NOVEL NEXT “Young Master, how does it taste?”
“It’s pretty ordinary.”
Just as Kyle said, it was really only ordinary.
It was a restaurant in a normal town, so I wasn’t expecting anything extravagant.
I was actually more worried it might be bad.
“Well, that’s a relief. I was worried it wouldn’t suit your taste, Young Master.”
“Haha, it’s fine. This is totally no problem for me.”
Everyone has different levels of importance when it comes to taste. Some people wouldn’t hesitate to leave a restaurant if the food was bad.
Luckily, it seemed Kyle wasn’t one of those.
“Young Master, you should try this too.”
“Thank you.”
I passed a piece of steak to Kyle.
After all, Kyle was in his growth phase and could eat way more than I could anyway, and my stomach wasn’t that big.
I just wanted him to eat well.
“Hehe…”
Seeing him eat so happily made me feel good.
Kids really shine when they’re eating, sleeping, and playing around.
Of course, Kyle was now past the age of playing around.
That boy had grown too much.
I measured him a few days ago and he was already hitting 180 cm.
He had really shot up.
My sore throat felt even worse just thinking about it.
“By the way, the Oldenburg Young Lady will be coming this time as well.”
“Indeed.”
Since Kyle and Catherine were of the same age, Catherine would also be attending this debutante.
Debutantes weren’t just once a year, but the one that catches everyone’s eye is the one in April.
That’s why Kyle decided to attend this April’s event.
“If you happen to meet the Oldenburg Young Lady, please be sure to greet her.”
It’s true that you have to be cautious of women, but managing existing connections was also important.
Managing relationships might feel a bit uncomfortable, but in noble society, it wasn’t wrong.
Friendships were just another form of important interests among nobles.
As a commoner, I couldn’t fully understand it, but thanks to my past memories, I could grasp it to some extent.
“Has it been two years already?”
“Yes, it has.”
Time had flown since Catherine spent those two years in Eristirol.
They were both 15 back then, and now they were 17.
They had almost become adults.
After two years, I was really looking forward to how much Catherine had grown.
At that time, she was a genuinely noble child.
Unless something special happened since then, she must have grown even prettier than back then.
She used to have hair of moderate length, so I wondered if it was still similar now.
“Young Master, if you happen to meet daughters of other dukes, please, please be careful.”
Other households could cover up mistakes to some degree with their influence, as long as they didn’t make a truly dangerous mistake.
But that was impossible for duchies.
How much would it cost to manage that at a similar level?
“I know.”
“Then I’m glad to hear that.”
I answered with a smile.
Before I knew it, Kyle had finished the piece of steak I had given him.
We had already finished our meals and were casually sipping drinks to unwind.
“Young Master, how about we get up now?”
“Yes.”
Kyle and I stood up from our seats.
We stepped outside and walked down the street.
It was definitely a lively street, quite different from the castle.
I used to see this street all the time during my adventurer days, but I hadn’t gotten to experience it much while living in the castle.
This sort of street wasn’t bad at all.
Both the lively atmosphere and the quiet streets felt nice.
“You’re already becoming an adult, Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“You were quite small when I first met you… but you’ve really grown a lot.”
I’m not just talking about his height.
It’s true that he’s gotten much taller, but it wasn’t just that.
“Not just your body, but in many other ways, you’ve improved too.”
He was once a very timid little boy.
But the old Kyle was gone, replaced by a reliable young man.
His chest muscles had grown, and his personality had improved significantly.
Back then, he would cower when a few boys passed by, but that Kyle was long gone.
Now he had such broad shoulders, he probably wouldn’t even fit in tight spaces anymore.
“You really have grown well. You’ve become so much cooler compared to back then.”
“Haha…”
“Thank you for growing up so well over the past five years.”
“It’s all thanks to Sophia.”
“…”
When he said that, I had nothing else to add.
I couldn’t think of anything to say.
It seemed Kyle had nothing more to say either, as we made our way to the inn in silence.
Arriving at the inn.
The inside was as ordinary as the outside, with no significant difference in the weather.
“Young Master, do you want to wash up right away? Or would you like to relax for a bit? Personally, I think washing up right away would be best.”
Since we had been outside since leaving the castle, I was sure he was sweating.
