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After my first night of proper sleep in months, the morning’s rays of sunlight wake me up. I slowly open my eyes and rub them a bit, and then I see Olivia next to me.

“Good morning, Natalia.”
“Ah… Good…morning…”

As the words come out of my mouth, I realize that we’re both completely naked, and I start to remember what happened last night. I quickly feel embarrassed and try to look away, but before I can do that, I feel a pair of lips land on my forehead.

“You were really cute last night, Natalia.”
“!”

I quickly cover my face with my hands, getting even more embarrassed by hearing that.

“Anyway, Ryuka said that breakfast will be coming soon, so we should get dressed.”

I start feeling an indescribable sense of unfairness seeing Olivia get up and get dressed so nonchalantly, but I can’t stay in bed like this either so I have no choice but to put on my usual maid uniform.

Before long, breakfast arrives, just like Olivia said. I’m sure it’s all delicious food local to Reibana, but my mind just keeps replaying all the things I did with Olivia last night until I fell asleep, so I can hardly focus on the food.

Eventually, the same maid comes to clear the empty platters, and Ryuka enters the room.

“We have an onsen installed next to the bath for the mansion, would you like to join us there? Amy and the rest are getting ready too.”
“An onsen is like an open air bath, right? I’d like to go.”

I guess those two are going there then. I keep getting amazed by the wealth of the Urado family though, a private onsen…

“You’re coming too, right Natalia?”
“Wha-?! No no, I-”
“Yes, please join us as well, Natalia.”
“You heard Ryuka, let’s go!”
“It wouldn’t be a good idea, Young Lady!”
“Who cares, just come with us.”
“No, wait! It’s definitely a bad idea!”

All of my resistance is futile, and I end up being dragged with them to the onsen.

✦✧✦✧✦

There’s a large bath house built into the Urado mansion, but there’s also an outdoor onsen next to it. Being able to see the trees growing in the garden through some steam while soaking in water from a hot spring is a really relaxing experience.

Except in situations like this.

“Don’t be like that Natalia, stop hiding in the corner and come here.”

In situations where I have to curl up in a corner and shut my eyes from everything. It’s not just Olivia here, but also Amy, Ryuka, Ruri, and Fan Yen. I can’t possibly turn around with them here.

The fact that the water is turbid with minerals is the only saving grace I have left.

“Why are you getting so embarrassed now? You had no issue showing and seeing everything last night.”
“Why would you ever say that in public?!”

That’s literally implying everything we did. I really don’t think that’s something one should say, even amongst friends.

“So you two were able to consummate your love, congratulations.”
“It’s been a long road to get here. But at least it feels like it was worth the effort in the end.”

Rather than being embarrassed by it, Ryuka straight up congratulates us, and Amy leans against the border while relishing in a sense of accomplishment.

“We were there too, actually. I realize spying on conversations isn’t the best manners, but we felt the need to see things to the end, as we were there in the beginning too.”
“Yup, all of us know that you used to be a guy, Natalia.”
“Hold on, stop. Could you at least give me some time to process all of this?”

I’ve been wondering how Olivia got there at the perfect moment, but now it makes sense. Ryuka and Amy were behind it all. But wait, does this mean they invited me to take a bath with them while knowing who I am?

“We’ve seen how considerate of everyone you’ve always been, all the way back during our stay in the Magic Academy’s dormitory. So we feel comfortable around you.”
“Even though you spent the night with Olivia, we know you wouldn’t try doing anything sneaky to us.”

I obviously wouldn’t dream of attempting something like that, but that’s still way too much trust from both of them. Or maybe this is some sort of indirect test?

“Just tell me if you end up getting ***** though, I’ll take care of that.”

When did my Young Lady become so overly open and direct with things like that? She’s not even putting any effort at covering herself right now, I’m honestly making an effort not to stare at her all the time. Though I guess Ruri would love to ogle at everyone.

“Wait…”

I look around wondering where Ruri is, and find her cowering in a corner just like me earlier. I guess it’s from last night’s events too. I definitely went too far with what I said.

