NOVEL WEB Chapter 164
Chapter: 164
It was true that the pressure and resistance I felt about doing something with Rosalyn had lessened significantly compared to my childhood.
After all, a few years had passed.
Naturally, I had spent a lot of time with Rosalyn, and it was only logical that things would improve.
-Swish…
“Hmm…”
Well, we had actually shared baths together quite frequently.
In conclusion, I realized I wasn’t particularly nervous about it, or anything like that.
I was a bit flustered, but it was just… a matter of washing up, right?
So, the conclusion was that I was slowly taking off my clothes in front of the bathroom where Rosalyn had already gone in first.
“Hmmm…”
Was it because I hadn’t been home in a while?
Maybe she wanted to talk to me after such a long time, which is why she brought up the idea of bathing together.
Aside from that, there didn’t seem to be a real reason to bathe together.
Anyway, after stripping down, I wrapped a shower towel around myself and opened the bathroom door.
It was my first time in the bathroom in a long while, but it still smelled steamy inside.
“Haah…”
Even though it had only been half a year, coming back home seemed surreal.
It felt like nothing had changed at all.
“Camelia, are you in?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Then, would you like to come over here?”
Rosalyn spoke after hearing the sound of the door opening.
I slowly began to walk toward the sound of Rosalyn’s voice.
I passed by the large tub and the smaller tub, and as always, I arrived at the area where we could shower.
“You weren’t showering first?”
“Since it’s been a while since I’ve bathed with my daughter. I wanted to scrub your back and talk a lot.”
“You really didn’t have to wait; we have plenty of time to chat…”
“It’s fine, just hurry over here.”
“Sigh… Alright.”
Rosalyn had always been a bit stubborn.
So, I decided to follow her suggestion.
It wasn’t that hard to let her wash me, after all.
She was, after all, my mother, so feeling anything odd or embarrassed about this wasn’t really a thing, was it?
“How’s the water temperature? It’s not too hot, is it?”
“It feels alright. It seems like it should be okay just like this.”
“Good! Let’s get started then. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, you have to let me know, okay?”
I smiled and responded to Rosalyn’s question as she began to wet my back with water slowly.
It felt just like any other day.
It really was no different from when Rosalyn had washed me before.
Just the usual, where she adjusted the water coming from the magic tool and gently caressed my body with her hands?
“Your hair seems to have grown more than I thought?”
“It feels like it. I haven’t had a trim in a while.”
“It seems to be coming down to your waist… almost to your hips?”
My hair had definitely grown a lot.
I had kept it long since childhood, but recently, it definitely grew longer, which was probably why Rosalyn felt the need to mention it.
“Honestly, it is a bit uncomfortable… but Mom and Rize keep telling me not to cut it.”
“That’s true. But honestly, it’s a shame, isn’t it? Your hair is really beautiful.”
“That’s why I’m not cutting it.”
“Hehe, good. It would be too much of a waste to cut it.”
As she said that, Rosalyn slowly touched my wet hair.
My hair really was on the nicer side.
Since childhood, my hair had always been pretty good, especially since Rize had been taking care of it every day.
“But if you leave it like this, won’t it reach your feet by the second semester…?”
“Well… that’s true. But if it gets too long, I can just cut it before then, right?”
That was true.
I felt like the length was just a bit too precious to cut right now.
It was coming down past my waist and now reaching my hips, and to just chop it all off felt a bit regrettable… just a bit.
Of course, I didn’t plan on letting it grow longer to an insane length.
“But doesn’t Mom usually keep her hair long?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Did you always grow it long since you were little?”
“Ah… not really. I think I started growing it after graduating from the Academy?”
“Really?”
Huh.
That was quite an unexpected answer.
So, Rosalyn had actually had short hair before.
Of course, back when she was truly young, she definitely wouldn’t have had long hair, so it made sense she would’ve had short hair, but still, it was quite the surprise.
“So before that, you didn’t grow your hair out at all? It’s really pretty.”
“Yeah, right? I guess back in the day… it was tough in various ways to have long hair.”
“…?”
