BR 1.3

Lelis hurried to the reception room after barely filling the enormous bathtub. She had to let Erons in when the water temperature was just right.

Standing before the reception room, Lelis pressed her ear to the door. Inside, where Nike was absent, no sound came through.

“Is he sleeping? It’s quiet.”

Just in case, she knocked.

She expected Erons, who must have been sleeping, to mumble ‘Come in’ in a hoarse voice.

But contrary to her expectation, a loud clattering sound erupted.

“…What on earth is that noise?”
“Wait, just a moment! I’ll be out in a second! Don’t, don’t open the door!”

The door opened just as he said, but only for a moment.

Slam!

It swung open roughly, and Erons burst out.

Sweat dripped from his face as he offered Lelis an awkward greeting, “Hello! Um, your name is… Lelis, is that right?”

Erons was wrapped in a blanket. He was bundled up so tightly that nothing was visible except his face and feet.

Until just a moment ago, he had let the blanket slip down to his waist without caring. After all, he was alone. But when Lelis knocked, startled, Erons tripped over the loose end of the blanket, causing a loud clatter.

His clumsy attempt to wrap it properly left him facing Lelis in his current state.

“That is correct, but I am now your maid, Lord Erons. So please, do not address me formally.”
“No! How could I? Lady Lelis is older than me and is the one helping me, after all.”

Erons was so startled by Lelis’s smiling words that he even waved his hands in protest. Even if she were a maid, being told to speak informally to someone so much older than him was unthinkable to Erons. 

Moreover, he believed his time in a position higher than Lelis’s would only last a day or two, after which he would live as a servant, making it all the more unacceptable.

“The bathwater is ready. Would you like to go to the bathhouse? I can help you wash.”
“Huh? Help me wash…?”
“Yes. Bathing assistance is part of a maid’s duties.”
“Ah… I’m not used to that sort of thing…”
”You must get used to it. Nobles require at least one attendant when bathing. Not just for bathing, but anytime.”

He knew this was part of Lelis’s job, but Erons found her presence burdensome.

Back at the orphanage, bathing with the other children was commonplace. Once they entered the bathhouse, they’d all jump into the water together.

That was only natural since they were all male Omegas. His body was like theirs, so it was normal.

But now the situation was different. For one thing, Lelis was a woman. Setting aside their traits, their very genders were different.

So there was no way he could easily bare his skin to her.

“I’ll escort you to the bathhouse.”

“Ah… yes…” Erons couldn’t bring himself to refuse and ended up trailing behind her to the bath, feeling awkward.

He wanted to refuse. He wanted to enter alone.

Behind the partition set up for undressing, Lelis waited for Erons to remove the blanket wrapped around him.

Changing was nothing difficult; it was just removing the blanket wrapped around his body. Yet the moment he showed the slightest sign of undressing, she reached out her hand.

“Lady Lelis! I’ll, I’ll do this myself.”
“Please, drop the title, my Lord.”
“My, my Lord?”
“Because from now on, you are my master, Erons.”
“Ah… that’s not really… I-I won’t call you My Lady either, Lerris. So… can I just bathe alone for now?”

“Is it that uncomfortable for me to help you?” Lelis asked.

She wasn’t used to being refused, but she had to comply.

Erons hesitated briefly, then nodded with his head bowed low.

In that position, he glanced sideways, watching Lelis’s reaction.

“I can’t….”

Erons’s persistent refusal left Lelis in a real bind. Bathing assistance was naturally part of a maid’s duties, so she couldn’t avoid it, yet she couldn’t force someone who clearly disliked it so much.

“Then… how about I wait outside? You can call me when you need me?”

“Yes!”

Erons nodded vigorously, as if he’d been waiting for that.

He had been on pins and needles, fearing she might insist on entering the bathhouse until the very end, so her offer to wait outside was a huge relief.

“Understood. I’ll wait until you’re finished, so call me anytime. But this must remain a secret from His Grace, the Duke.”
“Drop the ‘Lady’. Didn’t My Lord just say you wouldn’t call me that anymore?”
“Ah, that’s… ”

“Wherever you go, you must never speak informally to elders. They despise anyone as vulgar and insignificant as you lot. Besides, you can’t even read, can you? So if you want even a shred of favor, be as respectful as possible. Bow your head first, unconditionally.”

The only thing the wicked headmaster ever drilled into their ears was this. On the rare occasion a naive student unconsciously addressed a visitor informally, the child would be beaten until they were bruised. The headmaster’s beatings were of a magnitude unimaginable for a child. Erons had endured it countless times, too. So it was only natural that speaking informally would be difficult.

