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“Then let’s go in, Your Majesty.”

I couldn’t bring myself to put the naked Emperor before my eyes, so I led the way into the bathroom. Indeed, since it was a bathhouse for the Emperor, the bathroom was remarkably spacious and luxurious, even though it was meant for just one person.

However, in stark contrast to its magnificence, the maidens who were supposed to manage the bathhouse were either dead, fled, or hiding due to Glen’s attack, leaving the vast bathroom completely empty.

Before getting into the tub, I headed toward the shower facilities to wash off my dusty body. Surely, the only person using this bathhouse would be Emperor Cecilia, yet surprisingly, there were several shower facilities.

Since I needed a shower myself, I found a suitable spot and started washing my body. Drenching myself thoroughly, I used the available products to wash my hair and body. Since these were products used by the Emperor, they smelled good as well.

“Your Majesty…?”

However, while I was washing myself, Cecilia stood there without a drop of water touching her skin.

“Did I not say that today, you must serve me during my bath?”

“…?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what Cecilia was saying. Of course, I did follow her in to serve her during the bath, but what did that have to do with her not having a single drop of water on her body?

“If you’ve finished washing yourself, stop standing there and wash my body thoroughly. Do I need to tell you even this?”

“Y-yes…?”

At her words, I was momentarily flustered and instinctively asked back. Of course, I wasn’t the Emperor herself, so I couldn’t know how she usually lived. But come on, to have someone else wash her own body?

But since there was no reason for Cecilia to lie to me, she must indeed have left the actual washing of her body to a maid.

“Oh, and don’t use a towel, it could damage my skin.”

Having committed myself to serving her, I had no choice but to follow her orders and approached her from behind.

First, I drenched her body with water. I worried if the water was too hot or if water might get into her ears, but fortunately, she didn’t show any discomfort.

Then I started lathering her hair with shampoo. Her hair, which she usually kept tied back, was now flowing down and resting below her shoulders.

Of course, I had to wash her hair with a delicate touch unlike how I washed my own, but it wasn’t too difficult.

The truly hard part came next.

Having washed her hair, it was naturally time to wash her body. If I could at least use a towel, it wouldn’t be as bad, but the Emperor had directly said not to use one, citing potential damage to her skin. I had to use my bare hands.

“Is there a problem?”

Although I had squeezed soap onto my hands, I found myself unable to lay a hand on her body, and I heard a prompting voice. Eventually, I closed my eyes tight and reached my hands toward her.

I first placed my hands on her shoulders. Was the smoothness due to the soap or her skin? Trying to quiet my troubled thoughts, I closed my eyes, but restricting my sight only made me more acutely aware of the sensation of touching her body.

One hand over her shoulder, the other under her armpit, I slowly washed one of her arms. As my fingers traveled down from her shoulder to the tips, she unexpectedly clasped my hand, causing me to jump. But it appeared she only did so to get foam in between her fingers before letting go.

After finishing with the other arm as well, my next target was her back.

I carefully lathered her smooth back with no excess flesh, starting from the top and moving downward. However, with my eyes closed, I wasn’t sure how far down to go, and there was a moment when my hand nearly slipped between her buttocks, startling me into pulling back my hand.

Having finished lathering her back, my hands then moved to her waist. Like I was hugging her from behind, my hands moved across her belly as I washed. Meanwhile, I lightly teased her navel with one finger.

Following her belly, I slowly moved my hands down from her side to her hip. The firm sensation of her thigh followed down from her hip to my fingertips. I didn’t stop and continued to wash down from her thigh, starting at her knees. When I touched her soles, I felt her toes twitching, as if she found it ticklish.

Now I had lathered every part I could reach on her body. I stepped back, removing my hands from her.

“Hm? Aren’t you done lathering yet?”

“W-well, the remaining spots should be done by Your Majesty….”

No matter what, I couldn’t wash the most shameful parts of a woman’s body. How could I, a former man, dare to do such a thing?

“Oh my…. Is that the extent of your sense of responsibility? In the end, your loyalty to me only sounds good in words.”

However, perhaps our Emperor thought differently. Fully aware that I had once been a man, even if I was now in a woman’s body, she didn’t see me as a man at all and continued insisting I wash her.

Given her demand, how could I refuse? Ultimately, one of us had to yield, and it would inevitably be me.

I don’t know why the one doing the touching feels more embarrassment than the one being touched, but I mustered the courage to reach for her chest.

