Chapter 26: A Special Day (1)
When I was a child and my father told me that I too would experience a heat cycle someday, I felt as though the sky was falling.
Back then, to me, a heat cycle meant a terrifying experience where no matter what I thought, just catching a man’s scent would bleach my mind blank and send shivers down my lower abdomen.
Even my father had said not to go near unfamiliar men during a heat cycle, so I thought it must be exactly as I feared. I spent a period trembling in dread.
But when I finally experienced it, it wasn’t like that at all.
It just made me feel a little dull, as if a pink fog had settled in my mind. I became more sensitive to others and a little more irritable, but that was it.
For me, it was something that passed after a day of pestering my older brother, the captain of the guard, or being coddled by my mother.
So, even without my mother or my brother to rely on, I didn’t think it would be a big deal.
As I wriggled on the bed, I felt my clothes crumple beneath me.
Why was I still wearing clothes? It didn’t take long to remember. Yesterday, after calling out Dogeon’s name, I had been so embarrassed that I rushed straight to bed without even undressing.
I had worked up all my courage just to call his name, and yet Dogeon’s expression was so indifferent, as if it meant nothing to him.
Considering how handsome and good-natured he was, he had probably had countless girls call his name before. It wouldn’t have surprised him at all.
…But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about him. My clothes were still getting wrinkled as I lay there.
When I took them off and sniffed, I was relieved to find they didn’t smell too bad. I could probably wear them a few more days before sending them to the laundry service.
Since the laundry was free and even delivered back to my room, I could use it without hesitation.
But I hadn’t washed properly yesterday, so my body was bound to have a smell.
My parents always said I didn’t smell bad, but that was probably just something parents said out of formality.
When I was a boy, they used to nag me to wash every day, saying I’d stink if I didn’t.
In this body, it wasn’t necessary to wash as frequently, but if I needed to, I could just pray to the deity.
The floor was a bit chilly, but it was perfect for regaining my focus. Kneeling, I offered a prayer to the deity for purification.
“—I beseech the deity, please rid this body of all impurities.”
…Huh? Why wasn’t it working? Was something wrong? I tried praying again, but there was no response from the deity.
Ah, that’s right. The deity wasn’t in good condition. How could I forget something so simple?
I briefly worried that the deity might overexert themselves if they woke up, but it seemed they were still in a deep slumber.
That was a relief, but the fact remained—I smelled.
I had no choice but to wash with water, like in the past. The problem was, I didn’t know how to bathe as a woman.
I had always relied on prayers to the deity to stay clean. I’d never actually poured water over myself.
Just the thought of being soaked gave me goosebumps. While tigers weren’t supposed to fear water, the idea of being drenched or submerged made my skin crawl.
Still, I had no choice. The fear of being mocked for smelling bad outweighed my discomfort.
The memories tied to it were enough to help me overcome my instinctive fear.
I had never thought I’d actually step into the bathroom. Grumbling, I took off my undergarments.
The reflection of a naked girl stared back at me in the mirror, but I didn’t feel any excitement or other emotions.
Maybe because I’d been familiar with this body since I was young, it didn’t seem particularly provocative.
The only impression I had was that everything seemed proportionate where it mattered.
Picking up what was unmistakably a showerhead, I noticed that the faucet didn’t have any hot or cold markings.
The presence of a showerhead made sense, given that this world was originally a novel setting, but not marking hot and cold water? What was with that?
Well, left for hot and right for cold, probably. I wasn’t a fan of cold water, so I turned the faucet to the left.
It’s common sense to wash from the top down. As soon as the water flowed, freezing cold droplets cascaded over me.
I didn’t even have time to react before I shut off the water.
…I nearly had a heart attack. This continent loved to mess with people in weird ways. From strange customs to this nonsense.
With trembling hands, I turned the faucet the other way. This time, I cautiously checked the temperature with my hand before soaking my head.
Sure enough, this continent was absurd. The water was almost boiling hot. Adjusting the faucet to get it lukewarm, I could finally start washing.
It was nice to enjoy the warmth for a while. When I finally began scrubbing, I noticed there was a lot of stuff in the bathroom.
I recognized body wash and shampoo, but what were all these other things—conditioner, treatments?
