“Ack!” I gasped, sinking down into the watery depths so that only my head peeked out. “You came in so naturally that I almost allowed you to! Mr. Julius, I’m taking a bath here!”
He was busy washing his hair and body using a showerhead on the wall (an item that was very similar to the alchemy item that I’d made). He didn’t say a word.
Can he not see me or something? Maybe he coincidentally chose the one I was in—we’ve only got a few tubs here. Maybe he intended to bathe alone, but I just happened to be there. Is that what this is? No… No, it can’t be. But if it was, I’d feel bad for taking up the tub he wanted first.
“I can tell,” Mr. Julius said wearily, glancing at me.
I’m sorry, excuse me? Why do you look so exasperated? I don’t understand you at all. What was clear was that he decided to bathe here despite knowing that it was occupied by me. But why? Unlike our home in Astria, we had plenty of bathtubs to choose from in this inn.
“Those rose petals don’t suit you, huh?” he commented. “When you’re buried under those roses, I feel like I’d lose sight of you.”
“Are you trying to call me plain?” I accused.
“I’m just saying that the petals are too vibrant for you.”
I tugged at my damp hair. My strawberry-blonde hair was too pale for the vividly red rose petals. He might have a point… While I was agreeing with his statement, Mr. Julius was showing off his perfect physique in all its glory, water dripping from his flawlessly chiseled body. I decided to muster up the courage to complain one more time.
He might’ve been used to seeing my body, but that didn’t give him permission to see it whenever he liked. I knew that I lacked sex appeal, but I still had the right to feel embarrassed or flustered when showing my naked body. Does he actually see me as a dragon or something? I’m not sure anymore.
“So, you knew I’ve occupied this bath, and yet you still came in?” I asked. “Why? We’ve got other tubs available.”
He pushed his dripping wet, blond hair back. “Do you want to hear an excuse or my real thoughts?”
Clearly, sex appeal was the one thing he didn’t lack. He had plenty to spare in that department. I feel like if I took a sexiness poll with the people of the city, Mr. Julius would win by a unanimous vote. The countless number of scars on his body didn’t take away from his beauty—in fact, it further accentuated his muscles, free of any excess fat, and made him look handsomer still. If I compare my naked body to his, I feel absolutely worthless. It makes me want to pray to him to improve my looks.
Mr. Julius’s question caught me off guard and, in my panic, I tried to escape reality for a moment. I thought I was taking a comfortable dip in the bathtub, but I felt like my body was boiling. My face grew so warm that I was starting to feel dizzy.
“U-Um, whichever you wish!” I cried.
He’d finished washing his body and confidently entered the tub along with me. I had the complete opposite reaction and sheepishly fled to the corner of the bathtub while hugging my knees and curling into a ball. I was trying to make myself as small as I possibly could.
The rose bathtub may have been too magnificent for me, but it suited Mr. Julius very well—so well, in fact, that I felt like the tub was made specifically for him. I knew that handsome men suited all types of clothing, but I didn’t expect a tub full of roses to look good on him too.
“I want to hurry up and take a bath so I can get a drink,” he said. “I can’t use magic, and it’s a pain to dry off my body and hair without you, so I thought taking a bath together would be efficient. That’s my excuse. Since you’re my master, I’ve got a duty to check and see if you’ve got any fresh wounds on your body. That’s…also an excuse.”
“So they’re both excuses,” I pointed out.
These “excuses” were actually par for the course for Mr. Julius. They aren’t his true thoughts, though, right? He always seemed to honestly speak his mind, but I wondered if he kept some of his thoughts hidden away. Then what are his real thoughts?
“They’re both my real thoughts and my excuses as well,” he admitted. “But…if I were to be blatantly honest, seeing your reactions is very fun for me.”
“You’ve got a bit of a mean streak then, don’t you?” I replied while puffing out my cheeks. So, you decided to barge in on my bathtime, one of my greatest joys in life, just to tease me? Curse you!
“Being with you puts me at ease,” Mr. Julius muttered after he flashed a faint smile at my pouting face.
“Even inside of the bath?” I asked.
“Yeah. When you bought me, the first thing you did was bathe me. I guess it’s now ingrained into me that I’m supposed to take a bath with you.”
“You sound like a newborn chick that’s been imprinted and chasing me around like I’m your mom,” I mumbled in a muffled voice while I covered my face with both of my hands.
Ugh, I’m no good. I find this side of him adorable. Hearing him say that made me want to forgive him for anything he did. I was tempted to wash his hair for him again.
“I guess it can’t be helped,” I relented. “I’ll take a bath with you in the future too.”
“It’s all your fault,” he insisted. “In other words, you don’t really have the right to refuse.”
I raised my head, removing my hands from my face with a sigh. “Isn’t that a bit too unreasonable for you to say?”
But it’s a rare sight to see him surrounded by roses. I guess I’ll forgive him just this once. He didn’t seem like the type to take the initiative and prepare a rose bath to take a dip in, even if he suited it so well.
“Then why don’t I wash your hair for you next time?” I offered.
“Sure,” he replied.
I didn’t know what thoughts ran through his head when I washed his hair the first time, but he did look like he was comfortable. That made me inexplicably happy, and I was a bit relieved when he accepted my offer. Thank goodness.
When we first met, I was rather forceful and quite desperate myself. I was glad that my actions didn’t hurt him somehow. Mr. Julius, who was leisurely taking a bath right in front of me, exuding elegance and grace, gestured for me to approach him. The tub was large and there was indeed some distance between me and him; I didn’t know what to do, even if he motioned for me to approach him. And so, I decided to pretend like I didn’t notice. I was hugging my knees, but the rose bath still felt good on my tired body.
“Chloe,” he said, finally calling out my name.
What? Does he need something from me? We might be a bit apart, but I can still hear his voice. I reluctantly turned toward him. Is there something he wants to show me? No, probably not. We’re taking a bath!
“What?” I asked.
“Show me your face. The rose petals are so vibrant that I feel like I might lose sight of you.”
“You’re lying! I’m not that plain, I’ll have you know! Wait… I think. Right? You’re not being serious, are you?”
Urk… I don’t know if he’s joking or being serious. He didn’t have a mischievous grin on his face, and he looked serious. If a bathtub of roses caused him to lose sight of me, I feared that I’d turn completely invisible in the middle of a rose garden with blooming flowers.
I remember a rose garden. There was one in the corner of my academy. I occasionally dropped by to visit for a change of pace, and I’d even conversed with Cyril in the garden before. I wonder if Cyril lost sight of me too. I think I’ll ask him next time. I was seriously worried about how plain I was, and I was worried that my warm hues might’ve made me turn invisible to others.
While I was fretting over this potential issue, I decided to show my face to Mr. Julius in an act of defiance when he approached me. His large hand touched my cheek as he pulled my face close to him.
“Uh, huh?” I gasped pathetically.
I felt my vision grow fuzzy for a moment before I felt his slightly dry, yet soft lips on my own. He kissed me deeply as though he was trying to bite onto me or devour me whole. His large hand touched my nape, and my mind grew blank. His fingertips gently glided over my nape and shoulders as though to confirm something—he was checking where he’d bit me back at Puerta.