Butler Debut, and Bathing with the Landlady?
The day after I spent the weekend with Anna—on the very day I was supposed to move into Angela’s house as her butler—I came straight back to the Academy Dormitory after class and started packing in earnest.
I wasn’t the type to lug a mountain of luggage around whenever I went somewhere, but since I had no idea how long I’d be staying, I kept adding one thing after another, and before I knew it, a fair amount of time had passed.
You could say I should’ve prepared in advance, but in my defense, Anna had been here all day yesterday.
And how was I supposed to be packing in that situation?
Between overlapping each other’s bodies and spending time talking, I hadn’t had a single spare moment.
After Anna went home at night, I was so tired I just showered and went straight to sleep.
I’d told Anna about becoming a butler for the Branchel family, even though I was keeping it secret from the rest of the students at school.
When I said I’d applied for the pay, she accepted it without arguing.
I’d told Michel about it even before I told Anna.
I called her as soon as I got back to the dorm that Friday after meeting Angela.
Honestly, once I’d already gone through with it, I was worried Michel might not understand, but her reaction was even more relaxed than I expected.
"A butler job? If you need money, you could’ve just told me."
That was the extent of Michel’s reaction.
Even though I’d be living in the same house with two girls my own age—Selena and Dania—she didn’t interfere at all.
Probably because I told her there’d be other adults there besides those two and me.
And the Branchel family itself had a strong reputation for trustworthiness.
"But then we won’t be able to meet as often…?"
"It’s okay. Apparently I can take a surprising amount of leave. And we can still see each other at school, right?"
"Then that’s a relief. Okay. Do your best."
That was part of the last thing we said before hanging up.
I’d said packing took longer than expected, but the waiting afterward took even longer.
Verita and Angela, who were supposed to come pick me up, didn’t arrive until eleven at night because of work.
“Ian.”
On the way to Angela’s house, I was still looking around the inside of the limousine in fascination when Verita, from the driver’s seat, called out to me.
“Yes?”
“It’s a little late to say this now, but it may have been a mistaken decision for you to come serve as the chairman’s butler.”
“A mistaken decision?”
I asked back, wondering what on earth she meant, and she explained immediately.
“You applied to be a butler because you wanted to escape loneliness, yes? But once you come to the Branchel family, you will likely become even lonelier.”
This time, Angela asked in a nervous voice instead of me.
“What do you mean by that, Verita?”
“Please consider it, Chairman. A young, vigorous man entering a house filled only with beautiful women.”
“Mm… yes?”
“A cat passing a fish market cannot resist stealing the fish. But since Ian cannot steal the fish, wouldn’t he have to endure his desire all alone?”
I couldn’t tell whether she was joking or speaking seriously, so I had no idea how to answer.
The content sounded like something a filthy old man would say to harass people, but her voice and tone were far too solemn.
“Really, Verita, there you go again with those jokes.”
Ah. So it was a joke.
“Still, I suppose it’s possible. With Selena and Dania there as well….”
Now I understood why Verita kept saying bizarre things.
It was obvious she’d gotten a taste for it because Angela kept humoring her.
“You’ve conveniently left me out of it. I’m a delicious fish in front of Ian too.”
See? She was at it again.
…No, actually, that was true.
“And I’m included as well.”
There she went again, joking around.
Of course, her looks and atmosphere from behind those sunglasses were definitely top class.
“I can see why you’d include Verita, but it would be rude to include an old woman like me too, Ian.”
“Well, I wonder about that.”
Why did Verita’s words sound so meaningful?
If I let this continue, it seemed like her talk show would never end, so I hurriedly changed the subject.
“You said you’d be the chief butler, right? So should I start calling you Chief Butler from now on?”
“There is no need for that. Please continue calling me Verita as you have been. We are the young lady’s friends, are we not?”
“Ah, really…?”
She nodded in the rearview mirror.
“Also, though I am technically the butler, the position is temporary and largely auxiliary in nature, so you needn’t feel burdened by the role. In a sense, I have become your superior as well, but I intend to maintain my current attitude.”
“That’s right. Relax. I’ll keep treating you the same way too. That’s fine, isn’t it, Ian?”
Since they were trying to be considerate, I had no reason to refuse, so I accepted politely.
After talking with the two of them about one thing and another, we arrived before I knew it.
The Branchel family’s mansion was quite splendid.
