Chapter 8
The perfectly defined chest and clearly etched abdominal muscles were flawless, making it hard to believe this was someone who had been bedridden for 6 months after being poisoned. If one were to sculpt the body of a male god, it would look just like this. Alice barely managed to hold back an exclamation that threatened to escape her lips.
Though his upper body was stunningly beautiful enough to make her jaw drop, she didn’t want to feel enthralled by an unconscious person. That seemed a bit perverse.
Gathering her wits, Alice carefully began wiping his chest with a damp cloth. She moved the cloth gently, as if handling a newborn baby, focusing intently on the task. Perhaps because of this, her initial nervousness at cleaning a strange man’s body soon faded as she became absorbed in the act. She wiped with infinite care, as if polishing a priceless work of art.
After some time spent meticulously cleaning his broad upper body to the best of her ability, Alice straightened up, feeling the stiffness in her lower back. She had been so focused that beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.
“Whew, this is taking longer than I expected.”
At this rate, Maris would get impatient and offer to help with the task. Then Maris’s hands would touch Kylus’s body.
“…I can’t let that happen.”
Alice suddenly felt her determination ignite. I’ll finish this quickly, she thought to herself.
Unlike before, she now moved with passionate energy. She turned his heavy body to the side and wiped down his back, which was as vast as the Pacific Ocean. Then her hands naturally moved lower, towards his trousers.
Focused solely on finishing the task quickly, Alice nearly grabbed the strings tying his trousers before snapping back to her senses.
“Are you crazy?!”
Alice jerked her hand back in shock. This was something she absolutely could not do.
“…What should I do?”
Alice glared at the strings of his trousers. To properly clean his whole body, she would need to remove them. But she simply couldn’t muster the courage to take off Kylus’s pants.
“…Maybe I’ll stop here for today.”
Alice rolled her eyes. But then a voice in her head seemed to ask: Will you have the guts to take off Kylus’s pants tomorrow?
The answer was obviously no.
I’ll have to keep tending to him from now on. I can’t just keep cleaning his upper body.
“Argh!”
Damn that Madam Quillian! May she stub her pinky toe on a doorway!
Alice messed up her hair in frustration as she cursed Madam Quillian for putting her through this ordeal. But nothing changed despite her frustration.
So Alice steeled her resolve.
“I’m taking these off today. You hear me?”
Having declared her intent to remove his trousers, she reached towards the neatly tied strings with a grim expression.
And at that very moment, the door suddenly burst open.
“Young Mistress!”
“I wasn’t doing anything!”
Alice instinctively raised both hands and cried out as if caught in the act of mischief.
“Pardon?”
“No, I mean… um…”
Oh no… I’ve messed up.
Though she felt belated regret, the butler was already staring at her with a puzzled expression.
Her face grew hot with embarrassment.
Focus, at times like this I need to keep my composure. The more flustered I act, the more suspicious I’ll seem.
Alice lifted her chin proudly, pretending nothing was amiss. Then she sharply reprimanded the butler:
“How rude of you to enter without knocking. What sort of manners are these?”
Indeed, the butler had barged into the room so abruptly that it startled Alice. Without any courtesy at all.
Maris, who had followed him in, chimed in supportively:
“That’s right! Even if you are the butler, how dare you enter so rudely when the Young Mistress is present! If the Grand Madam hears of this disrespectful behavior, she certainly won’t let it slide!”
Though Alice was relieved to avoid embarrassment due to the butler’s mistake, Maris’s aggressive reaction was uncalled for.
Having caught the butler’s misstep, Maris looked ready to run straight to the Grand Madam.
The Grand Madam was likely already wary of the butler, so Alice couldn’t allow him to be given an excuse.
Alice cleared her throat and said:
“Of course, it was quite rude, but I believe the butler must have had a very good reason for such haste.”
“Upon hearing that the Young Mistress was personally performing tasks typically done by servants, I was so shocked that… I thoughtlessly committed this breach of etiquette.”
“Ah, I see. One can certainly act rashly when greatly surprised.”
“No matter how shocked he was, it doesn’t erase the butler’s rudeness. We must report this to the Grand Madam at once.”
Maris declared with a resolute expression. Her eyes gleamed triumphantly, like a hunting dog that had caught a big prey.
As Maris signaled with her eyes for them to go to Madam Quillian together, Alice furrowed her brow hesitantly and slowly opened her lips.
“Hmm… Maris, I don’t think we should report this to Mother. The butler hasn’t committed any grave offense, so is it really wise to upset Mother over such a minor mistake…?”
What if the sparks fly and I get caught in the crossfire?
“However…”
As Alice feigned apprehension, Maris’s confident gaze also wavered.
