005

“……”

“……”

The labored breathing that had filled the bathroom just moments ago vanished like smoke without a trace. Sion found himself experiencing the rare occurrence of directly witnessing with his own eyes what he had only pictured in his mind earlier.

A delicate n*ked body submerged in water without a single layer of clothing, moonlight-colored hair floating like water lilies, smooth skin revealed above the water’s surface, and the woman’s expressionless face that remained unchanged as always. It matched the image that had briefly tormented him perfectly.

And for the first time, his eyes met hers.

Agate Irone was looking straight at him. Her previously unfocused, vacant eyes now gleamed with light as an image formed within them.

Sion’s body stiffened like stone, as if devoured by that unfathomable gaze. He neither spoke nor moved. He simply remained captivated by her eyes, unable to break their locked gaze.

Agate likewise made no attempt to cover herself or avoid him. She simply remained still, looking up at him. As if she had been expecting his arrival.

After Sion pulled back the curtain, nothing happened in the bathroom. Only the sound of water droplets falling from an unknown source rippled through the bathroom. It was a moment that would remain more vivid than an eternity.

“…I thought something terrible had happened… but you seem fine. I apologize for disturbing your time. I’ll withdraw now.”

Swish

Was it instinct trying to salvage the spilled situation? Sion’s mouth moved mechanically of its own accord. Before he knew it, he had replaced the curtain he had unconsciously drawn and found himself already rushing out of the bathroom.

‘…She really is an unpleasant woman.’

Sion slightly furrowed his brow as he recalled the situation that had just passed. The lady had made no attempt to cover herself or avoid him, nor did she show any signs of displeasure. She had merely looked at him. Though she was the one exposed, all the byproducts of emotion—embarrassment, awkwardness, surprise—fell to his share.

Having to devote himself to winning the favor of such a corpse-like woman—his circumstances were truly pitiful.

“Butler? Did something happen?”

“Ah, Miss Kanna… No, nothing happened.”

Sion quickly raised his head and made up an excuse, startled by Kanna’s call. She had somehow approached without making a sound. Like a thief with a guilty conscience, he tried to appear composed.

“Oh… I thought something had happened.”

Kanna, who had somehow persuaded the prickly gardener to fill her basket with rose petals, looked rather puzzled. Only then did Sion realize that his legs, reflecting his state of mind, had been pacing restlessly in front of the door like a pendulum.

To have done such a foolish thing—he must have been quite flustered indeed.

“Of course not.”

Sion reassured Kanna with the same answer once more. Surely the lady who had barely reacted in his presence wouldn’t tell the maid what had just happened. She couldn’t speak anyway.

Sion’s narrow gaze fell on the abundantly filled flower basket. The scent of roses was strong enough to erase the humid smell of steam.

‘If only she’d sprinkled those petals earlier…’

His unspoken complaint was directed at the innocent, blameless Kanna.

The water mixed with expensive bath salts was so clear that everything was transparently visible without filter. The lady hadn’t even tried to cover her precious body with her hair, and his vision had captured everything before he could do anything about it.

“Well then, I’ll go back in.”

Sion sighed deeply as he watched Kanna’s back as she returned to the bathroom to continue her service. Since he had replaced the curtain, she probably couldn’t imagine that an intruder had barged in during that brief moment.

He couldn’t understand why he kept getting entangled with the lady in such ways. Sion slumped against the wall as if his tension had suddenly released.

‘By the way… how am I supposed to sway a woman who remains completely unfazed even when showing her n*ked body to another man?’

After briefly calming his pounding heart, Sion soon wrinkled his face seriously, covering his mouth with his large hand as he stared down the door.

In truth, despite being good at almost everything, he had absolutely no experience actively pursuing women romantically. Instead, he was accustomed to receiving unnecessary advances from women, so he had never once in his life felt the need to make the first move.

Thus, he was surprisingly awkward in this area, and even his flawless good looks seemed utterly useless against this woman.

‘…My face is useless?’

Though Sion wasn’t particularly narcissistic, he had lived his life receiving special treatment for his looks wherever he went, so this kind of dismissal was novel in a different way. He approached a large window in the long corridor that was showering sunlight like rain.

When he reflected his face in the well-polished window, his features appeared vaguely, if not distinctly.

A straight triangular nose bridge without curves and firmly closed lips in a straight line. His eyes, like embedded emeralds, shone brilliantly as if about to pierce through the glass, and to make matters worse, his hair was a deep golden color that perfectly complemented his green eyes. His face displayed typical handsomeness.

‘Ah, though it’s black now, of course.’

Sion casually brushed back his hair reflected in the window. While he was thinking about it, he should dye his hair again tonight. Because gold and black had such stark contrast in brightness, he needed to be diligent about applying dye before his hair grew out.

It was quite troublesome since the dye was hard to find due to its uncommon use and its harsh chemicals, but what choice did he have as a fugitive? If he was going to disguise himself, it was wise to change his appearance so completely that no one would notice.

* * *

Agate’s bath time ended much later, around when Sion’s boredom erupted into a yawn. As the earlier embarrassment and shock began to fade, the door opened with humid steam pouring out.

“Did you wait long?”

“I could wait much longer if it means the young lady enjoyed her bath thoroughly.”

Kanna emerged from the bathroom, supporting Agate whose hair was still half-wet. Certainly, after bathing, she looked more human than when seen in her sickbed.

Her milk-white skin now seemed to serve its purpose properly. He casually assessed that she must have monopolized quite a bit of love during those legendary times when she was supposedly bright and kind.

“Miss Kanna, thank you for your hard work. I’ll escort the young lady to her bedroom now.”

“Yes, I’ll come along too since I need to brush her hair. It’s so long that it tangles quickly if not brushed.”

Kanna, who had handed Agate over to Sion, nodded gratefully and added these words. Her additional explanation was unnecessary. Sion already knew all too well what happened to long hair without brushing, having seen Agate’s poodle-like hair to the point of nausea.

Despite their awkward shared experience, Agate docilely entrusted herself to him. Sion wrapped his arm around her thin shoulders and grasped her slender hand. Though he had simply taken his usual stable supporting posture, her faint body heat transmitted through his white gloves felt strangely different.

The female body he thought he had completely erased from his mind suddenly scattered his reason, attempting to assign disruptive meaning to what was merely one of his butler duties, nothing more or less.

‘You’ve lost it, Sion Benzef. What’s the big deal about seeing a skinny woman’s body?’

Sion felt his irritation rising sharply at his reason, which for once wasn’t under his control. If the lady had screamed, covered herself, or slapped him, he wouldn’t have been left with such an unsettling aftertaste.

Everything grating on his nerves lately was because of this woman.

This woman who had half-entrusted her body to his embrace. This woman who had directly gazed at him when n*ked, after ignoring him completely before. This woman who treated him like a mere walking stick now, after staring so intently at him then. It was all because of her.

While Sion barely suppressed a sigh that had gathered up to his chin, Adollo was approaching from the opposite direction. Would he scold him for slacking off? That would be unfair considering how mentally and physically exhausted he was.

“Young lady, you took quite a long bath. You must be tired, so let’s get you inside to rest.”

Adollo was exceptionally gentle when it came to the young lady. So even a rich young lady taking a half-bath in a tub sprinkled with rose petals deserved praise for being tired? Sion, whose head was genuinely throbbing with fatigue, had to press his lips firmly to suppress the laughter threatening to escape.

“Daniel, I was just looking for you. We’re going to town for a bit.”