I hadn’t studied world history very hard in school, so I wasn’t sure what style it was, but it looked exactly like the sort of place medieval nobles would live in.
And yet, for all its luxurious atmosphere, it wasn’t enormous.
Maybe the size of four or five detached houses put together?
It was certainly bigger than an ordinary home, but compared with the fame of the Branchel family, it almost seemed modest.
When I asked Angela about it, she said they’d left the main estate and set up a house in a place that would make it easier for Selena to attend school.
The atmosphere inside the mansion was no different from my first impression outside.
In the old movies I’d seen, a butler in a proper suit would greet you when you entered a place like this…
“Welcome back, Angela-sama.”
Oh. A real butler actually came and bowed.
Well, except it was a woman, not a man.
“Mm. I’m back, Dania. Where’s Selena?”
“The young lady is in her room. She has not come out once since returning from school.”
As expressionless as ever, but for some reason Dania seemed gloomy to me.
“She used to greet me warmly whenever I got off work….”
This time Angela’s shoulders drooped too.
Feeling awkwardly guilty, I asked carefully,
“Is it because of me…?”
“You don’t need to worry about it, Ian. Even if I can’t completely fix her habit of hating men, I thought I might at least use this chance to teach her some patience.”
With that, she let out a sigh through her lovely lips.
“Honestly… what is she going to do when she has to meet a spouse someday?”
As expected, her daughter’s twisted view of men seemed to be a major source of worry.
Anyway, that was how my life as a butler began.
If I were to talk about school first, becoming a butler didn’t really change anything about my life there.
I just kept attending classes diligently, and whenever I had time, I spent it well with Michel, Anna, or Dania.
Unlike before, when Selena would occasionally pick fights with me while avoiding other people’s eyes, she didn’t even acknowledge me anymore.
Now that I was living in the same house, maybe she disliked me enough not even to speak to me.
There were no particularly notable developments in my butler work either.
Selena stayed cooped up in her room, so there was no chance of us clashing, and my job mostly amounted to helping Dania or Verita with their work, which wasn’t all that difficult.
Angela was considerate by nature as well, so whenever she was at home, she helped the butlers with their tasks, which reduced my workload even further.
One thing I learned was that Dania really was an elite butler.
She handled household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and tidying the garden efficiently and swiftly.
But after spending time here, I realized that being a butler wasn’t nearly as grueling as I’d expected.
It didn’t really feel like Dania had devoted her entire life to becoming a great butler.
Even cleaning wasn’t too strenuous compared to the size of the house, since a cleaning service came in the mornings.
At one point I asked her about it, and she said her abilities would shine in times of crisis.
I figured she meant emergencies like a fire at the house or something similar.
That was how two weeks passed after I became a butler.
Selena still shut herself away in her room whenever she came home.
Considering how few times I’d seen her in the mansion so far, I was honestly impressed by how extreme she was.
Angela looked sad that she couldn’t see her beloved daughter often, but she must have steeled herself, because she never once tried to drag Selena out of her room by force.
For the record, this was something I’d heard from Dania: when Selena was under severe stress, she had a tendency to just lie down and refuse to move.
That was apparently why she’d taken several weeks off school before.
Now the problem had been solved thanks to medicine invented by Angela’s company.
I hadn’t expected the Branchel Corporation to have a hand in pharmaceuticals too.
I was lying lazily on my bed in my room.
At first I’d been tense, but by now I’d gotten used to things and had completely relaxed.
It felt less like I was a butler and more like I was staying at a homestay.
Up until now I’d kept my head down while figuring out the atmosphere, but now that I’d settled in and Angela, having finished the company restructuring, was home more often, I figured it was time to start moving.
…Before that, I should take a bath first.
More accurately, I wanted to check out the bathhouse.
Apparently this mansion had a huge bathhouse in it, which was pretty amazing.
It existed because Angela liked soaking in hot water in a spacious place.
I’d wanted to go in at least once, but I kept putting it off because I wasn’t sure if it would be too presumptuous.
But tonight, while we were having dinner, Angela gave me permission and told me to go in without worrying about it.
It was one in the morning now.
Everyone was probably asleep, right?
It was a perfect time to try the bath without anyone bothering me.
I left my room and walked down the hall, and just then I happened to see Verita wiping dust off a framed picture hanging on the wall.
“Verita?”
“Ian. You are still awake, I see.”
