The Master and the Butler Apologize
The day after I ran into Angela in the bathhouse, I waited for the chance to be alone with her so I could apologize for what had happened the day before.
And yet, something felt strange.
We lived in a house that was absurdly huge, and since it was a holiday there should have been plenty of time, but not once did an opportunity come up before dinner was close at hand.
Was she avoiding me?
If so, that would be a real problem for me, since I was the one who needed to seduce her.
I can’t just keep waiting.
Up until now, I’d only been sitting back and hoping a situation would arise where we could talk alone, but I was going to have to make one myself.
For now, though, I still had to help with dinner preparations, so I would deal with it afterward.
A little later, I was in the kitchen slicing pork.
There were only three servants in the mansion—me, Dania, and Verita—and the rule was that two of us handled meal prep while rotating duties.
Today’s pair was Dania and me.
Incidentally, Angela was so kind that she always wanted to help the butlers, but when it came to meal preparation, she didn’t. That was because of Verita.
After paying her a proper wage, Angela still kept insisting on working beside everyone, so Verita had told her to leave the cooking to the servants and rest, at least during meal prep.
“Next, cut these into squares. About the size of one finger joint should do.”
I diligently sliced the potatoes she handed me.
When I first arrived, I’d worried a little because I didn’t have much cooking experience, but it wasn’t a big problem since most of my job was just helping with simple tasks after Verita or Dania handled the rest.
If I was told to cut, I cut. If I was told to boil, I boiled. If I was told to fetch something, I fetched it. That was all there was to it.
“Cooking together like this is fun, isn’t it?”
I spoke to Dania while keeping my attention on the knife and the pumpkin under my hand.
She was handling other ingredients beside me, and answered in a cool, dismissive voice.
“No idle chatter during work.”
“What’s the harm? Nobody ever comes into the kitchen until we call them. And even if it’s just now and then, I want to talk to you, Dania. I can’t relax and speak freely when other people are around.”
“…”
After a while of silently focusing on the cooking, she finally opened her mouth.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to take butler work this seriously.”
Oh? What was this? She’d brought up a topic first because I said I wanted to talk? And it was even a compliment. I was touched.
“I’m not as lazy as you think.”
“That isn’t what I meant. I just assumed a man ruled by lust would call me over whenever he had a chance, so I was surprised you didn’t.”
Well, that was only because I’d barely been here long enough to find my footing.
If I were honest, I’d want to visit her room every day and do it with her.
“What, were you looking forward to living with me?”
“D-don’t be ridiculous. That was a wasted compliment.”
I’d say this conversation was worth it, though.
Her cheeks had turned a little red, and that made Dania adorable.
“You could be honest by now. Anyway, even if I wanted to call you, I can’t because of your mistress. You know that.”
Ever since I’d come here, Dania had been summoned to Selena’s room whenever there was a chance.
Strictly speaking, unless it was for work, she was always with Selena.
“You even sleep with your mistress, so how am I supposed to call you? Unless you refuse her and make time, I can’t do anything.”
“Hmph. That will never happen.”
She sounded awfully certain. I’d have to test that confidence someday.
“Then why does she keep you glued to her side like that?”
“Young Lady calls me to her room in order to protect me from your wicked clutches.”
Wow. So Selena staying cooped up in her room wasn’t because she couldn’t stand the sight of me, but because she was trying to protect herself from me?
What a crazy woman.
“Could you at least make it sound a little nicer? I already promised I wouldn’t do anything to her anymore.”
“I have tried to persuade Young Lady before, several times, but failed. I doubt it would be any easier now.”
I swore it again: I would get my revenge.
“Still, this knife doesn’t seem to be cutting very well. It wasn’t this bad before.”
“Let me see.”
She took the knife, examined it, and clicked her tongue softly. “Hm... the edge has gone quite dull. Go fetch a whetstone from the storage room on the first floor. I’ll handle something else in the meantime.”
After leaving the kitchen, I headed down the hallway toward the storage room.
It wasn’t a short distance, so I was walking briskly when someone appeared from the opposite end of the corridor.
Angela?
Perfect. No one else was around, so this was my chance to apologize for yesterday.
“Angela—huh?”
Without warning, she turned around and started walking away quickly.
So she really was still bothered by what happened yesterday.
I broke into a run to catch up with her.
Verita had taught me not to run in the mansion, but this couldn’t be helped.
“Angela!”
“I-Ian...?”
Once I closed the distance, she couldn’t very well ignore me and turned around.
I glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby, then did my best to speak politely.
“I’m sorry, Angela.”
“...Huh?”
“I think I was terribly rude yesterday. I’m truly sorry.”
I bowed my head deeply to match my apology.
Would that be enough to smooth things over?
Would she be angry?
I’d tried to predict her reaction, but every guess was wrong.
“Angela? What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t help but panic. Tears had begun to gather in Angela’s eyes.
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry, Ian.”
