Could this be a fantasy woven from lingering attachments and wishes? There was no way that man would be here at this late hour.

“I asked where you’re going.”

It shouldn’t be possible. But this wasn’t a mere illusion.

Kian.

Kian von Larson was standing right before her eyes.

“How did you come here?”

“I came because I was worried about this. That tomorrow morning you…”

Kian briefly paused his words. She could feel him taking a deep breath in and out.

“…wouldn’t come to me.”

The soft voice from his lips spoke words that were hard to believe even after hearing them.

“I’m the one who’s reluctant to let go. I came to hold you back.”

She had thought he was someone who would never feel such reluctance. What he confessed was an anxiety thick as fog. It felt just like a dream.

His gaze fell first on the shoebox she was clutching, then on her bare feet without shoes. Seeing this, he smiled bitterly as if he had intuited the answer.

“Let’s save your answer for the morning.”

Suddenly, he lifted Vivianne up in his arms. Startled by his unexpected action, she trembled with a pale face.

“P-put me down!”

“Don’t make a fuss. Unless you want the maids to gossip about seeing us like this.”

“……”

“I have something to say, so we’re going to my room.”

Being held in his arms while fully conscious made their hearts press together. Or was she really in her right mind? She wasn’t sure at all. She couldn’t even tell whose heart was beating so fast.

* * *

Kian only released her after reaching his bedroom. The room was dark.

Instead of a tea set, glasses were scattered messily on the table, and a sweet smell wafted from the red liquid.

He seemed parched. After drinking anxiously, he spilled what remained onto Vivianne’s maid uniform.

“……!”

“Ah, a mistake.”

The strong smell of alcohol permeated the air. Though he brazenly insisted it was unintentional, it was clearly deliberate to anyone watching. The color drained from her face as she suffered this inexplicable offense.

“…That wasn’t a mistake.”

At her accurate observation, even Kian seemed embarrassed and let out a hollow laugh.

Though she had done nothing wrong. Her heart was pounding. Since she had already spoken up, she wanted to properly address this.

“You clearly did that on purpose. Why are you being so mean to me?”

She couldn’t understand his intentions. Just moments ago he seemed to be holding her back from leaving. Why was he suddenly acting like this?

Though she couldn’t understand the reason, his rudeness was beyond what could be laughed off.

“Didn’t you say you’d do anything I asked?”

“What?”

“When you’re going to do whatever you want anyway. Seeing you dressed up pretending to be my maid. It makes my blood boil.”

What on earth was he talking about?

His response had twisted in an unimaginable direction.

She was dumbfounded. After all her internal struggles. He was the one who had given her the choice in the first place. And now he was saying this was all just her doing whatever she wanted?

Despite committing such a nasty act, Kian just smiled lazily, showing no signs of remorse. He seemed somewhat out of his mind.

“But I don’t have… anything else…”

…to wear.

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Because it was humiliating.

That man must surely know this too. Knowing this. She couldn’t understand why he was pushing her this far.

She hadn’t hoped for something as soft as empathy from the start. She just wanted to let him know that he was causing her some trouble.

“Of course you don’t.”

But was it her imagination? Kian seemed to take even more pleasure in seeing her discomfort.

“I’ve had bath water drawn in the bathroom. Go wash up and come out.”

“Here?”

“Yes. Matilda told me you enjoy bathing in the tub. Well, let’s call it a reward for your special duties.”

After bringing her here saying he had something to say, he ruins her clothes and then suddenly announces he’s prepared a bath.

Was this his plan from the start? It was quite a reasonable suspicion.

“That would be inappropriate.”

“Why?”

“Because you have a fiancée. I feel uncomfortable, like I’m committing a sin against her.”

Another bruised pride. She desperately tried to maintain this meager boundary, if only to feel less pathetic about herself.

“It’s just a bath, Vivi. Did I say I was going to take you?”

She hadn’t expected him to ask so directly. Strictly speaking, Kian was right. It was just her assumption; he had never said he would take her.

Vivianne’s face burned hot.

“…No.”

“If you don’t want me to wash you, go in by yourself.”

In the end, she was practically pushed into the bathroom this way. Whether it had been drawn in advance, white steam was rising from the bathtub. A white bar of soap was neatly placed beside it.

‘So he prepared this for me in advance?’

She was still dazed.

‘Why is he suddenly being nice?’