“I told you before, right? That I didn’t get along with the family. So, um… it was just… not a good time.”
“Uh…”
Hmm.
That seemed to be a bit of a sensitive topic.
It related to the story of Rosalyn being a bastard child of the Rose family, which she had mentioned before when drunk.
“That makes sense.”
“Of course, I was quite active during that time. It was oddly convenient.”
“Haha…”
Well, since she said she was alright, maybe it was all fine?
To be honest, I felt a little uneasy when Rosalyn talked about the Rose family and the whole bastard child thing.
Not to mention, that part was… rather uncomfortable for me.
Regardless of whether Rosalyn was okay talking about it, I was a bit uneasy.
“But do you think long hair looks better on me?”
“Yeah.”
I answered clearly.
Rosalyn really did look much better with long hair.
Of course, I had never seen her in a short style, but her signature braided hairstyle always seemed so beautiful to me.
Somehow… it just had an air of elegance, you know?
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
“But still, Mom… I think even if you go for a short style, it would suit you very well.”
“Should I try cutting it short next time?”
“If you want to, I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
Personally, I preferred long hair over short, but with someone as beautiful as Rosalyn, I didn’t see it as an issue.
Hmm… but really, it might actually look fine on her.
Yeah, Rosalyn could totally pull off a ponytail right now, and even if not, it would still look good.
Anyway, we finished bathing while chatting like that.
I had thought about offering to wash Rosalyn, but for some reason, my proposal was rejected, and it ended with only Rosalyn washing me.
After that, I relaxed in the tub with Rosalyn before returning to my room.
“Hmm…”
I definitely didn’t feel as embarrassed as I did back in the day.
Returning to my room, I realized how much I had changed since childhood.
Seeing Rosalyn’s body or touching it… back then, it would have made me incredibly embarrassed.
But today, I felt absolutely nothing about Rosalyn washing me.
“Even… now I want to… ”
Unlike before, I even had the thought of wanting to wash Rosalyn’s body just once.
After all, while I had been washed by Rosalyn many times, I had never done the reverse.
Just once, I wanted to wash Rosalyn’s body…
“Hmm. Was that a bit perverse?”
This thought alone, as I sat in my room, felt kind of pervy.
After all, it was kind of like saying I wanted to touch her body.
“Ugh…”
Anyway, the conclusion was clear; I had changed a lot since my childhood.
If I had been washed like today back then, I probably would have run away halfway through, or said I’d do it myself.
This much was certain.
Back to the time when I first met Rosalyn, I felt incredibly embarrassed back then.
“…Well, that’s a good thing, right?”
I decided to think positively about it.
Ultimately, treating Rosalyn much more comfortably than before was just a good development.
Although I had liked her since the first time I met her, treating her comfortably was on a different level.
“Heh…”
For now… I just wanted to get some sleep.
After all, it was likely due to the long carriage ride from the Academy to the Mansion, and the rather subpar Inn where I briefly rested with Ella.
I had experienced quite a number of beds and tried various ones, but one thing I could confidently say was that my current bed was incredibly comfortable?
“Hehe…”
Honestly, it was such a nice bed that I felt it was a waste to keep it just for myself.
Even though the bed I used at the Academy was top-notch, this one was even better.
“Should I call Rize…?”
After all, Rize must’ve been tired from coming down with me.
It felt a bit unfortunate to see her working immediately after we returned, and calling her to rest with me and wipe off some sweat would be nice…
“Oh. But maybe it’s not hot in here, so I might not be sweating?”
Thanks to Ashley’s Air Conditioning Magic set up throughout the Mansion.
Perhaps I might not be sweating at all.
Of course…
“That doesn’t mean I won’t call her, right?”
With that thought in mind, I immediately got out of bed.
Having just bathed, I felt refreshed and, honestly, quite drowsy as well, but…
I had spent so much time lying with Rize during my time at the Academy.
Sleeping alone without her felt slightly lonely.
Besides, I thought that Rize wouldn’t reject my suggestion to spend time in my room.
“Rize?”
With that, I started looking for Rize, who was working inside the Mansion.