Hmm? Are you perhaps..."
The girl on the sofa stared at him with her big, gem-like eyes.
Her face and voice were also younger than those that Rou remembered. Her cheeks were red and puffy as apples, but although she looked childish there was an aura of royalty surrounding her.
Her limbs looked like that of a doll, and her whole body was surely still growing and maturing. The dress that was wrapped around her used pretty ruffles and lace and was cute in design, but at the same time it was elegant and not flashy at all, suiting her very much.
"Mi... Mirian-sama!?"
Somehow this turned out to be the room of Reaina's little sister, Mirian Henriette Wilhelmian, the Fourth Princess.
Being idolised by the people, he was staring at the girl who was rumored to already having received at least several offers of marriage, and his body momentarily tightened with tension.
"P, please pardon the intrusion!"
"Wait! Are you not Rou Coral-san?"
When he finally managed to squeeze out his voice and tried to leave the room in a hurry, he was stopped by the Princess.
"Yes, that's right..."
"Ahh... I thought that might be the case!"
The blonde girl said his name and look at him with a bright expression on her face. He thought that she was beautiful, and smile was just too attractive.
"My name is Mirian Henriette Wilhelmian. Everyone just calls me Ann, so I would like you to do the same, Rou-san."
"Mirian-sama, I couldn't possibly do such a thing..."
Princess Ann bows, lifting the hem of her skirt a little bit. Despite her age and looks she behaves just like an adult, but it was simply unthinkable for the Princess to introduce herself to the simple knight like that.
Hearing the boy her innocent smile turns into sadness, as she lowers down her head.
"Ehh–– I want everyone to call me Ann because Ann is such a nice name. You don't... want to?"
Because Rou did not wanted her to think that he was someone suspicious, he tried to put a small smile on his face.
The boy had no other option but to do as he was asked to do.
"... I understand. ... A, Ann, -sa, -sama..."
His voice was shaking so he could not speak properly, but the Princess seemed happy to be called by her nickname.
"I heard that you were going to come to the castle after what you did to help Father, and so I really wanted to see you!"
"I'm also honoured that I could meet you, Ann-sama..."
For some reason the Princess, who was still tense from his previous words, stands up and rushes towards him while shaking her long, beautiful golden hair. She was considerably smaller than Rou, and even though she was royalty, such gesture was still a sign of over familiarity.
"You know, at that time you were so cool, taking down the bad guy who tried to attack Father... Just like a true knight~."
" N, no... At that time I was just lucky..."
Apparently the little princess watched the incident that transpired during the parade. It was kind of pleasing that the princess beloved by the whole country was praising him like that.
(A, Ann-sama is... praising me...?)
Perhaps she was not conscious of it, but Ann stared right into his eyes with her own, gleaming pupils in very close proximity. She was so close to him that he could smell the sweet fragrance of her hair.
"You became Onee-sama's guardian, right? Ah~ah, what a shame... If it wasn't like that, I would have wanted you to become my knight~."
"I am unworthy of such kind words..."
He politely answered to Ann's words, but honestly they were really getting into his head. The joy of being praised by the princess herself and the fact that she knew him gave various feelings mix inside of him.
"Eh? Rou? What are you doing inside Ann-sama's room?"
Hearing that voice he turned around, just to see his childhood friend standing behind him.
"Why is Karen here..."
"Because I am Ann-sama's caretaker, of course. So, what is someone like you doing in such a place?"
The little princess stepped in between the two, defending the panicking boy.
"Karen, Rou-san is here because I invited him, so please don't get angry."
"Eh... Ann-sama did...? But why Rou...?"
The maid keeps on looking at our faces alternately.
"Because Rou-san is so cool, I wanted to have a little conversation with him."
"C, cool... you say?"
The princess explained the situation to Karen with a smile. Since she was like an idol to the people, he felt kind of embarrassed at first, but he was also quite happy.
Even though her face was pale as if all of the blood drained of it, Karen makes a stiff expression, as if to emphasize her words. "Ann-sama. Let me tell you this: although Rou is now a knight, when we were young he used to be a total crybaby. He often cried like a girl, and I was the one who would always save him."
"H, hey, Karen, cut it out..."
This childhood friend of his suddenly began to talk about his past. Rou tried to interrupt her story, but the princess gladly clapped her hands together.
"Ah, I want to hear more about it. That's right, since both Rou-san and Karen are here, why don't we talk while we drink some tea?"
Being invited to tea by the idol of all people was not so bad of a feeling.
Although, later when he remembered that he abandoned his master, the face of the boy knight turned pale.
When he finally came back to find her room, it was already very late at night.
After he finally found Reaina, she didn't even asked him where was all day. Now that you mention it, she just told him to not follow her and she didn't even seemed to be that angry at all.
After taking his leave for the night, he lost his way again and got the rooms confused again, accidently walking right into the maid's changing room. So far, his life at the castle was a series of mistakes and failures, exhausting both his body and his soul.
(Haa... I'm so tired...)
In addition to the grand bath that the Princess was using, there was another bath solely for maids, and Rou was told that he could use it. However, it was decided that he could use it only after one o'clock in the morning, when all other maids were sleeping.
