Chapter 30: Haircut

"Is there any particular haircut you'd like?"

After moving my chair into the middle of the room and placing the towel on my shoulders, Mary asked me with scissors in hand.

"I'm not big on hairstyles so do whatever you think best..."

I said as I shrugged. I haven't thought much about haircuts in over three years. I cut it when I felt like cutting it and let it grow out when I felt like it was too big of a hassle. There was no need to dapper myself up when there were no ladies, Alice, around.

...Well, there were 'ladies' around if you considered men wearing lipstick as sexy but I sure as hell don't. I heard through kites that shankings happened because of these 'women'.

Prison is a very weird place. 

"As long as I look presentable."

"Okay. Leave it to me!"

*Snip* *Snip* *Snip*

Almost immediately, Mary goes to work on my head. I see pieces of hair slowly drop to the floor.

"So, are you excited about meeting your mom and little sister?"

I asked Prince Leonard who was looking through a book I read during my downtime. 

"Yes, very."

Closing the book and not forgetting to place my bookmark back into its place, Prince Leonard replied with a warm smile.

"It's been months since I last saw them. They left a little bit before you, Alice, and Kari was summoned."

"Wow! They were gone for a good bit then, huh? Almost five months. The determination of a mother is amazing."

Even more so when considering that she's royalty. Normally, the queen of a country won't leave the safety of the capital, especially when there's a war going on. It's a huge matter of national security. And for his mother to throw all caution to the wind to heal her daughter, I have nothing but respect and admiration.

"It surely is. For my little sister, there are no lengths my family won't go to cure her!"

"As it should be. I hope your mother found a cure for her condition."

"I sincerely hope so as well. I can't wait for mother to get here."

Prince Leonard said smiling. It held hints of both anxiousness and eagerness.

"On another subject, what do you think about the book?

I asked curiously. I saw him reading it earlier so I wanted to know what he thought about it. I'm quite surprised this world has a copy of it. Did someone from Earth bring one here by accident?

" 'The Prince'? I've read it before but not much of it to get an understanding of it. What do you think of it?"

"From what I gathered from it, the general theme is about how for kings and princes to gain fame and/or survive, there are times when they must forgo their morals..."

For princes, whether it's showing competence in governmental affairs, taking out their fellow brethren, or gaining influence by buying and blackmailing political opponents, they must show that they are worthy of taking over the throne. Otherwise, no king would feel safe leaving their hard work, the nation, in their hands.

For kings, to benefit the country, some decisions may seem cruel to many but necessary for survival. Such as wiping out a village ridden with a contagious disease to stop its spread. While he may be deemed a cold and heartless ruler, if it spread to other areas of the country, the nation's infrastructure would weaken and more lives would perish. A textbook example of sacrificing the few, for the many.

"...I'm surprised you read stuff like this Master. I thought you'd find these subjects boring."

Prince Leonard said surprised. 

"What? Just because I don't show it, doesn't mean I don't like to read such thought-provoking books. Every book grants you a fresh perspective on the world, allowing you to experience insights you never thought you'd have, possibly even changing your world views... I'm hurt at your amazement."

"S-sorry."

"It's no biggie. Mary here was the same at first."

"Could you blame me, Master? Each book you wanted to read was something only old scholars would read. I tried reading one and it only made my brain hurt."

Mary said with a sigh as she continued to snip my hair. By now, there was a small pile of hair on the floor.

"Well, you said you wanted to read it since you wanted to read something other than romance for a change."

"I was wrong. I rather read about my forbidden love between a student and their teacher than about how life is subjective."

"Life is subjective. One's hell could be another's heaven. Why do you think there are stories about nobles wanting to become commoners or commoners becoming nobles? They envy each other."

Nobles envy the simple life of commoners while commoners envy the prestigious life of nobles. To them, the grass is always greener on the other side.

"Please keep your philosophical thoughts to yourself. I don't want my young mind filled with love and flowers to slowly become cynical and crass like those of an old scholar so I'll stick with my romance."

"Tch, this is why you're smooth-brained."

"I don't know what that means but I'm taking that as an insult. You realize I'm cutting your hair?"

*Snip* *Snip*

She threatened as she opened and closed the scissors near my ear. 

"I apologize. Please don't leave me with a bald spot." 

Taking heed of her threat, I apologized immediately. Although she probably won't give me a bald spot due to her training as a maid, I can't risk it.

"I'll take my leave. I have to get ready for when they come. Do you mind if I borrow this? Hearing you talk about renewed my interest in it."

Standing up from the couch, Prince Leonard said as grabbed 'The Prince'.

"Sure, it's your book in the first place. Plus, I've already read it before."

Two times in fact. I read it again as more of a refresher.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys later."

"Okay."

"Have a nice day, your highness."

