Chapter 139
“The guest?”
“She’s in the bathroom.”
Rikanan, who had been turning pages in his book, paused upon hearing the head maid’s answer.
“She still hasn’t come out of the bathroom?”
“Yes. If you need, I’ll go and check…”
Before the head maid could finish speaking, Rikanan shot up from his seat. He ran frantically and burst into Jaha’s room in one breath, then immediately knocked on the bathroom door.
“Jaha, are you inside?”
There was no answer.
“Jaha? Jaha!”
Even when he raised his voice, no response came from inside.
With an anxious expression, he pounded on the door as if to break it, then finally couldn’t stand it anymore and threw open the bathroom door. Jaha was slumped over the edge of the bathtub. His body trembled as he approached the motionless woman step by step.
He carefully placed his fingers against her neck. He felt a pulse. Needing confirmation that it wasn’t his imagination, the man grasped her slender wrist with his finely trembling hand.
There was a pulse.
Only then did rough breathing burst from the man’s mouth as if he could finally breathe.
With a pale face that hadn’t regained its color, he stared intently at the woman submerged in water.
The delicate shoulders revealed between wet strands of hair, water droplets flowing down her skin, her eyelashes beaded with moisture and occasionally fluttering, her flushed cheeks, her moist lips slightly parted. After observing every detail as if licking them with his eyes, he lifted Jaha in his arms.
Water streamed down onto the bathroom floor and at his feet. Though his clothes became soaked from where they touched, he didn’t care and drew the shivering Jaha into his embrace.
After laying Jaha on the bed, Rikanan gave silent instructions with his eyes to the maids waiting nearby. The maids quickly brought towels and clothes, dried Jaha’s body, changed the wet bedding, and dressed her in a comfortable indoor dress.
“We’re finished.”
Rikanan, who had been waiting at some distance with his back turned, heard the head maid’s report and strode toward the bed. Jaha was sleeping peacefully. He watched her quietly for a moment, then spoke.
“There’s no need to hurry with preparing the meal.”
“Understood.”
“Mmm…”
Jaha tossed and turned as she opened her eyes. She didn’t want to leave the soft and fluffy blankets, but her head woke her up, insisting there was no need to sleep any longer.
When she groggily leaned against the headboard and straightened her back, a middle-aged woman’s voice could be heard.
“Did you sleep well enough?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Jaha responded reflexively, then searched her mind and panicked when she realized she had no memory of getting out of the bathtub.
“I think I accidentally fell asleep in the bathroom…”
“We moved you to the bed and dried your body, so don’t worry.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Jaha briefly imagined the women lifting her from the bathtub. They couldn’t have moved her alone and would have had to lift her together, and since she was wet too, it was nothing but trouble. She would have been heavy from absorbing water, and their clothes would have gotten damp and needed changing.
“Not at all. If you’re hungry, please let us know and we’ll prepare a meal.”
The middle-aged woman responded matter-of-factly.
The polite honorifics flowing from the mouth of an elder whose hair was beginning to gray were somewhat uncomfortable, but Jaha decided to comply with this system without making a fuss. She had neither the ability to start a revolution and abolish the class system, nor the confidence to say ‘NO’ without reading the room when everyone else was saying ‘YES.’
If you stay still like a sack of rice, you always get by. It was cowardly self-preservation or a survival tactic society had taught her.
“Then since mealtime has probably passed, could I just ask for something simple to tide me over?”
“The master hasn’t eaten yet either, so how about dining together?”
At that moment, there was a knock. When Jaha said to come in, the door opened and Rikanan appeared.
It was a relatively simple outfit compared to earlier when he had been wearing something like a military frock coat with fancy insignia and even a cloak.
Of course, it wasn’t as comfortable as the casual indoor clothes commonly worn on Earth. Something a bit more formal than a business suit for going to work?
Jaha was purely amazed by his appearance that brightened the room. During the day he improved eyesight, and at night he illuminated indoors. Truly a heritage that should be preserved on a global scale.
“Did you rest comfortably?”
Along with that mellifluous voice, if possible.
“Yes, thanks to you providing such a comfortable room. Thank you.”
“I haven’t eaten yet either, so if it’s alright, shall we dine together?”
“Of course that sounds great. But how come you haven’t eaten until now?”
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