Chapter 48
48
“How is the water temperature?”
“It’s fine.”
“You should say something like, ‘It’s perfect. How did you know my taste? Nina is the best.’”
“That’s what I meant.”
“Ah… really.”
Nina crouched behind the partition and giggled.
Adrian touched the bathtub. He had sanded it so diligently that the wooden tub was polished to a shine.
The partitions and decorations in the bathroom were very elaborate.
Adrian leaned deeply into the tub and let out a long breath.
Nina smiled at the sound. She knew he loved water.
Everyone said that Duke Louvaine bathed for a long time because he was a nobleman, but Adrian simply loved water.
If there was a lake where he could enter the Violet Forest, wouldn’t he go swimming several times?
So Nina had put extra effort into the bathroom. She had secretly siphoned off some money from the accounting budget just for this.
And she wanted to see Adrian’s satisfied face, so she offered to attend to him as a maid. Nina was happy because she could sense his subtle satisfaction.
“Nina.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Adrian gave a small, quiet greeting. He was surprised by the word ‘bathing attendant,’ but seeing her face that said, ‘Come on, praise me,’ he knew she didn’t really want to attend to him.
He figured she had something to boast about, but he never imagined she would have set up a proper bathroom.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had fully submerged himself in water.
His head felt a little dizzy, so he leaned his head against the edge of the tub.
Silver Lake Castle, the Roubaenue Dukedom’s mansion, had a beautiful lake, literally.
He had never been in it, but with Nina, he felt like he could easily go in.
Splash.
The sensation of water pressing against his whole body with a light splash, a strange sense of floating, holding his breath and sinking into the deep darkness…
“Uwaa, Young Master!!”
Nina’s voice snapped him awake. She was pulling him out of the water.
“Nina, I’m fine.”
He hadn’t swallowed any water.
He chuckled at himself for holding his breath even while dozing off.
“Are you okay? You startled me. If you were that tired, you should have said so. I would have told you to take a nap first.”
He glanced at her grumbling, her eyebrows furrowed as she squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could.
“Nina, your clothes are getting all wet. You can let go.”
At Adrian’s words, Nina carefully let go. The moment her wet hand slipped away, Adrian kissed the back of it lightly.
Nina, completely unaware, fiddled with her wet sleeves and said,
“I guess I should go change. Don’t fall into the tub again while I’m gone.”
No answer came back.
After a moment, long enough for Nina to feel slightly puzzled and anxious, a small “Okay” came back.
Even with her eyes closed, she easily found her way to the entrance.
As the bathroom door closed and Nina’s light footsteps faded away, Adrian ran his hands over his face.
He was aware that he had done something embarrassing.
Feeling dizzy with heat, he stayed in the tub for a while before getting up. If he stayed like this, he might actually collapse in the bathroom before Nina came back.
‘What are you doing?’
He realized his question was wrong.
‘What do you want to do?’
Yes, that would be a more accurate question.
He put on a robe, went out of the bathroom, and opened the balcony window. The cool air cooled his flushed body.
Although he couldn’t see it, the Violet Forest was far away. When he first arrived at that damp, purple-filled forest, he thought it was no different from his own future.
Darkness, sinking shadows.
Existing there, but with no substance, impossible to grasp.
His mother was an opera singer. Flashy performances and sparkling outfits, a thrillingly high voice.
The white hand that stroked him was beautiful, and the humming song was as sweet as if it came from a harp. But he couldn’t call her mother.
He was always a shadowy presence behind the ornate curtains, behind the glittering stage decorations.
So, the moment he made a contract with the spirit of darkness, his old friend who seemed to suck him in.
‘Ah, I knew it,’ he convinced himself.
“Young Master, you’ll catch a cold.”
Nina, who had changed into comfortable clothes, suddenly fell from the sky.
Golden eyes sparkled right in front of his nose.
Adrian was momentarily speechless, then pushed her away and said,
“Stop using the window.”
She had jumped from the next balcony to this one.
“It’s faster this way. I’ll refrain from now on.”
