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The Amukham House, also known as the “Northern Palace,” currently employed forty-one housemaids.

Their main duty was to maintain and manage the vast former Margrave’s estate. Moreover, during events such as the Harvest Festival, it was not uncommon for important figures from outside to visit the palace. Entertaining those guests was also one of the maids’ essential responsibilities. For this reason, the maids were always expected to uphold the highest standards of quality in their service. And then one day, shocking news spread among them.

Just recently, it was announced that the Cloud family was seeking a maid to serve their daughter. The Cloud family’s daughter… in other words, Susie Cloud.

Although more than 150 years had passed since the abolition of the nobility system, and nobles no longer officially existed within society, for those who lived in Amukham, the Cloud family remained the unshakable leaders who had once united the Village Guard and guided the region.

To the people of Amukham, the daughter of the Cloud family was nothing less than their own “princess.” Furthermore, because of Susie’s abilities and accomplishments, she already had a large following of admirers. Of course, most of the maids were among them.

When the recruitment for a lady’s maid was announced, many maids immediately volunteered. The competition was fierce. Yet, out of all those candidates, it was Anne-Marie Bayros who ultimately won the right to serve as Susie’s personal maid.

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“…U-um, I-I can do it… myself…”
“Please don’t worry, my lady. Leave everything to me.”
“N-no… that’s not… wait… huh? Ah? Eh?!”

Dragged into the bath chamber, Susie tried to resist in the dressing area, insisting that she could undress herself and bathe on her own. But her protests were futile. With smooth, practiced motions, Anne-Marie swiftly removed Susie’s equipment and garments one after another.

“Uh? Uhh? What?”

Inside the bath chamber, its floor and walls decorated with beautifully adorned tiles, Susie now stood on a bathmat embroidered with vivid geometric patterns, wearing nothing but her undergarments. From behind a reed screen rose clouds of white steam, filling the bath chamber with a hazy mist. It was easy to tell that the bathtub beyond was filled to the brim with hot water.

Next to the bathmat sat a large wicker basket, where Susie’s clothes were being piled high, one after another. When Susie glanced at the mirror in front of her, she saw her own reflection: eyes wide in shock, her modest yet well-shaped chest bared shamelessly. Her face grew hot with embarrassment. Flustered, Susie tried to cover herself with both hands and voice a protest against Anne-Marie, but—”Now then, my lady. Let’s place this into the basket as well.”

Before Susie could react, Anne-Marie deftly slipped away the last remaining piece of cloth, the final fortress. The two meat mountains in the back bounced slightly as the final piece of fabric was taken away.

“…What?! Whaat?! Wh-what are you doing?!”

Susie’s right hand instinctively flew downward to cover herself, only to realize with horror that Anne-Marie, crouching to pick up the garment, was at eye level with her private area. Her entire body flushed red, as though she had already been boiled in the hot bath.

Anne-Marie, however, despite having clearly seen the part in question, behaved as if nothing at all were out of the ordinary, calmly tossing the little cloth into the laundry basket along with the rest.

Anne-Marie’s composure stunned Susie into regaining a shred of self-control. In a panic, she snatched a towel from the nearby pile and wrapped it around herself. But what she had grabbed was only a small hand towel. It covered just the front, making her appearance seem somehow even more embarrassing. Her blushing face only grew hotter, like a pot on the boil.

“My lady, please step into the bath just as you are.”

Still holding the laundry basket, Anne-Marie spoke kindly to Susie. It seemed she truly intended to carry the basket off to the washroom.

Clutching the hand towel to her chest, Susie crept behind the screen.

“I shall tidy this up right away, so please immerse yourself in the bath in the meantime, my lady.”

With that, Anne-Marie took the basket with Susie’s clothes and swiftly left the room. Susie peered around the screen, glaring after her maid until she was sure the door had closed. Only then did she let out a long sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing.

When she turned her gaze back, she was met with the familiar porcelain bathtub of the Cloud household. The elegant curves of the tub held steaming hot water, waiting just for her.

Although Anne-Marie’s behavior left Susie uneasy, there was no way she would skip this bath. After all, she had endured an entire week with nothing more than cold rinses. “My body is craving a real bath!” she admitted to herself and followed her heart’s desire, dipping a pale leg into the water.

As she slowly lowered herself into the tub, water overflowed, spilling onto the tiled floor. The sound of the water hitting and flowing across the tiles filled the chamber, while the rising steam turned her vision even hazier.

“Naahhhhh…”

She exhaled a sigh, almost a moan, as the warmth enveloped her.

“So pleasant.”

Carrying memories of the distant land called the Land of the Rising Sun, Susie knew it was only natural to let out such sounds when sinking into hot water. In her mind, the word “Paradise, paradise” floated by.

“This feels way too good~~~ahh♪”

A bath after a week. The comfort of the hot water seemed to seep into every corner of her body. She couldn’t help but stretch herself out within the tub.

Water splashed loudly over the sides, but she didn’t care and stretched even further. The sound echoed pleasantly through the bathroom. When she looked down, Susie noticed a shadow beneath the water, swaying faintly between her thighs, a shade the same color as her own hair. Remembering that Anne-Marie would return any moment, Susie felt a sudden rush of embarrassment because of it. She quickly tried covering herself with the hand towel in the water.

(Huh? Wait, doesn’t this somehow make me look even more indecent?)

“My lady! Thank you for waiting!!”
“Hya?!”

Right on cue, Anne-Marie burst back into the bath chamber, startling Susie into squealing. She jolted upright in the tub, sending more water splashing out.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting, my lady. Allow me to attend to you at once.”

(…N-no, I wasn’t waiting… And I don’t need to attend to either…)

But Anne-Marie ignored her lady’s inner protests and rolled up her sleeves, striding confidently toward the bathtub. Half-submerged, cheeks puffed with bubbles rising to the surface, Susie squinted her eyes and thought to herself…

(When I first came here and Miss Elrose bathed me, I wasn’t nearly this embarrassed… So why do I feel so embarrassed with Miss Anne-Marie? Is it because she’s closer to my age? Or because she feels like an older sister? Either way, it feels like my sense of shame is working overtime… Ah! Maybe that’s it—my sense of shame itself has grown! At first, I wasn’t even that conscious of embarrassment. I mean, I didn’t mind if someone saw my underwear back then! But now, my shame has properly developed! If Mia flipped up my skirt to tease me now, I’d freeze on the spot! My sense of shame has definitely grown! This must mean I’ve grown as a person! Yes, that’s it!!)