“What? Why are you apologizing?”
“I asked you to treat me like family, and then I ran away... It wasn’t because I was upset with you or anything. I was just shocked, that’s all. I wanted to apologize sooner, but I couldn’t work up the courage all day...”
The tears on her lashes swelled until they were ready to fall.
“I hurt you, and then I even made you apologize to me... I’m so sorry.”
So that was it. I’d guessed she’d left because she’d been embarrassed, but I’d never expected her to be worrying about me instead.
“It’s fi—”
I almost said it was fine, but clamped my mouth shut at the last second.
Come to think of it, this was an opportunity.
“To be honest, I didn’t sleep well last night. I kept thinking about how you rushed out with that look on your face...”
“Ah...”
“But I’m really relieved. I was afraid you’d left because I’d made you uncomfortable.”
I let my face fall into something sorrowful, then turned it into a gentle, innocent smile.
It was the perfect move: make her feel guilty with a pitiful expression, then tug at her sympathy with a pure one.
It seemed to work, because I could see pity and remorse flickering in Angela’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, truly...”
That was enough. Time to get to the point.
“If you weren’t upset about it, then... could I ask a favor again today?”
“Oh, today...?”
“Yes. When you washed me yesterday, I felt so happy, like I’d gained a new family member.”
“...”
“If you don’t want to, you can say no. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, either.”
Angela lowered her gaze and fell into thought.
Her eyelashes trembled faintly, and they were beautiful.
Her hesitation lasted longer than I expected, but inside I was completely calm.
A woman with a heart as kind as an angel couldn’t just ignore her pity for me and her guilt over yesterday.
And, unlike before, my prediction was right.
“A-all right...”
---
At dinner a little later, I slowly brought one of Dania’s dishes to my mouth.
It was so good I wanted to stuff myself until my cheeks bulged, but I still had to keep my dignity as a butler.
Only three of us sat at the large rectangular table: me, Angela, and Verita.
Dania had to deliver meals to Selena, who never left her room, and she ate there herself as well.
So the three of us always ate together, and when two of them were away for work, I usually just made do on my own.
“By the way, Ian.”
From across the table, Verita, who had been eating in silence, suddenly called to me.
“Yes?”
“What was your impression of using the Brantchel family bathhouse?”
“Cough.”
I nearly sprayed food all over the table.
Across from me, Angela seemed flustered as well, because she covered her mouth with one hand.
“What is the matter?”
“Ah, nothing. The bathhouse was wonderful. It felt just like staying at a resort.”
“Then it seems there was no one inside.”
“Huh? Yes... well.”
I wanted to change the subject because I felt guilty about what I’d done with Angela yesterday, but nothing suitable came to mind.
In the end, Verita took control of the conversation.
“That must have been disappointing. I assume you were expecting some accident in which you would be lucky enough to glimpse the secret naked body of a beauty.”
And here we go again with another joke that was impossible to react to.
“No, that would have been a disaster.”
“Please be honest. We know that a man in his twenties has a vigorous libido, to the point where he might wonder whether a vacuum cleaner’s suction could be put to other uses.”
She’s the one who sounds more vigorous than me.
I’d never once thought about doing something that depraved.
“Whose naked body were you hoping for? Lady Selena? Dania? Or perhaps Angela?”
What do you mean, perhaps?
Before I could deny it, Angela stepped in for me.
“Really, Verita. You’re making Ian uncomfortable.”
“My apologies. I was a bit too honest.”
Not that I was too blunt, but that I was too honest?
I really couldn’t read her at all.
Thanks to Verita’s joke—or, more accurately, because Angela and I were both needlessly getting flustered—the meal ended in an awkward atmosphere.
After that, nothing special happened, and before I knew it, it was midnight.
That was the time Angela had agreed to meet me at the bathhouse.
I made my way there carefully, making sure not to run into anyone.
Selena and Dania always slept together in their room, so I only had to worry about Verita.
At night, she had never once come looking for me, so I didn’t think I had to worry about being caught while bathing. Angela would probably assume I was asleep anyway, so that should be fine.
Still, how should I approach Angela?
Should I just go in aggressively?
Make it clear that I was interested in her as a woman?
No.
She had a serious complex about her age and her body.
And given how motherly and gentle she was, she probably saw me less as a man and more as a child.
If I pushed too hard in that state, she’d only feel pressured.
Slowly. I needed to take it slowly.
With those thoughts in mind, I reached the changing room, where Angela—who had arrived before me—greeted me.
“W-welcome, Ian.”
She looked away shyly, more like a middle school girl than a married woman.
“Thank you for coming. Honestly, I was really looking forward to this.”
“I-I see.”
“I’ll go in first, so take your time.”
I stepped inside and waited a moment before Angela finally entered.
She wasn’t wearing anything, so she covered her private parts with her hand, but even that embarrassed posture only made her feminine charm stand out more.
