The Bath

With a splash, Olen woke up.

When he opened his eyes, he found Jon standing there, holding a bucket that was used to pour water on him.

There was no cloudiness in his eyes. No rage or bad feelings. They were crystal clear. As if nothing has happened.

Jon put down the bucket and sat beside Olen.

He has no experience with these kinds of problems. It isn't like someone came to rescue him when he was in this kind of slump.

After his parents died, he had to fend for himself and his sister till the Alden family took them in.

And even here, the only person he could share his grievance truly is his sister.

So, he had little reference to go by.

"So, you want to talk to me? What happened?" –he asked without looking at Olen.

"…" –Olen was facing the ground. It was silence again.

Olen himself didn't know how to explain himself.

He could feel the rage built inside him. But he couldn't put a finger on why it is so.

"I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" –Jon asked.

"No, it hurts all over the place. But that's not it." –Olen said.

"…" -this time, it was Jon's turn to shut up. The only thing he wished now is that this little incident does not go to Bianca's ears.

"Hey, Jon, Do you think Father hates me?" –after a bit of pause, Olen suddenly spoke up.

"Mmm, Why are asking you me something like that? Of course, he does." 'What's with the sudden turn of events?' Jon thought.

"Then why does he always avoid me? He never does so with elder brothers." –Olen.

'Oh, so that's it. Even a kid your age picks up on those, huh?' –Jon thought but didn't say anything.

"This time too. When we went to play out, he just ran off in the middle. He would never do that if it were the elder brother."

Now Jon understood the kid's heart has its own turmoil. It can't be helped that the Baron favors the eldest the most due to political reasons.

And it does not help that Olen doesn't have a single friend of his age due to circumstances.

Jon understands a few of these things, but it's not something he can talk about. 'The kid has to learn from the right person.' –is what he thought.

He now understood, why this boy is starting to throw 'a fit' so much recently, like running off to the forest on his own or playing pranks on elders.

He starts to understand the difference between the world he used to know and the way the world actually is.

This is the phase each person has to face at least once in his life, the smashing of their picture-perfect world.

Though, it is still good for Olen, as it is only a fraction of the darkness the world has to offer.

"Kid, why are you so down? Your father is a busy person. But isn't there your mother there to love you?"

"I don't get what you are so upset about. And I don't have an answer to your question."

"That... you have to figure out yourself. But weeping about it wouldn't get you anywhere. Be strong. That is my only advice."

"There are going to be a lot of hardships coming your way as you grow older. The answers you need will not always be there. You have to figure them out yourself."

Olen, for some reason, felt that Jon was talking from his experience. He just looked at Jon's face while Jon himself looked forward.

"But for better or worse, if you need to talk to someone, you come to talk to me. Ok?" –Jon said.

He didn't have so many words to comfort someone in his dictionary. These are the borrowed words that Jully says to him sometimes when he is feeling down.

It's not like he goes to consult his troubles with her. But it always helps him through the troubles. The very fact that there was someone who is there to listen to him.

It may be different for different people. For some, it may be of no good advice. But to Jon, it meant a lot. So he gave the same words to Olen too.

And it seems like it worked.

"Hey. Jon, why did you keep me lying on the dirt? Shouldn't you have brought your unconscious young master to his room first to get a medical treatment instead of saying those cheesy words?" –Olen asked.

"You sly devil. Were you acting all along? You just fainted because you didn't breathe properly. And you want me to say that to your mother? And here I was thinking of treating you a little better." –Jon screamed at Olen.

.

At the same time, Elena tried her best and managed to get the perfect proportion for herself.

It is time it is time to take her healing bath.

The materials she bought were almost used up. She felt her pocket bleeding.

But no worries. Now that she was done with her experimentation, it was worth it.

This would not do a miracle like healing her in one go. But that doesn't matter. It would help her recover ten times faster. And that's all that matters.

She made herself a warm bath. She didn't ask for help from her maid and did all of it herself.

Making sure the temperature was just perfect, she brought the concoction from the table. She mixed it slowly and evenly.

She placed the glass bottle back on the table.

She untied the belt and let her robe slowly drop on its own.

As her robe fell under the force of gravity, it revealed her elegant shoulders, then her ravishingly beautiful waist and magnificent thighs.

Her fair skin was so smooth and moist. It looked like heavenly nectar was flowing from all over her body.

It would be a sin to even think of violating this goddess that shouldn't have been from the mortal world.

Yet, no man can resist the temptation. That is the type of charm she is radiating right now.

She slowly dipped her feet in the bath.

The water rippled over through the surface of the bath.

There was a pillar of light that came through the ceiling only to enhance the scenery that no one had the privilege to see.

She slowly slid into the bath and settled herself.

Incense was burning on the table. It looked like a flowing stream of water going against the law of the world.

The incense has the special property of calming the spirit and helping to meditate. Something, Elena always carried with her.

She goes into deep meditation as she lets the medicine seep into every pore of her body and guides them to her spirit.

Because of her high cultivation level, she has a natural resistance to these kinds of things. So she has to guide them consciously. Otherwise, it would be of no use.

As she was doing this, she felt like a cloud floating in the open sky. It is the type of relaxing feeling she wasn't able to get for at least a year just because of how busy she was.

So for at least this instant, she wanted to let go of her anxiety and worries. So she started to let go of guard and let herself drown in this feeling.

And then,

"Crack, Slam."

The window broke open... and something fell.

Elena's eyes shot open. What just happened?

Then her eyes met another pair of eyes that was shot wide open. The face has hesitation that it doesn't know what to do. But also couldn't sway his glace from the scenery in front of him.

Yes, it was none other than Olen.

"Ah, sorry. I'll leave right away." –Olen said.

Elena was speechless for a moment before her mind started rolling.

'What? This bastard just barge into someone's private room, and then he wants to leave just like that?' –Elena was furious.

"Wait." –she said.

Olen had turned back to leave through the way he just came in. But he had to stop. Fear was creeping in through his spine.

He didn't dare to turn around.

Frozen in place, he could hear footsteps coming towards him.

This fear, this despair... this is the first time in his pitifully short life he faced something like this.

"How well-mannered you are! You think this is normal to barge into a lady's bath, walk around to take a look, and leave just like that. Huh." –a soft hand fell on Olen's shoulder. But to Olen, it was nothing less than the hand of a ripper who came to take his soul.

He was so afraid to take even a breath.

"So, tell me did you get a good look? Cause that will be the last thing you will ever see."

Yeah, this was definitely an 'Oni' standing behind him.

"I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything." –Olen shouted out on Panic.

"I heard you didn't leave your room for days. So I thought something might have happened. So. So I…" –Olen.

"'So, So, I' What? Peek into the lady's bath while she is bathing?" –Elena wasn't in a hurry to squash this pervert. So she asked back.

"No, I didn't know that it was a bath. The maid wouldn't let me in. So I was looking to see another way in. I just wanted to know if you are eating right…"

"Slam." –Due to the sheer amount of fear, Olen, for the second time the very same day, forgot to breathe and got K.O'd.

He never had this much ups and downs in his emotion in one day.

Elena had no idea what just happen. Did the pervert just die on his own before she could kill him?

Elena had already put on a robe. So, she called the maid waiting outside to take Olen away.

At the time, Olen didn't know that falling unconscious just saved his life.

No matter what, Elena just couldn't kill an unconscious kid in cold blood, could she?

'I think I'm getting soft each day.' – She thought.

'No matter I'll just have to straighten him up from tomorrow.' –Elena heaved a sigh.