The Maid Who Barged In
"Then for now, we keep it hidden. There's no telling what the family would do if they found out."
Wow... If even Lora was saying something like that, just what kind of things had Eriana's main house been getting up to? Honestly, I'd expected her to suggest we handle it gently.
"Hey... so those people from my family were scarier than I thought?"
I asked just in case. I'd lost my memories, so of course I couldn't recall a thing. But Lora only looked at me with something like relief in her eyes.
"You really don't remember?"
"Yeah... I have no idea at all."
"Then maybe that's for the best. The family never left you alone for even a moment."
"Huh?"
Somehow it felt like the kind of memory you were better off never dredging up. I couldn't explain the chill that ran down my spine.
"They said it was unthinkable for the young lady of the kingdom's most prestigious mage family to have no talent for magic, so they tried every method imaginable to force an awakening. If you'd stayed with them any longer, there's no telling what might have happened."
"No telling what might have happened... What exactly did they do to me?"
"It was practically abuse. Don't try to remember it."
Wait, wait, hold on — so that's how it was? No wonder Eriana's personality had been such a mess in the game. She hadn't simply been cast aside for lacking magic — she'd been abused over it?
And even so, she never actually hurt anyone? She just stopped at bullying people?
Eriana had been a pretty remarkable person in her own way.
If I'd simply forgotten a past I had no need to recall, that was fortunate enough in its own right. Still, something about it left a bad taste I couldn't quite shake.
After all, what was sitting inside this body wasn't simply an Eriana without her memories — it was an entirely different person.
I stayed crouched beside Lora and stared blankly ahead. If the conversation ended here, I wanted to think it was lucky for me — but I couldn't help feeling it was more complicated than that.
"By the way, why on earth is your hair like this?"
While I was lost in thought, Lora picked up a strand of my hair and ran her fingers through it, frowning. It was stiff and frizzy — a complete disaster.
"Ah, I think it's because I washed it with soap. But it doesn't really matt—"
In that instant, a chill shot down my spine. It felt exactly like I'd said something I absolutely shouldn't have. I glanced sideways and found Lora staring at me, her eyes gone cold.
"Lo... Lora?"
"Come to the bath. Right now."
Her voice was ice itself.
There was clearly no escape.
Warm water cascaded over my body with a soft rush. It was the same as that morning. I strained not to look down — just like before.
The difference this time was that I couldn't look sideways, either.
"No, I mean... look. I can wash myself just fine on my own."
"Since you say you have no memories, I intend to take care of you for the time being. And who in the world washes their hair with soap?"
Hey, I genuinely didn't know. Back when I was lazy, I'd just used soap without shampoo and nothing particularly terrible had happened. Thinking about it now, that was probably because I'd always kept my hair short.
Wash hair this long with soap and it would turn into a stiff, brittle mess in no time.
But wasn't this a bit much?
Sitting behind me, Lora wordlessly worked shampoo through my hair, gently pouring water over it strand by strand.
Wearing nothing but a single towel.
Has she completely lost it? I mean, childhood friends or not — is bathing together supposed to be normal?
No one in their right mind would do this. And it wasn't even a towel that covered her whole body — just a scrap of cloth barely covering the front, so her figure showed through in full, clinging detail.
If I turned around, I'd get an unobstructed view of that terrifying sight, so I didn't dare. I simply sat still and left my hair in her hands.
"Lora? Have we always been like this?"
"You really have forgotten, haven't you. I've washed you countless times. You've always been clumsy about bathing, my lady."
So it had been like this since we were little. Meaning they'd seen everything there was to see of each other — and yet Eriana had still gone and played the villainess, which was why the game had her getting betrayed?
Didn't something about that feel off? Still, I had nothing to say, so I just stared at the floor. My hair really was a disaster from the soap, and honestly... it felt nice.
The careful, thorough way her hands worked through my hair was remarkably gentle. She moved with the ease of someone who'd done this a hundred times before. Clearly she hadn't been lying.
"Hnnn... I'm getting sleepy..."
The pleasant sensation made my head droop before I knew it. Ah, her hands felt too good. I was going to melt completely.
I giggled softly and felt Lora's hands traveling upward. She kept brushing against the nape of my neck — I was probably imagining things, right?
Soft, slightly heated breathing drifted from behind me. Was the length of my hair wearing her out? That would make sense. Even yesterday, washing it with soap had been a nightmare — and Lora was doing every bit of it by hand.