“I wanted to try out the bathhouse.”
“You had that conversation with the chairman today.”
“Yes. If I go now, no one will be there, right?”
I asked just in case, because it would be a disaster if I walked in and found someone naked inside.
Verita seemed to think for a moment, then replied,
“That should be the case. No one uses it at this hour.”
Great. I could take my time and soak in the hot water to relieve some fatigue.
After greeting Verita, I set off immediately.
---
What I arrived at was the dressing room connected to the bathhouse I’d been aiming for.
It served the same purpose as the changing room in a normal public bath: a place to change clothes and, after bathing, dry off before leaving.
Since it was inside the house, it was smaller than one in an ordinary public bath, but there was still plenty of room for several people to use it.
Wait, why was the light in the changing room on? Was someone in there?
Verita had definitely said no one used the bathhouse at this hour.
Maybe the person who’d used it before forgot to turn the light off.
Or maybe they always kept it on for some other reason.
Still, just in case, after stripping naked, I carefully opened the door and looked into the bathhouse.
Sure enough, no one was there.
Relieved, I turned my head and scanned the interior, and what I saw was a space that looked like it belonged in a spa resort.
It was bigger than two classrooms put together, and the floor and walls were made from beautifully colored stone, giving the whole place a luxurious feel.
Like a public bath, there were several showers, large mirrors, and bath stools lined up so people could wash themselves, and at the far end was a generously sized tub.
Steam was rising from it, the water bubbling softly, and it looked like just one dip would wash every trace of fatigue out of my body.
All right. I’d wash first.
I sat on one of the stools in front of the mirror and turned on the shower.
As the warm water streamed over me, I already felt my mind begin to calm.
So what should I do now?
My goal was revenge against Selena.
I needed to settle my grievance, and I also had to eliminate a threat to my peaceful school life.
To do that, I absolutely had to win Angela over to my side.
A woman with such strong maternal instincts would never sit quietly if she saw her daughter in danger.
If you asked me whether I had a plan, of course I did: I intended to persuade her with my body.
…I just hadn’t found the chance yet.
Maybe emotional appeal was the way to go after all?
She was kind enough to bring me into the house just from hearing my story, so that seemed like the most effective route.
First I’d use Angela’s kindness to open the door… then I’d have to get to Angela’s body….
The image of the two of us coupling filled my head.
I hadn’t seen her naked even once because she was always covered by clothes, but I didn’t need to see her to know.
Angela’s body would probably be incredible.
Especially with that mature allure only a married woman could have—there was no doubt about it.
…Ah. I was hard.
To stand there and leave myself unattended was not something a decent man should do to his lower half.
Anna was enough neglect for one lifetime.
I shouldn’t let it go on too long… though maybe thirty minutes at the absolute most?
Anyway, I turned off the shower and naturally moved my hand between my legs, working briskly.
As I imagined Angela moaning in ecstasy beneath my body, I took care of my arousal and then released the burden inside me with a refreshing shudder.
“Haaah….”
The Angela in my imagination had been too damn lewd. Once wasn’t enough.
Just as I was about to move my hand again, I heard the sound of water from somewhere.
“What?”
The whole place was huge and I was alone in it, so it felt creepy for no reason.
After rinsing off the evidence of my masturbation with the shower, I stood up and carefully made my way toward the sound.
I wanted to identify it quickly and shake off this uneasy feeling.
The sound was coming from the bath area.
At first glance there seemed to be nothing there, but when I got closer, I realized the bath extended deep into a space I’d thought was blocked by a wall.
And then my eyes met hers, hiding in the corner of the bath.
“Angela…?”
“I-Ian….”
Before I knew it, my gaze dropped downward.
She was in the bath, but the water was so clear I could see her naked body in full.
She hurriedly tried to cover her most important parts with her hands, but there was no way that could hide the allure of a woman radiating from every inch of her body, and I couldn’t look away.
“S-sorry. I was planning to stay quiet and leave once you were gone, Ian, but….”
At her tiny, timid voice, I quickly gathered myself and waved a hand.
“No! It was my fault for coming in without knowing you were here. I’ll leave right away.”
“No, I’ll leave!”
Angela sprang up, trying to be considerate of me, then immediately realized she was naked and sank back into the water.
I hurriedly hid myself behind the wall as well, trying to be considerate in return.
