NOVEL WEB Chapter 45
Chapter: 45
I had already sent a letter to Ella, Rize was going anyway, and I had gotten Ashley’s consent.
On top of that, since Karen was just coming over for a visit, I didn’t even need to ask her, so I could say I had practically gathered everyone who was going on the trip.
Sure, one last person was left, but… I thought it would probably be fine.
“…Hmm.”
Since Rosalyn had helped me before, I felt a little bad leaving her at the mansion while I went.
I intended to ask Rosalyn to join us, so here I was, right in front of Rosalyn’s Room.
“Mother, what are you doing?”
“I was going to wash up since it’s a bit hot. Why?”
“Ah… then I’ll come back in a bit.”
“Huh? What’s the matter?”
“Um… I wanted to talk, but since you have something to do…?”
I didn’t expect the timing to work out like this.
I had planned to speak with Rosalyn as soon as I entered her room, but now there was a situation where she had to go out.
Well… I didn’t have to rush to speak within the next five minutes, and Rosalyn was just going to wash up because she was hot.
It wouldn’t be a problem if I just waited a little longer.
“Hmm… then how about this? Shall we wash up together?”
“…What?”
Huh.
*
Huh.
“It’s nice to be in the bathroom together for the first time in a while, right?”
“Haha…”
“So what’s the conversation about? It’s not often Camelia comes to chat like this.”
“That’s true…”
And so, I entered the bathroom with Rosalyn.
It was certainly a long time since we had done this together.
Aside from the old days, I hadn’t bathed with Rosalyn like this in ages.
For almost two years, I had been bathing alone, taking care of Rize instead of Rosalyn.
It was just… tough to interact with Rosalyn.
“Shall I wash your hair?”
“…Sure.”
“Your hair is longer than mine, so Rize must take care of it a lot?”
“Of course. Every time I bathe, Rize always spends a lot of time tending to my hair.”
Rize was especially devoted to taking care of my hair.
Sometimes it felt like Rize was more focused on my hair than I was.
“Well, it is beautiful hair.”
“…Is it?”
As Rosalyn said that, she began to wash my hair slowly.
Since we weren’t bathing in a bathtub or anything, just sitting on the washroom chair, she applied shampoo to my wet hair and washed it carefully.
It felt… nice.
“So what were you going to say?”
“Ah… it’s not anything special. I was thinking about taking a trip to escape the heat this summer, and I thought it might be nice for you to join. What do you think?”
I asked Rosalyn, who was washing my hair, while consciously keeping my eyes closed to avoid any soap bubbles.
Honestly, I had already asked everyone else besides Rosalyn.
And I especially wanted to go with her.
The last trip I took with Rosalyn was when I was eight; that summer was also the last one.
I felt a bit bad about leaving her alone at the mansion.
…It was mostly a trip with friends, but since Ashley was going as well…
I thought it wouldn’t be strange for Rosalyn to join.
“There are others going with us…”
“Who?”
“Rize, Ella, and Karen, and Ashley will be joining too.”
“Even the teacher?”
“Yeah.”
It felt a bit awkward having Ashley come along, but I couldn’t miss out on that magical air conditioning.
If I could use it, that would be one thing, but right now, I still couldn’t use Ashley’s magical air conditioner.
“There’s a little villa in the mountains, a bit away from the south. We’ll probably stay there.”
“Not by the sea?”
“We’ve been to the sea before. Besides, this time of year, there are bound to be too many people at the beach.”
“That’s true.”
“And the villa in the mountains was bought by our family before. It should be pretty comfortable.”
“R-Really?”
The place was originally a property for sale, and it happened to be during a time when it had rained heavily, which had slightly damaged the property and lowered its price.
We had gotten lucky with the timing.
“Camelia, could you close your eyes for a moment?”
“Sure.”
I rinsed my hair once more, feeling like it was being even better washed than I expected.
I knew Rosalyn took baths alone all the time, so why was she this good at it?
It felt strange, almost like a motherly sensation.
“All done with the hair. Should I wash your back now?”
“…Sure.”
“But isn’t it nice that it’s in the mountains? There’ll be fewer people, and it should be cooler than in the south.”
There were good reasons for not just going because we had a mountain.