Nina quickly stepped down from the railing and said.
“It’s my next-door room.”
When Adrian said, “Walking is fast enough,” Nina muttered, “But jumping over the balcony is faster.”
Nina cleared her throat and said in a lecturing tone,
“You haven’t dried your hair, and you’re standing in the cold wind with a wet body. You’ll catch a cold.”
“Nina, dry it for me.”
At those words, Nina paused, then giggled and grabbed his arm, pulling him.
“What is it? Why are you acting like a child all of a sudden? I’m happy.”
While Nina went to get a towel after seating him on the sofa, Adrian sat down on the floor.
Nina didn’t say anything and plopped down next to him on the sofa. When Adrian leaned against her legs, she began to dry his hair.
Adrian made a satisfied sound at the gentle touch that hummed a lullaby and softly rubbed his hair.
Nina smiled and began to massage his scalp through the towel covering Adrian’s hair.
In the silence, when his hair was half dry, he put his cheek on her thigh and whispered,
“I missed you.”
Nina leaned forward and replied softly.
“I missed you too.”
“I didn’t expect you to fly over in the middle of the night, though.”
“Only my voice went. And you called me, Young Master.”
“That’s right, it’s my fault.”
“Is it wrong to miss you?”
“No, Nina didn’t do anything wrong.”
Adrian smiled brightly and got up from his seat, sitting next to her. Then, he lifted Nina up and sat her facing him on his lap and said,
“So, the Archsage?”
Nina rubbed his hair again with the fluffy new towel she had placed next to her.
“I wondered if he would really come, but he really came.”
Nina began to report what had happened after he left in a cheerful and lively voice.
From time to time, Adrian showed curiosity in Nina’s story.
“You fought a hundred people? I thought I was picking knights.”
“Kara Chajakka, find out.”
“Archsage…”
And at the end, he asked back in a strange tone, “Hair Loss Cure?” and burst out laughing.
‘Oops?’ Nina quickly lifted the towel, but as if he had never laughed, he stopped abruptly and looked at Nina.
Adrian always smiled brightly, but he rarely laughed out loud, so she wanted to see it.
‘Oh well,’ Nina said, feeling disappointed, and threw the towel. His hair was already almost dry.
Now, all she had to do was comb it nicely and fix it in place.
“I think we should contact the merchant guild. I told Lord Louis, but a person named Rorokomo seems okay.”
“Okay.”
Nina grabbed his face with both hands as he answered. Nina asked, bringing her face close to his.
“What about Young Master?”
“I went to negotiate with Poco, and as you can see, I succeeded.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
Adrian looked straight into those sun-like eyes and apologized.
“Sorry. It’s a habit.”
“I forgive you.”
Adrian, feigning politeness at her generosity, told his story.
Nina also reacted enthusiastically to his words.
“You were attacked three times?”
“Ah, Young Master saw it too. Isn’t that tree really amazing? The seeds shine, you know?”
“Lord Louis is amazing. To use unarmed personnel like that. I should learn that too.”
At the end, she chuckled lightly, “You made such a deal with Poco.”
Feeling her smiling face and the vibrations, Adrian narrowed his eyes as if dazzled.
“Well, in some ways, it’s a little sad.”
“From the moment she left Karak Workshop, her future was as good as decided.”
“Are you saying she should have stayed and fought?”
“Yes.”
Nina gave a bitter smile at Adrian’s words.
Adrian had fought to keep his place. He could say that because he was in the same situation.
‘I can’t say it’s exactly the same, though.’
Nina tilted her head and stopped all her movements.
It was a movement like a hunting dog that had noticed something.
Reflexively, Adrian reached for his waist to find a weapon, then bit his lip when he realized he was wearing a robe.
Then, remembering that Nina had a dagger inside her boots, he slowly reached for her boots, but she whispered.
“I don’t think it’s an enemy.”
She quickly got off the sofa and went to the window. When she opened the window, there was a man engrossed in touching the balcony.
“Who is it?”