From her reaction, it didn’t seem like she’d noticed I’d been masturbating, which was fortunate.
…Hold on. Wasn’t this an opportunity?
Alone with her in the bath, with nobody else knowing.
It was awkward, sure, but I couldn’t let a chance like this slip away.
Recalling the fantasy I’d been imagining while I jerked off, I opened my mouth.
“Angela.”
At my serious tone, her tense voice came from beyond the wall.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry to say something weird at a time like this, but… thank you, really.”
“Th-thank me…?”
I kept going, the emotional line coming out better than expected for something I’d thrown together on the fly.
“Thanks to you, I can actually meet people even after school ends. I think my loneliness has gotten a lot better too.”
“I see….”
“And honestly, this situation is an accident, but I still feel happy. When I was a kid, I used to bathe with my family too. We’d wash each other and talk, and it was really nice….”
As if overcome with feeling, I let my voice trail off.
My tone was heavy and subdued, but inside my head I was racing to invent more and more.
“Does it sound ridiculous for a guy who’s twenty to say something like that…? Especially after being such a huge burden to you, Angela.”
Maybe she was lost in thought, because no answer came back.
“I’m sorry. …I just got reminded of the past and started talking nonsense.”
“….”
“I’ll leave right away. I’m really sorry for coming in when you were here.”
I delivered my own little gamble with the loneliest voice I could manage and waited for her reaction.
If she didn’t bite…
Then I’d have to stay calm and look for another chance.
“W-wait.”
“Yes?”
“…Would you like to wash together?”
Nice.
For a second, I almost let out an exclamation of triumph, but I forced my emotions back down.
She really was too soft on me.
Probably because she felt guilty over her daughter.
And maybe because she could empathize with loneliness too.
“Huh? But that would be rude to you, Angela….”
“It wouldn’t be. I was surprised when you came here, of course, but it was an accident, so I understand. And I said it before, didn’t I? I know what it feels like to be lonely when you can’t meet your family. That’s why I can’t just pretend I didn’t see you, Ian.”
“Angela….”
“I’m not your real family, of course, but I still want to help you remember your old memories… and help heal your heart, even just a little. Would that be all right?”
I could feel the sincerity in every word she said.
“Thank you….”
“W-well then, shall we wash? Like in your memories, let’s wash each other and talk about this and that. You can treat me like family, at least for now.”
Angela spoke in a bright voice, trying to lift the heavy mood.
Then I heard the splash of water, and she appeared from beyond the wall.
She was barely covering her important parts with both hands, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor.
“S-sorry. You probably don’t want to see a body like this from an old woman. I just wanted to help you and didn’t think it through.”
“It’s okay. Honestly, you’re prettier than most girls at school.”
“Thank you…. I’m getting older, so even empty flattery makes me happy.”
Does everyone start feeling that insecure as they age?
There was no way her body was anything to be ashamed of. I even wondered if there was some other reason.
I sat down on the stool in front of the shower with her, still tense.
Angela was in front of me, covering her nipples and groin with her hands.
…Her body was seriously unreal.
Didn’t they say reality always surpassed imagination?
Angela’s naked body was, quite literally, beyond anything I’d pictured.
A tall, model-like frame; a full, voluptuous figure that wasn’t excessive, but carried the dense sensuality of a married woman.
A wide pelvis and hips that practically invited the urge to impregnate her.
And, of course, beauty so stunning it was hard to believe she had a twenty-year-old daughter—plus skin so supple and clean it looked like it would slip beneath my touch.
And on top of that, breasts even larger than Selena’s.
At the surreal sight reflected in the mirror before me, I barely managed to suppress the urge to pounce on her right then and there.
Angela looked gentle, but she was still the chairman of a major corporation. If I rushed her and made her angry, I had no idea what price I’d pay.
…Let’s not be hasty.
With that thought, I turned on the shower, and streams of water spread over both of us.
Watching the nape of her neck, her back, and her hips as they were soaked made my filthy desire stir again.
Still, I forced myself to stay composed and worked up foam with both hands and body wash.
If you asked why I wasn’t using a sponge or bath towel, the answer was obvious: I wanted to feel Angela’s skin with my bare hands.
Angela was probably just as nervous as I was, because she still hadn’t said a word since before.
I did my best to stay calm and touched her spotless back.
“Hngh…!”
The married woman’s sweet, breathy voice echoed through the bathing hall.