So I leave the area with Olivia and the rest and go to Ruri.

“Hey, Ruri.”
“What do you want? There’s nothing fun to see on a board like myself.”

She’s still as self-conscious about her body as always, but her voice lacks her usual energy. It’s not like I’m not bothered either, but I feel like I need to say something at least, so I take a deep breath and sit next to her.

“You know, Ruri…”

“I’m sorry.” Before I can say anything more, she interrupts me to apologize. “I was so full of myself, thinking I knew everything about you just because we both reincarnated here.”

“Wait, wait, it was my behavior that made you say that. It was also my fault that things ended like that. And my problems ended up making you reveal to everyone that you reincarnated too.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m really sorry.”
“But I’m the one who-”

“Okay that’s enough you two.” Fan Yen breaks things up before we get caught up in an endless loop of apologizing. “If both of you feel like you slighted the other, then further arguing won’t solve things. Let it go, water under the bridge like some say. And if you still feel the need to say something, it shouldn’t be an apology.”

Saying that, she sits on the edge, near where the two of us are. Her body riddled with scars is fully visible, almost like it’s telling the story of all her life experience.

“…Thank you, Ruri.”
“…Right back at you, thanks.”

She’s usually just messing around, but she does an impeccable job when she needs to work, and I honestly feel like she’s done more for me as a friend than I deserve.

“But ah, if you really feel thankful then maybe you can pay me back with a touch of-”
“Young Ladyyy, Ryukaaa, Ruri just tried to grope my chest!”
“Ah, you snitch!”
“Stop, you can’t do that!”
“Ruri, when will you ever learn…”
“I’m starting to think that we should be more wary of Ruri than Natalia when taking a bath.”

The other three girls raise their voice as they move across the steam to get here.

“Natalia is my private property now!” Olivia moves up to me and embraces me, pulling me away from Ruri. Our shoulders and hips end up touching, which sends electric shocks down my body.

“Okay okay, you’re welcome for that, by the way.” Even though Ruri shrugs and gets away, Olivia doesn’t let go of me.

After that, no one brings up last night or my past, and we just talk about other random topics.

“Fan Yen=watermelon, Olivia=melon, Natalia=pear, Ryuka=apple… What a delicious view.” Ruri remarks openly. Then, lowering her voice to a whisper, she adds self-deprecating, “Ruri=strawberry,” but I just ignore her.

While it’s easy to see how she’s making those correlations, I really don’t have the brainpower to bother with her.

All this time we’ve been talking, Olivia has gotten really close to me, wrapping her arm around my waist and squishing and touching some dangerous places. And thankfully, the water is too turbid to see what’s happening there.

I’ve been doing my best to avoid showing any reaction, but I feel like my whole body will twitch at any moment now, and that’s definitely not something I should do with so many people around.

“Umm…Young Lady?”
“Hm? What is it?”

I can’t possibly vocalize what I want to convey, and she’s playing dumb so she definitely has no plans to stop.

“…I think we should go now.”
“Right.”
“It was a nice bath.”

Ryuka gets out of the onsen, and everyone else follows her. I try to go with them, but Olivia grasps my shoulder more firmly and stops me. “Ryuka, could we stay a bit longer?” And she even asks for permission to stay here.

“Of course. Feel free to enjoy yourself to the fullest.” Ryuka then leans down from outside the onsen to whisper into my ear, making sure no one else but I can hear her. “You can do anything you want here, as long as you keep the water clean.”

Then she moves away and guides everyone out.

I’m left behind with Olivia in the onsen, where the heat of the water and the heat inside my head and chest are almost making me faint, even though I’m a magic automaton.

Olivia takes my hand and we get out of the water, and I only feel the cold breeze against my skin before she pushes me down to the ground.

“You know, I can’t hold it in anymore. Is that bad?”
“It’s not…bad…”

I had no intention to resist this time. I feel the weight of Olivia’s body all over me, our skin touching and transferring the lingering heat from the onsen.