Chapter 9: Underwater Rehabilitation Training (1)

“These clothes won’t work.”

“Then how about this?”

“Are you trying to drown me?”

Lise said, rejecting every piece of clothing Mirabel brought her.

But it was understandable. When she asked for clothes that wouldn’t float and would stick to her body, Mirabel brought armor!

Mirabel was almost in tears as she said:

“Then what should we do? Apart from these, there’s only underwear.”

“Then give me underwear.”

“Cough, cough!”

Mirabel, who had choked, kept coughing repeatedly.

Her thought was that she’d rather die than see her lady enter the water with Sir Willen wearing only underwear.

Meanwhile, Lise didn’t think much of it.

In her previous life, she had quite enjoyed swimming and had practically lived at the pool. Naturally, she was familiar with swimsuits. She’d even worn bikinis. Briefly, of course.

So underwear wasn’t a big deal.

Besides, the underwear here wasn’t like a bikini that only covered the chest and private parts. It was a corset that completely covered up to the chest, and a girdle that went down below the hips.

“No. Absolutely not.”

But Mirabel, who didn’t understand this, was adamant.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Anyway, no.”

Then she rummaged through the wardrobe and brought out the thickest, most opaque thing she could find.

“I really didn’t want to give you this.”

Lise examined the black object she received from Mirabel’s hands from all angles.

It was a body-shaping undergarment with integrated top and bottom, with what appeared to be waterproof padding attached to the chest area.

“This is fine. If you had something like this, you should have brought it out earlier.”

“I was saving it to have you wear under your dress for an important banquet later. Sob sob. I never thought it would be used for this.”

Unlike the saddened Mirabel, Lise was satisfied.

It was quite modest underwear, except for the lack of sleeves. If she had to compare it to clothing from her previous life, it would be like a tank top and hot pants.

Though even that level of exposure was unacceptable by this world’s standards.

Lise immediately threw off her clothes and put on the one-piece undergarment.

‘Not bad, right?’

Since her body had weakened, the trailing dress hems had been so cumbersome, but wearing this felt light and comfortable instead.

“Shall we go then?”

Mirabel helped Lise put on a towel-material robe over her arms.

Lise tied the waist cord tightly and left the room.

---

When she entered the bathhouse, no one was there.

“Haven’t they come yet?”

Mirabel said she couldn’t bear to watch such an embarrassing scene and would come to escort her when it was over.

Lise told her to do that. It would be better that way, for both Mirabel and herself.

But why wasn’t Sir Willen here when he said he’d go ahead to prepare and wait? Did he go to the bathroom or something?

Lise tilted her head in wonder. Then, while waiting, she sat in a chair placed in one corner of the bathhouse to rest. She knew that underwater training required more energy than expected, so she didn’t want to drain her strength beforehand. After a while.

Creak—

The sound of a door opening was heard.

It seemed Sir Willen had arrived. Now it would begin.

Lise supported herself on the chair’s armrest and stood up. Then she turned around.

Gasp!

Lise couldn’t close her mouth. Where was Sir Willen and why…

“C-Cain, why are you here…?”

The person who entered the bathhouse was none other than Cain.

Lise couldn’t continue speaking and looked him up and down.

Cain was dressed similarly to Lise herself. Similarly… in a robe. What on earth was this situation?

Lise looked at Cain with a bewildered expression, demanding an explanation.

“Let’s start training.”

No, I asked for an explanation. Wait… what did you say we’re doing?

“Training? Why would I train with you?”

“Then will you do it alone? The water is quite deep.”

“…?”

What on earth was this about?

“Where is Sir Willen?”

“He went back, saying he had urgent business.”

“…”

What was this? This sudden chilly feeling?

Did Sir Willen really go back because of urgent business?

“And.”

Cain took a step closer and untied his robe.

The sight looked slow yet sensual, making Lise unconsciously swallow.

“I looked into it, and that guy has some problems.”

“Problems?”

“He has a cheap mouth. Apparently he holds evaluation sessions about the noble ladies he’s treated in private. You wouldn’t want to be included in those evaluations, would you?”

“…Of course not.”

But when did he investigate all that?

“Anyway, from now on, I’ll be in charge of your training. I told Madam as well.”

“What did Mother say? Didn’t she object?”

“Object? Rather, she was pleased. She said if someone from the household took charge, there’d be no worry about word leaking outside.”

Mother, really. Thinking about it, that man would actually be safer.

Rather than this dangerously handsome servant disguised as the crown prince.

Meanwhile, the knot was completely untied.

The robe slipped smoothly from Cain’s body and fell to the floor.

This revealed smooth skin, gentle chest muscles, and firm washboard abs. The pants that hung slightly on his pelvis, revealing his hip bones, only came down to mid-thigh.

