https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/66/
Wine Bath
I decided to just do what Lily said and headed into the bath first.
The smell of sulfur pricked my nose as soon as I pulled the bathroom partition. They told me there was a unique smell in here, but it’s not something I necessarily hate at least.
There is no shower here like back in the dorm, so I scooped up some of the hot water with a bucket and used it to wash my body. It burned a little too hot on my back. I remember they mentioned you can adjust how much water is in the tub and how hot it is yourself. After a quick glance around I found a notice on the wall and two tubes that water can flow out of.
While I waited for the water to cool off a bit, the partition separating the dressing room was opened again. Lily’s back already. I had to squint my eyes to see through the steam and could just barely make out the outline of something she was carrying.
“What’s that Lily?”
“Wine. Oh, we’ll only be drinking the white.”
Saying that, she violently uncorked one of the many bottles in her arms and flipped it upside down, draining the contents into the tub.
The red liquid popped out of the bottle like the cork and mixed together with the hot water. After one corner was dyed completely red, the color spread out and covered the surface of the bath.
During that time, Lily continued pouring in one bottle after another, and it wasn’t until the whole bath was dyed a deep, vibrant red that she pulled off her bathrobe and entered the water.
“What are you staring for? Come in”
“Um…. a wine bath?”
“Indeed. It is hard to see my body like this right?”
“True, but….”
Something about a pool of hot water dyed to look like a lake of blood is incredibly intimidating. All that wine seemed to have helped the bath cool off a little bit though, so I hesitatingly slid in.
The smell of the sulfur and wine mixed together, but there was almost no synergy. It was just a bunch of wine and rotten eggs.
I pushed my way through the hot water and towards Lily. Her milky white skin is dyed red. The water wasn’t nearly as murky as I imagined it would be, so she can probably see my body as well as I can see hers. I used my arm to cover my chest as I sat down next to Lily.
“This was…. twenty years old. And this one…. oh my, a forty. This would have been made when my parents were still children, eagerly waiting in their parents’ basement for the day they would be old enough to have a taste. Too late now unfortunately.”
Apparently we were literally running through precious wine like it was water. While reading the labels on the empty bottles, Lily was talking about it as if it was someone else’s problem.
“It’s a shame nobody got to drink any of them….”
“It is not a big issue. Ah, this one is for drinking. The white”
Every now and then Lily slips in to her young, lady-like demeanor. I don’t think she’s trying to show off or anything, but maybe she’s trying to keep some kind of edge over me?
After uncorking the bottle that was apparently filled with white wine this time, she threw her head back and just started guzzling it down in a way no young, upstanding lady ever should. Her arms were so full of bottles that she couldn’t have brought any glasses if she wanted to, so drinking straight from the bottle it is.
She used her arm to wipe off her mouth and held out the bottle to me like a comrade sharing a drink before dying on the battlefield. I imitated Lily and threw my head back to drink it, but the wine was so fruity and delicious I almost apologized to the wine for drinking it this way.
In that short moment Lily seemed to have lost interest in the white wine and was instead staring blankly at the surface of the red water. Each time she poured the hot water over her body, her silver hair was dyed in purple, only for the color to fade away as the water continued to fall down. No matter how many times she did it, I never got tired watching that beautiful color change.
“Liffy, come here.”
I thought I was fine sitting right next to Lily, but she wanted me in front. I moved where Lily wanted, and she wrapped her arms around, hugging me from behind.
“Perhaps it would be a waste if I did not drink this too.”
Lily poured some of the bath water over my neck and started to lick it. The sensation of the hot water pouring over my back alternated with feeling of her tongue crawling against my skin.
“You already belong to me. Your skin reflecting the water, your flexible body, your stubborn heart.”
This must be Lily’s way of showing her affection. After I silently nodded, I felt Lily’s lips press against my neck. She sucked in, and it felt good having her tongue trace itself against my skin. Several tens of seconds passed before Lily finally peeled her lips off of me.
“You might not be able to see it, but I have left a mark as proof. A slave branding.”
“Well…. something similar”
“You will have to excuse me. I am going to enjoy you for a little longer.”
I suppressed the urge to ask her if she meant it. What I want is neither roundabout compliments nor some token of slavery. The words, ‘I like you,’ is all I need to feel satisfied. But whether Lily knew that or not, she never said it to me.
On the contrary, she uses our relationship as a bargaining chip against me.
What am I to her? Just some convenient thing? Something that can be thrown away if it fails to pass the first examination? Then what will happen to me if I fail the second?
If I look at Lily’s attitude, then I’m sure she isn’t just using me. She likes spending time with me too. But if she doesn’t put those feelings into words, I become anxious.
One conclusion can be drawn from all of this. Lily isn’t serious yet. She hasn’t reached that level of passion where she’d be willing to toss herself off a tower yet.
