Chapter 61

I looked at the manager one more time.

No matter how you look at it, there is only one bath in the building.

“…In this country,”

“Yes.”

“Do you not separate the hot water for men and women?”

The manager thought for just a bit.

“It depends on the circumstances.”

It was an answer that didn’t really get to the point. I stepped out into the corridor of the building.

From beyond the stone floor, I could see the figures of several people walking this way. They were women.

Several people who appeared to be ladies-in-waiting, and behind them a young lady and an older woman. Judging from their attire, they must be nobles. However. There were knights together with them as well. I stopped my feet for an instant.

They were heading toward the bathhouse.

I spoke softly to the manager who was beside me.

“…There were men and women together?”

The manager is unperturbed.

“Yes.”

“Do they enter together?”

“That is exactly right.”

I unintentionally asked back.

“Is that, so?”

The manager made a slightly puzzled face.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

And he added as if it were obvious.

“Because they wear clothes.”

I furrowed my brow.

“Clothes?”

“Yes.”

“…To enter the hot water?”

“Yes.”

The manager spoke as if to explain.

“It is bathing wear. It takes the form of wrapping thin cloth around the body. All the nobles wear it when they bathe.”

I see.

…Mixed bathing. Huh.

Will there be a time when I enter too…?

…No.

I don’t desire it, but—I guess I can’t say there won’t be.

I exhaled just a little.

“A cloth to hide the skin, does that mean.”

“Something like that.”

I looked at the backs of those women from earlier one more time.

Indeed, a lady-in-waiting was carrying a bundle of cloth.

In the end, I entered the hot water alone.

In the center of the bathroom, there was a large pool of hot water made by stacking stones. It would be closer to call it a pond.

From its edge, hot water was flowing in thinly.

It’s probably a hot spring drawn from the mountain. But that amount is by no means large.

I couldn’t imagine that the hot water filling this expansive area would be replaced immediately.

In the corner of the bathroom, a male bathhouse attendant was scooping up hot water with a long ladle and pouring it quietly onto the stone floor. He was washing the accumulated dirt away into the drainage ditch.

Wrapping the cloth of the bathing wear around me, I sat down on the stone edge and slowly submerged my body into the hot water.

My body certainly warms up. The hot water is strong, and the smell of the mineral spring remained on my skin.

But—.

…It’s dirty. If this were Japan, there would be complaints. Absolutely.

However, it is not the act of a royal to frown here.

…I didn’t feel like soaking for long.

I got out of the bathtub early.

“A tub.”

Saying so to a chamberlain, I had him bring clean hot water drawn separately from the bathwater.

I slowly poured it over my shoulders.

The cool water ran down my skin, washing away the smell of the mineral spring a little.

I finally let out a breath.

…I couldn’t endure it.

The manager, watching from behind, was looking this way dubiously.

I stepped outside the bathroom.

The smell of the mineral spring still remains on my skin.

A chamberlain offered a cloth, and I quietly wiped my shoulders. A short distance away, my close aide Marc was waiting.

I walked toward him.

“Marc.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I let out a small breath.

“Are hot springs generally like this?”

Marc thought for a bit before answering.

“Yes. In this land, they are generally like that.”

“…I see.”

I paused for a bit.

“To speak honestly, it does not look very clean.”

Marc gave a slight, bitter smile.

“This place is still on the clean side.”

I furrowed my brow.

“What do you mean, clean?”

Marc lowered his voice.

“No… I mean it is not disorderly.”

“Disorderly?”

“In the bathhouses of commoners, it gets much noisier.”

He continued, choosing his words.

“Bringing in alcohol, gambling, and when night falls, singing and dancing also begin. Among them, there are also those who gather for purposes other than bathing.”

I fell silent for a while.

“…I see.”

Marc shrugged.

“I hear that in city bathhouses and such, there are places that are much worse. Here is a hot spring for recuperation, and there are many nobles. Moderation is still maintained.”

I looked back toward the bathroom once more.

White steam was rising thinly from the gaps in the roof.

“And this is what that looks like.”

I unintentionally muttered softly.

Marc said nothing.

I thought.

Differences in culture are something one should accept if they have entered that world. I believed that without a doubt.

But—. Only this hot spring.

A normal, Japanese hot spring would be fine.

…Is this my selfishness?

While watching the steam from the bathroom, I remained unable to produce an answer.