Ko-fi shop has been updated, you can find the link at the end of the chapter.
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It felt as if her mind had been bleached white. Diana hesitated, unsure of what to do first, and her master clicked his tongue lightly.
“Start by undressing me.”
She could feel him standing still, watching her.
The cold, imposing presence seemed ready to swallow her whole. Diana’s hands hovered, unable to touch him. Touching the Crown Prince’s body—a thing she couldn’t even have imagined just a few weeks ago. She had been nothing more than a cleaning maid.
Her master wasn’t known for his patience. His voice turned slightly irritable.
“What’s the problem? You can’t even see my body.”
Diana was someone who read the world through her fingertips. Inevitably, she would have to touch his body. Was he truly okay with this?
Hesitantly, she reached out her hand. She thought she would touch the luxurious texture of his shirt or fabric first, but instead, warmth greeted her fingertips right away. Solid muscles and a defined physique. She couldn’t even tell which part of his body her fingers were touching.
When she quickly moved her hand to the side, she felt a long, draping robe. It seemed he was wearing only an indoor robe over his bare torso. Only after tracing along the robe’s collar with her fingers did she realize the area she had just touched was near his sternum. He was much taller than she had imagined.
Clutching both sides of his robe, Diana slowly removed it. Before the precious robe that had enveloped the Crown Prince’s body could fall to the ground, she quickly caught it and held it in her arms.
A basket… There was a basket somewhere around here.
Fortunately, her left heel bumped into a basket. Diana placed the robe inside and straightened her posture.
“Continue.”
The challenges kept coming.
Diana, left with no other choice, slid her hands downward. Her fingers grazed his firm abdomen before finally touching his waistband. She wondered whether his lower garments were secured with a buckle or tied with strings. It would’ve been helpful if he’d offered her some guidance, but such consideration was clearly not his style.
Fortunately, the lower garments were tied with a string. Judging by the simplicity of his clothing, he didn’t seem the type to favor formal attire in daily life. Diana dug her fingernails slightly into the knot, untied it, then immediately knelt down to remove his pants and undergarments one by one.
The man stepped into the bathtub. A splash of water echoed through the room.
“Is the temperature to your liking?”
As expected, there was no response. Instead, a languid exhale tickled her ears. It seemed to be satisfactory.
Where’s the soap that makes bubbles?
She cursed herself for believing Emel’s words that she wouldn’t need to assist in bathing! Diana resolved to complain to him to her heart’s content the next day.
Fortunately, water was an element Diana was familiar with. In damp, humid environments, her senses became heightened in ways different from usual.
The sensation of tiny water droplets rolling between her fingers. The minuscule particles of moisture suspended in the air brought her senses alive.
She remembered the words her father had whispered to her desperately just before they were separated while escaping from Dorthes in her childhood.
“Diana, you’ll survive anywhere, no matter what. You’re —.”
The surface of the water, as if it had a will of its own, rippled and reflected the man’s back.
Diana used the foamy towel to scrub his solid body. It was fundamentally different from the slender arms of the women she had bathed at Hilde long ago. Her master wasn’t just taller than she had imagined; his physique was far more robust.
“If anything feels uncomfortable, please let me know, Master.”
No response came. She wasn’t sure if she was doing well, but she put in her best effort.
After scrubbing his shoulders and back, she faced yet another dilemma. She had no idea how to clean his lower body. Her hesitant touch must have been obvious to him.
“Where are you from?”
The sudden question felt like a lifeline. It was a question she had anticipated.
Diana answered as she had been trained.
“I was born in Selva, in the Duchy of Osfil.”
“When did you come to the capital?”
“I was sent to the Duke of Osfil’s estate when I was ten.”
“So, you lived in Selva until you were ten?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Diana’s identity and past had already been completely fabricated by the prince’s side. Even so, she couldn’t shake an inexplicable chill. Despite the heat and humidity of the bathroom, she felt frozen.
Felix observed the hesitant maid clutching a towel. A question that had been lingering in his mind suddenly unraveled.
Droplets of water formed perfectly rounded beads at the tips of the maid’s fingers. The water lifted, one droplet at a time, into the air and grazed Felix’s skin along her touch. The maid seemed entirely unaware of what she was doing.
Feeling the warm water, he let out a soft chuckle.
“Selva, you say. That place isn’t known for spirits.”
The towel Diana had been using slipped lower. Gasping, she nearly scratched the prince’s skin with her nails but managed to catch herself just in time.
“What do you mean…?”
“Spirits are found at the springs of Ballestega, not Selva. That area used to belong to the Dorthes royal family.”
The damp, languid tone of his voice seemed to seep directly into her heart, sending a shiver down her spine. This was completely unexpected.
Spirits. He had mentioned spirits. And he knew about Ballestega’s springs. How on earth?
The cold voice brushed against Diana, who was frozen in place.
“All of Dorthes’s territory was colonized by Karman 13 years ago. The spirits of Ballestega were annihilated, and every single fleeing citizen was enslaved by the Empire.”
Diana couldn’t respond. Her lips felt sealed, as if glued shut.
“I have a feeling you’re quite familiar with this story, Diana.”
The man grabbed Diana’s shoulder tightly, causing her to lose her balance and slip into the tub. Splash! Thousands of water droplets burst into froth, flying everywhere as Diana plunged into the water, soaked from head to toe.
The warm water embraced her entire body like a mother’s womb, comforting her briefly. Water had always been Diana’s friend, perhaps since the moment of her birth.
But the solace didn’t last. A rough hand gripped the nape of her neck, pulling her out of the water. The hand choking her was unrelenting. Diana coughed and clawed at the man’s hand.
“Your Highness, there seems to be some misunderstanding….”
“And yet, you claim to be from Selva?”
Felix sneered as he pressed her against the edge of the tub. Her slender back hit the rim of the tub with a muffled gasp. The surge of water enveloped her like a breakwater, cushioning the impact.
When did he start suspecting me…?
Diana’s abilities had manifested after she lost her sight. She had always been cautious when handling water in front of others, but it seemed she had slipped up in her earlier panic.
He must never, ever find out about the spirits…!
Felix held her trembling neck with one hand while his other hand tore at her front. The thin fabric, only two layers thick, ripped away without resistance under his merciless grip.
Forgetting herself, Diana screamed.
“My lord!”
“Every slave of Dorthes is branded as property of the Empire.”
“I am not a slave….”
Diana couldn’t finish her sentence, terror swallowing her voice.
The crown prince had unmasked her true identity in an instant. This was one of the secrets Diana had to protect at all costs. It was an even greater issue than being exposed as a spy sent by Prince Aizen.
When Dorthes fell to Karman, its people abandoned their homes and fled in all directions. Those who refused to submit to the Empire’s rule and were later captured were classified as slaves.
Slaves were a rank below commoners. Though slavery had officially been abolished in Karman, slaves still couldn’t hold jobs or accumulate wealth.
Most Dorthes slaves worked in brothels or slaughterhouses, and if not, in sewage plants filled with rotting filth or execution grounds littered with corpses. Nobles, and even commoners, avoided any interaction with them.
Like the prostitutes of Hilde, Dorthes slaves were never treated as human beings anywhere in Karman. A slave wearing fine clothes and working in the imperial palace? Such a thing was unthinkable. It would be considered a crime of treason against the royal family.
Diana desperately struggled to cover her exposed chest.
“My lord, I am… I am….”
“Not a slave?”
The crown prince chuckled darkly.
“Well, that can be easily verified.”
A button snapped off, and her front was completely exposed.
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