Chapter 46
“Please send the maids you brought away for a moment. I think it would be best if I personally attended to you tonight.”
Granada spoke with a tone as sharp and precise as her expression, giving off an air of strictness and indifference.
Her ash-gray eyes sparkled sharply, full of alertness, even at her advanced age with streaks of white hair.
It was as if I were staring at an eagle ready to tear into its prey at any moment.
I kept reminding myself not to cry and asked,
“Why… why does it have to be like that?”
My voice trembled slightly, but I held my head high and spoke with as much dignity as I could muster. I was somewhat satisfied with myself.
However, Granada didn’t seem to feel any trace of charisma from me.
“They need to follow Mainz to familiarize themselves with the main facilities of the castle and understand the command structure of the staff here. They’ll also need to unpack.”
What she said was reasonable, but I still felt uneasy being left alone with Granada.
I glanced at Lamia, silently asking for help, but Lamia nodded vigorously as if she fully agreed with Granada.
“Yes, let’s get this done quickly so we can rest.”
Then she pointed to another maid who had come with Granada and asked,
“Should I follow her? Let’s go quickly. See you tomorrow, Your Highness!”
Lamia waved her hand cheerfully, but not only Granada, Vanessa, and the other two maids all looked at her as if she were ridiculous.
“Lamia.”
Vanessa called her sharply, as if to scold her for being disrespectful, but Lamia had long since become untouchable to Vanessa.
Lamia winked at me and then disappeared with the other maids.
I earnestly pleaded with Granada,
“As you can see, the maids need some training.”
Granada nodded expressionlessly.
“It seems so.”
Granada clicked her tongue upon seeing Chloe, who looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Chloe probably thought she was hiding it well, but Granada could clearly see the effort she was making.
“She looks no older than twelve,” she thought.
Why was she so small?
Chloe was even smaller than Granada herself, whose height had shrunk with age.
Of course, Granada knew that Southerners were generally shorter than Northerners.
“Still, she looks exceptionally small. Is it because she’s thin? They said she’s 22… maybe I misheard and she’s actually twelve?”
Chloe was wearing children’s clothing of unknown origin, which made her appear even smaller.
Her skin, pale as if she had never seen the sun, and her silvery hair, almost blending into her eyes like a cat’s, made her look more like a wax doll than a person.
Because she had grown up in an environment without strong sunlight, her skin was even whiter than that of typical Northerners. From head to toe. Only her bright blue eyes stood out.
“She seems weak and fragile,” Granada noted.
Granada suggested,
“You probably haven’t had a proper bath on your way here. It would be best to bathe first.”
“Yes. That sounds good.”
Chloe nodded.
A strange silence fell between them immediately afterward.
“……?”
Granada was puzzled why Chloe, who had agreed to bathe, was just standing there staring at her.
“Aren’t you going to bathe?”
“I said I would.”
“Then why are you just standing there? You need to undress. The bathroom is that way.”
Chloe’s gaze wavered.
Finally, she awkwardly removed her cloak and placed it on the bed. Then she stared at Granada again, seemingly realizing something, and began struggling to undo the buttons of her leather outfit.
Granada found her slow movements frustrating, but patiently waited.
However, Chloe couldn’t undo a single button. The leather covering her hands made it difficult to use her fingers properly.
‘She could have just asked for help.’
Why couldn’t she even ask?
“I’ll help you.”
Chloe stepped back and asked,
“Do you usually need someone to help you take off this outfit?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Then I’ll try on my own.”
Granada withdrew her hand without a word.
Chloe seemed to interpret the silence and added quickly,
“Everyone else does it alone, so I want to try alone too. I mean nothing else by it.”
“Understood.”
Granada answered calmly, though she was somewhat surprised.
She suspected Chloe wanted to clarify that she wasn’t uncomfortable being helped, or that she didn’t want to entrust her body to a Ronheim. And it was unexpected that she hadn’t asked for help, rather than being unable to.
After struggling with the buttons for a while, Chloe finally succeeded. Her cheeks were slightly flushed with joy.
It was amusing to see her try to act mature and composed while secretly pleased about undoing just a few buttons.
Granada found Chloe somewhat cute without realizing it.
“Now you should remove the rest of your clothing.”
“Oh.”
Distracted by undoing the buttons, Chloe seemed to have forgotten why she had undone them in the first place.
Flustered, she awkwardly took off the rest of her clothes, as if she had never done it herself before.
Watching her, Granada recalled what Brentian had said:
“The princess is a spy of Queen Kabala, Granada. Be careful. You don’t know what she’s capable of.”
Brentian’s description made Chloe sound like a cruel demon, ready to destroy Ronheim and turn the place into a bloodbath.
But the Chloe in front of her couldn’t even remove a leg from her outfit without losing balance, hopping around on the carpet…
‘What on earth…’
Granada patiently waited as Chloe fumbled, and eventually she managed to undress herself completely.
Standing in a thin petticoat, she let out a light sigh, stretching her shoulders as if relieved from the heavy leather. Her expression relaxed.
Granada guided the now-exposed and slightly chilly Chloe to the bathroom.
“You can use these when you bathe.”
She handed Chloe a bath basket, explained the items inside, and left so Chloe could bathe comfortably.
“Take your bath. I’ll be waiting.”
Turning away, Granada didn’t notice Chloe’s flustered expression.
‘I have to bathe by myself?’
After the struggle to undress herself, Chloe felt proud, but it was just the beginning.
Though she had resolved to do things alone like everyone else, she hadn’t expected to have to handle everything at once.
A wave of exhaustion hit her.
‘Well, let’s just try.’
She removed her petticoat and stepped into the tub. The garment was loose and light, so it was easy to remove.
Floating the bath basket on the water, it sank, and she had to scramble to retrieve the items that spilled into the water.
‘Is this supposed to make bubbles?’
In Arental, expensive perfumes came in elaborately decorated gold bottles, and soaps in small bottles for one-time use.
Here, all the glass bottles looked almost identical, making it hard to know what was inside.
Chloe picked one, opened it, sniffed, and her hand slipped, dropping it into the water.
‘Ah!’
After a few attempts, she retrieved it, but half of the contents were gone, and the bottle was filled with bathwater.
Still, it seemed to be soap, as her body felt slippery in the water.
She scrubbed herself with the brush, though it was much stiffer than what she was used to.
Her body ached as she endured the pain and continued to clean herself.
Finally, after managing to bathe, all the bottles in the bath basket were empty, and water was splashed everywhere.
Still proud of handling it alone, she wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out.
Granada, who was resting nearby, looked up.
“Finished…?”
Seeing Chloe, she was surprised and pushed her back into the bathroom.
“Have you never bathed by yourself before?”
‘How did she know?’
Blinking in shock, Chloe saw Granada sigh lightly.
For the first time, Granada showed an expression, previously hidden behind a neutral mask, and it was one of genuine perplexity.
“The bubbles remain as they are. You need to wash again…”
Looking at the tub, she suddenly fell silent.
“…We’ll have to change the water first.”