Of course, he had just spilled something strange on her, but. From him coming to find her, saying he wanted to hold her back, to preparing the bath for her. None of it felt real. Like the bathroom filled with steam, she couldn’t see through his intentions.

‘It’s been a while.’

Gulp. She swallowed dryly. To be honest, she desperately wanted to soak in the water.

Looking back, after ‘Kian’s name,’ the first thing she had learned from Matilda was taking baths.

During her week working as a maid, she had only been able to take quick showers, never dreaming of soaking in a tub. If she hadn’t experienced it before, she wouldn’t have known how good it felt.

‘Well. This might be the last time anyway.’

Even knowing it was rationalization. Her resolve kept weakening. When her thoughts reached that point, honestly, she felt like letting whatever happens happen.

Vivianne carefully undressed and entered the tub. The water was neither too hot nor lukewarm. It was just pleasantly warm.

Though her cracked heel stung, her body soon melted into such comfortable relaxation that even such minor pain was forgotten. Even her aching wrists seemed to loosen up a bit.

When she rubbed the soap in her hands, it created bubbling foam. The sensation of bubbles tickling her skin was still addictive.

‘Ah, it’s warm. This really does feel good.’

She had missed this peaceful sensation. Fragrant. Warm. Relaxing. Perhaps because she had barely slept for days due to her emotional turmoil. As she sat in the tub, her eyes gently closed.

* * *

How much time had passed?

She suddenly came to her senses in the piercing bright morning sunlight.

‘This is a complete disaster!’

That was her first thought. Vivianne reflexively shot up. It seemed she had inadvertently fallen asleep.

‘What do I do!’

She would have been devastated even if she had woken up in the tub. But this wasn’t even in the tub. How utterly helpless. She was buried deep in soft bedding.

Her hands were gone. No, that wasn’t it – it took her quite a while to get her hands out of the sleeves. She was wearing an oversized bathrobe that didn’t fit her at all.

Vivianne was reminded of the large slippers that had swallowed her feet.

This must be Kian’s too.

Right. Kian!

When her thoughts reached that point, she felt the blood drain from her face. When she checked the clock, her whole body froze stiff. The time was already approaching noon.

“……”

First, she needed to sort out the situation.

So. She had fallen asleep while bathing in the tub. And not only had Kian pulled her out and put a bathrobe on her, but she had also shamelessly enjoyed oversleeping in his bed?

Ack! She barely held back a scream that threatened to burst out. This was truly a major incident.

Vivianne first opened the front of the robe and thoroughly examined her whole body. Nothing seemed particularly different. There were no unfamiliar bruises or pain.

Except for her ankle which had been bandaged at some point. Rather, seeing that made her face flush even redder.

‘That means he saw everything when I was n*ked.’

Embarrassed, she quickly closed the robe and buried her face in her hands. She couldn’t lift her face due to the shame.

He had clearly called her saying he had something to say. But like a fool, she had fallen asleep in the tub. And then caused trouble while n*ked.

‘…Where did Kian go?’

Looking around, Kian was nowhere to be seen. She was alone in the large room. There were no signs of him having had tea or read the newspaper.

That was natural. Taking care of those things was Vivianne’s duty.

When she checked the bathroom, her maid uniform was gone. Her underwear too. It was perfectly tidied as if no one had bathed there.

‘How can I leave without any clothes?’

When she was a mermaid, she had never worried about clothes. But after becoming human, she was troubled by having no clothes, troubled by having no shoes. It was just one problem after another.

Vivianne trudged out of the bathroom and back to the bed. She didn’t even have the strength to stand in her bewildered state.

She had no clothes. But the shoebox she had been carrying was still placed on the bedside table.

Just then, there was a knocking sound.

‘What do I do!’

Startled, Vivianne hurriedly hid back under the covers.

If only it were Kian.

Though meeting Kian in her current state would be embarrassing too, she thought it would be better than being caught by someone else.

No, wait. If it were Kian, wouldn’t he enter his own room without knocking? It must be someone else.

Whoever it was, she just wished they would leave. She wanted to vanish into thin air in the blink of an eye if she could.

“…Vivi?”

A familiar and gentle voice.

Vivianne opened her tightly shut eyes. Carefully lifting the covers and emerging, she saw the face she had wanted to see.

“Matilda!”

She felt like crying from joy.