I decided not to touch what I didn’t understand.
I just soaked a shower towel with body wash and scrubbed my skin, though the sensation was strangely unusual.
“…Hng.”
The closest comparison might be ticklishness. Every time I scrubbed, I felt a peculiar sensation.
Maybe my condition was off because the green orb wasn’t around.
Every time I brushed over sensitive areas, odd sounds like “hng” or “ngh” escaped my lips, but it was probably just because I was unused to this. It was my first time washing with water, after all.
As for my hair, I’d heard women needed a lot of shampoo. How much was enough? One or two squeezes didn’t seem to cut it.
I ended up using so much that it coated my entire head in foam, but at least I felt satisfied with the results. For someone shampooing their hair for the first time, I thought I did a good job.
“Huh?! Ngh!”
That is, until I accidentally got water in my ears while rinsing the foam.
In the end, I managed to get the water out without much trouble, though I had twisted my body into all sorts of awkward positions and nearly smashed my head into the wall.
Looking at my reflection in the fogged mirror, I saw a pitiful, water-soaked cat staring back at me.
By the time I stepped out of the bathroom, the sun had already risen. It had been dark when I went in, so how long had I been washing?
“—You’ve come out.”
Lost in thought, I barely registered the faint voice addressing me.
It was so weak that I wouldn’t have noticed if I weren’t paying attention. When I’d spoken with the deity in the gymnasium, I could hear them clearly even without focusing. Had they grown weaker because of me? The thought made me feel gloomy.
“—Deity, did you wake up because of me?”
“Indeed. How could I call myself a deity if I ignored the prayers of my sole follower? Moreover, you are the child of Onbyeolbi. If anything, I am sorry for being late.”
“No, I should be the one apologizing. Please, if you’re overexerting yourself because of me, I beg you not to.”
“Ho, are you concerned that your request has burdened me? Admirable, but worry not. It was not your plea that caused this. I would not collapse from merely lifting a finger. Speaking of which, you prayed for purification, did you not?”
If that wasn’t the cause, then what had weakened the deity so much? I wanted to ask, but they didn’t seem willing to answer.
If it had been a person, I might have pressed for an answer, but I could only respect the deity’s wishes.
“No, I’ve already bathed. If you wish to bestow your grace, drying my hair would be enough.”
“Once again, such modest wishes. Do you lack ambition? If you desire, I could make the boy in the room next to yours obey your every command.”
“…You were watching?”
The realization hit me so hard that I forgot to maintain formal speech with the deity.
I had thought they were asleep due to their poor condition, but had they been watching me all this time, like the deities back home?
“Hahaha. I thought you were only polite, but you have a cute side too. It’s hard to believe you’re Onbyeolbi’s child. To answer your question, I caught glimpses of you as though in a dream.”
“A-ah…”
That meant they had seen me reveal my true self to Dogeon, calling him my friend.
The embarrassment was overwhelming. I buried my face in a towel as I felt the wind blow against my hair, drying it.
“Thank you, Deity. But could you leave me alone for now?”
“Oh dear, a rather unpleasant contractor is calling. Farewell for now.”
“…Contractor?”
The idea of someone forming a contract with a deity seemed absurd. However, the deity didn’t seem to be lying. While the thought left me puzzled, the deity had already departed, leaving me to contemplate the matter.
Still, there was something far more pressing than that question.
The deity had said they had seen my true self—my awkward, outcast-like behavior.
What was I supposed to say to Dogeon when I saw him?
Behaving as I usually did would be fine, but that would only invite troublesome rumors.
It was a given that an imperial princess showing friendliness toward a commoner would spark interest. I didn’t want to give other girls a reason to criticize me for associating with someone of lower status.
Dogeon had a face that could be considered top-tier, but that wasn’t the issue. For some reason, my thoughts kept drifting in odd directions today.
Father had told me not to reveal my true self in front of others.
If I acted casually with Dogeon when we were alone, then…
Yes, I would follow Father’s teachings when in public.
Even after dressing myself, I still couldn’t finalize a perfect plan.
Still, since we were friends, it should be okay to at least call him by name.
When I stepped out of my room, as if by fate, Dogeon was leaving his room at the exact same moment.
Alright, then…
“Han Dogeon. Come here.”