“Then I’ll just call you by your name, without the honorific. But I don’t think I can completely drop the formalities yet. I’ll try to change that later, once time passes and I get used to things. Would that be okay?”

“Hmm, that sounds better. You’re still adjusting to this unfamiliar place, and I was too short-sighted. I’ll give you some time on that front. I’ll step out now. Please wash comfortably and come out.”
“Yes, thank you.”

Once Lelis left, Erons could finally remove the blanket.

It was warm and soft, which was nice, but it was too warm. Whatever it was made of, its heat retention was incredible. Thanks to that, beads of sweat formed on the skin beneath the blanket.

Having finished undressing – if you could even call it that – Erons gently opened the bathroom door and peeked his head in.

“Wow, is this the bathtub? It’s huge.”

The bathtub sat right in the middle of the spacious bathroom. Could you even call this a bathtub? It wasn’t just big, it was enormous! Wide enough for dozens of children to swim comfortably.

Staring in awe, he slowly made his way toward the tub.

He stepped over the knee-high rim and dipped his feet in. The warmth of the water slowly crept up from his toes.

Shivering with the pleasant warmth, Erons quickly submerged his entire body. The water, exuding a delightful fragrance he’d never encountered before, instantly melted away all his accumulated fatigue.

“So this is why nobles bathe in scented water. Mmm, the smell is truly wonderful.”

Erons enjoyed his bath, splashing his arms about in the water and kicking his feet with a splash-splash sound. 

But it wasn’t all pure enjoyment.

“Just today. I’ll do as the Duke says today, but starting tomorrow, I’ll take on any job I can find.”

Me, the Duke’s adopted son? That’s ridiculous.

Erons still didn’t believe Nike’s words. Nike was a kind-hearted person by nature, and Erons thought this was simply a gesture of kindness shown to his pitiful self.

So, he told himself repeatedly not to get used to this luxury he’d never experience twice in his life, that this wasn’t the treatment he deserved.

With only his hands out of the water, Erons burst out laughing. Soaking for so long had turned his once taut skin wrinkled like an old man’s.

When he raised his wet hands, the light reflecting off the water made the wrinkles stand out even more.

“Ugly. All wrinkled up. Have I been in that long? Should I get out?”
“Looks like you’re enjoying yourself.”
“… Your Grace?”

At Nike’s voice, Erons jumped to his feet. His eyes widened instantly. The sight was stunning enough to take anyone’s breath away.

Gone was the figure layered in uniforms; now, a naked Nike was approaching him. A body so firm and skin so smooth, it was hard to believe he was middle-aged.

The thing swaying between his legs with each step captured Erons’s gaze.

“Ahh!”

Erons swallowed involuntarily, realizing Nike’s gaze was fixed on him. He bowed his head, startled, and sank into the water as if collapsing. 

It was embarrassing enough to have exposed himself to Nike, but Erons wanted to cover his own thing. 

His pitiful lower half was not even half the size of the Duke’s.

“If anyone saw me, they’d think I was some kind of pervert. I’m just standing here, that’s all.”
“…I’m embarrassed.”
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? You’ve already seen everything I have.”
“But still… What brings the Duke here…?“
“To wash, of course. It is a bathroom.”
“…Ah.”

It was such an obvious question. Why else would one come to a bathroom but to wash?

Erons, with only his eyes visible above the water, exhaled, causing bubbles to gurgle. Seeing this, Nike couldn’t stop her lips from twitching.

He raised his hand to cover his mouth.

‘This is bad. I’m in big trouble. Who would’ve thought a mere bubble could look cute?’

Nike immediately stepped into the tub and approached Erons. It didn’t take long to reach where Erons was.

He appeared before him in the blink of an eye, startling Erons slightly, but Nike paid no heed and cupped Erons’s face. He had expected it to be small, and it was, most of it hidden within Nike’s large hands.

“I thought I’d examine your wounds too.”
“Wounds? I’m not hurt anywhere.”
“Of course you are. Look at all these.”

Thin, faint scratches were clearly visible through the gaps in his fingers. Not just his face, but his neck, shoulders, and everywhere else were covered in wounds.

Seeing the scratches contrasting with his pale skin, Nike felt even more upset than Erons.

Sticking out his tongue, he licked the wounded cheek.

“D-Duke…?”
“You have many scratches.”
“This much is fine. I’m not badly hurt; just applying medicine will heal it quickly.”
“What about other places?”
“No. Really, there aren’t any.”
“No. I mean the places… where those bastards touched.”

The ‘bastards’ Nike referred to were the rapists.

