Chapter 90: I Want To Bathe You

Seven minutes after leaving Elias’s room, Natasha sat in the bath, still wearing her clothes as she stared at the calm water surrounding her.

With the continuous pursuit of knowledge and a healthier lifestyle, hygiene had become an ordinary part of daily life for nearly everyone, including the practice of brushing one’s teeth and bathing every day.

Natasha’s mind was occupied by something far more important.

She stared at the surface of the water while wondering whether what she was about to do was truly the right thing.

For five years, she had stopped being herself.

She had always known that she could communicate through writing, and she had understood from the beginning that losing her hearing and speech did not mean she had lost every means of communicating with the world.

However, the ritual had broken something inside her that went far beyond her ears and mouth.

She had simply wanted to disappear.

The silence had only made that desire stronger.

There had been no voices, no footsteps, no laughter, and no sounds of ordinary life reaching her anymore.

At first, the absence had been terrifying, but eventually Natasha had adapted to it by becoming quiet herself.

She learned to keep her face impassive regardless of what happened around her, and whenever someone tried to approach her, she gave them little reason to remain.

It worked.

As the years passed, people gradually stopped caring about her presence.

Natasha had become little more than a forgotten figure who happened to exist within the world.

But then Elias appeared.

He was different from everyone else.

For one thing, he was the first person whose voice she had heard since that terrible day.

She still remembered the moment she had first heard him.

It had been so strange that she had initially wondered whether her mind was playing tricks on her, and it was real.

The knowledge that he couldn’t teach her the method behind it came with great pain, but she had felt a genuine desire to teach her in his words.

More importantly, Elias had continued caring for her and his other wives despite having been forced into their marriage by the Crimson Ducal Clan.

He could have abandoned them. Instead, he had stayed.

He fed them, protected them, spoke to them, and even tried to make them smile despite knowing almost nothing about them.

Natasha could feel his goodwill even when she could not hear his words, and she believed the other wives could feel it as well.

However, she was not a broken toy that needed to be repaired.

She was his wife.

And if Elias was willing to care for her despite everything that had happened, then she had responsibilities toward him as well.

She could not simply remain silent forever while her husband continued giving everything to her.

Natasha slowly rose from the bath, the wet edges of her clothes clinging heavily to her body as she stepped onto the floor and walked toward the door.

Her steps eventually stopped before another door.

She raised her hand and knocked.

Meanwhile, Elias had just removed his dark tunic and was reaching toward his pants when a knock suddenly sounded from the bath’s entrance.

He frowned in confusion.

"Who?" he asked, and moments passed, but no answer came.

Elias narrowed his eyes and walked toward the door, keeping his hand open and ready to summon Lastbane if necessary.

When he pulled the door open, however, his expression immediately changed.

Natasha stood before him.

He blinked several times before sending a Mental Whisper.

[Why are you here?]

Natasha simply stared into his eyes, and then a faint smile appeared upon her face as she stepped forward.

Elias instinctively moved aside, allowing her to enter.

Once she was inside, he closed the door behind him and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

[Is something troubling you?] he asked.

Natasha shook her head.

She then looked around the bath, seemingly searching for something she could use to communicate with him, but there was nothing. She was in a bath, not a library after all.

Elias frowned as he tried to understand what she wanted.

Natasha’s eyes eventually settled upon his face before slowly moving downward toward his chest.

She walked closer, raised one finger, and pointed toward him.

An amused glint appeared in Elias’s eyes, and Natasha moved her finger across his chest.

[What?]

She furrowed her brows and did it again.

’What is she doing?’ He wondered, and as she moved her finger one more time, a look of understanding appeared on his face.

[I?]

She nodded and continued moving her finger.

[I want to?]

She nodded.

[I want to bathe you. Huh?]

She nodded once again and stared at his face with determined eyes. If he was ready to fight and torture knights for them, she could do this much as well.

He blinked a few times and said, [You do not have to.]

She furrowed her brows. She had already made the decision and was going to stand by it.

She once again raised her hand and placed a finger on his lips to silence him.

However, that only made him chuckle before he used Mental Whisper.

[I am using my mind to speak.]

She gave him an impassive look before she held his hand by the waist and pulled him to the stool.

If he wanted, he could stop her, but it was too amusing, and Elias had no qualms with one of his wives bathing him on their own. Of course, that part was different for Stella.

She made him stand by the stool and began taking off his pants.

His expression changed.

[Wait. I can do that myself.]

Natasha looked at him, and then a rare smirk appeared on her face as she continued regardless of his pleas.

Unfortunately, Elias hadn’t said that because he was ashamed or shy; it was more so because he was aware of what may happen.

She grabbed his pants at the sides and pulled them down, but they didn’t come off completely, so she crouched down.

Elias swallowed upon seeing the scene before him and mumbled inwardly, ’Do not get up. Do not get up.’

Those words weren’t for the person before him.