“If it’s a problem. Oh, like this. You have blisters on your toes.”

Kei put his hand in the bathtub, grabbed Rishi’s ankle, and lifted it slightly.

“The heels are scraped, and the calves are swollen. If it hurts this much, you should have said earlier, Rishi.”

“I could endure it.”

“Ha.”

Kei sighed as if he was embarrassed.

I suddenly became worried that I had annoyed him.

“Alright, Rishi. I guess there’s nothing we can do now.”

“What…?”

“If it’s a problem. Well. You’ll have the honor of taking care of your feet.”
As Kei spoke seriously with narrowed eyebrows, Rishi couldn’t immediately understand the meaning.

Only after he brought a large towel and told Rishi to come out did she realize what he intended.

“Kei, I can take care of my feet on my own.”

“You can’t handle it yourself; that’s why it’s in such a mess.”

“It’s not that much of a mess.”

“It’s a mess. Blisters on those pretty feet. Come on, Rishi.”

“I didn’t give you the honor of taking care of my feet.”

Rishi reluctantly entrusted her feet to Kei, not wanting to imagine the emotions she would feel when he carefully examined them.

It would be too embarrassing. To be observed barefoot by a man. It’s embarrassing enough as it is.

“I didn’t know you were such a clumsy woman that I wouldn’t even grant you the honor.”

“Then get to know me now. I’m incredibly clumsy. I might be called the clumsy Green Countess. Or maybe Lady Klutz.”

Kei’s furrowed brow relaxed. The muscles around Kei’s mouth twitched. He tried to hold back his laughter but ultimately failed.

“Ahaha. Lady Klutz, huh? That sounds nice. My subordinates would like it if they heard.”

“I’m glad you like it so much. For the joy of you and your shadows in the future, I’ll try even harder to be clumsy.”

“Hahaha. Alright, Rishi. You won. But your foot is really a concern. It’s warm now since it’s in warm water, but tomorrow, it might be so bad that you can’t walk. I’ll just give you some treatment. Okay?”

Kei earnestly spoke, raising the ends of his eyebrows.

Rishi now realized that she was weak to that expression. Even though Kei wanted it so much, she thought she could endure the embarrassment.

“Alright. Just the treatment.”

As soon as Rishi came out of the bathtub, Kei wrapped her body with a large towel.

He bit Rishi’s ear gently and whispered.

“Of course, just the treatment. What are you expecting, Rishi?”

+++

Rishi never dreamed that her feet could become such a strange area.

Seated on the sofa, Kei, with one knee up in front of her, placed Rishi’s calf on his raised knee.

He carefully wiped off the moisture with a soft towel, turned Rishi’s small foot around, and checked its condition.

“Tonight, we’ll apply ointment and bandage it. It’s an effective ointment, so it should improve by tomorrow.”

Kei poured a generous amount of ointment from the medicine bottle and applied it to Rishi’s foot. His fingers meticulously touched each toe.

The slippery fingers covered in ointment strangely stimulated the nerves on Rishi’s toes. She clenched her fist tightly enough for her hands to turn white. It felt like the tension kept flowing into her foot. An inexplicable feeling of roundness settled in.

Although the area where the ointment was applied quickly cooled, and the pain subsided, strangely, Rishi felt hot.

‘That ointment must be quite expensive. To use that much.’
While trying to shake off the strange feeling with different thoughts, it wasn’t easy. Just looking at his face, gazing at Rishi’s feet with a careful expression, made her heart beat faster. Rishi worried that Kei, with his keen hearing, might catch on to this mood.

Kei, who applied ointment and bandaged both of Rishi’s feet, spoke.

“Rishi.”

“Huh?”

She was too tense, resulting in a foolish response. Kei didn’t mock her for that and continued.

“Let your calves relax a bit.”

“Oh, no. No, it’s okay.”

Rishi hastily tried to pull her feet away, but she couldn’t overcome Kei’s strength. Struggling and slipping, she stopped when she saw her white thighs exposed.

Kei’s pupils turned towards Rishi’s thighs. Before Rishi could flinch and reach out, Kei’s hand pulled the slip down to cover her thighs.

“If you were trying to seduce me, you succeeded. My sanity almost flew away.”

Kei said matter-of-factly. Since they often exchanged such jokes, Rishi replied without being flustered.

“Too bad. It didn’t fly away completely. Do I need to be a bit more provocative?”

“No need, Rishi. My sanity goes back and forth just with you breathing.”

Was it not just a joke?

Rishi squinted her eyes and observed Kei’s expression. From his expressionless face, she couldn’t read anything.

Meanwhile, his hand touched Rishi’s calves. Using his thumb and forefinger, Kei skillfully massaged Rishi’s calves.

A touch stimulating the muscles clenched from wearing high heels. The pain didn’t feel strange because of its intensity.

“Ugh… Ah… Oh… Ugh…”

With each press of Kei’s fingertips, Rishi let out small moans of pain.

Initially painful, the muscles, once relaxed a bit, started to feel cool.

“Ha… Hmm… Ah…”

Rishi half-closed her eyes like a drowsy cat and enjoyed the calf massage.

Thus, she didn’t see Kei’s pupils gradually darken with sensual darkness.