The villa in front of the mountain was nice enough, and there was even a small valley inside, so I thought it would be perfect.
Especially since there was a pretty decent city nearby.
“Hmm… but is it really okay for me to go?”
“……Huh?”
“I mean, everyone else is younger than me, right? Is… that okay?”
“Of course, it’s fine.”
It was true that all of them were younger than Rosalyn, to the point that Rosalyn was worried.
Ella was my age, and while Karen and Rize were older, they were nowhere near Rosalyn’s age.
But with Ashley around, I didn’t feel like there was much to worry about.
Besides, we weren’t going just to run around and play; we were going to escape the heat and relax.
That should be okay… right?
“Is that so…?”
“Yep. Besides, if we exclude Karen, everyone else has talked to Mother a few times, and Rize and Ashley still live in the mansion, so…”
“Then that’s a relief…”
That was a relief.
If Rosalyn had refused, I would have felt a bit disappointed.
I was really glad that she was joining us.
“All done washing? Do you want to sit in the tub first?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
If Rosalyn were to ask me to wash her like she did for me, it would have been quite awkward in many ways.
But thankfully, that didn’t happen, so… I was really relieved.
Even though we were having a perfectly normal conversation, I didn’t show it; it was actually pretty tough for me with Rosalyn washing me.
Not for any particular reason, but because the sensation of Rosalyn washing my body was incredibly ticklish.
Plus, imagining washing Rosalyn was… weird to think about.
“Cough…”
Thinking about washing Rosalyn the way she was washing me… it was definitely a bit problematic.
Looking at Rosalyn’s smooth waist and hips from behind…
“…Huh.”
I was really glad about this.
After a long time bathing with Rosalyn, I was reminded once again why I hadn’t done this in a very long time.
It was a realization I couldn’t avoid.
“…I’m really perverted.”
How is it that no matter how much time passes, I still think this way about Rosalyn like nothing has changed?
*
We finalized the date and other plans.
Having prepared our luggage thoroughly, now only departure remained.
Honestly, since the villa wasn’t lacking anything, we didn’t need a lot of luggage.
We were just waiting for Karen to arrive for a few more days.
“…The teacher only packed two pillows?”
“…Yeah.”
“Hmm… that’s a bit much. Let’s get her one more pillow.”
…Well, that’s just how Ashley always was.
By now, I didn’t find it weird at all; I just accepted it.
Rize’s reaction wasn’t much different from mine anyway.
“Mother’s luggage has already been loaded onto the carriage, right?”
“Yes, Lady Ella and the lady’s luggage has already been placed in the carriage. And Ashley is bringing her pillows onto the carriage…”
“The carriage is big enough, so it should be fine.”
“Young Lady, what about you?”
“I plan to pack on the day of departure. My stuff was already prepared anyway.”
Regardless, I was doing a check before going on this trip with Rize.
I was double-checking whether all six of us would fit in the carriage and looking for any potential issues where the carriage might break down during the journey—all just to pass the time.
…Honestly, it was just that we were waiting for Karen to show up at our mansion.
…She should be here by now, though.
“Hmm… I wonder when Karen will arrive.”
“Soon, I believe.”
“But it’s been a while since I’ve seen her. I want to see her quickly.”
“…Didn’t she come over last winter break?”
“That’s exactly why.”
It had already been about half a year since we last saw her.
If I said I hadn’t seen her in a long time, that wouldn’t be too far off.
“Hmm…”
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no. Just thinking for a moment.”
I was worried about whether Karen would feel at ease hanging out with the others.
Of course, she did reply to my letter saying it was fine, but she had such a shy personality.
I wondered if she really felt pressured to accept because she couldn’t refuse since I had suggested it.
If that were the case… I’d feel a bit guilty.
“…Hmm. That’s unlikely.”
“…?”
“She should be fine… right?”
“…?”
…Honestly, I was really worried.
The truth was, aside from Rosalyn and Rize, the other members had pretty unique personalities.
One was loud, one was quiet, and the other one was… sleeping.
“…Did I choose the wrong people to travel with…?”
“Huh?”
“Uh, it’s nothing…”
It probably wasn’t my fault that I felt both excited and anxious about what would happen once we arrived at the villa.
…Probably.