The surviving princess {Liskook}

Chapter 43

Water dripped from her wet hair. When Lisa tried to rub her eyes with soapy hands, Gella intervened, wiping her eyes and bursting out in frustration.

“How could he even think of touching you after everything that happened? Is he even a human?”

Lisa sneezed repeatedly, trying to ease the awkward situation.

“Are you cold? I’ll add more warm water,” Gella said, frowning but swiftly washing Lisa’s body.

“How could he touch someone who doesn’t know anything?” Gella muttered, her hands busy.

As the seemingly endless bath neared its end, Gella, drying Lisa, suddenly froze, her mouth agape. She counted on her trembling fingers and mumbled in a daze, “Oh my, wait a minute. What is this…”

When they returned to the bedroom after the bath, the maids were changing the bedding.

“Sorry, we’re not quite finished yet,” the senior maid apologized with a friendly smile.

Behind the senior maid, a new maid looked at Lisa with curiosity. Seeing the unfamiliar face, Lisa opened her mouth wide in a silent, rectangular smile as a welcoming gesture.

“Oh dear,” the new maid muttered, turning her head away. Proudly, Lisa scrunched her nose and jumped onto the bed.

“The young madam seems to be in a good mood after her bath,” the senior maid observed.

“Oh, dear. Your hair isn’t fully dry yet,” Gella said, hurrying over, climbing onto the bed, and carefully wrapping Lisa’s hair in a towel.

The senior maid, trying to make the sheet look neat and tidy, gave up when the young madam rolled around on the bed. “Fortunately, we started with the bed. Only a bit of tidying up left. Should we come back later?” she asked Gella.

“No, no, please continue. By the way, do you know who is in charge of washing the young madam’s clothes?” Gella inquired.

“Dia and Lena take turns. They also clean the bathroom and collect the laundry on their way out,” the senior maid answered.

“Was it the same when she used the second-floor bedroom before moving to the third floor?” Gella asked.

“Yes, it was,” the senior maid confirmed.

After a few more confirmations, Gella requested, “I need to run to the laundry room for a moment. Could you look after the young madam?”

“Us? You want us to look after her?” the new maid, Ully, asked, flustered.

“Did something get into her clothes? Don’t worry, Gella. We’ll take care of her,” the senior maid assured.

“Thank you. By the way, she falls asleep quickly if you read her a book. Any book will do,” Gella instructed, hurrying out of the room.

“Ully, can you read?” the senior maid asked with a sigh.

“I can read a few letters, but these difficult books? I can’t even make out the titles,” Ully admitted.

“No choice then. Let’s just chat. Reading or talking, it’s all the same sound to her,” the senior maid suggested.

Relieved, Ully exaggeratedly sighed and asked, “So, what happened to her? Do you know?”

“The young madam? She’s had several brushes with death. Just recently, there was another close call.”

“Oh, I see,” Ully responded.

Lying face down, Lisa mulled over the senior maid’s words. It was surprising to her that her entire tumultuous life could be summed up in such a brief statement.