Though a fist had been driven into his face, there were no specific places where he’d been injured.

Instead, he’d been subjected to unspeakable acts. Their mouths licked his entire body, their fingers forced open his private places.

He knew they’d seen everything anyway, so why did Nike insist on asking?

Not only was it an embarrassing topic to discuss, but the gaze fixed on him, eyes ablaze, was overwhelming. A sudden worry made Erons unable to speak.

He feared that a tongue, like the one that had just licked his face, might sweep over those private places.

“…Nothing. I’m fine.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Really. I’m truly fine.”
“Hmph.”
“I’m telling the truth! I’m perfectly fine.”

Though Nike seemed to know Erons was lying, he didn’t press further. Instead, he deliberately smiled at the anxious Erons.

“Even though it’s obvious you’re lying, I can’t resist you. Come here.”

Though he said, ‘come here,’ Nike couldn’t wait and pulled Erons toward him. Sitting in the tub, he placed Erons not beside him but on his lap.

Erons’s back touched his chest.

“Your Grace, sitting like this, your legs will go numb because of me.”
“This is nothing. You’re light anyway, and in the water, I hardly feel your weight. It’s fine.”
“Can’t I just sit beside you, Your Grace?”
“No.”
“Why…? ”
“Because I want it this way.”

Nike tightened his grip around his slender waist, as if to prevent him from moving even an inch away.

As their bodies pressed together, he rested his chin on Erons’s shoulder. Nike’s breath touched Erons’s skin directly, spreading across it.

They were uncomfortably close, and the skin that touched because of the water rubbed together slickly.

Nike told him not to, but Erons desperately wanted to escape his embrace. His body heat, hotter than the water, and the breath on his neck both bothered him. But there was something that bothered him even more.

‘This keeps touching… How should I say it?’

Erons’s buttocks, resting on Nike’s lap, had slid inward until they pressed against his inner thigh, unintentionally sitting directly on his penis.

He didn’t need to look or touch to know. The way it pressed against his buttocks was unmistakable.

After realizing what was touching him below, Erons froze like a statue.

Even the slightest movement would cause it to rub. Plus, the moisture made it grind against him more than necessary, making it impossible to move.

But even that had its limits.

“Your Grace, may I sit beside you now? This position is a bit uncomfortable.”
“Didn’t I say no?”
“But, that… it keeps touching…”
“What are you talking about?”
“That thing.”
“What thing?”
“That thing… You know what I mean, Your Grace.”
“Well, how can I know if you won’t tell me?”
“You know perfectly well, ah…!”

The arm that had been wrapped around his waist loosened, and the hand moved upwards. 

Where Nike’s hand touched, a sharp ache bloomed. Because he was pinching his nipple and kneading it roughly.

“Your Grace, there…!”
“Shh.”

He scraped the tip of his small nipple with his short nails. Whether it was from the tickling sensation or the feeling of his touch, Erons shuddered and twisted his body. The more he did so, the more it rubbed against that sensitive spot, only increasing their mutual arousal.

Nike pressed harder, digging his raised nails into the hollowed center. As Erons’s moans grew clearer, Nike slowly licked up his pinkened neck.

”Mm!”
“Your body is truly sensitive. I haven’t done much, yet you’re already this erect.”
“No, I’m just… ah….!”

Having done everything possible to the nipple with his hands, Nike didn’t stop there. He reached out and gripped Erons’s rigid member. True to his Omega nature, Erons’s cock fit perfectly in his hand.

He toyed with it to his heart’s content.

His broad palm stroked the shaft, peeling back the skin, while his fingers rubbed the exposed glans, teasing it like he had the nipples. That alone was incredibly stimulating, yet he didn’t stop the touch on Erons’s nipples or the tongue lapping from his neck to his ear.

The relentless stimulation made Erons’s tremors intensify, and he gradually leaned his body forward.

Erons’s neck grew deep crimson, pheromones slowly seeping out. The faint, sweet scent seemed to make Nike swallow audibly.

“I have so much to teach you.”
“Teach me what, ugh! Slow down, hii, ugh…!”

Erons couldn’t hold back any longer and spilled his semen. It was the first time he’d done it while fully conscious.

The powerful stream of semen was thick enough that it didn’t easily lose its shape even in the water.

But soon, carried by the current, it slipped through the gaps between his fingers.

As if disappointed, Nike blurted out words so embarrassing they made Erons doubt his own ears.

“Oh dear. I couldn’t catch it in the water. If you’d spilled it into my hand, I would’ve eaten it all. What a shame.”
“Wh-what?! Eat it? Why would you eat that?!”
“It’s yours. Why wouldn’t I eat it?”
“But that’s not something you eat!”
“Right, right. Calm down. Do you know you’re spraying pheromones?”
“Me…? Me?”
“Yes, you.”