"Hey, Lora? You can stop if you're tired."
"Not at all. This is nothing. For my lady, I ought to do at least this much."
Her speech shifted in an instant. She was probably drawing a clear line between herself as a maid and herself as my friend.
In other words, the Lora here right now was simply my personal maid. I wasn't looking for familiarity anyway, so that was actually a relief.
In that case, just leaving it to her wasn't so bad. I was entrusting my care to my maid, after all.
I closed my eyes and waited quietly. For some reason, the slow climb of her hands felt strangely intimate.
A soft sensation pressed lightly against my back. Wait... was she pressed up against me right now?
I swallowed hard without meaning to. Even so, this was a first for me. What do I do? What am I supposed to do? Was this just how close friends acted?
I sat there trembling through my thoughts until I finally couldn't help asking.
"Lora? Um... is this normal for friends?"
Even for close friends, pressing bare skin against bare skin seemed like a bit much — that was why I asked. The answer that came from above was simple.
"Pardon? This isn't as friends. As a maid, I am washing my lady. Surely you aren't looking at me in that sort of way?"
Ah... my chest twinged with guilt. I'd jumped to conclusions.
I glanced back and caught Lora frowning as though she'd been offended. Well, of course she would be — I'd just reduced her profession to something indecent on a whim.
"Sorry. I must have misunderstood."
"As long as you understand. Managing my lady's every move is only natural for a maid. And more than anything, I simply cannot abide watching hair this fine get ruined by something as crude as soap."
I was pretty sure some personal feelings had just slipped into that last part. Was that okay?
Still, she was competent, so maybe it didn't matter. We were only friends, so it wasn't like she was going to do anything strange. For now, just leaving things as they were seemed fine.
Thinking that, I surrendered myself to her. The slow glide of her soapy hands over my body felt strangely, uncomfortably pleasant.
"Haaah... That feels amazing!"
I stretched my arms high overhead and let out a huge yawn. Meanwhile, Lora carefully towel-dried my hair strand by strand.
Dressed in nothing but simple sleepwear, I sat on the bed. The once-messy room had been cleaned spotless the moment Lora's hands touched it.
Even so, it still felt a bit barren for a young woman's room... but my previous life had been just as sparse, so this was fine by comparison.
"Lora, you're incredibly capable."
It was genuine praise. So why was she staring at me with her eyes gone wide, as though she'd just heard something she wasn't supposed to?
"Did you just... compliment me?"
"Yeah! Honestly, someone at your level is definitely capable. Uh... did I say something wrong?"
"No. It's only that my lady almost never praised the servants. If anything, you were more inclined to terrorize them. You had quite the notorious reputation."
"Ah... r-right. Of course."
The cold sweat pouring down my back was only natural.
Just what kind of things had Eriana been getting up to?
"That's also why I was assigned to you. Since we'd been together since childhood, you were a little gentler with me — but you still gave me plenty of trouble. My lady's strength is rather extraordinary, after all."
Ah... well, Eriana was pretty strong. The other servants had probably suffered even more for it. One punch from her could drop a wild boar on the spot, after all.
"Haha... sorry. I guess the old me was a real piece of work."
When I said that, she just looked at me in silence and tilted her head. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
In her eyes, I could only make out the faintest trace of something like pity.
"I'll sleep with you tonight."
"Huh? I-is that okay? Come to think of it, do you have separate lodgings here?"
"I don't have other lodgings. I was going to find some, so it seems we'll be sharing for a while."
"I don't know... you're more shameless than I expected."
Seriously — casually announcing she was going to sleep with her mistress? This girl was a little scary...
"Well then, I'll put out the light."
Saying so, Lora rose from her seat and gave a sharp tug on the cord hanging from the ceiling. The magically enchanted glass went dark, and nothing remained in the room but the glow of the city outside.
Beyond the light filtering in from the window, she stood looking down at me. Her cheeks seemed faintly flushed — what was that about?
"Good night, then."
She settled in beside me and quietly lifted the covers. Without another word, she burrowed in close.
Pressing her warm body heat against me, Lora closed her eyes and began breathing in soft, even little puffs. She was surprisingly cute like that.
The city lights cast her in a faint glow. The pale radiance cooled the flush still lingering on her cheeks.
It was a lovely sight.