I don’t hate it.
Rather, I like it.
The fact that Ayla wants me in any way is not a bad sign for me.
Actually, love was a feeling I had unilaterally.
And in the past, I had already failed once in love.
I organized my thoughts as best as I could in the warm water.
If that’s the case, let’s make this situation last as long as possible.
The best way is to react the way Ayla wants.
Since it had only been a day since things turned out this way, I still didn’t know exactly how to react.
Plop.
Ayla’s foot touched mine in the bathtub.
When I looked up at Ayla, she was resting her chin on one arm placed on the edge of the bathtub, gazing at me.
“A true master should also know how to read the heart of a tired subordinate.”
“Ayla-nim?”
“Yesterday, it seems like you overexerted yourself while washing my body.”
“…”
“Well, I suppose you just have no particular immunity to another person’s body. It’s understandable for someone who is extremely shy.”
“Alright then, shall I wash you simply this morning?”
“Ayla-nim…?”
“The only thing you can say is ‘Ayla-nim,’ right? Well, it’s not a bad thing, but turn around. Like I did yesterday.”
I sat there blankly for a moment, then followed Ayla’s words and turned around.
“Your hair is sticking to your neck. Could you lift it a little? Like I did yesterday.”
I have short hair.
I keep it at a reasonable length so that it doesn’t get in the way when necessary.
Even if it sticks to my neck a little, it shouldn’t be a problem.
But if I don’t follow Ayla’s words, those words will soon become an order.
Hesitantly, I lifted my hair so that the back of my neck was fully exposed to Ayla’s eyes.
Naturally, my hands rose, exposing my underarms.
For a moment, I heard a faint splashing sound, followed by the sound of something slick being rubbed between fingers.
“……!?”
It’s not the first time Ayla has touched my body, yet I flinched at the sensation of her hand on me.
Just like how I washed Ayla’s body yesterday, she started with my arms and slowly moved downward.
Her touch tickled as it lingered on my underarm for a while, and then—
“…Ah.”
She moved forward.
Her slippery, lathered hand passed over my shoulders, touched my collarbone, and then dangerously moved lower.
Our posture made it seem as though she was embracing me from behind, and a part of Ayla’s body touched my back.
Neither of us was wearing anything.
I barely held myself together.
Though I wasn’t sure what exactly I was holding back.
“Hehe.”
Her hand slowly moved down, touching just below my collarbone.
Her fingers traced along the soft and delicate flesh there before gradually sliding around to my back.
Ayla’s body pulled away.
I let out a small breath.
I barely managed to finish washing up and stepped out of the bath.
Ironically, after such an incident in the morning, my mind felt clearer.
Maybe my heart had raced so much that my blood circulation improved.
Ayla looked even more refreshed.
“Are you done?”
“Yes, Ayla-nim.”
Ayla checked her reflection in the mirror and nodded.
“Good.”
I followed Ayla as she got up from her seat.
However, just as she was about to leave the room, she stopped in place and slightly turned her head toward me.
“As I said yesterday, everything that happens in this room is a secret. No matter what happens, you must never tell anyone.”
“Understood, Ayla-nim. Even if my life is at stake, I will keep the secret.”
“…No, it doesn’t have to go that far.”
When I answered deliberately stiffly, Ayla let out a small sigh.
Was Ayla really okay?
She stayed with me in the bath, held my body.
Yet she acted as if nothing happened when leaving the room.
Wanting my body and yet being able to walk away so casually—
In a way, that was impressive.
When I went down to the lobby, Seila was already there.
“You’re late.”
Of course, there wasn’t any strict schedule in this mansion.
At least with Shadow, the Witch, and the Empress around, there is some way to respond to things.
If those guests weren’t here, Ayla could really just sleep in her room all day without doing anything.
I will do my best to make that possible.
“Yes. I slept in a bit.”
Ayla answered Seila coyly and went down to the lobby.
There was nothing in the hallway leading from the main door to the second floor.
It was a spacious area, large enough to be used as an auditorium.
Near the windows in the lobby, there were a few sets of tables and sofas.
Guests were usually entertained in the reception room, but sometimes, people just wanted to sip tea in the sunlight or absentmindedly watch the rain or snow.
Seila was drinking tea there.
Perhaps Daisy had served it, as there were refreshments on the table, and nearby, Helena and other maids were present.
As Ayla approached, I pulled out a chair across from Seila to make it easier for her to sit.
Soon, Helena also served Ayla tea.
After taking a sip of the strong morning black tea, Ayla looked at Seila again.
“You’ve been up and about since early morning.”
“Of course.”
Seila replied.
“I’m getting a little tired of staying at the villa,
so I’m thinking of moving back to my room.”
For a very brief moment, Seila’s gaze turned to me.
The worried look of a child.
Did she think I was being tormented in Ayla’s room?
Surprisingly, she wasn’t entirely wrong.
She probably hadn’t read all the way to the end of that thin book Ayla was reading yet.
But at the very least, Ayla had been doing things that a woman would never do to another woman.
From an outsider’s perspective, it would definitely look like harassment.
I gently lowered my hands, placed them on my stomach, and pressed down slightly.
The heat from yesterday was gone.
The pleasure I had felt as Ayla’s hands pressed down on that sensitive area was no longer there.
Was there no meaning in doing it myself?
No, feeling that way in a setting like this would only be problematic.
“Anyway, I need a maid to tidy up my room.”
“A maid? Daisy isn’t enough?”
“Daisy is my playmate.”
Daisy, standing behind Seila, held back a laugh.
“I am the most important person in this mansion, so I want the maid assisting me to be the most important as well.”
Seila spoke with confidence.
She didn’t seem to notice, but the only person she spoke to so freely in this mansion, apart from the maids, was Ayla.
Even saying something so direct, Ayla wasn’t getting angry—because Seila had already realized, at least subconsciously, that Ayla wasn’t scary.
She just wasn’t consciously aware of it yet.
“Hmm…”
Ayla deliberately looked around as if she hadn’t noticed anything.
Seila’s intentions were simple.
In stories like this, Seila probably thought of herself as the “protagonist.”
Of course, the “real” protagonist was usually the one being bullied or doing the bullying.
Their stories were the focus, and the rest of the background only existed to support that narrative.
But perhaps due to lingering religious influences, such stories always ended with good triumphing over evil.
After all the suffering was shown in full, the story would rush to an end, the villain who tormented the maid would be punished,
and the maid would be rescued by the protagonist, offering a short thank-you scene.
Fortunately, Seila seemed to prefer playing the rescuer rather than the bully.
Ayla’s gaze turned toward me.
Holding a teacup in one hand, she looked up at me with a faint smile.
“Well… I don’t like that idea.”
“Huh?”
“You said Daisy is your playmate, right?
Luna is my playmate too.”
At some point, Ayla had stopped calling her “Young Lady” and was now simply saying “Seila.”
“Ugh!”
At Ayla’s words, Seila glared at her fiercely.
Of course, it wasn’t intimidating at all.
She didn’t even have the kind of face that could be scary in the first place.
If anything, Ayla would probably look terrifying if she glared.
Had she read my thoughts?
Ayla stared at me intently.
For some reason, tonight felt like it would be a bit exhausting.
“Ugh!”
Just as silence settled over the table, someone suddenly broke the mood—Shadow.
“Oh, everyone’s up already.”
Yawning, Shadow cheerfully came down the stairs and approached the table.
“Hm.”
And right on time, the Empress appeared from one of the guest rooms.
She glanced down at us from the second floor,
then, as if it were the most natural thing, made her way toward the stairs.
I take back what I said earlier.
Not just tonight—this morning already felt exhausting.