He entered the bath all alone, and there was still leftover women's fragrance around. However, he was kind of relieved that there were no one else around, so he could just relax. While his fatigue of the whole day was healing, and when his whole body was being dominated by comfortable sleepiness, an unexpected voice sounded from the changing room.
"Oh? Is someone still in there?"
That gentle voice pulled back his miserable consciousness from the dream world back to reality. The boy raised his upper body with the splash sound, looking at the door to the bathroom. The silhouette of a human body appeared on frosted glass, and the sliding door opened.
"Eh, ah... This is..."
"Oh my, isn't that Rou-sama? Thank you for your hard work today."
There was no time to respond, she had already entered the room, so he quickly sat back down to cover his lower body. The boy scolded himself in his head, but on the contrary, she smiled gently without being put off by the presence of the member of the opposite sex.
The woman was covering her body to some extent with a towel, but she could not wholly cover her abundant breasts. Her large, melon-like breasts protrudes from both left and right, and her snow-white limbs are also exposed.
"W, what are you doing here, Diana-san..."
For a moment he could see her mature, half-naked appearance, but the boy quickly averted his eyes like a real gentleman. Moreover, he was very conscious of being seen naked by the member of the opposite sex, and so was rapidly overcome with shame and embarrassment.
"Some of my work took longer than I expected, and before I even knew it was already this late. I am sorry that I interrupted your relaxation time."
"Eh, no, likewise, I'm so sorry..."
While the boy kept on apologizing, his face turned red and he curled up into a ball inside the bath.
"In that case please excuse me, but I would like to join you."
"O, Ouh... Okay..."
After bowing politely, the Maid sat down near the bathtub. While covering herself with a towel, she slowly gathers some water in her free hand and splashes it over her shoulder in a seemingly sexy manner. There was something fascinating about adult women that even young girls could not imitate. After a while she turned around and started to wash her body, carefully rubbing her back and arms with her towel.
(Naked Diana-san... She's so beautiful...)
Rou gazed at the woman's naked back as if he wanted to devour her with his eyes. She was smooth and shiny just like a goddess, and her bottomless sex appeal made his blood surge and gather around his crotch.
Her wet hair, snow-white skin and rounded nape, the virgin boy, who lived only with men up until recently, was totally absorbed in her glossy appearance.
"Fufu... The water is really nice. Oh my, Rou-sama... Why is your face so red?"
Diana tried to enter the bathtub, but let out a surprised voice. Because he was looking at her for so long, he lost the ideal timing to leave the bathroom.
"Wouldn't it be better for you if you get out for a while? ... I know, let me wash your back for you."
"Eh...?"
Hearing this unexpected offer the boy knight panicked, causing the Maid to become even more worried. He pressed his towel to his chest and pulled down on it with his free hand.
"N, no... There's no need, I'm quite okay..."
However, thanks to continual looking at Diana's naked body, his groin mortar has now become completely erect. If she was to see this, she might have hate him, so the boy sunk even deeper into the water.
"Now, now, I am sure that you are tired from today's work, so please, allow me to serve you for now."
"I'm telling you, I am really okay..."
There was no way that he would be able to refuse an offering made with such a gentle smile, so in the end Rou sat down on the bath chair while covering his crotch.
"Fufu... How is your life at the castle?"
The Maid asks him that while gently rubbing his back with a sponge filled with soap foam. Even though he could not see Diana, his heart was still beating like crazy since he could easily picture her adult frame behind him.
"Let's see... I still haven't gotten used to it..."
"I see. Should you ever come across any kind of trouble, please don't hesitate to ask for my help."
"T, thank you very much... But, it seems that I'm not that dependable at all, and what's more, it seems that Reaina-sama now hates me..."
"Well, I don't really think that Reaina-sama hates you, Rou-sama."
From the very first day when he began to serve as the Princess's guard, the only things she did were shouting and scolding at him.
"... You really think so?"
"Reaina-sama may not be the best at expressing her feelings, but in reality she is very pleased to have such a nice knight like you, Rou-sama."
"I, it doesn't look like it to me..."
Rou sighs, as the image of Reaina embracing him appears in his mind.
"Now, sighing like that is not something that a real knight should do..."
"Hiyaau... Diana-san!?"
Squeeze ––––. Suddenly, he could feel something soft and elastic being pressed to his back, as well as two hard objects. As he looked behind, the Maid's face was so close to him that he could feel her breath on his neck.
(S, so soft...)
While stroking the head of the astonished boy, the beautiful woman gently hugged him from behind. Even though being embraced by a naked lady should make his heart race like crazy, for some strange reason it calmed him down instead.
"I am sure that Reaina-sama is well aware that Rou-sama is giving his very best at his work."
"Y, Yeah..."
The warmth of Diana's body gently transmitted to his whole body, enveloping him in an unspeakable sense of security.
"Of course, I also love how serious Rou-sama is about his work..."
"Eeh... Thank you, very much..."
He didn't know if she said is seriously or as a joke, but when she said it so suddenly, Rou became so embarrassed that he couldn't look Diana straight in the face. He slowly began to drown in this soft sensation, and his body started to respond to the feeling of her breasts pressed against his back.
"Oh... My, my, Rou-sama..."