After everything had settled, Marquis de Noisette regained his sanity, but much of his mana had been sapped away. He needed time to recover. The real, captured Fenetra had been fed the bare minimum during her imprisonment and was severely malnourished. To help their recovery, their attendants, who had also recently recuperated from the incident, remodeled the underground hall to utilize the natural hot spring that had sprung up from the ground and made a hot bath there for them.
The spring waters had also been drawn into the rooms that we had been staying in, so we were now able to enjoy them.
Today, Parfeil and I were relaxing in the hot spring bath.
“Ahhh...”
There were no words for this level of comfort. The spring waters under the Noisette mansion turned a beautiful milk white upon contact with the air. As we soaked in the spring waters, our skin became as smooth and shiny as pearls. The faint scent of milk also hung in the air. Everything about this room was relaxing.
“It’s only here that the water turns white and smells this nice. How strange,” I remarked.
“It really is...”
I had previously analyzed the health effects of the spring waters here and found that they helped ease nerve pain, muscle pain, and chills. It was the perfect thing to heal bodies exhausted from recent battles.
“Maybe we should name this private bath something special. ‘The Pearl Bath,’ perhaps?” I suggested.
“Sounds great, milady!”
The different color of the spring waters outside the mansion meant they must have originated from a different source.
“All the happiness in the world can be found right here in these hot springs...” I muttered.
“That’s true...”
I had come to Diamant to find a new tourist destination for our people, but I had encountered so much trouble along the way.
“Getting attacked by that giant bear feels like the distant past now,” I said.
“Milady, that was just a few days ago!”
The incident with Streusel had been just so horrible that the Burrowless attack paled in comparison.
After getting up from the bath, we put some Jeweled Snow Hot Spring Lotion onto our skin.
“Parfeil, this is incredible! This lotion is even more effective after you’ve been soaking in the hot springs! My skin feels even smoother than usual!”
“Wow, that’s an amazing discovery!”
I was sure that the dragonkin would love these hot springs. I could hardly wait for the resort to be constructed.
Over the past few days, Van had been very busy dealing with the aftermath of the recent incidents. When he finally visited our room, I hadn’t seen him in three days. I opened the glass door to the balcony, and there he was in his tiny dragon form.
“Mille-Feuille, it’s me.”
“I can see that.”
“You’re quite calm even though we haven’t seen each other for three days,” he remarked.
“That’s just how I am. You know that.”
“Right, right. It seems that I made up a version of you in my head. Since I’ve been so busy that I couldn’t see you, I’d thought you’d gone soft, sweet, and lovey-dovey during that time.”
Van puffed up his chest, proud of his recent efforts, and I carried him to my bed.
“Oh, right, Mille-Feuille. I’ve yet to soak in a bath,” Van said.
“Really? Okay, I’ll ready one for you.”
“Please do!”
Parfeil and I filled a bucket with hot spring water and carried it to the dimly lit bedroom. We put a towel down on the floor and put the bucket on top of it. Then I placed Van inside the bucket.
“Ahh, now that hits the spot... Wait, this is not what I meant!”
“What? You wanted a bath, didn’t you? What’s wrong with this?” I asked.
“Th-This is the kind of bath that mothers would give to their babies!”
“It’s your fault for coming over in your tiny form.”
“Well, yes.”
There’s no longer anyone here who might object to our meetings, so why did he bother transforming into a tiny dragon just to get to me?
I asked him about that.
“Well, while I’m in this form, you hug me close to your chest, don’t you? You’re also much kinder and gentler to me while I’m like this,” he replied.
“So that’s why. I never realized you had such an ulterior motive,” I said.
While we continued our conversation, I washed him with soap. I was unsure how much force I should put into lathering up his soft scales, but Van answered my doubts.
“How relaxing...” he mumbled, but... “I came here expecting to bathe with you, Mille-Feuille!” Van then complained.
“I’d prefer that we take our baths separately.”
“But you take your baths with Parfeil!”
“That’s because she’s like a wet nurse to me.”
“Grrr!”
Anything Van said while in his tiny dragon form automatically became adorable.
How troublesome. I started to feel bad for him, and I almost felt that I should indulge his wishes for a bit. But I shouldn’t be fooled! I reminded myself. No matter how he looked, he was a mature young man who could take his own baths. I didn’t need to grant each and every one of his requests.
“Such a waste,” Van said after a moment of silence.
“Huh?”
“This honeymoon trip feels like such a waste! It’s our special trip, but all my memories involve getting attacked by villagers, sniffing the rotting scent of a dark magic user, and being a big brother to Opera by playing matchmaker for her and Roche!” Van ranted. He fiddled with his claws and looked up at me with teary eyes. “I just thought that it would be nice to take a nice long bath with you. Don’t you think so too?”
“Well...”
I did think that it was a pity that we had come all the way to Diamant and worked so hard without having made any precious memories that one would expect to make during a honeymoon.
“Okay. We can take a bath together,” I conceded.
“Yes! Thank you! I’m so glad I tried asking!”
I feel like I’ve been duped into saying yes, but I’ll let him be for today.
I entered the bath and called Van over. “Van, you can come in now.”
“Okay.” Van walked over, not as his tiny dragon form, but as his usual self. But upon seeing me, he shrieked. “Wh-What is this white, cloudy water?!”
“Oh, didn’t you know? The spring water under the Noisette mansion is pearl white.”
“No! This is the first I’ve heard of this!”
“I thought you saw the spring water spurt out while we were underground,” I said.
“I was preoccupied with fighting Streusel! There’s no way I could pay attention to something like that!”
Why is he so shocked at the milky water? I wonder. I decided to ask him directly.
“That’s because I can’t see you— Ah, achoo!!!”
I told him to get into the hot bath before he caught a cold.
“A-Ahhh... It’s so warm and comfortable here...” Even though Van had been complaining so much, he seemed to love the hot bath.
“Right?” I said. “The people of Diamant must be so happy to have such a luxury every single day.”
“Maybe I should move the capital here. Then, I could enjoy baths like this with you all the time.”
“You better not. Besides, I’m not taking a bath with you every single day.”
“N-No way!” Van whined, and I giggled at how disappointed he seemed.
Our honeymoon had been such a rocky time, but I was happy that we got to enjoy this hot spring bath at the end.
And with that, our honeymoon came to an end. We returned to the capital bringing with us word of a new, upcoming tourist destination as a souvenir for all dragonkin.