447 Comfort In The Bath

The princess was given one of the guest rooms to sleep in while the King returned to the palace.

As Mother had ordered, Katsuki was busy taking care of the princess as my guest, though I was a little worried about the fact that she had yet to wake up despite having been freed.

I was assured by the others that Tiara would be fine and just needed some time to rest. Maybe she'll wake up if I bring some cookies?

Katsuki then not so subtly suggested that I take a bath to calm myself by informing me that the bath was already prepared for me, probably as a way to get me to stop worrying about her and to relax.

I decided not to question it and just accepted the suggestion by going to the bath obediently.

There, I was expecting to see the usual group of maids who would be there to wash me but surprisingly, there was no one else there.

I figured they might have been busy with the demon problem today especially since we rescued the people kidnapped by the demons so no one else was free to bathe me tonight.

No big deal since I saw that as a luxury and not something that was expected.

I washed myself slowly before entering the bath, breathing out a deep sigh as I let myself relax, feeling all of the tension from today melt away.

After running away from whatever broke out of the mirror, I realised why I felt so upset about having to kill the other Tiara to free our Tiara.

It was the feeling of helplessness where I was not strong enough to affect the outcome of it.

If only I was stronger, I might be able to break the chain without needing to sacrifice the other Tiara. If I was stronger, we might not have needed to run away from whatever that thing was that came out of the mirror.

In other words, I felt pretty frustrated by what had happened in that dimension.

I sank deeper into the water until my mouth was submerged in the water, letting me blow bubbles on the surface as I mulled over my thoughts.

I used [Screened] on myself and took a look at my stats again.

[Name: Aster Nilm

Title: Young Mistress of Nilm Family, Dragonslayer, Most Adored Young Mistress, Lover of Sweets, Lisa's Soulmate, Delmare's Aural Lover, Tiara's Big Sister

Race: Meslatar

Gender: Futanari

Stats:

456 Strength

440 Dexterity

460 Endurance

505 Magic

Skills:

Hunting (Tier 2), Cooking (Tier 2), Alchemy (Tier 1), Navigation (Tier 1), Sailing (Tier 1), Noble Etiquette (Tier 1), Authority Projection (Tier 1), Martial Skill-(Dagger Proficiency (Tier 2), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 2), Bow Proficiency (Tier 2), Sword Proficiency (Tier 2), Polearm Proficiency (Tier 1), Axe Proficiency (Tier 1))

Magic Skills:

Mana Management (Tier 2), Umbramancy (Tier 2), Electromancy (Tier 2), Lumenmancy (Tier 2), Pyromancy (Tier 2), Hydromancy (Tier 1), Aeromancy (Tier 1), Geomancy (Tier 1), Iatromancy (Tier 1), Somatomancy (Tier 1), Astromancy (Tier 1), Infernalmancy (Tier 1)

Valour Skill:

Sixfold Multi Slash

Unique Skills:

Mind Shield

Desensitisation]

I frowned, there was barely any change from the last time I looked at it. Heck, I was hoping that I might gain another tier of proficiency for Iatromancy after using it so much but it's still stuck at tier one.

Do I really need to resort to hurting myself just to train that skill? But I don't want to end up becoming a masochist like Professor Anna… Is there another way to improve it?

Hmm… Maybe I can go to The Guild and advertise myself as a support and join other parties who are looking for a healer? At least that would give me more chances to train my healing skill…

Just as I thought of that, I felt a movement in the water and I looked up to see several ripples that were heading straight towards me.

I panicked for a moment before I realised what was causing the ripples and calmed down quickly.

The cause of the ripples surfaced from the water and turned to me with a smile, her pink hair shining brilliantly in the light.

"Aster! I didn't realise you were already here!" Delmare giggled.

"Hello Delmare, I see you're still enjoying your bath."

She swam towards me, her tail splashing against the surface of the water as she did so, "Ehehe… I was actually waiting for you. I heard what happened from the other maids… If only I could have joined you."

I pursed my lips, "Umm… I think it would be a little difficult to bring you with us…"

She giggled, swimming even closer to lean on the edge of the bath beside me, "Oh I know my limits, Aster. Right now I would still be a burden so I will work on getting stronger to be able to stand beside you confidently one day. I can only thank you for going along with my selfishness."

I giggled, "If the selfishness is being able to hear your wonderful singing, I feel that I'm the one getting the benefits instead."

Delmare swam even closer until her face was leaning against my arm, "Hmm, hmm~ Then why do you look so down?"

I paused, "Was it that obvious?"

"I have heard all the different tones of your voice, Aster. I can hear when you are upset."

That's a weird way of telling if someone is feeling down… And I don't think I actually sound that different in the first place but I guess she could tell the difference as a Siren.

Delmare then dipped back into the water before resurfacing in front of me, leaning her back against me while she snuggled herself into my embrace.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, her hands grabbing on to mine so that she could reposition my hands to rest on her waist.

I hugged her closer to me, "It's really stupid though."

"Kuku~ It's ok, I enjoy hearing your voice after all. You can just talk about anything and I won't be bored listening to you no matter what you are talking about. And if it makes it better, I can sing while you talk if you want?"

Ah… So this was why the bath was empty… They were expecting this to happen from the start.

I giggled, "Alright then, I like to listen to your singing as well~"

Delmare smiled at me before she took a deep breath and started to sing. It was a song without any lyrics but it was no less beautiful and as captivating as she was.

Naturally, I had already used my Unique Skill to protect myself so I could enjoy her song without worries.

My [Heed Thy Call] boon was even giving her song a soft accompaniment in the background too, so it really felt like I was attending some live concert.

I began to ramble a little, not really saying much but just telling her how powerless I felt during that confrontation with the demons back then.

I told her how I wanted to be even stronger and even the idea I had about temporarily joining another party to train myself.

Delmare continued to sing and listen to my rant, her tail swishing from side to side under the water.

Soon enough, I finished my small rant and Delmare also slowly brought her song to an end a few seconds after I was done.

She then half turned to me, "Kuku~ I think Aster is always working hard though? You still do your daily training and you still do your best to learn everything that you can despite already knowing so much. I don't think Aster is weak at all."

"But… I'm still not strong enough."

"Mmm~ I suppose if you were to compare your power to the Gods, we can never be strong enough. But that would mean you would always be unsatisfied, Aster. It's not a bad thing to always seek to improve yourself but if that means you blame yourself thinking that you have not done enough, then that is not true. In fact, I can even name quite a number of people who would agree with me~"

I hugged her, "I know… I'm just… I guess I just needed to vent a little, that's all."

"I'm happy to be your listening ear anytime, Aster~ In fact, please do let me be the one to listen to your problems~"

Something tells me that part of the reason is because she actually gets off on hearing my voice… Not that I mind it anyway.

"How's the princess?" She asked suddenly, changing the topic.

"Mmm… She was still unconscious last I saw her and Katsuki is the one taking care of her. Odeta already went to sleep since she was tired… I feel a little worried that Tiara hasn't woken up yet but Mother assured me that there was nothing to worry about."

Hearing that, Delmare's hands reached down and grabbed my hands again, this time shifting them up so that I was now cupping her naked chest.

"Ehehe… In that case… Do you want to… Have a little bit of fun? It's been a while since it was just the two of us, hasn't it?"

…

Well… I already saw this coming anyway so of course I jumped on her~