"Ahhh… warm baths after a long day of training really are the best…"

I was now inside the bathroom, sitting inside the bathtub filled with warm water. Thanks to the heating pebble placed inside, there was no need to warm up the water beforehand with firewood (or a fire spell). Thanks to our close proximity with Mira, we can buy magic objects like this pretty cheaply.

And then, all of a sudden, the door opened. Ah, I forgot to lock it again.

“Dad, is that—w-whoa, S-Sherry?”

“Y-young Master Hugo! P-please allow me to wash your back!”

My jaw dropped. There she was, standing in front of the door, wearing what was most definitely a maid outfit.

I blinked once. And twice. And thrice, just to make sure that I wasn’t hallucinating.

Yep, she's still there, alright, in her glorious frilly maid outfit. She even got the headdress on. The design looked like your usual, prim and proper maid outfit, with a long skirt plus apron and long sleeves. There was just a little twist to it. The chest area was white, as the black dress was open on that part, with her wearing a white underdress underneath.

C-cute! Too cute! And her getting all embarrassed only makes her cuter! I was normally more into blonde loli but she was undeniably, blindingly cute at this point! So much so that I went into panic mode!

"I-I'm coming in!"

"W-w-wait, Sherry, I-I’m naked right now, you know! Naked!”

“T-that’s fine! I-I promise I won’t look! Y-you can just sit on the edge of the bath away from me a-and I’ll wash your back that way!”

Clearly, she was as embarrassed as me. Hell, she might even be more embarrassed.

But for her to do this, there must be a good reason. And I could only think up one single reason. One person, to be exact.

Mother put her up to this, didn’t she?

I sighed inwardly. Ever since Sherry became part of our family, I noticed how she was clearly matchmaking me and her. And this would just be yet another one of her schemes.

Even though I already told her that we’re not like that…

Well, I probably wouldn’t mind actually going out with her once we’re older though… She’s pretty cute after all, hehe…

For someone who had died a virgin like me, I have to take any chances I could to get a girlfriend! That’s one of my resolutions when I was reborn here!

She walked in, still as red as a tomato. She tried to keep her eyes away from my naked upper body, but it didn’t escape me that she would steal some glances here and there when she thought I didn’t notice.

“H-hey, Mother told you to do this, didn’t she?”

“N-no! I-I’m doing this out of my own will! Now would you just shut up and let me wash your back? N-no, I-I mean, p-please turn around and let me wash your back, Y-Young Master Hugo!”

Oh God, the way she corrected herself like that! She's so cute I feel I could get a heart attack from the cuteness!

I did as she asked, slowly lifting myself upward until I sat on the edge of the tub. I couldn’t help but blush however, as even though I could cover my little guy with my hands, my arse would be fully visible to her.

H-ha… Why am I blushing like this? She’s just an eight year old girl! And you’re supposed to be a pervert, for God’s sake! You can’t show off a little butt to a cute girl? It was like this too in my old life. When I was still a popular kid, I pushed away the girls that took interest in me, simply because I was too shy to engage with them.

That decision haunted me for the rest of my life. I could have become a real deal harem protagonist, goddamnit!

“U-umm, you’re supposed to rinse off with water first, right?”

I couldn’t see how she looked as I was looking away from her. But I could tell that she was definitely still blushing, just like me.

Using the water bucket placed nearby, she poured half of it on my head, making me shiver as the water there was colder than the water in the bath. Then, she gave the washing rug a little soap, before rubbing my back with it. Of course, that soap was quite different from the liquid soap I was used to back in my old world. It was an alchemy concoction, and since this world didn’t seem to have industrialized magic production, a bottle of soap could cost you a fortune. So she had to be careful not to waste even a single drop.

"O-ouch! H-hey, don't be so rough!"

"S-shut it! I just want to clean you up all proper—I-I mean, o-of course, Young Master! I-I'll try to be gentler."

She's really bad at this maid stuff, isn't she?

Well, might as well enjoy it while it lasted.