Having released it unconsciously, Erons only belatedly realized his pheromones had filled the bathroom completely.

But having no idea how to control it, he couldn’t stop it or pull it back in.

“I’ll help you.”

Nike smiled slightly and pressed his lips against Erons’s. Just as he had done in the mountains, he immediately used his tongue to part the lips and slip inside.

While injecting his own pheromones, he firmly tangled his tongue around the one trying to evade him.

Fortunately, after receiving the Alpha’s pheromones, Erons’s own pheromones gradually began to fade.

But Nike’s actions caused a sudden, powerful surge of pheromones to erupt.

“Haah… Ah! D-Duke!”

His fingers entered beneath where Nike’s genitals had been rubbed. They didn’t move as brutally as those men’s, but the touch pressing and stretching the inner walls was quite forceful.

Even without pressing specific areas like the prostate, Erons’s reaction was intense.

Far more so than when his front was touched.

The slightest stimulation made him want to thrust, so Nike held his waist tightly and moved his fingers.

“Huh, uh, uh…!”

The fingers withdrew when Erons ejaculated for the second time.

Exhausted from ejaculating twice in such a short time, Erons leaned his limp body against Nike. Then, something other than a hand rubbed against his buttocks.

He hadn’t even moved.

‘Something hard is moving… big…Not a tongue, not a finger. Then what else could it be?’

“Your Grace, wait! Wait a moment!”
“Be still. Stay still.”
“No! No, Duke – Ni… mm… huu…”
“Riman… Haa, Riman…”

What touched below was a penis. Much thicker than Erons’s, the blunt tip of a massive penis pressed against his entrance.

He tried to break free from the embrace, but the grip on his waist was too strong. Perhaps not wanting to hear ‘no,’ Nike stuffed a finger into his mouth, silencing him completely.

A rough, unfamiliar breath echoed in his ear.

Nike, who had pinned Erons down, slowly pushed the penis inside. He had felt the finger was thick, but the penis was on another level. Even though it hadn’t fully entered yet, the stretched hole stung.

“W-wait…just a sec…!” Erons shouted with slurred speech, shaking his head violently. Because of that, Nike’s finger slipped out of his mouth.

Erons, clutching the hand that had been in his own mouth, turned his head. His face, now facing Nike, was quite flushed.

He wanted to thrust himself into the gaping hole, but Nike couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“So… are we doing what… those men were going to do…?”
“…?”
“Your Grace…?”

Nike didn’t want to be lumped in with trash like that. Though his eyes burned with lust, he could sense a hint of fear in him, and she couldn’t bring himself to touch him anymore.

“No. I wouldn’t do that.”

Nike lifted Erons and sat him beside himself. As if to assure him that he would never do what those men did, Nike took Erons’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“I would never do such a thing to you. Your body’s stiff. You must be nervous. I was just playing around, but I went too far. I’m sorry, child.”
“Ah, no! I was just too dense. I didn’t even realize it was a joke… As you said, Your Grace, you are absolutely not the type to do such a thing.“
”… Right.“

Nike stroked Erons’s head. His smile looked a little bitter, and Erons, thinking it was because he hadn’t understood his joke as a joke, felt guilty.

”You said you were twenty?“
”Me? No. I’m twenty-one.“
“Oh? I must have misremembered. When was your birthday again?”
“April 4th.”

Nike beamed upon hearing Erons’s answer. His face seemed strangely joyful. Erons couldn’t understand why he was so pleased to learn a date still three months away, when he’d merely stated his birth date.

“Mine too.”
“Is the Duke’s birthday also April 4th?”
“No, that’s not it. I need to leave first. Finish washing and come out.”
“Duke, you said you were coming to wash earlier…?”
“I’m done washing.”

He pressed his lips lightly against Erons’s forehead, damp with something indistinguishable as sweat or water.

“See you at the banquet.”
“Yes.”

After Nike left, Erons sat alone in the large bathtub, staring blankly at the spot where he had left.

“Just now…”

Erons slapped his own cheek hard enough to sting, then shook his head violently until he felt dizzy.

”No. It can’t be. The Duke is different from those men.”

The Duke said it was a joke, too. 

Even upon reflection, it was no different from what they did, but Erons firmly believed Nike absolutely didn’t do it with that intent.

Because it was Nike. He, the benefactor who saved his life, couldn’t possibly do the same thing as those criminals who tried to harm him.

Erons tried and tried again to believe it.