I don’t know if that large swig of wine is already getting to me or if my body is absorbing the alcohol in the tub through my skin, but my brain’s feeling way fuzzier than it would after just one or two drinks. It’s making it hard to control all the thoughts running through my head.1
It looks like I really am drunk, and my body moved before my brain had time to think. Lily has been licking my back and stroking my body all this time, but my hand grabbed hers to put a stop to it as I turned my body to look at her.
“Lily. What do you think of me?”
For a second, the only sound to be heard in the room was the push and pull of the water in the tub and the occasional drip of water falling from the ceiling. Then I heard Lily swallow her saliva right next to my ear. She’s nervous, and when she finally opened her mouth, her voice was coarse and short.
“You are expecting only one answer to that kind of question yes? It’s pointless.”
The arms wrapped around me stayed where they were despite the cold words used. The ones that stabbed directly into my heart.
“It’s not pointless….”
“The only acceptable answer to a question like that in a situation like this is ‘I like you’ correct? Or am I wrong?”
“And that’s fine! Sometimes you want to hear the words even if they’re obvious!”
No answer. Lily’s arms were still around me, but she was staying quiet. For some reason I’m getting angry. I have no idea what Lily wants.
I shook those arms off and jumped out of the tub. Both my front and bottom are exposed, but I don’t care if Lily sees me right now.
I talked to Nerine for Lily’s sake and desperately ran around the capital to make it through the first screening.
And yet, she has barely said anything about it to me.
“So that’s how Lily treats her partner. I get it. Even though we’re both women, you don’t understand me at all.”
Lily’s eyebrow twitched. But her cold eyes didn’t change. My words must’ve hit a sore spot.
“So you have been in contact with all the women in the world and know what they’re thinking?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what are you saying? What people say, the assumptions they make, how they respond. Everyone is different. You yourself are always acting passively and just waiting. You don’t even begin to try and understand how much courage it takes for me to invite you out every single time. How about trying to cross the boundary yourself every once in a while?”
That bullseye felt like a punch to the gut. I’m definitely someone who always waits for others to act. That’s why I can always make excuses to justify myself. And the fact that Lily was the one pointing it out made it hurt all the more.
This discussion should end here. Once you’ve spit up what you want to say, you chew on it and move on.
Even though that’s how it should be, I just can’t be honest. I want to excuse myself for being drunk, and it is true that my head feels fuzzy.
“Lily you idiot!”
I violently threw open the partition and slammed it shut behind me. The impact caused a loud bang that seemed to knock the door off at an angle and it sounded like Lily was saying something, but I decided to ignore all of it.
I know there is no point in being stubborn, but my angry head just kept repeating, “It’s all Lily’s fault,” over and over again to justify itself.
It was too annoying to arrange my hair, so I just used a towel to dry off my body and wrapped it around my hair before leaving the bathroom.
Even if I returned to my room, I would just be kicking my feet around angrily. I passed by the new maid who was cleaning the area in front of the entrance, but she saw me off without ever raising her face.
I wanted to cool my head off, but the outside air wasn’t doing me any good. Even when I power walked all the way to the edge of the garden and took a deep breath through my nose, I couldn’t feel refreshed.
But, I’m not quite sure why I’m so angry either.
Lily said she always had to work up her courage, and she doesn’t have any experience with this kind of relationship. For her part, she’s going to try all sorts of things so we could get closer together, and of course she is going to fumble every now and then.
She’s helped me so many times. Without her help, I never would’ve made it past the first screening. She even dumped her entire fortune so we could share a pair of earrings and told me about her mother. There were moments between us where I could feel the trust she put in me more than some superficial words ever could. I’m the one who overlooked all that.
Rather than Lily, maybe I’m just mad at myself. I mean, just how selfish can I be?
I should go back to the bathroom right this moment and apologize to Lily. But after how I left, it’s really hard to just turn around and go back. I’m stuck.
While I was grumbling to myself, the sound of footsteps interrupted the buzzing of the insects.
“Are you Lily Ruhuna?”
It was a man’s voice I didn’t recognize.
“Yeah….”
While I frustratingly turned around, a dull pain ran through the back of my head before I could see the person behind me. The shock of the blow knocked me off balance.
My brain ran rampant, reflecting on my actions before I lost consciousness.
I shouldn’t have quarrelled with Lily in the first place. Then I never would’ve come out to the garden.
Also, I shouldn’t have answered when the guy called out to me.
My name is Lily Ruhuna, but there are few people here who would know that. Even if someone local did recognize me, they’d almost certainly know me by Liffy instead.
That’s why whoever attacked me must be aiming for Lily instead. And any decent people hanging around this mansion would not just outright call her ‘Lily Ruhuna’.
In other words, he’s an intruder. Someone malicious. Since someone like that called out to me, the correct answer would’ve been for me to run away at full speed.
I reached the sensible conclusion. And then I passed out.
1. Taking a wine bath will make you drunk after a couple minutes. As such, you probably shouldn’t do it. The effects will hit hard and fast.
Experimental Translations 