Chapter 200. Tub (2)

Translator: Lili

“Aaahhh!”

Shushu’s scream echoed through the bathroom as Henriad, without warning, turned on the shower and sprayed her with cold water. He paused in surprise at her reaction.

“What’s with that noise? For a second, I thought I’d poured fire on you instead of water.”

“It’s c-c-cold…”

“Cold?”

“T-the water… is so cold…”

Shushu stuttered through her explanation, but Henriad quickly understood. What he couldn’t comprehend was why it was a problem.

Henriad liked cold water. He washed in it even in the dead of winter and never once caught a cold. But Shushu was evidently different. Seeing her shivering in the tub, he sighed and switched the water to warm.

“How about now?”

“…Mhm.”

Shushu gave a half-hearted nod. Henriad sighed again, muttering under his breath.

“It would have been a lot easier to roll it in the sand.”

He was entirely serious, though Shushu, lost in her drunken haze, didn’t seem to register his comment.

As the warm water soaked her, Shushu’s wine-soaked body relaxed. The scent of wine, now diluted, began to mix with the gentle steam, creating an almost pleasant aroma. The warmth and fragrance made Shushu drowsy again, and her head began to bob.

“Don’t fall asleep. I’m not hosting a funeral for an idiot who drowns in a bathtub.”

“But I’m so sleepy…”

“You can sleep on the sofa. Or in your bed. If you can’t wait, I’ll throw you into the fireplace and let you sleep there.”

Henriad mumbled about folding her up and stuffing her into the fireplace if she insisted, but Shushu didn’t react with the alarm one might expect. Instead, she simply shook her head, annoyed. In her current drunken state, she wasn’t even fully aware of her circumstances. Had she been sober, she would’ve screamed the house down upon realizing that Henriad had stripped her naked and was washing her. But now, all she managed was a small pout.

Henriad chuckled dryly. Shushu, who usually went on about how important it was to treat him, a ‘distinguished guest’, with utmost respect, was now throwing a drunken tantrum and acting like a petulant child. At this rate, he thought, he was more like her real husband than her so-called prison spouse, taking care of her like this.

“You’re a pain.”

Henriad muttered with a wry grin.

“Just behave, and listen to your wife.”

“Huh…?”

His comment wasn’t exactly soothing, but the word wife caused Shushu to pause. Somewhere in her hazy mind, the word struck a chord.

‘Wife… listen to your wife… wife…’

There was only one person in Shushu’s life who would call themselves her wife.

Breaking free from her drowsiness, she turned her head toward the person who was pouring water over her. In the dim light, she focused on his figure and tentatively whispered the name that came to her.

“…Mini Cat?”

“…”
Henriad didn’t respond, but Shushu was convinced. The golden hair shining even in the shadows, the absurdly long lashes that brushed his cheeks, and the sharp, delicate line of his nose—there was no mistaking it. This was Mini Cat. Her Mini Cat. The one who haunted her dreams, now standing here in the flesh.

Her conviction emboldened her. Rising from the water in one swift motion, she threw her arms around him before he had a chance to retreat. Her lips pressed against his as she exclaimed,

“Mini Cat!”