She hastily immersed herself in the bath, causing hot water to overflow and wet the floor, but she had no time to worry about such things. She submerged herself up to her nose and tightly closed her eyes.

Bubble bubble. The air Litania exhaled created round bubbles in the bathwater.

“Litania, you might suffocate if you keep doing that.”

Though she hadn’t heard anyone approaching, a deep voice sounded right behind her ear.

Startled, Litania quickly pulled her body forward. Orbis had placed a chair next to the bathtub and was sitting down, lathering a bath towel.

“Wha- what are you, what are you doing…”

“I told you I would assist with your bath.”

“I can do it myself!”

“But you let Snow do it.”

“Are Snow and Orbis the same?”

Besides, she had never shown her naked body to Snow either.

Snow would prepare Litania’s bath water and then leave. He would only return after she finished her bubble bath to help wash her hair and scrub her back.

She had never experienced facing a man while in the water with her body fully visible like this.

“Orbis. Please, I can do it alone…”

“I don’t understand why you’re so embarrassed. Litania, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“B-but…”

“Your self-consciousness makes it seem like you don’t consider me a friend.”

Orbis’s lips curved slowly.

His blue eyes, once like a summer sky, deepened like the sea. Facing his profound gaze that seemed bottomless, Litania felt as if she were sinking into deep water.

“There’s no need to worry. My little friend.”

“Ah…”

“I’m simply doing what’s natural to help a friend.”

Is that so?

It’s only natural to help a friend who is unwell.

Even bathing assistance, while uncommon, isn’t entirely unheard of between friends of the same gender.

‘Orbis is a dragon, not human, so…’

Wouldn’t it be okay to do this?

Was it because the situation was so absurd, or because the heat from the warm water had enveloped her entire body? Litania’s mind began to rationalize the situation hazily.

‘If it’s really just helping with the bath, then… since we’re friends…’

It seemed okay to allow this much.

As her wariness subsided, her body relaxed. An elegant hand slowly brushed up Litania’s auburn hair as she leaned back against the bathtub.

“Your hair is soft. It’s beautiful.”

“Orbis’s hair is much more beautiful though…”

“Then we’re beautiful friends to each other.”

Orbis laughed softly as if joking and slid his long fingers through Litania’s hair.

Her hair, pulled gently without pain, spread into strands, and fluffy soap bubbles filled the spaces between them.

The large man’s hands. It was a completely different sensation from when Snow’s small hands washed her hair.

Litania was a bit surprised to find that the man’s unhurried, gentle touch washing her hair wasn’t unpleasant.

His long fingers gently stroking her hair, the fingertips massaging her scalp were unexpectedly firm yet not rough.

“Litania, tilt your head towards me.”

Litania slowly tilted her head back, resting the back of her head in Orbis’s hand.

Looking down at Litania, who had a dazed expression with flushed cheeks, Orbis asked softly.

“How did Snow usually touch you?”

“Touch me? Snow didn’t do anything like that…”

He just washed her hair and scrubbed her back. Isn’t it a bit strange to describe it as touching?

As Litania hesitantly explained how Snow usually assisted her, Orbis’s gaze deepened further.

His eyes moved slowly, as if dotting points, observing Litania’s appearance.

From her forehead where wet bangs clung, to her reddened eyes, from her flushed cheeks to her moistened lips.

His gaze flowed from her slender chin down her long neck, tracing her round shoulders and sharp collarbones.

Feeling Orbis’s gaze lingering on her chest, Litania tried to cover herself with the wet towel. Orbis didn’t stop her action but instead gently persuaded her.

“If we are to become better friends, we need to know each other better.”

“There’s no need to know things like this…”

“It’s because I lack understanding of humans.”

Whenever Litania became conscious of Orbis as a man and grew wary, he would use his identity as an excuse.

Saying that because it wasn’t a man and a woman, but a human and a dragon, human common sense and etiquette didn’t apply.

Because it was truly to ease her wariness, not to see her body, Litania hesitated for a moment before acquiescing.

She tended to be weak to such gentle requests.