Seizing on that hesitation, Alice quickly added:
“If you insist, you can go to Mother alone. I should focus on the task Mother assigned me.”
The implication was clear – you can take the heat yourself. Maris’s expression became visibly flustered.
If she had more nerve, she might have gone to tattle by herself. But Maris lacked that kind of courage. Just as she had bullied Alice while backed by Madam Quillian, she needed Alice as a shield when facing the Madam.
Rolling her eyes, Maris seemed to realize it was futile. With a disgruntled look, she said:
“If the Young Mistress is fine with it… then so am I. I’ll wait outside as before.”
“Alright, you do that.”
After Maris quickly left the room, Alice turned to the butler.
He was looking at the damp cloth Alice was holding.
“Butler, aren’t you leaving as well?”
The butler asked in return:
“Pardon?”
You need to leave so I can take off his pants.
Alice turned over in her mouth the words she couldn’t bring herself to say out loud.
She had just worked up the resolve to remove his trousers. She wanted to get it over with quickly before losing her determination.
But then she heard a sweet whisper from somewhere:
“Um, Young Mistress. It would be difficult for you to clean the Duke’s entire body alone. You’re already sweating… Why don’t I take care of the rest?”
Alice’s eyes lit up at the butler’s tempting offer.
“But this is a task Mother assigned to me…”
“I’m not suggesting you leave the Duke’s care entirely to me. I meant that I could assist a little from the side, as you’ve been doing. You look tired even now.”
The butler glanced at the sweat on Alice’s forehead as he spoke.
Alice’s mind raced.
Though Madam Quillian had ordered her to tend to him, she likely hadn’t specified that Alice must do it alone.
That’s probably why Maris had offered to help.
If she had been ordered to do it alone, Maris wouldn’t have even pretended to help.
So getting some assistance shouldn’t be a problem.
Of course, Madam Quillian wouldn’t be pleased that she received help from the butler rather than Maris, but she couldn’t object too strongly given the need to avoid outside scrutiny.
After all, Madam Quillian wanted to kill Kylus as discreetly as possible.
And if the butler helped, she wouldn’t have to remove his trousers herself every day!
Suppressing the urge to cheer, Alice gave the butler a faint smile.
“Then I’ll leave the rest to you. The Duke would… likely be more comfortable with your touch than mine. Please take good care of him.”
Despite her wistful words, Alice quickly handed the damp cloth to the butler.
“…Are you leaving right away?”
The butler looked at the wet cloth pressed firmly into his hand and asked Alice.
“I’ve already cleaned the Duke’s upper body. So there’s no need for me to stay. Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”
Alice hurriedly left the room, worried the butler might change his mind.
* * *
The butler stared at the firmly shut door for a moment.
The feeling that the Young Mistress had fled like she was escaping… must be his imagination.
The butler shook off the lingering impression of Alice’s odd behavior and approached the bed.
Then he said quietly:
“Your Grace, everyone else has left.”
A deep sigh escaped from Kylus, who had been lying with his eyes closed as if dead.
“Hah, what in the world…”
Kylus opened his eyes and raised his upper body, leaning back against the headboard.
As he did so, his loosely tied shirt fell open.
Kylus let out an incredulous chuckle as he adjusted his gaping shirt.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of what he had just experienced.
A strange woman undressing him and wiping his body.
He was uncomfortable with others touching him.
So much so that no servants besides the butler were allowed to tend to him.
The butler knew this well.
That’s why he had rushed over as soon as he heard the Young Mistress would be tending to him.
Worried something might have happened in the room, he had flung open the door, forgetting all etiquette.
“You must have been very uncomfortable… I apologize for not arriving sooner.”
“It’s not your fault.”
The butler carefully asked Kylus, who was frowning:
“Were you perhaps injured somewhere…?”
Kylus shook his head at the butler’s concerned inquiry.
“No, she didn’t do anything like that. Rather, she was… very diligent.”
“Pardon?”
Though the butler looked perplexed, Kylus recalled the bewildering recent events with a strange expression.
He had been on edge even before she started undressing him.
Though his eyes were closed, he could clearly feel the woman’s gaze roaming over every inch of his body.
It was a brief moment, but her eyes surveying his body were far from innocent.
An extremely lecherous gaze.
Almost perversely so.
But to call her a mere pervert would be inaccurate, as she had been utterly matter-of-fact yet passionate when it came to actually cleaning his body.
Her first touch had trembled endlessly, but as time passed, he sensed no lustful ulterior motives in her hands.
Yes, she focused solely on the act of cleaning, as if completely disregarding the fact that he was a man.
Just like cleaning a dirty object.
And that made him feel quite… dirty.
“…The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems.”
Kylus twisted the corner of his mouth as he thought of Alice.
