant and carefully rubbed it on the shaved area.

Emma’s hand movements were very careful, as if she was worried that her master would feel sore.

“……”

Inho had already been asleep since earlier, so her efforts were unnecessary.

Originally, she would have left a beard along the lines, but at Inho’s strong request, she neatly trimmed his beard.

Emma blushed at her master’s face, which looked much younger compared to before.

“Master, I’m done.”

Emma whispered into Inho’s ear, but Inho showed no sign of waking up.

Emma tried to wake her master a few more times, but her master continued to sleep.

“I can’t help it.”

Emma supported Inho’s neck with her arm and supported the back of his knees with her other arm.

When she lifted her bent waist, Inho was lifted as he was in a princess carry.

Normally, her master’s light weight would have weighed heavily on her heart, but today Emma did not despair.

Emma carefully moved her master to the bed and pulled the blanket up to her master’s neck.

“Have a good night. My lovely master.”

Emma greeted him, placing her lips on Inho’s forehead.