Chapter 52. The Maid’s Bathing Assistance!

***

My vision is hazy.

The luxurious bathroom filled with steam made me acutely aware of the treatment the imperial family receives at the academy.

And above all…

“Master Han Chunsung. Is the water temperature alright?”

“…Yes. It’s fine.”

Answering the calm woman’s words, my feelings were quite peculiar.

I’m now directly experiencing ‘that’ which I’d only read about in novels.

ㅡThe maid’s bathing assistance.

Experiencing firsthand what I’d thought impossible even while reading novels made me feel light-headed.

The servants, butlers, or maids who typically serve high-ranking people actually existed. Of course, in this world where a class system clearly exists, what I’d dismissed as nonsense actually existed as a matter of course.

And there were even separate maids to attend to me like this.

Now… a maid was carefully washing my back.

Swish.

The touch on my back feels strange. That’s probably just how I’m feeling, but honestly, I wondered how one could not feel that way.

Who wouldn’t be conscious of a woman around my age directly touching my body?

Of course, the maid helping me now wasn’t the one who had been speaking with Dersen or Rachel. When the dedicated maid relayed the message, another maid who arrived separately is now attending to my bath.

At first, I tried to refuse like the protagonists in novels.

But when Dersen looked at me strangely and told me to accept it, I accepted it just like that.

The result was that I was now receiving the maid’s bathing assistance.

Swish.
Swish…

The maid’s hand continuously brushing my back, nape, and waist felt strange.

‘…This isn’t me being weird.’

Yes, if one didn’t feel strange while receiving bathing assistance, wouldn’t that be weirder? To put it crudely, unless one was truly impotent, how could one not feel this way?

Of course, neither the maid nor I were naked.

Still, this atmosphere itself felt so strange.

The maid was covering herself with a light silk cloth, and I also had a towel wrapped around my lower half, so we were both adequately covered, but. That had its own kind of strangeness.

“…”
“…”

I could clearly hear even the faint sound of her breathing.

While trying hard to think of other things, bad things, inwardly, I endured.

Swish…

When the maid’s soft hand moved up to my shoulder, I flinched for a moment.

“Master Han Chunsung, it seems your muscles are a bit tense.”

“…Is that so.”

“Yes. And this must be the result of your efforts. And again, you don’t need to speak formally to me. You can speak comfortably.”

She spoke so gently to make the listener comfortable, but it wasn’t as easy as the maid said.

How can one easily treat and look down on another person?

For me, with modern values, this was already not an easy thing.

Although she’s a maid, she’s still a woman around my age.

“…I think this is comfortable for me.”

“Master Han Chunsung is kind, isn’t he?”

Hearing her soft laughter at my words, I felt my body heating up again involuntarily.

‘Endure. I must endure somehow.’

While this itself might be a luxury for me, my heart kept tingling.

As I hesitated with my lips unconsciously, for a moment, a happiness filled my chest that this might actually be quite nice.

…And if I’ve accepted it anyway, shouldn’t I enjoy this moment?

‘Yes, when else would I experience something like this.’

I was just being treated as a guest, so this wasn’t strange.

I was just experiencing something nice.

Swish…

When her hand caressed my ear, I involuntarily shuddered.

“That’s…”

“Ah, many people neglect their ears usually, so I was trying to help with that too, but are you uncomfortable? If so…”

“No… it’s fine.”

As I quickly accepted the maid’s words, happiness welled up again.

I don’t know how many luxuries I could enjoy in this world, but it seemed foolish to deliberately avoid the maid’s touch.

As I stayed still like that, the maid gently caressed from my earlobe, slowly moving to my neck. The steam filling my vision and the warmth.

The feeling of my body melting and relaxing in this light-headed state felt truly good.

It felt like entrusting my body to a skilled masseuse.

…And receiving this from a beautiful woman indeed filled me with happiness.

‘I should enjoy it while I can.’

I wasn’t foolish enough to reject the happiness given to me.

“Excuse me, Master Han Chunsung? I’ll be intruding for a moment.”

“Yes.”

As I answered lightly, not knowing what she meant.

“…!”

I felt my entire body stiffen involuntarily at the softness of a female body touching my back.

This was too much to endure…

The direct physical stimulation was too intense.

…

Swish, swish.

Along with the sound of skin brushing, I was even receiving dressing assistance from the maid. The clothes of a quality rarely seen. The texture of the clothes, seemingly made of the finest silk, was incredibly soft.

While my student uniform was separately cleaned by the mages staying in the inner room, I didn’t refuse the maid’s suggestion that it would be better to change when returning.

That’s how much the service I received from the maid had improved my mood.

Pat.

Finally, as if smoothing out the clothes, the maid who lightly patted my body smiled faintly.

“Master Han Chunsung. Then I’ll be taking my leave now. I hope you have a good day.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

As the maid who smiled gently at my words gradually left, I unconsciously found my gaze following her retreating figure.

