Dinner wound down with full stomachs all around.
Roswaal excused himself first, as a host was entitled to do. The rest followed the twin maids on a leisurely tour of the estate, rooms pointed out and sleeping arrangements made along the way.
"The nobility really do live well."
"Having maids around genuinely elevates the whole experience."
Gojo had strolled through the manor at a digestive pace before Rem led him to a clean, well-appointed guest room.
"You're not wrong." Subaru nodded with the conviction of a man who'd seen the light. "No wonder everyone wants to be an aristocrat."
Their three rooms had been arranged side by side, all in a row along the same corridor.
"You two have got maids filling up every last corner of your brains. You've forgotten why we're here, haven't you?" Felt planted her hands on her hips and glared at them with the disappointment of someone watching a promising investment collapse.
"Not at all." Gojo raised a finger and wagged it gently. "My objective has always been crystal clear. Acquire a maid. Open a dessert shop."
"And I want to become a true hero... no wait, I want to take things to the next level with Emilia!"
"Drop dead!"
The bickering ran its course, and Felt gave up trying to talk sense into either of them. She stormed back to her own room in a huff.
Subaru had been hoping to pick Gojo's brain on how to accelerate things with Emilia. The man had the looks, after all, and was always going on about schoolgirls confessing to him back home. If anyone had experience in that department, it was him.
But Gojo shoved him out the door before he could get a word in.
"It's late. I'm taking a bath."
"Rare opportunity like this, I plan to enjoy it."
Back in the slums, they'd had a place to sleep, but bathing was a different story. The best they could manage was hauling some water to a corner and scrubbing down in their shorts.
In an estate like this, things would be different.
Gojo hummed a tune and retraced the route from the tour, heading for the room the sisters had pointed out as the bath.
Roswaal was the only master of the house, but the bathing facilities had been built with no regard for that fact. The pool was wide enough to swim laps in. Spotless tile. Steam rolling off the water in thick, slow waves.
The only thing missing was a cute maid to help him undress. Apart from that, near perfection.
"Not bad at all."
He stripped down and walked into the bath without ceremony.
The moment he stepped through the steam, his gaze cut through the haze and landed on something interesting.
"Well, what a coincidence, Lord Count." He grinned. "Mind if I join you?"
The words were directed at Roswaal, who was leaning against the far edge of the pool, submerged to the shoulders in hot water.
"Oh my. If it isn't Satoru." A languid smile. "Of course not. Quite the opposite, in fact. You're most welcome."
"How generous. I half expected the count to have some aristocratic hang-up about sharing air with commoners. You know, treating the same bathwater as an act of charity."
Gojo sank into the pool, letting the heat climb over his body inch by inch. A low, satisfied groan escaped him. He settled against the wall and smiled.
"What brazen prejudice."
"Though I won't pretend the kingdom doesn't have its share of people like that."
"But I am not one of them."
Roswaal's eyes creased with amusement. "On the contrary, your arrival has brought such life to this manor. I find myself quite energized."
"That so? In that case, maybe I'll stick around for a while."
Gojo pulled off his sunglasses, fogged useless by the steam, and set them on the pool's edge. No hesitation, no politeness.
"You're welcome to stay as long as you wish."
"Lady Emilia's life is a debt that can never be fully repaid."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Roswaal nodded. Without the bizarre makeup, his face carried a certain sincerity that was hard to dismiss. Nothing about him suggested he was lying.
"Come to think of it, is it really just you, Emilia, and the sisters living here?" Gojo tilted his head. "A place this size with only four people... that's got to be rough on upkeep. And it can't feel great, either. All those empty rooms."
"No, no, no. You misunderstand, Satoru." Roswaal raised a hand from the water. "There were other maids here before, a full staff to maintain the estate. But some time ago, certain circumstances required me to send them all away. Only the sisters remained."
He shrugged, a note of quiet resignation in his voice.
"If they'd stayed and something went wrong because of it... well. That wouldn't do."
"A merciful count."
"Please, call me Roswaal. 'Lord Count' this and that creates such distance."
He flicked his wet bangs, scattering droplets in an arc that caught the lamplight. Even that small gesture carried an effortless grace.
"You sure our lovely Miss Ram won't have an opinion about that? When we met earlier today, the look she gave me could've peeled paint."
"If Lord Roswaal permits it, Ram naturally has no objection."
Ram's clear voice cut through the fog before Gojo had finished speaking.
Damp footsteps approached. She appeared behind Roswaal, knelt, and began scrubbing his back with a small towel in practiced, even strokes.
"So what you're saying is, if I asked Roswaal to hand you over to me, that would be fine too?"
The steam rising off the water did nothing to impede Gojo's aim. Those ice-blue eyes watched the pair through the haze, tracking every motion.
"Yes."
Ram's voice was perfectly level. Not a flicker of emotion at the suggestion.
"Though Ram would find an opportunity to poison your desserts and return to Lord Roswaal's side."
"Tch. I knew it."
Gojo shook his head with what sounded like genuine regret.
"Well, I've soaked long enough. I'll leave you two to it." He stood, water sheeting off him. "Looking forward to Miss Ram's care again tomorrow. Though I wouldn't mind fewer dishes involving steamed sweet potato."
"Good night."
Steam swallowed his silhouette. His footsteps faded, and the heavy door opened and shut, leaving silence in its wake.
Alone with Roswaal, Ram lifted one hand and flicked her wrist.
In the sealed room, a breeze appeared from nowhere and swept the fog away.