While Aya was still trying to fend off the Red Dragon girl's assault, let's turn the clock back a little—to three days before Tiran and the others set off for their vacation in Gold Coast.
By then, Tiran's birthday party had ended abruptly after the Church duo's attack, and the castle's living quarters had been left in shambles. Aya and the little Angel were spending their days rushing around delivering packages, trying to keep Tiran's allowance from being used to pay compensation to the merchant guilds in Beacon Harbor.
As the castle's head maid, Mimi was just as busy. Justice, the castle's steward, was swamped with work that she had to help shoulder. Meanwhile, she also had to comfort the maids, and keep the castle running day to day despite the huge increase in workload caused by all the damaged facilities. She was utterly run off her feet.
Only after finishing a stage of work late at night could she stop and catch her breath. If a Flame Demon wasn't many times stronger than an ordinary human, Mimi figured she'd have dropped dead from overwork long ago.
Under the pitch-black night sky, Mimi switched off the lights in the study she used as her workspace, gently closed the door, and left.
The castle's long corridors were lit only by small oil lamps spaced ten meters apart. Their light was dim beneath glass chimneys blackened by kerosene fumes.
The oil in each lamp was topped up every day, enough to keep them burning until around one in the morning. When she was busy, she'd sometimes leave the study only to find that even these lights had gone out.
“Looks like it isn't too late yet.”
Mimi rubbed the stiffness from the back of her neck and crossed the corridor without a sound. The work was exhausting, but just thinking that she was helping ease Her Highness's burden filled her with energy.
There weren't any maid quarters nearby, so even if she did a three-and-a-half-turn aerial spin followed by a full split in the corridor, she wouldn't disturb anyone. Still, the head maid had long since made a habit of walking quietly and with perfect composure.
When she reached the stairs, she suddenly stopped. She stood at the top, her right hand resting against her thigh beneath her maid's skirt, and fixed her gaze on the figure waiting at the foot of the stairs. It seemed to have been there for quite some time.
“An intruder?”
“No. Not an intruder. Just a messenger.”
The person hadn't made any attempt to conceal their appearance or face. They stood openly at the bottom of the stairs. “I've come especially to welcome you home.”
Those last words weren't spoken in the human common tongue, but Mimi understood every single one of them.
…
Back to the present.
A day had passed with everyone cooped up in the manor villa because of the heavy rain. Now it was dinnertime again.
“Look, can't the two of you do something about that girl?”
Beside the coffee table in the living room, the princess tapped the tabletop as she made her demand, looking thoroughly exhausted. Across from her sat Miss Luko, perfectly at ease, while Uncle Antikas stood behind her, massaging his wife's shoulders.
In the kitchen, the little Angel was trying to make tomato seafood pasta with Chirp, using spaghetti and the clams and prawns Aya had brought back from the beach. Come to think of it, little Feizi seemed to be straying farther and farther down the path to becoming a gourmet. She was even trying to drag Chirp along with her…
Then again, maybe Chirp could help with the seasoning. After all, Chirp was a little genius who'd devoured quite a few cookbooks back when they were trying to handle Princess Vivian's bizarre tastes while making her a cake.
As for Aya, she was in the bathroom taking a bath.
She'd just gone to the beach to collect seafood. On the way back, Doris had sneaked after her and pounced on her, making her lose her balance and fall into a puddle… For a Holy Rank expert to slip and fall for that reason was honestly enough to make the whole room burst out laughing.
“If only Doris would listen to us.”
Antikas shook his head helplessly. “We're her adoptive parents, but the memories and spiritual imprint her mother left behind seem to have a much stronger influence on her.”
“Exactly! That girl once wanted to ask my husband to help her lay eggs. In the end, we managed to talk her into going to little Aya instead. Otherwise, I don't think I could've gotten along with her.”
“Hey! Honey, don't sell me out like that!”
A certain unscrupulous dad was left dumbfounded.
“So this is Uncle Antikas's fault after all?”
The princess gave him a speechless look. “Then take responsibility and raise Doris properly.”
“We'd like to, if that girl would listen to us.” Antikas looked completely innocent.
“Speaking of which… where did Doris go?”
“I think she went upstairs after coming back with Aya? Wait, could it be… Damn it, Aya!”
…
After rinsing herself under running water and washing the mud and the seawater that had fallen from the sky out of her hair, Aya tested the bathtub's temperature with her toes, then sank into it.
“Ah, this feels so good~”
The end of her sentence lifted into a blissful little lilt.
Falling into a puddle had been miserable, but coming back soaked and having a hot bath was pretty wonderful, too. She could even look forward to the little Angel's tomato seafood pasta while she was at it.
“If we have to go to the beach to gather ingredients again tomorrow, I'll have to find a way to make Miss Tiran come along…”
“That's right. That awful woman should go.”
“Then I can stay in my room, drink tea, and read manga.”
“And cuddle with Doris~”
“…”
A pair of bonelessly soft hands suddenly slipped around Aya's waist from behind. Against her back, she felt a warm, supple touch that wasn't the bathwater.
The girl playfully leaned close to Aya's ear and nibbled her earlobe, her breath barely a whisper. A tingling sensation left Aya weak all over. “Big Brother Aya, let Doris wash your back, okay?”
“N-no, that's not necessary! Wait, when did you get in here?!”
Steam colored Aya's cheeks bright red. Whether it was from the heat or something else was anyone's guess.
“Doris has been here the whole time~ Big Brother Aya didn't notice when he came in, and even sat right down on top of Doris…”
Doris seemed to be quite skilled at teasing, too. Her sweet breath brushed the edges of Aya's ear and the side of her neck, sending wave after wave of tingling sensation through her and steadily wearing down her resistance.
Worse still, Aya realized the girl's hand was moving lower, inch by inch, following the curve of her waist…
“Big Brother Aya, don't worry. Just leave everything to Doris. You only need to sit back and enjoy yourself.”
Her suggestive whisper seemed to creep through Aya's eardrum and into her brain like a tentacle, numbing her reactions. Behind her, the red-haired girl wore a sly smile, pleased that her plan was working, as she continued to explore lower.
It was working! If she kept this up, Big Brother Aya would become hers for the taking.
“As if I'd let you get away with that!”
At just that moment, an angry voice rushed closer, growing louder as it came. The bathroom door slammed open with a bang, and Miss Tiran burst in like a furious lioness. At a glance, she spotted Doris trying to make a run for it.
“Why do you always have to interrupt me?! You could've just pretended you didn't know!”
“Enough. By doing something like this, you've already shown you're prepared for the consequences, haven't you, little one?”
The princess wore a vicious grin. “Now face your punishment!”
That night, a fierce burst of sword aura erupted from the mountain manor and pierced the sky.