Then, Prince Leonard left.

"Alice and Kari are still in class?'

I asked while staring at the sight in front of my eyes. She was working on the front part of my hair now and my sight is filled with boobs. It's not as prominent because of her maid clothes camouflaging but the size is there.

Are they D's?

"Yes. From what I heard from their attendants, they're still attending class. They'll be getting out soon however to get ready for when the Queen and Princess arrive. Hm, what's this?"

"I see."

They look bouncy. 

"Master Marcus…"

"I wonder how soft they are?"

"Master Marcus?"

"Huh? Ah, sorry. What was it?"

Snapping from my boob-induced daze, I said hurriedly. She didn't find out, did she?

I don't want a bald spot!

"I wanted to ask about the scar here."

Mary then places her finger on my head where the scar was at. It started at the left top side of my head and stretched to behind my ear. 

"Oh, this scar? I'm surprised you found it. I thought it would fade away by now."

I said, slightly surprised, touching the scar. It faded quite a bit over the years to the point where it's almost gone. 

"I only managed to see it after noticing that a small line of skin had no hair growing on it. Fearing that it could be early signs of baldness, I followed it down to your ear. It was only then did I realize it was a scar."

"What would you do if there were early signs of baldness?"

"I'd secretly spray a hair tonic created especially for hair growth into your hair under the cover of saying it was hair spray."

"...Your sense of sincerity when it comes to certain things astounds me."

"I aim to please. Hehe!"

"Haha!"

We laughed a little bit before I told her the origins of the scar.

"This scar...I got it when I was a kid. It was the reason I was separated from my parents."

Back then, my sorry excuse of a dad was fighting with mom about next month's rent. They managed to pay last month's but due to buying drugs on credit, they won't be able to pay next month's. 

We were once again, risking eviction.

Anyways, the fighting got to the point where things got physical. Dad, in a drunken and drug-induced rage, grabbed mom and slammed her against the wall. Seeing this, I ran towards them in hopes of breaking them up.

It was futile however, my little, seven-year-old punches couldn't do anything and only made him madder. So the only thing left to do was bite him with all I could. So taking a good grip on his leg, I bit it as hard as I could.

Biting him released his grip on her, however, I made a miscalculation on my part. What would happen after I bit him? 

There was no way I could take on an adult.

Realizing this, I tried to run away but before I knew it, I felt something heavy hit my back, causing me to fly into our living room's glass table, shattering it, and blacking out.

It wasn't until later that I found out that the bastard spared no effort into kicking me as hard as he could.

When I came to, I found myself being carried in my mom's arms and running down our apartment complex stairs as dad roared in the background. Her face was covered in tears and horror and her shirt was bloodied and the side of my face felt an unbearable burning sensation.

Due to it, I cried in pain, startling my mother and causing her to hurry down the stairs even faster. When we got into our piece of shit ride that sounded like it would die at any moment, she tried to soothe my pain by saying it was going to be alright.

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When we got to the hospital, I remembered being given something to ease the pain before taking the glass out of the gash before painfully getting stitches. 

I never screamed so much in my life, that shit fucking hurt! 

Then I woke up in a hospital bed with my mom talking to a police officer and a woman dressed in a business suit. Mom's face was covered in tears as she nodded at what the woman was saying. 

A day later, the woman visited me and mom again at the hospital and said I was going to go with her for a while.

I cried when I knew I was going to be separated from mom but after she reassured me with a face full of sadness that everything will be alright, I reluctantly left with her.

"It wasn't until a year later that I saw my mom again. She was trying to clean herself up and hopefully, one day take back custody of me. A hard worker, she was."

"*Sniff* * Sniff* Master Marcus!"

"Eh?"

Suddenly Mary hugged me tightly with a tear-stricken face, causing the hair that was on the towel to stick to her clothes.

"W-what's wrong Mary!?"

Your cushions are delightfully touching me!

"I-I never knew there was such a sad story behind the scar! I didn't mean to bring back bad memories! Waah!"

Mary then starts crying in full force. Seeing this, I return her hug, gently pat her head and sigh with a wry smile.

"Sigh, seriously. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have told you. And what do you mean by bad memories? Do you see me crying? Getting taken from her was the overall best choice."

Was I sad at first? Yes. No kid wants to get taken from their mother but no child should have to live in such an environment. If I continued to stay with mom, that shitbag of a father probably would've killed me. Knowing this, my mom, albeit reluctantly allowed me to be taken away without putting up a fight.

For my sake, she did one of the hardest things a mother could do, give up their child.

Was she the best mother? No, she wasn't. But for doing that, I still love her more than ever.

Even if my life didn't pan out as she planned it to be.

"Therefore, don't cry. You're messing up that pretty face of yours and getting hair everywhere. I don't want people thinking I abused you or something."

