Chloe stared blankly at the duke, unable to answer his words.

“Isn’t it hot? Looking at you now, you’re wearing many layers. Why are you wearing so much? Can you properly attend to my bath while wearing so much?”

As the duke said, the air in the bathroom was stuffy, perhaps due to the warm water filling the bathtub.

It might feel even hotter because of the fact that the duke was watching her.

“Ah, I get cold easily compared to others, so I need to wear several layers.”

That was all she could say.

“Hmm… is that so?”

“Yes.”

“For someone like that, you’re sweating on your forehead now?”

Chloe wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

There really was beads of sweat on her forehead.

Some Sword Master.

The duke seemed to have sharp eyes too.

To see the sweat on her forehead from that distance.

“This isn’t sweat, it’s water that got on me.”

“I have a headache from the smell of sweat reaching here, yet you insist it’s water.”

Oh, that talk of smell again.

Just because she sweated a little on her forehead, now she’s hearing that the smell of sweat is terrible.

But considering the duke had been singing about body odor lately, she just accepted it.

“I’ll wash your hair, so please lean back comfortably in the tub.”

Chloe quickly changed the subject.

Fortunately, the duke didn’t argue further and closed his eyes while leaning back in the tub.

Phew.

Chloe approached the bathtub closely and let out a big sigh.

She had washed her mother’s hair while she was lying down before, but she had never washed a man’s hair.

It shouldn’t be much different just because it’s a man’s hair.

If anything, wouldn’t it be easier since the hair is shorter?

Chloe went to the duke’s head and knelt down to position herself.

Oh my!

It was neither easy nor unremarkable.

Because the duke had slid down while leaning his head on the edge of the tub, his upper body from neck to chest was exposed above the foam.

Moreover, as the slight ripples in the water made the foam alternately cover and reveal the duke’s vast and firm chest, it somehow felt even more breathtaking.

She quickly averted her gaze from his chest, but this time her eyes fixed on his thick and long neck above, with the prominent Adam’s apple.

Somehow, she swallowed hard.

A wholesome place elsewhere, a plain part elsewhere!

Chloe’s gaze now jumped up from his neck to the forehead fully exposed as the duke tilted his head back.

Compared to his chest and neck which were extremely seductive, his forehead was remarkably straight.

His eyebrows, which extended in a straight line before slightly bending near the corners of his eyes and thinning out, were as neat as if drawn with a brush.

Such a seductive body, with such a neat forehead and eyebrows. It’s paradoxical yet perfect.

As the duke frowned slightly with his eyes closed, his thick and long eyelashes, which seemed like they could hold three matches, trembled delicately.

She had thought that the term ‘pretty’ didn’t suit the duke, but it seemed that wasn’t entirely true.

Even his eyelashes were truly pretty.

Before she knew it, her gaze was moving down to his straight and sharp nose bridge.

How did such a perfectly straight nose come into this world? Were the previous duke and duchess sculptors?

“What are you doing?”

The duke suddenly opened his eyes and asked.

Chloe, who had been lost in an unexpected appreciation of the duke’s appearance, finally came to her senses and gathered the duke’s hair with both hands. A pleasant grassy scent wafted from the soft dark brown hair that had flowed down.

“Wow!”

Chloe, surprised by her own exclamation, let go of the duke’s hair.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t breathe so heavily over my head.”

The duke said, furrowing his brow.

Chloe felt her face flush with heat.

It seemed she had become too immersed in the role of a male-loving attendant who had fallen for the duke’s appearance. Perhaps she had become entranced by his beauty while observing his face up close.

It was a face she thought she had long grown accustomed to, but where had that familiarity gone, leaving only admiration?

She hadn’t grown accustomed to it at all. She had only believed she had.

Focus only on the hair! Only on the hair.

Chloe, reminding herself that she should only look at the duke’s hair, started pouring water with one hand while supporting the duke’s head with the other.

“Your hands are small too.”

“Eek.”

A strange sound escaped at the duke’s words.

“It’ll take half a day to wash my hair with those hands.”

“… No, it won’t!”

What’s the big deal about hair? It’s even shorter than her mother’s.

As if to show that it was only about two fists long, Chloe firmly grasped the duke’s hair with both hands.

“What are you doing? I don’t think my hair is even fully wet yet!”

“Ah! Yes, yes!”

Chloe put down the duke’s hair from her hands and started pouring water again.

It seemed that bathing attendance was something she would need to get used to, as it was her first time.