The sensation of her soft yet firm chest. Of course, keeping my eyes closed made it feel even more sensitive.

From underneath her breasts to the top. Then back down again. At one point, something caught on my fingers, but I hurriedly ignored it and finished soaping before removing my hands.

Next, I reached for another part that hadn’t been lathered yet.

I slipped my hand between her legs along her bottom. No matter how unfazed Cecilia appeared, I was still concerned. I couldn’t directly touch her, so I gently grazed with the back of my hand while soaping her.

Yeah. Since I wasn’t using my fingertips, I couldn’t feel anything properly. That was all I could do. Of course, there was a slight prickly sensation I felt, but let’s not question what it was.

“Then, I’ll wash off the bubbles now.”

I quickly turned on the water and poured it over Cecilia’s body before she could demand anything more. Whether the water was hot or if it got in her ears, I had no time to worry about such trivial matters.

Fortunately, Cecilia didn’t seem to feel any discomfort and said nothing in response.

Despite all that had happened, I had managed to wash her body completely. Now it was time to get into the tub. However, another problem arose.

Originally, since it was a bathhouse used by the Emperor, the water was supposed to be kept warm at all times, ready for use.

However, as previously mentioned, the maids who were supposed to manage the bath fled after Glen’s attack, and so the water, which should have been warm, had already cooled to lukewarm.

“It seems the temperature-maintaining magic has worn off. Please wait a moment.”

I couldn’t let Cecilia get into this water. I asked for her understanding and quickly manipulated the taps to let hot water flow. The facilities were good, and hot water surged out, but due to the large size of the tub, it seemed it would take a good while to warm up.

In the meantime, I felt a gaze fixed on me from behind. Being an assassin, I was sensitive to such presences, so it couldn’t have been my imagination.

If it had been the opposite, it wouldn’t have been strange, but as the Emperor, there was no reason for her, being a woman, to gaze at my naked body. So what could be her reason for staring at me?

Naturally, it must have been to urge me on.

Even though I had poured a bit of warm water over her, if I kept standing still while wet, my body would inevitably cool, and I could feel the chill setting in. I sensed her anger brewing beyond her piercing gaze.

Her intense scrutiny felt like the Emperor’s reprimand, chiding me. But since it wasn’t my fault, I put on a poker face and pretended to check the water temperature, turning my back to her.

I wondered how long that uncomfortable time passed. By this point, the water had warmed enough for her to get in, so I quickly informed her.

“You can get in the water now! You must be feeling cold.”

“…I see. I will.”

However, contrary to her prior impatience, she responded with a flat expression. Well, she must realize that it wasn’t my fault that the water was cold.

Fortunately, as soon as she submerged her body in the water, it seemed the temperature was just right for her, as her face quickly softened.

“What are you doing just sitting there? You should come in too.”

“I-I… am I?”

Cecilia suddenly addressing me caught me off guard, causing me to raise my voice unintentionally in response.

“Do you know what kind of power you wielded today?”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind and brought up the subject for discussion. The power she referred to must have been the one I displayed against the Royal Knight Brigade.

While I might have overlooked it during the battle, looking back now, there were many puzzling points.

As the battle prolonged, I should have naturally become exhausted, yet I found myself moving increasingly easily.

I dealt stronger blows and dodged enemy attacks more nimbly. My attacks always hit their mark, while those of my enemies always missed.

It wasn’t just that my strength was greater or my speed faster. It was a power on another level.

“The power you wielded unconsciously… Perhaps you have an inkling of it, Your Majesty?”

While I couldn’t even begin to conjecture, the Emperor seemed to have some idea. Upon reflection, when she spoke sternly to Ferrent, her voice held a similar momentum to the force I had wielded.

“Do you want to know?”

“Of course. If I can understand that power, it will surely be of great help in defeating the Demon King.”

“Hmm….”

Yet despite my earnest request, she simply groaned in contemplation. Whether it was difficult to explain or if she simply didn’t want to tell me, in the end, the disappointment was only mine.

“Please, I beg you, Your Majesty.”

“By the way, your hands are surprisingly soft for a hand that wields a sword.”

Rather, she changed the subject abruptly.

“I enjoy massages every time I take a bath.”

Suddenly, Cecilia stood up, and I instinctively turned my head toward her, only to be startled and quickly turned away again.

The sound of her wet footsteps echoed softly in the bathhouse. She paused after just a few steps.

“If you want to hear, then perhaps you should give me a massage while we talk.”

…Oh god, how much longer will you test me?