CH 313

Words : 902 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

There was an intruder “Mr. Takumi. We are currently still preparing a room for Liza.” “…I see. I guess you’ll have to sleep here tonight, Liza.” “With papa? Oh, okay!” “Hehe. Well, excuse me.” “Uh, yes. Thank you.” Ms. Lyra had walked with us to my room, and told me that the room was still being prepared. Upon hearing this, I suggested that she could sleep in my room, and she smiled and wagged her tail. Ms. Lyra chuckled at this and left. …I hadn’t even realized that Ms. Lyra was with us… Were maids good at erasing their presence? I suppose she wanted to tell me about the room, but had been so busy with Ms. Claire and Ms. Anne. “Ah, but I need to wash Leo first… Ms. Lyra…is probably tired, and I’d rather let her rest… If only there was someone else…” “Where are you going?” “…Wuff.” I had remembered that the area around Leo’s mouth was dirty from all of the food she had eaten while walking around in Ractos. I needed help when it came to bathing Leo. Someone needed to dry her off after I washed her. Thinking this, I got up from the bed and was about to leave the room, when Liza called to me. Leo looked a little depressed at the idea of taking a bath, but she didn’t make such a big deal about it like she used to. Was it because things had improved with how I washed her? Or maybe it was because Liza was here. Perhaps Leo wanted to set a good example… She had been like that with Sherry. “Well, I’m going to wash Leo, but I can’t do it alone. So I was thinking about calling someone. Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” “…I’ll go with you.” “Wuff…” Liza looked worried about me leaving. I tried to reassure her and leave the room, but Leo started to tug at my sleeve. …I suppose I couldn’t blame her for being worried about being left alone in a strange place. “Fine, let’s go.” “Yes!” Liza went from looking worried to smiling as she held my hand. She really had an expressive face. “Alright, Leo. You can wash yourself now, okay?” “Wuff!” After taking Leo to the bath and washing her, I filled a large basin with water and let her do the rest. Leo preferred water that wasn’t heated, but it seemed really cold. She dunked her head into the water and was practically playing as she washed up. As I had already washed the dirtiest parts of her body, I could leave her like that for now. Thinking this, I moved away from her and began to wash myself. I had asked Ms. Gelda to dry off Leo once she was finished. This was because we had met her after leaving my room. Ms. Gelda had finished dealing with Ms. Anne. I had also told her to take care of Liza while I was washing Leo. I felt a little bad, as she might be tired, but Ms. Gelda looked like she was more than happy to do it. Though she was mostly looking at the ears and tail… Perhaps Liza was letting her touch them right now As I mused about such things, the door burst open and someone flew in. “Papa, I want to bathe too!” “Wuff?” “Liza!?” Liza shouted as she rushed towards me. Apparently, she had wanted to bathe with Leo and me, and had managed to escape from Ms. Gelda. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Takumi! She just started running all of a sudden!” The door was wide open, and Ms. Gelda stood there while averting her eyes. Well, it wasn’t her fault, kids could be like that. “Uhh…Liza… Look here, you can’t bathe with us, because I’m a man. Understand?” “But you’re my papa?” “Hmm… I’m not sure how to explain this…” It was clear that she did not understand. I had thought that being around Leo so much made me better at dealing with kids, but apparently not… Hmm.. “Uhh, Ms. Gelda?” “Well, if she is your daughter…it would not be strange…” “…You think so…?” “You don’t sound very convinced!” “Papa?” Ms. Gelda then closed the door and left. Well…that did not sound very promising… As I wondered what to do, Liza looked up in that worried way that she tended to do. And I could not refuse her. I had actually meant to ask Ms. Gelda or one of the other maids to bathe her…but I suppose it could not be helped. This was just a father bathing his daughter. I said as if there was someone else there to hear me. “Still… There are quite a lot of cuts. Do they hurt?” “I’m fine.” “Wuff…” As I washed Liza’s back, I was reminded of how many cuts she had. Well, most of them were scrapes that would likely heal quickly… It gave me the impression that for a long time, she was getting hurt faster than they could heal. Most of them were on her hands and feet, as at least her clothes protected most of her body. I was still worried that the soap would sting, but she said that it was fine.

CH 313

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