I said with Mary in my arms as I stood up from the chair. I brushed the hair off her as sniffled.

If rumors of me saying I abused Mary ever got out, not even the protection of 'being friends with the heroes' will protect me. 

Poisoned food by the chef, fatal accidents by the servants, false accusations of attacks by the guards, my freeloader life will be over!

"Here, to ease the swelling."

Placing my hand on her swollen face due to crying so hard, I cast [Revitalization] on her.

"Calm down now?"

After reducing the swelling, I asked with a smile.

"Mn. I showed you something unsightly."

Taking a step back and wiping her eyes, Mary said shyly. Seeing this, I decided to tease her lightly.

"I never took you for a crybaby. Did reading those romance novels turn you into a walking mass of emotions?"

"B-but I can't help it! It's too sad. Your parents, your father, is a bad man. To do such a thing to a child… That's just horrible."

Mary's countenance rapidly went from embarrassed to angry at the mention of my dad. It's endearing to see her get mad for my sake.

She's a kind girl.

"I'll admit, my sperm-donor is a piece of shit. I hated that guy with every fiber of my being."

Shrugging my shoulders, I said in agreement. When he died, I didn't even cry. I wasn't sad nor was I happy, I only felt emptiness.

"Come on, let's continue. Oh, let's clean up all this hair first."

With the snap of my fingers, I cast [Gahenna's Flame] and burned all the cut hair that was on both of us and the floor to dust.

"No matter how many times I see it, your expert control still amazes me."

"When you master manipulating your mana, controlling the output and accuracy of your spells is easy."

"That's easier said than done, Master."

"Like I want to hear that from you! You're learning how to manipulate your mana faster than me."

Not even a week after teaching her how to concentrate her mana into different limbs of her body and bind them to surfaces, she was already walking on the sides of walls. Not to mention, everything else I teach her.

Compared to Alice, Kari, and Prince Leonard when it comes to my teachings, Mary is by far ahead of them. And the reason for that is because she's a blank slate, combat-wise.

Because Alice and co attend classes about swordsmanship and magic for the majority of the day and then attend my classes for only an hour or two at night, they don't absorb my teachings as fast.

Mary on the other hand is different. When she's not doing her duties as a maid, she's usually with me. Everything I teach them, I teach her also but in more depth.

"It's because I have a good teacher." 

"Really? I bet he's one of the best ain't he?" 

" Yes. But he's a bit perverted tho."

"I won't deny that."

"Well, come on. Sit back down. I'm more or less done with your hair and now I have to shave your beard."

"Okay. Just don't cut me."

I then sit back in the chair and lean my head back. 

"I thought that was shaving cream."

Seeing Mary as she opened the container filled with scented cream, I said matter of factly.

Taking a brush that was in her pocket and lathering in the shaving cream, she gently spreads it across my face.

It tickles a little bit.

After spreading it all over my beard, Mary opens the straight razor and brings it towards my face. 

"You're not going to Sweeney Todd me are you?"

"Sweeney who?"

"Nothing."

"..."

"..."

And so, in a somewhat ambiguous atmosphere, Mary slowly shaves me. 

After a while…

"Is there something the matter, Master? You've been staring at me for a couple of minutes now."

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking that your serious face when doing tasks is quite pretty."

I decided to take advantage of the atmosphere and compliment (flirt with) Mary.

"R-really? Thanks for the c-compliment."

Mary blushes in embarrassment. 

Cute.

"No prob."

"...I- I heard about the results of the spar. I heard that even when they tag-teamed you, you easily handled them."

Probably to get over her embarrassment, Mary brought up the subject of Alice and co's previous spar.

"I wouldn't say I easily handled them. They gave me a run for my money for a second there. Their teamwork was amazing, working almost seamlessly with each other."

"Too bad, I wasn't there. I wanted to fight."

Mary said, a little disheartened. The reason she couldn't attend last time's spar was because she had to attend maid training. 

"Well, you can next time. But I warn you, it's gonna hurt."

"I know. I've done it before. I've been dying to try something. It'll surely surprise you."

"Uh-huh. We'll see."

"Hoh~? Is that a challenge?"

"Take it as you will."

"I see. Then don't come to me crying when I defeat you."

With this playful bantering back and forth, Mary managed to safely shave my face without any incident. Despite laughing a few times, she surprisingly has a steady hand.

Or should I say, as expected of a maid?

***

Author's Note

• I wonder if I nailed this perfectly? Totally didn't know where this would end up after the haircut started.

• Also, I never thought I'd have to read books I never once thought of reading. Like Machiavelli's The Prince'. Glad I did though. I'm reading 'Frankenstein' and 'The Red Badge of Courage'  at the moment. I hope I can apply what I learned from those onto here.

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