Now that the door creaked open and Yuli stepped inside, it was far too late to regret having forgotten to lock it.

“Wait, Yuli…!”

As the door opened and her foot entered the bathroom, I quickly scanned the surroundings, grabbed a towel hanging on the wall, and immediately covered the Master-Servant Mark on my abdomen.

I could confidently say I moved faster than when I had just dueled with the Sword Master, Craig.

“I spilled my drink, and now my body is all sticky… I thought I should shower too, so I came in here.”

Fortunately, it seemed I hadn’t been caught, as Yuli walked in with her usual calm demeanor.

As I observed her expression, my gaze naturally drifted downward.

It’s not that I’m a pervert; it’s just an instinct that compels a man to look down… that’s all it is.

Still, I managed to summon my superhuman patience from my days as an Assassin and turned my head away just in time to preserve my last shred of conscience.

I moved past Yuli with as much nonchalance as possible, heading toward the bathroom exit while trying not to arouse her suspicion.

“I, uh, I’ve finished showering, so… I’m going to go ahead… Take your time and wash up.”

Of course, I hadn’t really washed—I’d just splashed some cold water on myself—but it was better to risk a little awkwardness and step out than to stay inside with Yuli.

Just as I attempted to leave—

“Hey, what’s the rush? You haven’t even splashed enough water on yourself yet!”

“Haha… ha….”

“Are you planning to walk around smelling like sweat? It’s fine when it’s just us, but it’s rude to smell like that in front of others, you know?”

“No, but… still…”

“Hehe… Come on over. You’ve splashed water on yourself, so now it’s time to lather up with soap.”

Yuli pulled my hand, which wasn’t holding a towel, and brought me back toward the bathroom door.

“Wait! I said I spilled my drink; shouldn’t you wash off first?!”

“Oh… right… I totally forgot for a second there.”

Fortunately, Yuli finally let go of my hand.

“Ugh!”

Instead of letting go of my hand, she placed both of hers on my shoulders, leaning against me from behind.

The towel I was holding only covered my lower stomach, while Yuli was completely naked, so naturally, our bare skin touched.

Given that, the pressure I felt on my back was probably…

“Hehe… If I just splash the water, then Elysia will dry all of a sudden, so we should just splash together!”

Fortunately, since Yuli was behind me, the risk of her discovering my Master-Servant Mark was low, but it was still a dangerously awkward situation for another reason.

“Um, Yuli…? Could you, uh, back up a little?”

“Wait, you don’t want to be with me…?”

“No, that’s not it! It’s just that if you get too close, won’t it be awkward for you to splash water?”

Hearing Yuli’s sullen voice behind me made me panic and deny it.

It wasn’t that I disliked being with Yuli; on the contrary, it was becoming a real problem because I liked it too much.

What guy would turn down having a beautiful girl cuddling up to him from behind?

However, Yuli regarded me as a friend and was snuggling up without hesitation, while I was betraying her friendship by perceiving her as a romantic interest.

Of course, if I just kept my mouth shut, she would never catch on.

But then, how would I ever look her in the face again?

I couldn’t deceive Yuli, my conscience wouldn’t allow it.

“I’m not uncomfortable at all! If we want to share a shower head, we need to be this close.”

Instead of keeping her distance, Yuli tightly wrapped her arms around me and pressed herself even closer.

Her touch felt even more pronounced.

“I’m, uh, going to fill the bathtub!”

Eventually, I couldn’t hold on any longer and escaped her embrace, fleeing to the bathtub.

I turned on the faucet connected to the bathtub, and with my knees perched on the edge, I sat down and used the towel and my thighs to double-cover the Master-Servant Mark.

“Hehe… To take a bath, unfortunately, I’ll have to stick around in the bathroom just a little longer.”

Seeing that I was sitting in the bathtub, Yuli thankfully gave up on splashing water together.

She began washing herself with the showerhead I had been using, humming a tune.

Truly, I found myself in an impossible situation.

I couldn’t leave the bathroom with Yuli holding me back, but staying here meant I risked her discovering my Master-Servant Mark at any moment.

“Hum hum~”

As I listened to Yuli’s cute humming, I weighed my options, feeling the water slowly rising in the bathtub, brushing against my toes.

Right. Last semester, when we had all gone to the crowded bathhouse, I hadn’t been caught. Surely, nothing would happen now that it was just the two of us.

If I was careful, I would be fine.

“Alright, time to step outside and lather up?”