So he realized that as he tried to persuade her, his own whims gradually increased.

‘That’s probably how he made Snow that way.’

The small rabbit Snow dared to bare his teeth at his master. He resented Orbis, saying he had hurt Litania.

It was unthinkable for a dragon’s underling to be hostile towards the dragon. He could have immediately torn apart the impudent rabbit boy with his dragon claws, but he decided to let the boy live.

Because he heard that Litania had cried and searched for Snow.

“It hurts…”

Litania furrowed her brow, seemingly in pain from her injured shoulder.

It seemed to be due to the uncomfortable posture of tilting her neck to one side while entrusting her head to Orbis.

Orbis gently soothed her and corrected her posture.

‘Perhaps hurting her was too much.’

Thinking that if the threat was too light she might quickly forget and become interested again, he had intended to make it just painful enough without leaving a scar, but even that seemed too much for her fragile self to bear.

Should he fix her painful shoulder right away?

Orbis’s long fingers lightly rubbed and stroked Litania’s left shoulder.

“Is Snow okay?”

Orbis, who was about to channel magic into Litania’s body, withdrew his hand at her question.

“Snow got hurt because of me.”

“It’s only natural for a servant to protect their master.”

“It’s not natural. Snow is smaller and younger than me. To think that child went through such hardship because of me…”

“…”

He might be small, but he’s probably not that young.

Orbis didn’t bother to explain and changed the subject.

“I’ll tell Hazel to treat Snow. More importantly, is there anything else you’d like to say to me?”

“I’m sorry for secretly going to the tower…”

“Your apology is accepted. I’m asking if there’s anything else you’d like to request.”

He had heard that she would make various requests to Snow, like bringing snacks or brushing her hair.

Yet strangely, even though he was attending to her instead of Snow, she hadn’t made a single trivial request.

No, she did make requests. Like asking him to leave, or not to come closer.

Of course, such requests were not valid for Orbis, so he ignored them.

“I wish Orbis would show his face to the knights too.”

“…The knights?”

“They said they’ve never met you even though I always went to give them snacks. The knights sent from the imperial palace might not be able to protect the dragon castle, but they’re still your subordinates, so please lead them well.”

“…”

Come to think of it, there were people sent from the imperial family. Because Orbis didn’t pay attention to humans other than Litania, knights, gardeners, and cooks were just meaningless default values to him.

But if it was Litania’s request.

“I understand. I’ll manage them from now on, so Litania, you don’t need to worry about them.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Seemingly unaware of the meaning behind Orbis’s response, she smiled brightly. He smiled in return.

While Litania carefully dried her hands and feet after finishing her bath, Orbis dried her hair with a towel. He had heard that he just needed to gently press to remove moisture, but perhaps due to her thick hair, the water wasn’t draining well.

He considered just drying it with magic, but because he enjoyed touching her hair, Orbis diligently repeated the process of removing moisture with a new towel.

Her hair, which had taken on a darker chocolate color when wet, gradually brightened as it became fluffy.

“Whew…”

Perhaps from soaking in the warm water for too long, Litania’s face was still flushed. Orbis draped a new nightgown over her shoulders and came around to the front.

Litania was a bit flustered, but as Orbis’s hands began to button up the nightgown one by one, she lowered her raised hands and turned her head. Her exposed ear reddened even more.

The nightgown, made of layered thin fabric, didn’t reveal what was underneath but was more than enough to show her slender body line.

Delicate lace rustled and swayed at the tips of his long fingers.

She flinched as if ticklish, as though his gaze were feathers.

The delicate folds of the thin nightgown deepened following the angles of her body’s movements.

A sweet fragrance wafted faintly from the hem of her skirt. Orbis narrowed his eyes and savored the scent. It seemed her body’s scent changed not only with her physical condition but also with her emotions.

“I’ll move you to the bed.”

“I didn’t injure my legs, so I can walk on my own.”

“You can make this much of a request to a friend, can’t you?”

Orbis knelt on one knee in front of Litania and loosely grasped her slender ankle. The small woman’s foot was completely enveloped in the man’s large hand.