Chapter 49

After the meal, Sabina looked tired. Apparently the nap on the train hadn’t been enough. She tried hard to be polite, but in the end, covered her mouth and turned away with a small yawn.

Ashton smiled and suggested,

“We should go to our room.”

Sabina nodded and stood up.

They rode the elevator down a couple of floors and got off together. Ashton had the room key, so he unlocked the door. Sabina naturally took the key from Ashton as she entered.

It was a clean suite overlooking the cityscape of Dialun. The living room was visible as soon as they entered, with a bedroom attached. Sabina walked over to the wide window, drew the curtains, and admired the night view of Dialun, illuminated by yellow lights against the navy darkness.

Brinita and Retona differed in many ways. If asked, ‘What’s the biggest difference?’ everyone would answer differently—climate, language, national sentiment… If asked, Sabina would give a very Brinita-centric answer.

A country without magic.

If Brinitans lost their magic, they wouldn’t know how to live. But Retonans showed that even those without the blessing of magic can manage life.

Instead of using lightening magic to move heavy things, several people would push a cart together. The elevator moved by machinery, not magic. Sabina, raised in Brinita as a mage, thought the world would never reach the efficiency of magic through science. But she understood Retonans would answer differently.

Like a cat in front of an aquarium, Sabina watched the people of Dialun for a long time before deciding she should wash up and drew the curtains. But instead of heading to the bathroom, she stared at the table.

“You’re still in my room.”

Ashton was quietly watching Sabina as he drank a bottle of wine, while she watched the people.

At Sabina’s comment, Ashton replied in confusion,

“It’s my room too, isn’t it?”

“Mhm.”

“Is there a problem?”

Sabina pondered. Yes, this was a lover’s trip, after all. Normally, lovers are emotionally and physically close, so it might be odd to use separate rooms on a trip.

“And don’t forget, the one who recently criticized my spending was you yourrself, Lady D’Vialis.”

He was right. There was no reason to rent two suites.

Considering all these factors, Ashton’s choice seemed reasonable.

“Do you dislike it?”

Ashton tapped the stem of his wine glass playfully. Sabina shook her head. She didn’t dislike it.

“Since we’re lovers, it makes sense to use the same room. You’re right. Now that I think about it, every time I traveled, I shared a room with my grandfather too.”

Sabina’s easy acceptance and odd example made Ashton a bit flustered.

“I’m a bit different from your grandfather, you know. There’s no tension sharing a room with him.”

“But you don’t make me nervous either.”

A very Sabina-like statement—her heart didn’t race for anyone. She made the remark without considering that it might hurt a man’s pride, but Ashton, who didn’t seek her love, laughed it off.

“We’ll share the bed too?”

“Of course.”

“I’m going to wash up now.”

Sabina hurried off to the bathroom inside the bedroom. Ashton, not getting the cute reaction he expected, just sipped his wine with a resigned look.

But before enough time had passed for her to finish bathing, the door clicked open. Ashton’s ears perked up. He had no intention of peeking at the lady in the bath, but couldn’t help being alert.

“Ash.”

Sabina called him softly. She’d decided to call him by that nickname, dropping the last syllable.

Ashton tapped the table with his fingertips like piano keys and answered,

“Yes, Sabina.”

He sat upright, back against the chair. He took a sip of wine.

“Do you want to bathe together?”

He almost spit out his wine.

“Excuse me?”

He quickly swallowed, stood up, and asked in a startled tone. So flustered that his chair fell over. Sabina, hearing the chair tumble on the soft carpet, looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong? I was just asking.”

“If I said ‘yes,’ would you really do it?”

“Why do you sound so defensive? Giving you the choice means I’ll respect your decision.”

“Excuse me?”

He really had nothing else to say. Ashton, who’d tried to tease Sabina about sharing a bed, found himself wrapped up in her logic. He awkwardly stood with his wine glass, not approaching the bathroom, just raising his voice.

Meanwhile, Sabina couldn’t understand his reaction.

“I know what it means for lovers to share a room and a bed on a trip. So bathing together isn’t really…”

“No!”

Sabina, startled by the loud reply, shut her mouth with wide eyes. Ashton’s face was redder than ever, and he kept rubbing it in embarrassment.

“Actually, sharing the bed was just something I said. I wasn’t serious.”

“Then where will you sleep?”

“Oh, wherever… The space is divided… That’s not the point right now…”

“I see. But why did you say it so casually?”