Gulp.

…Involuntarily, I felt like I had realized the best thing about this world.

‘Nobility.’

Although it’s said that in Groa, one’s status is determined from birth, that doesn’t mean one can’t acquire a title. There were cases where commoners who graduated from the academy with good grades obtained noble titles, and those who greatly contributed to the empire or performed well on the battlefield had ample opportunities to gain titles.

It meant that one could change their status depending on their efforts.

And now, I felt like I had set a new goal that I should aim for while living in this world.

“…I must definitely become a noble.”

From the bathing assistance to the dressing assistance from the maid today… experiencing each thing directly, I wondered if this wasn’t heaven, what could be.

If I had never experienced it, I might not have known. But thinking that nobles live like this every day, envy filled my heart.

‘If every day was really like this, how happy would that be.’

I felt like I had unknowingly opened my eyes to a new world and steeled my resolve.

I had found a clear motivation to work harder.

Step.

As I took steps, one part of my heart was tinged with tension.

Now I would properly face them.

ㅡDersen and Rachel.

No matter what questions they might ask me, I absolutely couldn’t make any verbal mistakes.

***

Click.

As Han Chunsung carefully entered the inner room, the gazes of Dersen and Rachel, who had been chatting amicably, immediately turned to him.

And both of their eyes widened a little.

“Well… he’s an even more striking figure than I thought?”

Dersen spoke with a slight smile, and Rachel’s eyes also lit up as she looked at Chunsung.

“He’s quite handsome.”

While just a moment ago he had been in a disheveled state due to training, now Chunsung’s appearance, neatly dressed in well-fitted clothes, was enough to draw admiration from them.

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“Yes. Please sit down comfortably. I’ve been itching to have a conversation.”

As Dersen lightly nodded, Chunsung slowly took a seat at one side of the round table.

As the three formed a strange triangular arrangement facing each other, Rachel gradually turned her gaze to the maid beside her.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

At that, their dedicated maid who had been standing by carefully began setting up a teacup in front of Chunsung, which he calmly accepted.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

After the maid answered calmly but not impolitely and stepped back to stand at one side, Rachel finally spoke with a smile.

“Actually, I think this situation might be a bit burdensome for you. We suddenly called you over and requested this conversation. I belatedly thought, perhaps I’ve forced an uncomfortable situation…?”

As she spoke carefully yet gently, Chunsung nodded as if grateful for her consideration.

“It’s an honor for me. Am I not meeting two people who are difficult to encounter like this?”

“Thank you for saying that.”

As Rachel responded with a gentle smile, Chunsung immediately turned his gaze from her to Dersen, as if it were taboo.

“Thank you for saying that. And judging by your response, we don’t need to introduce ourselves separately. It seems we know each other.”

“Yes, introductions are fine.”

As Chunsung calmly received Dersen’s words, Rachel’s eyes involuntarily lit up.

‘What an interesting man.’

Usually, most people freeze up as soon as they hear her brother speak. But this man, despite considering various factors, showed a calm demeanor.

Swish.

As she gently lifted her teacup to wet her lips, his transformed appearance after receiving the maid’s attention caught her eye again.

With his black hair neatly arranged and his face properly revealed, he had quite a handsome face. And above all, the confidence in his eyes piqued her interest.

If it were someone else, they would try to flatter us considering our position, or speak in a subservient manner with sycophantic words.

‘He’s quite composed.’

He only says what needs to be said, without any unnecessary words.

More than anything else, that’s what she liked most.

Glancing to the side, even her brother didn’t seem to view Han Chunsung negatively.

Although he had reluctantly approached Han Chunsung at my words, now he seemed to show even more curiosity than me, which was amusingly ironic.

“Han Chunsung.”

As I gently called him,

“Yes, Lady Rachel.”

The man who addressed me with an honorific and I briefly met eyes.

A strange red color peeked through his black eyes, matching his hair.

‘Indeed.’

This man showed no hesitation even while meeting my gaze now.

“Could you tell us in detail about your duel with Leonhardt? I’ve heard news about you several times, but honestly, there were many things hard to believe from rumors.”

“I feel the same. Can you tell us directly? How did you manage to achieve a draw with Leonhardt in the duel?”

“…My words might be lengthy, but would that be alright?”

“Of course.”

As my brother responded as if it were obvious, a smile escaped again.

‘Brother really is interested in spearmanship.’

From dueling with my brother in childhood, I knew that he strangely had an attachment to the spear as a weapon.

Even though his Talent had nothing to do with spears.

“I’m fine with that too. If the conversation gets longer, it just means we’ll have more enjoyable time, right?”

“If you say so… I’ll slowly explain about the duel.”

While listening to that calm voice, I suddenly felt curious.

‘When will that calm voice waver?’

The calm voice was comfortable and pleasant to listen to.

But I also felt a strange curiosity about whether he could remain this calm when that voice wavered.