After finishing the meal, we began cleaning up.
Usually, the maids would take care of everything, but since there was only one today, we decided to do as much as we could ourselves.
“Let’s carry it together.”
“Thank you, Miss Sara.”
With the maid who had returned, Sara pushed a cart loaded with plates out into the hallway.
“Luria too…”
“Luria, wait a moment.”
I was about to chase after Sara, but Mother stopped me.
“Sara is helping to push the cart, so let her be.”
After watching Sara walk away, Mother crouched down to meet my eyes.
“Luria, you did a great job looking after Sara.”
“Well, I am her big sister.”
I felt shy after being praised by Mother.
“But Luria…”
“Hm?”
Mother wiped my mouth with a napkin.
After cleaning my mouth, she also wiped the table.
Normally, the maids would do these things, but since there weren’t many around today, Mother took care of it herself.
“Was I messy? I didn’t notice.”
“You were much messier than Sara.”
I truly hadn’t realized.
When I looked at my clothes more closely, I noticed they were dirtier than Sara’s.
“Luria, look at the floor too.”
When Mother told me to, I looked down at the floor.
Carro and Koruko were sitting quietly.
Darw, apparently full from the meal, was fast asleep.
“Hm? It looks clean?”
“Carro and Koruko ate what you dropped.”
“What?”
When I looked at Carro and Koruko, they averted their eyes.
I thought they were being unusually quiet, but they had been doing that all along.
“Well, it saves us the trouble of cleaning the floor.”
“Hmm, today’s short-staffed with maids, after all.”
I figured Carro and Koruko were being considerate, but—
“They always do this, even at the main estate.”
“R-really?”
“Maybe it’s time for you to practice eating without dropping food on the floor, Luria.”
“Hmm…”
“Kyui kyui,” “Koo.”
Carro and Koruko seemed to say such practice wasn’t necessary.
However, as her big sister, my dignity was at stake.
Starting tomorrow, I resolved to eat more neatly.
After chatting with Mother, I helped her carry the dishes to the kitchen.
Well, technically, we only carried them to the area just before the kitchen.
The kitchen was off-limits because servants from the main estate might come by.
After that, Mother gave some instructions to the maid and turned to Sara and me.
“Now then, shall we take a bath?”
“A bath!”
“There’s a big bath in this annex.”
“Wow!”
We hadn’t found the big bath during our earlier exploration.
It seemed we’d been too careless in our search.
“Woof woof,” “Kyuu,” “Kokko.”
Darw, Carro, and Kokko seemed excited about the bath too.
Darw, overjoyed, ran circles around us.
He must have been refreshed after his earlier nap.
Carro, who had been walking on the floor, climbed onto my shoulder so he wouldn’t be left behind.
Flapping its wings, Koruko began walking ahead.
“Koruko, do you know where the bath is?”
“Kokko.”
Apparently, Koruko knew.
It must have found the bath during its exploration of the annex.
“Koruko, are you better at exploring than us?”
“Koo.”
Koruko looked proud, walking forward as if to say, “Follow me.”
Mother walked behind Korko , with Sara and I trailing behind her.
“Should we make Korko our team leader and explore again?”
“…Maybe.”
Sara didn’t seem too enthusiastic.
Her ears drooped, and her tail hung limply.
When I explained the water-dispensing device earlier, Sara didn’t seem to enjoy being washed.
“Sara, don’t you like baths?”
“…If I get dirty, I have to wash up.”
She’d said something similar earlier.
“Well, you’re not that dirty, so maybe you can skip the bath today?”
“No, let’s take a bath together,” Mother said gently, patting Sara’s head.
“Okay, I’ll try my best.”
Sara hugged her stuffed doll tightly.
“I see. But you don’t have to push yourself.”
“Thank you. Hehe.”
I held Sara’s hand and followed Mother.
The destination was an unexplored part of the annex.
It was at the edge of the servants’ living area on the first floor.
Many areas in the servants’ quarters were off-limits because servants from the main estate might visit.
That was probably why we’d missed it during our earlier exploration.
“Normally, the maids use it,” Mother said with a smile.
The family rooms had private bathing facilities, but the servants’ quarters did not.
That was why a large bath for communal use was prepared.
“I’ve never used the big bath at the estate before,” I said.
“That’s true. The maids probably prefer to relax on their own,” Mother replied.
Apparently, there was a large bath in the royal capital estate as well, but I’d never used it.
The maids likely wouldn’t feel comfortable relaxing if the family used it.
When we entered the changing room:
“Sara, raise your arms!”
“I’m fine. I can undress myself.”
She refused when I tried to help her undress.
So I started taking off my own clothes.
“Hm? Hm…”
I struggled with unbuttoning my dress, but—
“Let me help,” Mother said, coming to my aid.
“Thanks, Mama.”
After I undressed, Sara was still fully dressed.
“Having trouble?”
Taking clothes off by yourself was hard.
The buttons were small, numerous, and there were even things at the back to deal with.
“I can do it myself.”
“No need to hesitate. Mama helped me too.”
“…Okay.”
I helped Sara undress.
“It’d be nice if clothes had a hole for your tail, huh?”
“But if my tail sticks out, it’ll look weird and embarrassing.”
“It’s not weird or embarrassing. It’s cool!”
As I said that, I noticed welts on Sara’s bottom once her clothes were off.
