CHAPTER 2
A CLAN OF SEEKERS
The chirping of birds outside her window made Leticiel sit up in bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Some time had passed since her negotiations with the king, and it had already been a few days since she had moved into her new manor.
Leticiel narrowed her eyes slightly from the bright morning sunlight streaming into her room. It had been impossible for her to sleep deeply in her previous life and now with a change in bedrooms in this life, she was once again experiencing shallow sleep, albeit for the first time in a while.
“I think I might have slept in…” The morning sun rising through the gap in her curtains was higher than usual, letting her know that she had, surprisingly, did just that. But since she’d felt wide awake after going to get a glass of water in the middle of the night, it made sense.
The manor Oswald had prepared for her was a small two-story house with a calming atmosphere. It was a fifteen-minute carriage ride from the capital and was about one-third the size of the duke’s manor. It also had a small garden and was such a nice property that Leticiel could hardly believe her eyes.
Her new bedroom was smaller than the one she’d had in the duke’s manor, but it still had a dressing room and its own bathroom attached, so structurally, it wasn’t that different. Taking a change of clothes from the nightstand next to her bed, Leticiel headed to the bathroom. Since the temperature was rising along with summer’s approach, it was becoming normal for her to sweat in her sleep. That was why she always took a quick bath in the morning to wash the sweat off.
“Good morning, my lady. Are you awake?” Nicole’s voice could be heard along with a knock on her door just as Leticiel was about to open the bathroom door.
“Yes, I’m awake. Come in,” Leticiel replied. Nicole entered and her eyes widened when she saw where Leticiel was headed.
“My lady, were you going to bathe on your own?” she asked.
“Yes, I was…”
“Could it be that you get out after just quickly washing your body off?”
“Y-Yes.”
“That’s no good, my lady! Such a quick bath isn’t long enough to get rid of your fatigue!”
“Huh?”
“If you’re going to take a bath, it’s important to create an environment in which you can relax and release yourself of your everyday exhaustion. I’ll get the bath ready right away, so please wait!”
“Uhhh…”
Nicole flew out of the room before Leticiel could argue. Then she ran back and forth in front of a bewildered Leticiel, sometimes slipping and falling while getting things for the bath ready.
Leticiel usually woke up early and bathed before Nicole and Ruvik would come to wake her up, but since she had slept in today, Nicole had caught her.
“Okay, my lady, I apologize for the wait! Your bath is ready!”
Leticiel swallowed the urge to ask if she really needed to take a full-fledged bath first thing in the morning. Nicole had gotten everything ready for her, so it would be rude to dismiss her hard work.
“How is the temperature, my lady?”
“It’s fine,” Leticiel replied, immersed up to her neck in a bathtub from which white steam rose. Nicole stood behind her, smoothing perfumed oil into her silver hair. Bathing in this era was done by pouring boiling water into a large container called a bathtub, diluting it with cool water, and then soaking in it. Some people would even take flower baths with petals floating on the surface of the water.
Though she had been in this world for two months and gotten used to it already, bathing in hot water had been a major cultural shock for Leticiel. She remembered the astonishment she’d felt when she saw a bathroom for the first time. Since saunas had been the norm in her time, one thousand years ago, she was mildly impressed.
With Nicole’s help, she finished washing off quickly and got out of the bathtub. Nicole immediately wrapped her in a bath towel, but the maid let out a small, surprised, “Oh…” as if she’d found something.
“Nicole? What is it?”
“Oh, nothing… I just didn’t know you had a mark like this on your back.”
Leticiel twisted her neck to try and see what Nicole was referencing to, but naturally, she couldn’t see her own back. “A mark? I have one?”
“Yes. Right in the center of your back… There’s a strangely-shaped mark about where your heart might be.” Though she pondered out loud what it could be, Nicole didn’t comment on the mark any further. Leticiel had no idea what it looked like, but her brow furrowed when she remembered that she had committed suicide by piercing her own heart in her previous life.
Of course, since Drossell and Leticiel’s bodies were different, the mark was just a coincidence. To calm herself, Leticiel scooped up water from the bathtub and splashed it on her face. The warmth of the hot water seeped into her skin, relaxing her clouded heart just a tiny bit.
After completing her relaxing bath, Leticiel got changed and returned to her bedroom. As usual, she used warm air to dry her hair by herself.
“Now that I’m feeling better, I’d like to have breakfast. May I go and make something?”
“What?! No, no! Don’t worry, I’ll make something! Please wait in the dining room, my lady!”
“O-Okay…”
As she had requested, Ruvik and Nicole were the only servants at her new residence. So naturally, there was no chef. Leticiel had offered to cook every day since she had moved in, but she was turned down every time.
Having been firmly rejected, Leticiel reticently watched Nicole’s back as she headed toward the kitchen. She was used to cooking in her previous life so it was no big deal to her, but…