Bibi would have done it for me
Bibi would have done it for me
-Chalbak, chalbak.
The sound of rippling waves echoes in the bathroom.
Thick hot steam hangs in the air, blurring the vision into a hazy white.
In the corner of that warm and humid bathroom.
"......."
Irion stood frozen like a wooden statue. His gaze was fixed solely on the firmly closed bathroom door.
The sound of water coming from behind his back. And the maid's eyes glancing at him every now and then.
It bothered him immensely, but he never turned his head. No, he couldn't turn it.
Because Renoa was soaking her body in the bathtub with only a thin veil between them.
'I never thought I'd end up in a situation like this in all my life.'
Irion pressed his throbbing temples.
The squabble that had taken place at the bathroom threshold just ten minutes ago flashed through his mind.
"I told you to come in too."
"Excuse me? Why would I go in there? There's a maid, so I'll wait outside."
Renoa's sudden demand for him to accompany her to the bathroom.
Irion naturally refused. No matter how much of a master-servant relationship they had, it was beyond common sense for a grown man and woman to enter a bathroom together.
However, Renoa countered coldly without backing down an inch.
"What if an assassin is hiding inside?"
"You don't have to worry. I don't feel any presence inside."
Renoa gestured toward the maid who would assist with the bath.
"What if this maid tries to kill me?"
"Wh-what?! Oh, Agassi! How could you say such a thing...! I swear I would never do such a wicked thing!"
"She's right. Groundless suspicion is also an insult to the maid."
"Even Bibi betrayed me."
At that one sentence, Irion's mouth shut tight.
"Even my personal maid, who I spent my whole life with, fed me poison. So what guarantee is there that this maid, who has only served me for a few days, won't shove me underwater and kill me?"
"That's......."
Irion had not yet shared the conversation he had with Aether with Renoa.
It was because he was worried about giving her an unnecessary shock when she needed recovery.
The same went for the details about Bibi.
So, Renoa's suspicion was a rational judgment in her own way.
But this was going too far. Her sense of modesty had suddenly gone out the window.
"Even so, I don't think it's right for me, a man, to go in with you, Agassi. If you're that worried, I'll guard the door."
"Guarding the door from the outside versus waiting inside. Which do you think is more suitable for protection?"
"The latter, of course...."
Since the physical distance was overwhelmingly shorter. It was an obvious point.
"What if you're too late while guarding from the outside? What if she stabs my neck while washing me?"
"......."
Irion tried to refuse persistently, but Renoa's attitude was firm.
The gaze she directed at Irion was even cold.
"You're the one who said you'd be my hands and feet. Keep the words you spat out. Or was your loyalty only worth that much? You certainly talked a big game."
It was a petty provocation.
However, Irion, who had even kicked away his freedom to swear loyalty, was deeply stung.
'Fine, is it me who'll be embarrassed? It's her.'
It seemed she was intent on writing a new chapter in her book of dark history.
Since she was the one creating her own disadvantage, Irion had no reason to back out.
"Understood. If you truly wish for it, I shall enter with you."
That was how it happened.
'I shouldn't have come in.'
And Irion regretted it.
If he could go back in time just a few minutes, he would never have entered.
This situation, where he couldn't turn his gaze even slightly, was no different from torture.
-Chalbak.
The sound of water hit his ears once again. Irion snapped out of his thoughts.
"Agassi, how is the water temperature? Is it too cold or too hot?"
"If it were, would I be sitting in here like this?"
"Th-that's true. I asked something obvious. I'm sorry."
The maid flusteredly poured warm water over Renoa's shoulders.
Her stiff body loosened up, and the scent of roses lingering at the tip of her nose soothed her senses, but.
"......."
All of Renoa's attention was directed elsewhere.
Beyond the silk curtain.
Irion's silhouette, standing with his back turned, looking only at the firmly closed door.
The threat of assassins.
The trauma of betrayal.
Those were certainly rational excuses that no one could refute.
But Renoa herself knew.
The real reason she had dragged Irion into the bathroom while stubbornly making excuses was due to a purely impulsive whim.
Renoa recognized the identity of this emotion that had sprouted within her.
It was a strange sensation she was experiencing for the first time in her life, but she wasn't so naive or dull as to not know what it was.
The feeling of wanting to covet the other person's scent, feeling relieved by the warmth of their touch, and wanting to keep them only within her sight.
In a world that had collapsed into pitch-black darkness due to her loss of sight.
This fierce attraction where only he felt like the sole light and salvation.
Renoa didn't bother to deny the fact that she had taken Irion into her heart as a man.
She resented and felt pathetic for herself for viewing a slave as a member of the opposite sex, but what could she do?
The deed was already done, and the emotions that had poured out were overflowing rather than being gathered back in.
It was simply surprising that she even had such girlish feelings.
However, there was something else that bothered Renoa, and that was Irion's attitude.
She was helplessly swayed by even the smallest things about Irion, yet he was perfectly calm.
That nonchalance grated on Renoa's nerves. Her pride was unbearably wounded, and it was terribly unfair.
That was why she had forcibly trapped Irion in this private space.
With the intent of making him feel the same emotions as her.
"Huuu...."
Renoa moved her legs as if splashing water on purpose. Occasionally, she let out a slender exhale.
And she checked Irion's reaction, but he didn't move an inch.
As if this situation was nothing to him.
"This is no fun."
"Pardon?"
"I'm done."
Her interest vanished.
What on earth was she expecting?
She only ended up feeling like a fool.
Renoa rose from the tub without lingering.
Streams of water poured down her body as she stood up, breaking the surface.
"O-oh, Agassi! I haven't finished the final rinse yet......!"
"It's fine. It's cold, so just give me the robe."