No! What do you mean, get used to? I should hope this is the last time.

It didn’t look like a body that would weigh 63kg by any means.

Moreover, why was he wearing so many layers? How much would just those clothes weigh?

Just looking at him wearing those clothes, one could guess, but the legs actually revealed under the lifted clothes were so thin that it seemed incredible how he could walk well with such legs.

His arms were the same. They were as white as his face, and seemed so thin that they might snap if one decided to break them.

Could he wash his head with those thin arms, lifting and lowering his head?

He must have touched such breakable-looking arms and legs before…

Whoosh.

Just as he was about to dig up a memory, Clyne suddenly turned his body to face him. With challenging eyes, as if asking what he was looking at. Brazenly.

Is that really the look of a servant?

From the moment he brought back the person who had once left saying they would quit, there were quite a few instances where that person’s attitude towards their master could hardly be considered that of a servant.

Is it because they see me as a rival in love?

Insolent fellow. Even recording false physical information. I’ll reveal both your true intentions and your real appearance.

That way, I’ll be able to find the woman faster.

However, having them attend to my bath only resulted in confirming one small piece of false information. It feels like I need to uncover some other lie, but I can’t quite pinpoint what it is.

Moreover, the problem grew larger as time passed.

Rub, rub. Is this fellow kneading my head like it’s dough?

Clyne Liden was driving him mad, lifting and lowering his head, pouring water and stopping.

The fact that this person was too close to him was the first problem.

Massaging his scalp. Occasionally brushing behind his ears and nape with those soft hands. The breath constantly falling on his face, the sensation of small, gentle hands wrapping around his scalp.

Damn it!

And why is the body scent so strong!

It was so intense it could be considered potent, yet it was a scent he didn’t want to part from, to the point of wanting to be intoxicated by it. It had always been like this when he was close to this person since the imprinting.

He would have felt dizzy if he weren’t lying in the bathtub.

Ah, this won’t do. I need to send them out for now.

As Clyne poured water over his head for the fourth time to rinse it, Hugrey roughly pulled his hair out of Clyne’s hands and stood up in the bathtub.

“You, get out!”

“Eek!”

Suddenly, Clyne screamed and fell on his backside. Covering his bowed head with wet hands as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.

What’s with this guy? Why is he acting like this?

“Your Grace!”

The fellow even shouted with his head still bowed.

Now he’s really crossing the line.

“Your Grace, suddenly standing up like that… is not proper. I was… startled.”

What are you saying? I’m more surprised by your bizarre behavior!

“What, should I say ‘I’m going to stand up now’ before I do? Can’t I do as I please with my own body? Why is my attendant acting like this?”

“Well, then, I… the bath… will you… continue standing?”

Clyne continued to stammer without looking at him, head still bowed.

Why is he stuttering, and why are his ears so red?

“Hey, lift your head. What kind of manners are those, talking with your head buried?”

“No, I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? Lift your head.”

Clyne’s behavior was extremely suspicious.

With his head bowed so low it looked like he might bury it in the floor, yet talking back so fiercely, it made him wonder if this was really the same person who had been attending to him for the past few months.

“I said lift your head.”

“No, I won’t!”

“Stand up and lift your head.”

“Only if Your Grace sits back down.”

“Ha!”

It was absurd.

What kind of brazen servant is this? Now they’re even giving orders to their master?

“Your Grace, if you stand up completely naked like that, I won’t have anywhere to look.”

What?

What nonsense is this man spouting… Ah!

Is he really into men? Does he really look at other men strangely?

Disgusting fellow.

“Do as you please. Leave or stay. Keep your head bowed like that if you want.”

In the end, he decided not to deal with the deranged attendant anymore. His own condition wasn’t very good either to continue this confrontation.

It was because of the body scent coming from that guy.

Somehow, he was starting to feel a dull throbbing sensation.

It wasn’t exactly a state he wanted to show his attendant. Especially not to this man who was making such a creepy fuss right now.

He needed to get away from that fellow immediately, bath or no bath.

He got out of the bathtub and put on a bathrobe. Providing the bathrobe was also part of the attendant’s duties, but that inconsiderate fellow showed no willingness to do any work.

Having bathed alone until now, he didn’t feel like instructing him to do his job properly by specifying roles.

It seemed dangerous for both of them if their bodies were to touch.

“Get out!”

As soon as he put on the bathrobe, he almost shouted at Clyne, who was still bowing his head.