Sabina’s curiosity was like a four-year-old pestering her mother with endless ‘why’s. Ashton instantly felt like a parent to a four-year-old. Half her questions were hard to answer.

“I need to wash too, so please finish quickly and let me use the bathroom.”

In the end, Ashton blocked her questions with that request.

Sabina, poking her head out of the bathroom, eventually closed the door. The mirror on one side reflected her n*ked body. She had a small frame and a youthful face, but under her clothes she had the body of a twenty-two-year-old. She herself felt nothing about her body, so Sabina couldn’t judge if she was attractive.

Anyway, she washed thoroughly. Washing her long hair took extra time. Usually Mitchel would help, but doing it alone felt unfamiliar. She worried she was using the bathroom too long.

After washing, wrapped in a big towel, Sabina faced another challenge caused by not having a maid.

She stood for a moment, then turned the knob and knocked from inside.

“Ash.”

The answer came a beat late.

“Yes.”

“I forgot to bring clothes to change into.”

There was silence outside. Sabina’s statement was purely factual, but could be interpreted differently. She just needed clothes and hadn’t thought further.

So she calmly instructed,

“In my travel bag, there’s a cream-colored nightgown and a lavender shawl. Could you bring them?”

Instead of an answer, she heard the bag’s lock opening. Then she realized she’d forgotten her underwear too.

“Please bring my underwear as well.”

“Sigh…”

“Sorry.”

She apologized quickly, meaning she felt bad for making Ashton do such things when he wasn’t a servant. Ashton sighed, not because of that, but anyway, he pinched his brow, took a deep breath, and brought everything to the bathroom door.

Wrapped up in the big towel, Sabina looked a little embarrassed. She hadn’t exposed her shoulders or calves, but even that light exposure made Ashton a bit uncomfortable. He set the clothes down as kindly and neutrally as possible and turned away.

Sabina quickly grabbed the clothes like a mouse stealing cheese and closed the bathroom door again. She took out another dry towel to wrap her long hair and struggled to dress alone. But she managed everything herself. Checking her appearance in the mirror, she stepped out to find Ashton waiting.

He looked at her with a complicated expression and motioned her over. Sabina did so, and Ashton took the towel from her hands, sat her down, and gently dried her long hair.

“You’re not a servant…”

“Sigh…”

“If you dislike it so much, you don’t have to…”

“If you’d just stop talking, I wouldn’t sigh at all, so please.”

So Sabina stayed quiet. Ashton’s large hands were much softer and kinder than expected, and Sabina blinked quietly as she let him dry her hair. Only the sound of breathing and the towel on her hair could be heard.

Her heavy, wet hair gradually became light and fluffy. Ashton used three towels to dry her hair, massaging her nape and scalp through the towel.

“Where did you learn this?”

Sabina, who’d meant to stay silent, asked out of curiosity. Ashton didn’t answer. Sabina easily accepted his silence and let him continue.

Usually three maids would dry Sabina’s hair. Compared to them, Ashton’s result was clumsy, but Sabina liked her slightly damp hair.

After Ashton went to the bathroom, Sabina curled up on the couch with her knees up. With nothing to focus on except the faint sounds of water from the bathroom, Sabina’s attention naturally drifted there.

She thought the tub might be a bit small for him. She blinked away the rude image that flashed in her mind.

Just then, someone knocked on the hotel room door.

Sabina slipped on the soft slippers under the couch and walked lightly to the door.

“Who is it?”

She realized afterward she’d asked in Brinitan. She blushed, but it meant nothing to the other person. The hotel maid answered in slightly awkward Brinitan.

“I’ve brought milk.”

Good news for Sabina, who always drank a bit of warm milk before bed. She opened the door, and the maid placed a tray with a cup of hot milk and a small bottle of whisky on the table. Finished, the maid tucked her hands under her apron and bowed deeply.

Sabina gestured that she could leave. After the door closed, Sabina sat at the table, cupping the milk in both hands, thinking this wasn’t a standard hotel service. Ashton must have requested it while she was in the bath.

That raised a question.

‘How did he know I drink milk every night before bed?’

She’d never told him. But it wasn’t necessarily strange. The trip had been planned weeks in advance, and Ashton could easily have asked Mitchel about Sabina’s habits.

Or perhaps Mitchel, being a bit overzealous, had contacted Ashton first.