Before I knew it, Yuli called to me from outside the bathtub.

Trying my best to obscure my view of her body, I groggily stepped out of the tub.

“Okay, okay. Sit right here in front of me!”

Holding the towel to cover the Master-Servant Mark, I moved over and sat down in front of her.

“Hehe… Then I’ll wash you first!”

There was a bustling sound as if she was producing bubbles, and soon I felt something touch my back.

“Yuli?!”

I had naturally expected it to be the showerhead or a towel, but the slippery hand I felt sliding over my back was Yuli’s.

“What’s up? Why?”

Despite my shock, Yuli’s voice remained calm.

“N-no, why are you using your bare hands…?”

“Girl’s skin is sensitive; shower towels aren’t too good for it. I recommend using your hands when you lather up the soap too!”

I had only been in this girl’s body for a few months.

I was a total novice regarding beauty, and with the nature of TS magic, I didn’t need to worry about it.

So, I’d been using a shower towel to lather, but for an ordinary girl like Yuli, using bare hands to soap up was common sense.

“Oof…”

With every time her soapy hand slid down my spine, brushed my sides, and delved into my armpit, I barely managed to suppress a gasp, feeling like I might moan out loud.

How long had it been under this ticklish torment?

Just when it seemed she finished lathering my back, Yuli’s hands finally paused.

Now it was my turn to lather up Yuli’s back.

But for some reason, Yuli just stood there with her hand resting on my back, silent.

“Yuli…?”

“Um… This is just like that time we went to the bathhouse, so I guess it’s a close call?”

Wondering what she meant, I called her name, but Yuli mumbled something I couldn’t quite grasp.

“What do you mean from that time at the bathhouse…? Huh!?”

In the midst of my questioning, Yuli’s previously still hand began to delve deeper into my sides.

“Wait a minute…! I can wash the front myself!”

“Hey, why are you like this? We already touched each other back in the bathhouse, right? Wouldn’t it be nice to bond like this while washing each other?”

That’s not a good idea.

Well, sure, it felt nice, but it wasn’t about how it felt.

Although I had the defense that it was just my back being washed, I could easily wash the front myself.

Because of that, I felt an even greater embarrassment than when my back was being soaped.

And more importantly, washing the front means…

“Ahh!”

I quickly covered my mouth with my towel as a loud voice escaped me.

As Yuli’s hand slowly traveled from below my chest, brushing over my chest and back, her fingers caught the tip of my breast, triggering a sudden rush of pleasure that I couldn’t suppress a scream.

Awkward silence.

Yuli’s hand resting on my chest also came to a stop.

“Uh, that… uh, I suddenly felt a sneeze coming on… It was about to come out, but it didn’t in the end. Hahaha…”

I thought about how pathetic my excuse sounded and waited, heart pounding, to see how Yuli would react.

“Ah, that’s really frustrating. It feels like it’s about to come out, but when it doesn’t, it’s the worst!”

Thank you, Goddess Serena.

Thanks to Yuli’s cluelessness, I managed to navigate through this potentially embarrassing moment unscathed.

“Um, y’know… Yuli? Maybe I should just wash the rest myself…?”

If I kept handing my body over to Yuli like this, I feared the earlier tense moment would return, and even though we were girls, I thought it was odd for her to soap my breasts.

“Why not?”

But unlike me, Yuli asked back with an unbothered tone.

“Well… even though it’s all fine and dandy, I’m just a little shy about it, so I brought it up. Just ignore me.”

I almost thought Yuli was going to misunderstand me.

Seeing Yuli confidently saying she could ask Selian made me rethink that washing each other’s breasts wasn’t weird at all, yet I still underestimated girl logic and nearly made a blunder.

“Then I’ll keep washing you. Just stay still, okay?”

“Ugh…”

With Yuli’s hand moving over my chest again, I regretted my overly sensitive body and used the towel I was covering my Mark with to muffle my mouth.

“Ugh… Mm… Aah…”

How much time had passed?

The towel, already soaked from the shower, was no match for the saliva pooling and trickling down as I cried out muffled.

“Okay, that’s it!”

“Ahh…”

Finally, Yuli let go.

I barely managed to pull my mouth away from the towel and sighed in relief.

Phew… Now I just need to rinse off this soap and make a run for it.

However, just when I thought it was over and breathed a sigh of relief, I heard Yuli’s voice behind me.

“Okay, now it’s Elysia’s turn!”