In any case, I went into the bathroom.
I scrubbed my body carefully, washing it from any kind of dirt, and took a short rest while using the light green marble bathtub that was filled with wonderful scented hot water.
(It seems that Leon-sama is quite interested in me for the time being.)
Even if I tried to empty my head, as expected, I still ended up thinking about the thing from earlier.
A sweet smile that could make one melt, the glittering amber eyes filled with desire. Although he was being gentle, but he captured me with a force that wouldn’t allow for any resistance, with his big caressing hands. Despite being a male, he has an amorous voice. ‘Riviere, Rivea,’ when he was calling my name, I thought that my brain was going numb.
(–He excessively sniffed my scent, though.)
I was able to slightly cool down my head after remembering that.
But, it was only a little bit.
I know that one’s fragrance—or scent in some cases would be equal to pheromone. Even in the world of the animals, there’s the act of marking, and the sense of smell is one of five important and primitive senses.
It seems that Leon-sama’s [sense of smell] perfectly favors mine, and in a sense, it might be a little bit too grandiose to say that it’s an [obsession] or [favor], but that might not be wrong. During my study time with Orgueil, I naturally heard various matters regarding Leon-sama and the Gladius house, but the story that appeared at that time was, ‘Aah, look, Leon-sama has never spent the night with a woman,’ or ‘he has never spent the night with a woman,’ things like that.
“—with that appearance and his seemingly cheerful disposition. In addition, his social status as the Duke of Evangelista. Well, women shouldn’t have been too far away from his reach, but…”
Orgueil indifferently talked. Seemingly cheerful, huh? I wonder about that.
“His Highness doesn’t sleep with women because his sense of smell outweighs it. Too much outweighing that it can be said that his sense of smell has already exceeded that of a normal person’s range.”
He praised, or rather, it was more like he was only stating the facts. Orgueil’s tone contained no emotion.
That being the case, it was quite a delicate story to me, though.
“When he’s conscious, in other words, when he’s awake, it seems that his sense of smell stays within the range of a normal person’s. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case when he’s sleeping. Furthermore, that person is naturally a light sleeper. It’s impossible for him to spend a night laying aside a scent that isn’t to his liking.”
Therefore, although he might be amusing himself with noncommittal relationships, he doesn’t get too deeply involved in it. It has never occurred.
Orgueil’s superior’s tale of relations with women was told that way.
That was why, Leon-sama turned up every day in the guest room where I was in (we also had dinners together), and finally on the 8th night, he entered the adjoining room to his own living room, reaching the point that we shared a bedroom, inciting everyone’s interest intensely, and it seemed that rumors involving me had been spreading inside and outside the castle.
There seemed to be various circumstances until today since I received the permission to do a field trip that I asked through Orgueil. Furthermore, it should have only been four days, but during that time, there were rumors after rumors appearing. It’s terrifying to even think about the content of those rumors. A brazen woman from the frontier who marched into the center of the Gladius house whole relying on a single jewel, sometimes it’s ‘an evil woman’, it seems that I’ve been dubbed that way (I’d think like that too if I were a third party). While in the actuality, there’s no physical relationship, and the bed sheet shouldn’t have been so disheveled (it was disheveled this morning, though), but it appears that it is only a matter of time. For a third party, things like that don’t even matter. The important thing is that [they are sharing a bedroom].
(I wonder if it’s okay for me to have an excursion?)
Although it’s too late, I somewhat think that I might have been too carefree.
Although I was in a hot bath, I unconsciously felt that it was a bit chilly, so I hugged my own shoulders.
(I asked the maid to prepare some snacks and drinks for me, though.)
Then, there was the sound of drops of water falling. It was too quiet. I became clear-headed.
(Sooner or later, I’d do the field trip and I was told that I’d have a debut too, but I ought to be careful on my field trip before the debut? …No, but if it’s not good, then Orgueil and Leon-sama wouldn’t give their permissions.)
Oh well, shall we leave it at that? Since Orgueil will be accompanying me, I should just enjoy myself.
In the end, I thought back upon it as I was about to leave the bathtub.
Unexpectedly, it seemed that I became dizzy due to staying in the bath for a long time. I ended up staggering inside the bathtub and fell to my backside. My buttocks slid just like that, and it ended up floating face up in the bathtub.
‘SPLASH!’
At the same time the loud voice resounded, the bathroom’s door was opened.
“—Riviere-sama, what happened?”
“W-wait, Orgueil!”
Isn’t it more logical for a maid to come instead?!
“Why did you come here?!”
“The maids were worried that you passed out due to being in the bath for too long, as it was way too quiet. However, it seemed that you wanted to enter the bath alone and they were ordered not to meddle. That was where I came in.”
If I were to pass out due to staying in the bath for too long, they’d need a man’s help. After all, it was impossible for the maids alone to move someone who had passed out.
As he shamelessly said that, Orgueil approached the bathtub, putting his arms under my armpits as I was sinking in the water up until my head, then pulled me up from the bathtub.
“?! …Wait, you, stop that…!!”
I am naked, you know?! Since I was taking a bath! That’s obvious, though!
Why does my naked body have to be exposed to a man?! Moreover, it’s the front part of my body! Like my breasts, my belly button, and down below…!
“Orgueil! This isn’t your duty! It’s a foul play!”
“…At any rate, your legs are getting numb due to being in the bath for too long, aren’t they?”
Again and again, this person always finds the truth beforehand and moves ahead.
“It’s just one step close to passing out in the bath. Now, we have to take a breakfast before departing. Even if it’s only within the castle of Duke Evangelista, it’s still quite big, after all. Didn’t we already have a schedule created? If we don’t depart at ninth period of time* in the morning, we won’t be able to make it for the schedule.”
(T/N: The original Japanese phrase is “朝の九の刻” with the meaning of each kanji: morning, ninth, archaic period of time. The archaic period of time used in Japan is similar to Chinese’s shichen—where one shichen = 2 hours. If we’re to convert the time to modern time, that means they have to depart at 12 pm the latest. (Correct me if I’m wrong though ><) Here is a wikipedia link if you want to learn more about this archaic period of time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_clock#Traditional_Japanese_time_system)
The beautiful man who could be mistaken as a god then calmly carried the naked and flustered me in his arms and moved me to the living room, leaving me in the care of the nervous maids, and said, “Well then, later on,” as he left the room.
Author’s Note:
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Translator’s Note:
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