It was already midnight by the time Alice’s group returned to Flaman’s mansion.
The trip this time was different from the visit to Demon King Castle. Demon King Castle was situated in a remote location that had nothing interesting to see. Hence, at the time, they had quickly dealt with their business at the castle and returned immediately afterward. However, the Terra Kingdom’s sceneries and culture were quite interesting to Alice and the others, so aside from dealing with official business, they had also spent some time having fun.
Little Death and Andusia were still learning about the changes that had taken place in the modern era. So, even though they had visited the Terra Kingdom many times in the past, they were still brimming with interest in the kingdom. As for Alice, she had never properly explored the demon realm ever since she transmigrated to this world. Hence, she, too, explored the Terra Kingdom enthusiastically.
Out of their group of four, Luna was probably the most familiar with the current Terra Kingdom. After all, as a former member of the Gryffin Kingdom’s intelligence department, Luna had the opportunity to learn about the situation of the demon realm’s various countries. However, as Alice’s maid, Luna naturally wouldn’t spoil her master’s fun. So, she had tagged along with Alice and the others as they toured the Terra Kingdom. While she was at it, she also used her newly-bought high-definition camera to take pictures of many interesting sights.
“What have you all been up to? Why are you only back now?” When Zauna saw Alice’s group returning to the mansion, she walked up to them and scrutinized their outfits curiously. “You even changed clothes?”
“The ones we wore this morning are here,” Alice said, chuckling helplessly as she lifted the bag she held in her right hand. The bag held the clothes they wore when they left the mansion this morning. However, these clothes were all soaking wet. With the demon realm’s constantly gloomy weather, it was unlikely that these clothes could fully dry by today, so they decided that they might as well buy some new clothes and change into them.
Andusia had received her wish and changed into the chuunibyou doll dress she had Alice buy for her previously. Andusia was only an ordinary figurine as far as Zauna and the others knew, so she wouldn’t attract any strange gazes no matter what clothing she wore. Hence, she could dress to her heart’s desire.
Luna had also changed into a new maid uniform. The one she previously wore got soaked when she was princess-carrying Alice out of the park. However, despite it being a maid uniform she bought in Bang Bang City, aside from some unnoticeable differences, it looked largely the same as the one she previously wore.
“You even got your clothes wet? What did you guys do?” Lalu asked as she took the bag in Alice’s hand and peeked into it. Then, after seeing the wet clothes inside, she looked at Alice and continued, “I don’t think it rained in the Terra Kingdom today.”
“That… Long story short, I accidentally fell into a pond,” Alice said, scratching her head. She naturally couldn’t tell Lalu that she had caused some trouble while using her “Demon King” identity. This was a secret she intended to keep from Lalu and Zauna for the time being.
Meanwhile, when Heris, who knew about Alice’s identity, saw Alice trying to avoid talking about the activities she did today, she took the initiative to change the topic, saying, “In that case, quickly go and wash up. I’ll inform the servants to prepare the bath.”
“I will help with the preparations,” Luna said when she heard Heris’s suggestion. Then, she bowed to the people here before taking her leave. As Alice’s maid, she naturally had to help with preparing Alice’s bath.
Luna’s still restraining herself, Alice thought, sighing helplessly as she looked at Luna’s departing back. Although she had tried to get Luna to relax and stop putting so much emphasis on her identity as a maid during today’s trip, it would seem that her efforts had yielded little to no effect.
Luna had been incredibly obsessed with the Hero in the past. As a result, after she let go of her hatred toward humanity, she turned to devote her entire existence to Alice the “Hero.” This situation put a heavy burden on Alice.
While Alice felt that Luna serving her wholeheartedly was much better than the alternative of Luna trying to destroy humanity, letting this situation continue long-term definitely wouldn’t lead to a good outcome for Luna. After all, she knew that once she dealt with the Demon King’s Power and this world’s laws returned to normal, God could return her to her homeworld.
If Luna retained her obsession until the end, Alice didn’t even dare to imagine what would become of Luna after she left.
Hence, Alice decided that she needed to correct Luna’s somewhat twisted obsession.
Of course, fixing Luna’s obsession was easier said than done. The best solution Alice could currently think of was to have Luna switch her obsession to something else, and the best scenario would be if Luna could “live for herself.” However, this was a relatively challenging task, and it wasn’t something that could be accomplished within a short time.
While holding such thoughts in her mind, Alice arrived at the bathroom of Flaman’s mansion. Similar to the image she had of a nobleperson’s bathroom, the bathroom of Flaman’s mansion was huge. The bath itself looked more like a swimming pool than anything else. Though, it was much shallower than a swimming pool, allowing people to sit comfortably in it without drowning.
When Alice arrived, Luna had already prepared all the toiletries. She had also changed out of her maid uniform and wrapped a bath towel around herself, ready to serve Alice at any time.
Alice felt a little helpless when she saw this. Luna had always been meticulous in serving her, whether it was in bathing, cooking, or cleaning. From an outsider’s perspective, Luna was indeed a perfect maid.
Little Death had followed Alice into the bath. Although the undead did not have bodily secretions, they could still get dirty from dust. Hence, she naturally needed to wash up as well.
Of course, although Little Death might be an undead, due to her race’s characteristics, aside from her lack of vitality, she was largely the same as a living person. Her body wouldn’t rot with time. Hence, there was no worry that she might contaminate the bath water with germs commonly found on decomposing corpses.
Alice had also brought Andusia and the Milu Rabbit with her. After Alice had stepped into the pool, Andusia had hopped off Alice’s shoulder and began leisurely swimming in the pool. As for the Milu Rabbit, Alice left it at the pool’s edge, deciding to give the Milu Rabbit’s fur a good scrubbing once she was done cleaning herself.
“Please come here, Lady Alice. I will wash your body for you.”
As soon as Alice set the Milu Rabbit aside, she heard Luna’s voice coming from behind her. When she turned around, she saw Luna calmly beckoning at her, a faint trace of eagerness in her eyes. Meanwhile, placed next to Luna were all sorts of toiletries.
“How many times have I told you to stop treating me like a child?”
Alice was rendered a little speechless. She had a feeling that Luna was treating her like a little kid when it came to taking baths. Of course, despite what she said, Alice still obediently walked over to Luna and sat on the small stool Luna had prepared for her.
Alice couldn’t help it. Luna’s technique was incredibly comfortable. It felt like she was getting a comfortable massage whenever Luna helped her bathe. Hence, although she would often complain about Luna’s insistence on being her maid, she would always succumb to Luna’s persistence regarding baths.