A Sinner’s Chance

To my immeasurable disappointment, I was unable to collapse into a comfortable bed once we arrived back at the duke's estate. I was introduced to the servants, though it was more like they were being introduced to me since it seemed most of them had already seen me and knew of the situation revolving how I ended up here. On top of that, I was assigned a personal maid, a quite young girl, maybe twelve or thirteen, named Reine. She had short chestnut with matching eyes, her face was slender and serious, while her words were curt and professional, making her seem somewhat cold.

Once I had met the staff, Reine guided me around the estate, giving me a basic tour. I obviously wasn't meant to remember everything at once, but it did help me get a impression of the layout. The tour finished in the western wing of the manor, this was where my bedroom would be, and where the bedrooms of my new family members were. My new room was much larger than the guest room I had woken up in. While it was both well furnished and impeccably clean, it had that uninviting and uncomfortable feeling of a brand new place. To my surprise there was a connected personal bath and restroom, along with a connected room for Reine to stay in, likely so she was nearby at all times for whatever menial task I needed her for.

While I was rather tired, I couldn't resist the allure of taking a bath. In the five years I'd been in this world, I'd never been able to truly clean myself, my mother had always used a wet silken rag to wipe me down whenever she felt like I needed a wash. When I told Reine that I wanted to take a bath she responded with a small bow. "Of course, Ojou-sama, I will prepare it at once."

It was with much excitement that I learned how to operate the baths of this world. While not completely different from how how they worked in a world without magic, the way in this world was simpler. Rather than a hot and cold knob, or a dial that was a mix, there was a single faucet above which rested a blue crystal embedded in the wall. Reine placed her hand onto the crystal and chanted a few words "O wellspring of rest, pour forth with my mana as a tribute." Once she'd done so, water began to pour out the faucet, the steam coming off it showing that it was already heated. As I watched Reine fill the bathtub I noticed that it seemed to be rather straining. She was making a valiant effort to appear unaffected, but I could see beads of sweat appearing on her forehead, and the quickened movements of her chest as her breathing was becoming labored.

"You're not going to bathe with me?" I asked Reine as innocently as I could as she finished filling the tub and had turned away. I wasn't planning anything indecent, not that I knew if my body would even react, I simply felt somewhat bad that I had her exert herself right before bed. I knew the servants also had a bath, but it seemed somewhat redundant to have her fill another bath with water after doing once already.

 "I can't do such a thing Ojou-sama. It would be unbecoming for a noble to share a bath with a servant."

It had only been for a fraction of second, but I had seen her hesitate, probably seriously considering my offer, but it seemed her sense of professionalism had won out. Her logic wasn't quite right either, as she was also technically a noble, the third daughter of some baron, not that far above regular citizens, but a noble nonetheless. Most of the servants had similar backgrounds, though a few, such as the cook, were hired based on skills alone. I wasn't that concerned however and simply tilted my head to the side, as if confused. "But I want you to wash my body and I don't know what all the stuff in here is for."

I attacked her sense of duty and I could almost see the war she was having inside as she lightly bit her lip, before giving in. "As you wish, Ojou-sama." 

While Reine wasn't exactly beautiful, she wasn't unattractive either, and I thought seeing her break from her usual stoicism was rather cute.