“Do I really have to wash up together?”
“Yes.”
How could Kyle, who had been used to being helped while bathing as a noble, wash up alone?
He wouldn’t be able to clean himself properly.
On a day like today when he had sweated so much, a thorough washing was necessary.
It might not be a perfect environment like the castle, but it wasn’t a problem either.
It was better than not washing at all.
“Now, quickly take off your clothes. I’ll change as well.”
“What?!”
“I can’t change while wearing a suit, can I?”
To help with Kyle’s bath, it couldn’t be helped.
I said that and started to remove my blazer.
“…I’ll go in first.”
“Wait! It won’t take long to undress anyway.”
“…”
Kyle didn’t seem to respond to my words and went straight into the bathroom.
“Um…”
Well, it was okay since I needed to go in anyway to wash.
I slowly undressed.
Under my shirt, I was wearing just a thin little undershirt… or rather, just some decent long underwear.
It was the type of clothing that could absorb sweat since it was the sort of season that made you sweat.
Dressed, I opened the door to the bathroom.
“Whoa…”
It was cleaner than I expected.
For a small tub inside a guest room, it was really quite nice.
It was larger than I thought, and with a bathtub, it wouldn’t be bad for Kyle to wash in.
“Young Master?”
“…Yes…”
“Quickly, give me your arm. We need to wash, right?”
I spoke to Kyle, as he seemed lost in thought.
The steam hadn’t even filled the room yet; why was he acting like that?
“Well then, I’ll begin.”
I started washing Kyle’s body like I had done before.
It seemed that as he grew, there were now more areas I needed to wash.
“Hah…”
Thanks to that, it felt more like a massage while washing, and it was hard work!
His muscles were not just firm, but they were excessively hard, making it really difficult to massage.
Back then, I think I could at least feel a little pressure, but now it felt like I wasn’t pressing at all.
“Phew…”
Even as I pressed down on his lat muscles, it felt more like I was pushing than massaging.
“…I think it’s better just to wash him.”
“…Yes.”
I had no argument against that.
In my opinion, it would be better just to scrub him down vigorously with a washcloth.
“Phew… Phew… How does it feel, Young Master? Is this good enough?”
“Yes… it’s great.”
“Thank you so much for saying that…!”
I worked even harder on wiping Kyle down.
The smell of sweat was replaced by the scent of soap.
Well, it was only natural.
“Young Master, now spread your legs…”
“I can do that myself.”
“….”
With all this teasing, was it embarrassing at this age?
Feeling a bit shy about showing oneself to family seems just slightly embarrassing, but why should it really matter?
What else could we be if not family?
We had spent over five years together since he was 12, and I practically raised him.
Since the age gap was too large to be a mom, calling me sister made more sense.
Of course, I was technically an employee.
But wouldn’t “sister” be the most fitting title?
Calling me aunt, mother, or ma’am all sounded far too aged.
“Young Master, I’m not interested in your lower half. Aren’t we practically family?”
“…..”
Kyle seemed at a loss for words, as if I had hit a nerve.
Yeah, what else are we if not family?
“Even though I’m just a servant, I still think of you like family. You can’t possibly feel differently after knowing me since you were little, right?”
He’s grown too big to consider him a little brother, which feels somewhat burdensome.
If he had just been a bit smaller, he would have felt more like a little brother, but…
“Maybe you should just call me sister once.”
“….”
I thought it would be amusing for Kyle to call me sister.
He always called me Sophia, Sophia, so there was a somewhat stiff feel about it.
Though he always used the polite form when speaking to me, it still felt too rigid calling me Sophia.
How many years have we known each other?
To be honest, it might be less stiff if he called me Sophia instead.
“Or I could call you Kyle… that was probably too much. My apologies.”
I almost crossed a line there.
No matter how close we were, it wouldn’t be right for me to call him Kyle without hesitation.
Afterward, with Kyle now washed, he relaxed in the bathtub for a bit, and when I tried to take off my damp clothes to wash, he suddenly freaked out, so I stopped.
It was uncomfortable sitting in wet clothes, but I remained still until Kyle left.
About 30 minutes passed.
Kyle seemed to really enjoy his soak more than I thought.