The Night Without a Healer (2)

After submitting the boss monster materials-no, the sealing stone containing the sealed boss monster-to Professor Mamari once again today, we returned to the fourth villa.

Dina, who welcomed Ethan and me back, immediately noticed Ethan’s discomfort the moment we entered the villa.

‘Your left shoulder seems troubled, Prince Ethan. Were you injured during battle?’

“Yeah. Just asking, but is there a church or a priest nearby?”

‘The nearest church is an eight-hour carriage ride away. However, since horses aren’t nocturnal, I wouldn’t recommend driving a carriage in the dark.’

“…I see. That’s about what I expected.”

‘I apologize for not being of more help. But if you need a muscle relaxation potion for your injury, I can retrieve one from the storage.’

“Then I’d appreciate one bottle, Dina. All I have right now is a wound recovery potion.”

‘Understood, Miss Lilith.’

With the muscle relaxation potion received from Dina, Ethan and I tried to alleviate his injury as much as possible.

Of course, one or two potions wouldn’t completely heal the wound. If they could, churches wouldn’t be so prosperous in this world to begin with.

For now, I wrapped Ethan’s arm with a compression bandage, though I didn’t expect it to be very effective.

‘Dinner is ready, Prince Ethan, Miss Lilith.’

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Dina.”

‘Once you finish your meal, I’ll prepare the bath so you can wash up immediately.’

With those words, Dina guided us to the dining room and promptly left.

And so, I sat beside Ethan and began feeding him.

“Young Master Ethan, say ‘ah’.”

“…I can eat by myself, Lilith. It’s just my left arm that’s hurt.”

“But you also wielded a two-handed sword with an unfamiliar grip today, didn’t you? Your right arm might be on the verge of strain too. So, at least until tomorrow’s final battle, you should preserve your health as much as possible, and as your personal maid, it’s my duty to assist you in that.”

“…I don’t think eating a meal will make things worse, Lilith.”

“Bad luck can break your nose even if you just trip backward. Does it bother you if I feed you like this?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

We bickered briefly about whether he should let me feed him, but eventually, Ethan obediently opened his mouth and continued eating.

‘Ah, if you need anything else during the meal, feel free to…’

“Ah…”

“……”

‘Excuse me.’

Dina briefly entered midway, saw our affectionate display, and hastily retreated-but in any case, the meal ended with me feeding Ethan bite by bite.

After that, naturally, it was time to wash the grime off our bodies from today’s battle, so Ethan and I entered the same changing room as yesterday.

“I can undress by myself, Lilith.”

“But I can undress you too. If it’s something only you can do, I won’t interfere, but for anything I can handle in your stead, you must leave it to me.”

“This feels like overprotectiveness…”

Overprotectiveness was fine. It was far better than seeing Ethan get hurt further.

Especially since the presumed final boss, the Halif Queen, would be difficult to face without Ethan in peak condition, so I had to do everything I could to restore his body to its best state.

…This absolutely wasn’t because I wanted to be affectionate with Ethan during the meal or because I got excited about undressing him with my own hands.

“Hah, Y-young Master Ethan, you’ve sweated so much…”

“Well, I’ve been running around all day. Who knew the undead in the Grave of the Dead would be so active?”

“Y-you’ve sweated this much, so you must wash thoroughly today, Young Master Ethan. I-I can’t imagine how you’d manage without me…”

“I could bathe just fine even in this state…”

-Sniiif.

“…Lilith?”

“Hyaaahk?!”

No, this is a misunderstanding.

I just happened to have Ethan’s freshly removed shirt in my hands and wanted to smell it out of curiosity.

It wasn’t because I liked Ethan’s scent or anything-this was purely simple curiosity.

“Lilith? Why did you suddenly…?”

“P-please don’t misunderstand, Young Master Ethan! I was just curious about the scent left on your clothes!”

“Isn’t that weird? There’s nothing to misunderstand here…”

“N-no! W-what I meant was… I-I was checking your health condition through your bodily scent…!”

“……Huh?”

“T-the concentration and composition of sweat and secretions vary depending on whether your organs are functioning properly. For example, a healthy person’s sweat smells different from an unhealthy person’s… A-and…”

…I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.

I was just making excuses to shake off the overwhelming embarrassment, but honestly, it didn’t feel very convincing.

“So, smelling my clothes is also part of a personal maid’s duties?”

“……”

“Lilith?”

“…I’m sorry. I was just curious about the scent left on your clothes.”

…When lies don’t work, a quick apology is the answer.

Rather than digging myself deeper with strange excuses, I hastily changed my tune.

“You ended up admitting it anyway…”

“…I’m sorry. It was an unconscious action, but I thought you might despise me for it.”

“There’s no reason to despise you for something like this now. We’ve already shown each other much more embarrassing things.”

“…That’s true.”

“But, Lilith. Do you always smell my clothes when doing laundry?”

“I don’t do it normally. I wouldn’t even think about it unless it’s freshly removed. So please don’t get any strange ideas, Young Master Ethan.”

“It was a perfectly reasonable question…”

Ignoring Ethan’s absurd suspicions, I finished undressing him, then removed my own clothes.

Just as we were about to enter the bath together so I could wash Ethan-whose arm was still injured-he was staring blankly at the laundry basket.

“Young Master Ethan?”

“……”

-Sniiif.

“What are you doing-“

-Sniff sniff.

“KYAAAAAAH?!”

Ethan suddenly picked up my underwear and started sniffing it.

A girlish scream naturally escaped my lips at the absurdity of his actions.

“W-w-w-what are you doing, Young Master Ethan?! H-how could you do something so shameless with my underwear?!”

“…After hearing what you just said, I got curious too.”

“E-even so, how could you-! P-put it down right now!”

“Well, technically, you started it first…”

Ethan looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, “This is ridiculous,” before finally putting my underwear down.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After the brief commotion in the changing room where we satisfied our curiosity about each other’s scents,

Ethan and I sat side by side in the bath and began washing up in earnest.

“I can wash myself, Lilith.”

“But I can wash you too, Young Master Ethan.”

“…Sigh, fine, I get it.”

Realizing further resistance was futile, Ethan obediently let me wash him.

First, I washed his hair, then moved to his neck, shoulders, and arms, followed by his back and waist.

After that, I turned my attention to his well-developed pectorals and defined abs, carefully scrubbing the sensitive area between his abdomen and thighs.

If I wasn’t careful, he might get hurt, and given how intricate the area was, I had to be thorough and precise…

“L-Lilith…”

“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“A-aren’t you touching me too much…? Your hands are lingering in one spot for too long…”

“…It’s a critical area, so I’m being extra careful, Young Master Ethan. If I accidentally grip too hard, something terrible might happen.”

“What you’re doing right now already feels dangerous enough…”

I ignored Ethan’s lewd mutterings-clearly influenced by his dirty mind-and focused solely on washing him.

As I rubbed the soap, I could feel his member growing larger in my hands, but I steadfastly ignored the lewd sensations it brought.

Just in case there’s any misunderstanding, I absolutely wasn’t having any weird thoughts.