Wow—

Even though she’d given up on him, his masculine physique was enough to make her head spin.

While she was involuntarily admiring his body, Cain said:

“Then you should take your clothes off too, miss.”

“M-me too?”

When Lise made surprised rabbit eyes, Cain tilted his head to one side and said:

“Did you plan to do it dressed like that?”

“That’s… not…”

“Shall I undress you?”

As he said this and took a step closer, Lise unconsciously shrieked and stepped backward.

“Undress what? Stay back!”

When Lise said this while pulling her robe tighter, Cain said with an innocent expression as if he didn’t understand:

“Why are you suddenly acting like this? It’s always been my job.”

Ah… that’s right. Lise only now remembered.

Yes, it was always Cain’s job. No, it was something Lise herself always made him do.

‘Cain, could you unbutton the back for me?’

‘Cain, my arm is uncomfortable, could you help me undress?’

She’d done all sorts of things to seduce him. Thinking of those times, she wanted to bury her face in the bathtub right now.

How long would her embarrassing past keep following her?

How long would it keep following her and making her repeat shameful acts?

The fact that it seemed endless—that was just her imagination, right?

“I-I’ll undress myself.”

Lise said urgently, stretching out her hand toward Cain who was about to take a step closer.

“Please do, then.”

“But, um…”

Lise stopped trying to untie the knot and said:

“Could you turn around?”

“Aren’t you wearing anything underneath?”

“No. It’s not that.”

“Then just undress. I’ll see it all anyway.”

That was true. But why was she so embarrassed?

Lise took off her robe with awkward movements.

The touch of humid air against her bare skin felt extremely foreign.

The thought that wearing this felt light and comfortable had now completely disappeared.

Meanwhile, Cain approached and took the robe, hanging it on the wall.

Then, after checking the water temperature with the inside of his arm, he tried to lift Lise without hesitation.

“I-I’ll get in myself. I will.”

Lise said quickly, but it was useless.

“The floor is slippery.”

Cain lifted Lise up and stepped into the bathhouse over the railing.

‘He doesn’t need to go this far.’

His firm chest touching her arm was quite stimulating.

How hard she tried to turn her gaze elsewhere.

But the more she did, the more vividly and erotically she felt the slippery sensation of skin dampened with steam.

If it had been before her possession awareness, she might have used every trick to be held in those arms. No, thinking about it, she already had. A couple of times?

All failures, of course.

Crazy.

Why couldn’t she have realized earlier?

That he wasn’t just any slave. That he was the male lead of the novel, the next emperor of the empire. That this world itself existed for him.

With that thought, Lise snapped back to her senses and could escape from the pleasure given by Cain’s dazzling body.

“That’s enough, step back.”

Lise stood with both feet in the water and pushed Cain away.

By the way…

“Have you done this kind of thing before?”

Lise suddenly became curious. Did he actually know what he was doing when he said he’d train her?

“Of course. I did it long ago when practicing swordsmanship. Underwater training is common for swordsmen.”

“Really…?”

For a moment, Lise wanted to tease Cain.

“You said you only did woodcutting in the countryside, but when did you receive sword training?”

“…”

It was quite amusing to see Cain’s expression stiffen.

‘What excuse will you make, Your Highness the Crown Prince?’

“I just… briefly received it. From my uncle.”

“Ah… uncle?”

‘You mean Archduke Montaner, who’s searching the world like a madman to kill you?’

She only said the latter part in her mind. It was absolutely not something she could say aloud, even as a joke.

“Anyway, what should I do now?”

Lise quickly changed the subject.

“Walk around once.”

Cain extended one hand to Lise, and Lise lightly placed her hand on top of it. The two walked around the edge of the large bathhouse like taking a stroll.

And they returned to the starting point.

“What will we do now?”

When she asked for the second time, Cain asked back:

“What’s the purpose of this training?”

“To dance.”

“Then we should dance.”

“Is that possible?”

When just walking took this much time, could they dance in water, which required faster movement and light turns?

“We have to make it possible. If we want to save Madam’s face.”

“Ha!”

Since he pinpointed exactly what she wanted to say, Lise laughed. She thought he understood everything.

At that moment, Cain suddenly stepped closer, and the distance between them narrowed dramatically.

Her view was instantly filled with his solid chest.

Lise unconsciously drew in a breath and looked up at Cain. Her body naturally tensed.

Then Cain wrapped his thick, firm arm around Lise’s waist, pulling her close as he said:

“Relax. It won’t work well if you’re tense.”

Cain’s gaze visible through the hazily blurred steam seemed somehow mysterious.

Did this man’s eyes always look like this?

Were they always this moist and sticky?