“Sleeping at home really is the most comfortable.”
Laiyinmute stretched his back and glanced at the alarm clock beside him.
It was already afternoon.
He felt the wound on his head and unwrapped the bandages tangled around it.
His bright red hair was stained with a weird dark red tinge, and quite a few strands had clumped together from the dried blood.
He walked into the bathroom and took a shower, feeling the water cascade down from the showerhead.
The somewhat hazy clarity in his mind gradually sharpened.
“Hmm… I’ll check on Rafei later.”
Laiyinmute turned off the showerhead and picked the white towel from the two hanging nearby—one white and one purple.
The purple one was Rafei’s.
Although he was a bit of a pervert, he wasn’t at the level of taking pleasure in a girl’s personal belongings.
Or maybe?
Since his hair was short, it dried quickly after just a little blow-drying.
That vivid red hair shone even brighter under the bathroom light.
He walked out of the bathroom, returned to his room, and took a casual white outfit from the closet to put on.
The suit he had worn for the meeting earlier was tossed aside.
It was covered in his own blood, now dried and turned black.
If you got close enough, you could faintly smell the unique metallic scent of dried blood.
Why not throw it in the washing machine?
Because that laundry was definitely going to be done by Rafei.
Once fully dressed, he took a bottle of juice from the fridge, twisted off the cap, and headed toward the backyard.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Rafei tied to a tree, sleeping peacefully—she was even snoring, her head tilted to one side.
A few bugs were crawling on her legs, and her delicate pink nose was facing an imminent crisis.
An ant was desperately trying to crawl into her nostril, but because Rafei breathed while sleeping, it hadn’t managed to slip inside yet.
In her sleep, Rafei occasionally scratched at it, but each time the little bug dodged precisely.
But with that ant’s relentless effort, it was only a matter of time.
Laiyinmute crouched down in front of Rafei, grabbed the ant with one hand, and instead of crushing it, he set it aside.
As soon as it hit the ground, the ant ran off in panic out of instinct, seemingly unaware that it had almost just died.
Rafei’s eyelashes fluttered.
Slowly, her purple eyes opened, dazed, staring at the red-haired figure before her.
That familiar smile of Laiyinmute appeared in her sight.
“…Master!”
Rafei almost instinctively called him by the title she used for him again.
Even though she stopped herself in time, and Laiyinmute knew exactly what she had intended to call him, he didn’t say anything.
She watched his movements nervously.
He tightened the coat draped over her shoulders and buttoned it up.
Speaking softly, he said, “Come inside soon. It’s still pretty cold out here—don’t want you catching a cold.”
With that, Laiyinmute took a sip of his juice and walked back into the house.
Seeing that Laiyinmute didn’t punish her, Rafei stared at that red-haired back retreating into the house, stunned.
She pouted and couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
For a moment, her mind was in a fog, but then she suddenly noticed something off.
Wait—disappointed?
Why would she be disappointed?
Laiyinmute had already untied the rope binding her.
She glanced at her underclothes, which were stained with quite a bit of dirt.
She thought she should take a shower and change clothes—her underwear had been worn for a while now.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she walked into the house.
Laiyinmute didn’t look back.
He just sat quietly on the sofa, drinking his juice.
Rafei hurried past the living room, feeling embarrassed, and went to the bathroom.
“I’ll wash up quickly. My body feels so gross.”
She had planned to soak in the bathtub, but remembering that Laiyinmute was waiting in the living room, she could only turn on the hot water and rinse off.
Even so, it took her half an hour to finish.
After drying herself, she suddenly realized a serious problem.
She cracked open the bathroom door, poked half her head out, and looked pitifully at Laiyinmute sitting on the sofa.
She forced herself to speak.
“Master… can you hear me? Do we have any… extra underwear in the house?”
When she said the word “underwear,” the tips of her ears turned beet red.
Laiyinmute was taken aback, thought for a moment, and shook his head.
Rafei regretted it.
Yesterday, when she went shopping, she had bought everything.
The only thing she forgot was buying more sets of underwear.
Her current one, because demonfolk barely sweat, had almost no body odor.
But inevitably, after using the toilet, there would be a little bit left on it.
Now she couldn’t very well wear that dirty one again.
She picked up her panties—which looked slightly different from when she first put them on—and stared at them solemnly.
She couldn’t put those back on either.
So, at that moment, Rafei made an extremely difficult decision.
Soon, Rafei came out of the bathroom, but her way of walking was different from usual.
Normally, after studying that book, her steps were extremely reserved.
But now, her legs were clamped together tighter than before.
She walked up to Laiyinmute, who was sitting on the sofa, forced a smile onto her face, and ignored her embarrassment.
“Master, I’m done washing.”
Then she lowered her head, not daring to look at him.
Those pink earlobes betrayed part of her inner thoughts.
It wasn’t just because of her current shame, but also the awkwardness of having struck Laiyinmute on the head yesterday.
Even though the wound on his head had fully healed now, Rafei was still a bit worried.
She was afraid that Laiyinmute might have some peculiar punishment waiting for her.
Anyone else would be really angry in a situation like that, but Laiyinmute had acted out of character.
That made her think too much.
Laiyinmute looked at Rafei, who was avoiding his gaze and staring at the floor.
He smiled helplessly.
Did he really leave that bad an impression on Rafei?
He only occasionally played some fun little games with her to strengthen their bond and teased her now and then.
If Rafei knew what was going through his mind, she would probably roll her eyes and turn red with anger.
“Hmm… come with me for a walk. I need to pick something up. It should still be open by now.”
He stood up, glanced at Rafei, and walked toward the door.
Rafei quickly followed, but her pace seemed slower than usual.
The door closed behind her.
Laiyinmute didn’t bother to check—after all, if Rafei couldn’t even be bothered to close the door behind her, he might have to consider not treating her as a maid anymore and instead something else.
Of course, he was joking.
At worst, he’d spank her until she couldn’t get out of bed.
As they walked toward the town, he occasionally looked back at Rafei.
The distance between them had grown quite large.
He urged her a few times, but seeing that his little maid didn’t react…
Whenever their eyes met, Rafei would lower her head under her hood and avoid his gaze.
Her earlobes were still red.
This time when he looked back, just like before, Rafei was burying her head like an ostrich.
Suddenly, he seemed to notice something unusual about her walking posture compared to usual.
Recalling what Rafei had said in the bathroom earlier, his expression froze, and he asked out of curiosity, “You’re not…?”
Rafei’s face turned bright red in an instant.
She stumbled and almost fell.
Just then, a gust of wind blew at the worst possible moment, lifting her skirt high.
She instinctively tried to hold it down, but it was too late.
Laiyinmute had already gotten the answer to the question in his mind.
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