The maid, with a pale face, hurriedly approached and roughly wiped off the moisture with a large towel.
Then she wrapped a snow-white bathrobe around her body.
Renoa stepped out after drawing the curtain.
"Are you finished?"
"Yes."
"I will escort you to your room."
Only then did Irion turn around. His gaze landed on Renoa.
Renoa, wrapped in a bathrobe.
Heat had seeped into her bloodless, pale skin, causing a faint flush to bloom.
Her hair, heavy with moisture, clung to her neck and around her collarbone.
The scent of roses and the smell of skin wafted toward him.
Irion's breathing, which he had been fiercely holding in check until just now, faltered for a very brief moment.
He unconsciously swallowed his dry saliva and tried to avert his gaze.
Then.
'Ah.'
Renoa's green eyes did not miss that momentary opening.
The head that turned away, unable to look straight at her.
And yet, his pupils stole glances this way as if they were out of control. His reddened earlobes.
Renoa realized in an instant what that meant.
Just as she had a feminine side, he also had a masculine side.
Even if he acted relaxed and nonchalant as if it were nothing, he was just a man who couldn't help but be conscious of a woman's skin.
It's not a complete one-way street.
That fact pleasantly tickled a corner of Renoa's heart.
"Right. Lead the way."
"Yes...."
Looking at Irion's back as he turned and began to walk first, Renoa's lips were secretly drawing a satisfied arc.
Returning to the bedroom with Irion's escort, Renoa lowered her waist onto the chair in front of the vanity.
Since she was someone who had never touched a drop of water in her life, even drying her hair was the maid's job.
"Irion. You dry it."
Renoa pointed specifically at Irion and commanded.
"Me?"
"What if the maid suddenly stabs me in the back with a knife?"
"......."
"Bibi would have done it for me...."
That damn knife.
That damn Bibi.
In the end, due to Renoa's stubbornness, Irion ended up drying her hair as well.
Irion picked up a dry towel and stood behind Renoa.
"Tell me if it hurts."
"......Okay."
It was fine to spit out the words, but Renoa's voice was strained as if she was also nervous deep down.
-Sagak, sagak.
Soon, the sound of rubbing hair through the towel softly filled the bedroom.
A man's rough hands, calloused from holding a sword.
However, the touch that wiped Renoa's wet hair was infinitely careful and gentle, as if handling a glass craft.
The steady pressure pleasantly pressing on her scalp and the body heat transmitted from behind her.
The strength drained out of her body.
Renoa's head swayed here and there following the direction of Irion's touch.
Just as Renoa's eyelids were about to slide shut, intoxicated by the languid energy.
"Your hair is quite long."
Irion's low voice was heard.
"It must be hard to manage, is it not uncomfortable normally?"
"Not particularly. Before, Bibi always dried and combed it for me. I never had a chance to feel uncomfortable."
"I see."
"But looking at it now, it is a bit cumbersome. Should I just cut it all off this time?"
Long black hair reaching down to her hips. The maid who would manage it by her side was gone.
Renoa was contemplating whether to just cut it off since managing it every day was a hassle.
"What do you think?"
Renoa slowly opened her eyes. Irion's figure was faintly visible in the mirror.
"About what?"
"My hair. Do you think short would be better, or long?"
It was a subtle probe.
An impulsive question thrown out because she was curious about which side he would prefer.
Irion, looking down at Renoa through the mirror, spoke calmly while watching the black luster flow smoothly between his fingers.
"I like it as it is now."
"Do you like long hair?"
"No, it's not particularly that."
At the ambiguous answer, Renoa furrowed her brows sulkily. She snapped at him as if urging for more.
"What is that? Speak clearly."
"It's just that it suits you well, Agassi."
Whether now or before coming to this world, the hairstyle of Renoa that Irion had seen was always long straight hair.
It was basic and natural.
He couldn't imagine her with any other hairstyle.
For that reason, it was an answer he spat out without much thought.
Thus, he did not guess what kind of impact that dry remark would have on Renoa.
"...Is that so?"
A plain answer devoid of empty flattery or clumsy flowery words.
Because it was a more direct compliment than any brilliant modifier, its destructive power was doubled.
Renoa felt as if the heat that had risen from the bath was rushing to her face all at once.
Since her vision was not perfect, she had no way to check what kind of state her face in the mirror was in right now.
Surely it was foolishly loosened up or flushed red beyond control.
To avoid having that expression caught, Renoa lowered her head and tightly gripped the collar of her robe.
"......If you say it that much, I'll have to leave it as it is for the time being."
As nonchalantly and haughtily as possible.
She tried hard to put on her usual voice befitting a lady of the ducal house, but she couldn't perfectly hide the fact that the end of her words was subtly excited.
Realizing that, Renoa said in a needlessly blunt tone, worried that she might be caught.
"Instead. From now on, you are the one managing my hair."
"Pardon?"
"You're the one who told me not to cut it. Then you should take responsibility."
It was forced logic.
However, Renoa demanded it as if it were natural, without a shred of embarrassment.
"Carry a comb with you from now on. If you let my hair get damaged, be prepared. Bibi would...."
"Yes, yes. I understand. Because Bibi would have done it for me."
"Yes. That's right."
Renoa wore a faint smile.
Irion did not stop his touch even while letting out a short sigh.
-Sagak, sagak.
After that, the soft friction sound echoed in the bedroom for a while.
Renoa, enjoying Irion's touch, momentarily thought.
Should I just throw everything else away and leave far away with Irion?
But she soon dismissed the thought.
'Why should I give up when I have Irion?'
With Irion, she could do anything. She could seize both power and love.
She would not miss either.
She would catch both rabbits.
Her life, which had been oppressed until now, would be fully compensated.