Lea raised her thumb to show off, then chuckled.

She stared at that hand for a moment and imitated Lea by raising her thumb.

Upon doing so, Lea laughed as if finding it amusing.

“It’s a shame. If you spoke well, bath time would have been much more enjoyable.”

Even now, she seemed to want to say that she was having a lot of fun, but Lea spoke first.

“Even though I’ve heard a lot about noble bathing rituals just by looking, everyone feels embarrassed when bathing for the first time. However, you seem so natural that I wonder if you’re a noble. But then again, looking at your clothes, it doesn’t seem like it.”

“Oh, I, I only have this, this one.”

“Really?”

As Verche nodded, Lea looked surprised.

“Really? My goodness. You must have had a really hard time.”

Lea, holding the rag-like clothes in her fingers, began to examine them.

The clothes Verche was wearing looked like they would tear apart with just a little force.

While sniffing around the clothes, Lea noticed that Verche was glancing away from time to time during the conversation.

“Oh. Is the bathtub fascinating?”
“Ah, a bathtub.”

“Yes. It’s a bathtub. Don’t you have bathtubs in your country?”

“Uh, we didn’t.”

Lea made a regretful expression, then quickly ran towards the bathtub, pretending to enter and sit inside.

“This is really nice. When you soak your body here and sit, it feels good. Warm and cozy.”

“Warm and co, cozy.”

Lea chuckled and then took Verche’s hand, pulling her towards the bathtub.

“Sit here.”

After seating Verche next to the bathtub, Lea carefully poured warm water and gently splashed it on her.

“Oops!”

As the warm water flowed onto her skin, Verche was so surprised that she almost jumped out of her seat.

Shivering, Lea laughed again.

“It’s bearable, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Bathing is so enjoyable. You seem like a baby who doesn’t know anything.”

Lea, humming a tune, started washing Verche’s feet.

“In fact, it’s because of the rain. If it hadn’t rained, you wouldn’t have become this dirty. Rain in the north. It’s really chaotic everywhere.”

The dirt covering her body was washed away with the water.

“But did you know? They say the rain is because of a curse.”

This time, Lea slowly poured water towards her upper body.

“But honestly, I think it’s nonsense.”

Even from her long, thick hair, a little mud was being washed away.

“Merck is like a god, you know. They say Merck even has songs. Woo, sparkling black hair, eyes even darker than the night sky. Just looking at him makes you feel like you’ll go blind.”

Lea was singing but suddenly stopped.

“Oh, but they say he also has golden hair. They call them cursed ones, some even call them witches. Saying people have golden hair is utterly unbelievable. Even if you look at the people living in the north, they all have black hair and black eyes. Oh, but when was it? I heard a story about someone with red hair at the edge of the three continents, in Latus.”

Lea continued talking while diligently moving her hands.

“Having golden hair, it’s not a curse but, in my opinion, an expression like divine, something like that. Don’t you think so?”

Suddenly lifting her head, Lea’s hands stopped, and her body froze at the sight before her.

Clean water, meant for Verche, poured down from Lea’s apron, drenching everything.

“Oh, oh no.”

Lea sat down with her legs giving way. The woman, now rid of all the mud, sparkled as if she had covered herself in gold dust.

“Ca, can I go into the bathtub now?”

Lea nodded her head absentmindedly.

“Tha, thank you.”

Verche, just as Lea had imitated earlier, slowly put her feet into the bathtub.

And in that moment.

She encountered paradise.
The sensation of warm and gentle water slowly enveloping the insteps and rising up to the calves was unbelievably pleasant. The water currents, sensually clinging to the skin, and the temperature felt within the water.

‘Happy.’

Verche’s mouth corners were subtly pulled upwards. Just the act of a slight smile seemed to fill the surroundings entirely with light. From somewhere, white snowflakes fluttered and landed softly on Lea’s freckled nose. Lea blinked while looking out the window.

For days, the rain that had been pouring incessantly seemed to have stopped as if it were a lie. Instead, snow was falling. The northern landscape, which had been peacefully cold, just like everyday life, was an unbelievable sight.

“How, how is this…”

Lea muffled her words. A blonde woman sat in the bathtub.

“No, it can’t be.”

At that moment, the sound of someone rushing into the bathroom was heard.

“Lea! Did you finish washing that woman? Now, to Lord Merck… Gyaaah!”

The servant who entered opened the door and fell to the floor like Lea.

“Blonde?”

The servant pushed herself back, crawled backward, then abruptly started running down the corridor.

“Lo, Lord Merck. Your Grace!”