[TKOSINM] 98 - Irene’s First Foot Massage

“I will give you a foot massage.”

“Huh? No. It’s alright.” Though Irene had told her not to, Louiselle had already knelt down on knee, and was ready to place Irene’s foot in her lap.

“I have served before, an aristocrat who liked foot massages, so I am confident in my massage skills. If you don’t trust me, perhaps another masseuse…”

“Oh, no. Then, I’ll ask you.”

Louiselle was just about to call for another masseuse when Irene quickly dissuaded her and placed her feet embarrassedly on Louiselle’s lap. Louiselle gently began to rub Irene’s feet with her calloused hands. It was the first time she had placed her foot on someone else and received a massage, so Irene’s face quickly reddened.

“Your skin is smooth without calluses, but you have a lot of muscle.”

“Ah…”

As Louiselle pressed the centre of hersole of the foot firmly, Irene sighed. The feeling of her muscles loosening was painful and cool, and so her small sigh relief leaked out of her mouth.

“Is this your first time getting a massage?”

“Huh…”

“I see, I’ll be gentle.”

Instead of softening her strength, Louiselle began to squeeze her feet more frequently. Precisely apply pressure evenly over her small and delicate foot.

I feel drowsy.

She felt so comfortable and relaxed, it was like she was taking a foot bath. It was easy to understand why people did foot massages.

Louiselle’s foot massage skills are also top-notch. Although it was her first time getting one, Irene knew that Louiselle’s massage skills were excellent. She was a multi-talented maid. Good at fighting; good at foot massages. “Louiselle is amazing…”

As Irene let herself relax even more, and succumbed to her tiredness, Louiselle suddenly sprang up.

“Louiselle?”

“There’s someone at the door.”

At first she thought it was a servant, but the person kept pacing in front of the door without taking any action.

“Very suspicious,” Louiselle commented, placing her hand on her sword.

“Madame Irene, hide behind me. Don’t loosen.”

“Uh-huh.”

In the sudden situation, Irene flinched and clung to Louiselle’s back. Soon Louiselle approached the door. 

“Even though I approached, he is not running away. Looks like he’s trying to break in.”

“Louiselle, be careful.”

“I have done assassinations before. Don’t worry.”

As soon as Louiselle said so, the door opened suddenly without warning. She immediately aimed her sword at the man standing in front of the door.

This was the first time she had encountered such an urgent situation. Her heart was about to drop. But she grabbed Louiselle’s clothes tightly bracing herself.

But moments passed and nothing happened.

“...Master?” Louiselle was evidently surprised.

“What’s going on here?”

A familiar voice sounded.

Irene peeked out from behind Louiselle’s back. 

“Noel?”

As expected, the owner of the voice was Noel. After he greeted Irene with his eyes, he looked at the blade that was still resting against his neck.

“Pardon me, but I have to protect Madame Irene, so please inform me as to why you chose not to come in.”

“You’re aware I issued you that order, right?”

“Yes, but there were also no exceptions for Master either.”

“...”

Wow, Noel is being refuted.

This was the first time Noel had been refuted by servants, causing Irene to completely forget her recent dire situation. She watched the two of them with excitement.

“Tell me. Why were you standing in front of the door?”

“...I came here because I wanted to talk to Irene.”

“Then why not come in?”

“...”

Noel pressed his lips. He couldn’t tell her the reason.

Irene wanted to continue observing the interesting turn of events, but Noel appeared to be quite troubled. So she relented and spoke to Louiselle instead.

“Louiselle, I’m sorry. Could you excuse us for a moment? I need to talk to Noel.”

“I won’t go too far. May I guard the door?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I will do as you ask.”

Louiselle, who had actually never aimed the sword at him in spite of Noel’s troubled appearance, meekly withdrew the sword in response to Irene’s words. Noel looked dumbfoundedly at Louiselle, but Irene grabbed him and dragged him away, so he turned his gaze away and went into the room

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Louiselle like someone that much. I can leave Irene in her hands, and put my mind at ease. She’s so vigilant even to the person who gave her orders.”

“Haha… But Noel, why didn’t you come in and instead stayed outside?”

When Irene asked, awkwardly smiling, Noel shut up. She didn’t mind. She gestured to a seat, without sparing him a glance, and started to prepare light refreshments.

She was going to wait for him to speak first. As Irene sat across from him, Noel finally opened his mouth.

“...I came back from visiting Grandfather.”

“Oh?”

“I gave him the painting that Irene mentioned.”

“It must have been difficult to find, but you worked hard.”

“I got permission to marry you.”

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