As before, we sat side by side on the bath chairs.
When I turned on the shower, a stream of water poured down over Angela’s back.
Today, I wasn’t going to rush. I was going to take it slowly.
I worked body wash into a thick lather and carefully spread it over Angela’s damp back.
The touch of her soft skin, with not a single hard edge to interrupt it, sent even more blood surging into my already rigid cock.
I’d even relieved myself a few times on purpose before coming, just to calm my lust a little, but in front of Angela’s sexy body it was completely useless.
Just like yesterday, Angela kept her head lowered so far I worried about her neck.
As I lathered her back, the nape of her neck, and her shoulders, all that remained behind her was her ass.
...We already had yesterday, so maybe I should stop here today. I did say I’d take it slowly.
“Ian.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t mind me and wash me like you did yesterday. We agreed to do this like family...”
I could feel the sincerity in her voice—she truly wanted me to let myself drift into old memories and soothe my loneliness.
I didn’t refuse, and started rubbing her ass with my palm.
“Hngh... mm...”
The sounds she made while holding back her embarrassment only stirred me more.
As expected, Angela’s ass was unbelievably springy.
Especially the feeling of sliding the edge of my hand between the deep crease of her buttocks—pure ecstasy.
Next it was time to wash the front.
Trying to keep her ass pushed back as much as possible, I moved quickly and applied soap to Angela’s stomach, then immediately went up to her chest.
Swish, swish.
Every time my hands moved up and down, her breast flesh folded around my fingers, and it was driving me crazy.
The way her nipples kept catching against my hand was lovely, and the obscene shape of her breasts reflected in the mirror was even better.
“Mm... ahh...”
Plus those soft, flustered little sounds from a shy married woman.
That alone should have been enough, but I still wanted to savor her body, so I deliberately tried to keep her talking.
“They’re so big, I imagine they must be a little inconvenient in daily life.”
“Oh? Yes... I suppose they are.”
It was a question that could easily have been rude, but Angela answered me kindly all the same.
“Still, I bet you were very popular before you got married.”
“Well... I married young, so I wouldn’t really know.”
With that body and that face, and only one man she’d ever met—her husband?
And as far as I knew, after her husband died she didn’t meet another man at all.
Beauty, competence, and dignity all in one package. It was almost unfair.
Still, even though I knew it was silly, the moment I remembered she’d had a husband, a little jealousy crept in anyway.
“It must have been very hard when your husband passed away.”
“I suppose so... I was so busy with the company that I don’t think I even had time to think about it.”
Her voice had grown quieter than before, but for a story about a deceased husband, it wasn’t especially heavy.
“But you and your husband got along well, right? I heard you never saw another man afterward.”
I’d asked it with the foolish hope that she would deny it, but unexpectedly, I got the answer I’d wanted.
“No. That wasn’t really the case. It was an unwanted marriage, arranged because of family circumstances...”
“Really?”
Some kind of political marriage among chaebol families?
I was curious, but Angela’s expression had grown too dark for me to ask any further.
“Yes... My husband also couldn’t resist his family’s wishes, so he didn’t pay much attention to me. Selena was basically born because the elders wanted him to leave behind an heir.”
“I had no idea something like that happened to you.”
Maybe Angela had a much deeper wound than I’d thought.
Her complex might have come from that, too.
“I’m sorry. That was a thoughtless question.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“I’ll keep washing you.”
My hands, which had paused while listening to a story heavier than I expected, started moving again.
Right, I’d heard women tend to sweat a lot under their breasts.
When I slid my hand under there, Angela flinched. Still, she didn’t spring upright like she had before.
Wow... this was insane.
Her breasts were so large that my hand slipped right up underneath them.
If I wanted to, I felt like I could hide a thin object in there easily.
While I gently worked my hands in and out to soap beneath her breasts, I kept imagining what it would feel like to put my cock in there.
Then I washed her arms, underarms, and collarbone, leaving only her lower body.
...I can’t, right?
No. And yet, if she was apologizing for yesterday, maybe she’d let me?
Just to test the waters, I slowly moved my hand downward, but Angela immediately grabbed it.
“I’m sorry. That part is still a bit...”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I did that without thinking.”
After offering a respectful apology, I turned the shower back on and rinsed the soap from her body.
That was probably enough for today.
Yesterday, Angela had said we should wash one another like family, but she really didn’t seem to have the courage to wash me herself.
Since I’d decided to take it slowly, I should be patient.
That was what I thought for just a moment.
“I-is it my turn to wash you now...?”
“Huh?”
Her unexpected words made me reply with a stupid, dazed voice.
“We said we’d wash each other... like family.”
I never imagined she’d actually try to follow through.
Was she interested in my body too?
She still hadn’t turned to look at me, so that didn’t seem likely.
She’d simply summoned the courage because she wanted to heal the wound in my heart.
I answered in the most innocent voice I could manage.
“Yes, then I’d appreciate it.”