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ArabicArknights: The Holy Son's Leisurely Life — Chapter 29
Chapter 29: The True Essence of a Girls’ Dorm
Swish, swish, swish… The rhythmic cascade of the showerhead echoed continuously from the cramped bathroom.
The walls of this cheap apartment were paper-thin, meaning every splash, giggle, and shifting body carried perfectly into the living room. Naturally, merely listening to running water held zero appeal; Lucian wasn’t some toddler splashing in rain puddles on the street. But woven through the sound of the spray was the muffled, melodic chatter of girls letting their guard down—and that was more than enough to test any man’s focus.
“Angelina, let me help you wash your tail!” Croissant’s voice rang out, bright and entirely too enthusiastic. “My coworker has this super fancy hair conditioner. Top-shelf stuff, I’m telling ya!”
“Is that stuff universal?” Exusiai chimed in, her tone bouncing with curiosity. “I don’t have a tail, so I wouldn’t know. Is Lupo fur really that different from Volpo fur?”
“I think it should be similar?” Angelina replied, her voice soft and slightly flustered over the rushing water. “Siracusa has plenty of Lupos, and their fur isn’t vastly different from a Volpo like me… Ah, Croissant, you really don’t have to go to the trouble, I can do it my— Eek! Don’t splash my back!”
Ah, the true essence of a girls’ dorm.
Lucian nodded to himself, wearing an expression of deep enlightenment as he mentally jotted down the experience. The girls inside were completely unaware of the man outside eagerly eavesdropping… or rather, they knew, they just didn’t care. Unlike men, who generally maintained a stiff distance, girls bonded by closing the physical gap. Sharing a bath was the fastest way to break the ice.
This was especially true for the naturally gregarious Croissant. Even though she had just met Angelina tonight, she had effortlessly dragged both the Volpo and Exusiai into the steaming bathroom. Lucian suddenly felt a wave of deep gratitude for the Defender’s presence in his home. Every tool has its use, as the saying went; even a girl with a head full of cream pastries had her moments of brilliance.
“Drop the formalities!” Croissant laughed mischievously over Angelina’s embarrassed stammering. “Just call me Croissant! I’m not that much older than you, I just skipped the whole school thing. Now, to prove we’re besties… Angelina! Bring it in for a hug!”
“…” Exusiai fell dead silent.
“Eeeek—!”
That piercing scream echoed through the cheap apartment building, threatening to wake the dead. For the sake of his neighbors’ sanity, Lucian stepped up and rapped his knuckles sternly against the frosted glass door. “Keep it down in there! Especially you, Croissant, stop bullying An—”
“Aha! Lucian is totally eavesdropping!” Croissant shouted triumphantly. “I bet he’s got his whole body pressed right up against the door, panting and drooling!”
“Gross…” Exusiai muttered. “He used to do the exact same thing back home, always staring intently at the older priestesses. What an old-hag fetishist. Total pervert.”
“Oh?” Croissant’s tone shifted into dangerous territory. “Exusiai, are you and Lucian close enough to bathe together? Wait, what priestesses? Why are you bathing with priestesses?”
“Ah… wait, that’s…!”
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, Exusiai. Lucian sighed, shaking his head.
Through the chaotic crossfire of Croissant’s interrogation and Exusiai’s desperate backpedaling, Lucian’s enhanced hearing picked up Angelina’s quiet murmur. “This conditioner is from Siracusa… and it’s a really expensive brand. Is it actually okay for me to use this…?”
Lucian turned his head toward the living room sofa. “Is it okay?”
The only person in Penguin Logistics who required specialized tail conditioner was, naturally, Texas. The unconventional Lupo wasn’t currently participating in the bathroom bonding; she was draped across the couch, looking utterly bored as she snapped off a piece of Pocky between her teeth.
She lifted her gaze, her eyes half-closed in their usual cool indifference. “Whatever. It’s your stuff anyway. None of my business.”
She wasn’t wrong. Nearly every personal item Texas owned had been purchased by Lucian. From her toothbrush to her bath towels, from her sleepwear to her bedsheets, right down to the specialized grooming brush for her fur—Lucian had picked it all out. He played the role of a mother hen better than an actual mother.
Despite her current image as a cool, aloof beauty, Texas had been a completely different entity when she first joined Penguin Logistics. To put it politely, she was out of touch with society. To put it bluntly, she barely lived like a human being. Back then, she was ten times colder, staring at the world with dead, emotionless eyes that suggested she might draw her twin swords and sever an artery at any given second.
She had possessed zero personal belongings. Aside from the careful daily maintenance of her weapons, her room had been a barren cell devoid of any human warmth. She had even slept underneath her bed, hiding from ghosts only she could see. Anyone else would have kept a wide berth from such a glaring personality disorder. It was only through the relentless, stubborn efforts of Lucian and Exusiai that Texas finally developed the basic self-awareness of a normal young woman.
Of course, if asked, she would just cross her arms and dismiss it all as unnecessary meddling.
Lucian looked at her seriously. “I buy it because if I didn’t, you’d use a single bar of cheap soap to wash your entire body. Even Exusiai knows how to take care of her hair; she buys the most expensive oils and treatments. You can’t let yourself be less feminine than her, can you?”
“…You pay careful attention to all the wrong details, and play dumb exactly when you shouldn’t.” Texas mumbled softly around her Pocky stick, looking away. “That’s exactly why I say you’re a scumbag.”
Taking her non-answer as full consent, Lucian called out pleasantly toward the bathroom door. “Angelina, go ahead and use it! Texas gave the green light.”
“See! I told you!” Croissant’s voice instantly shot back through the door. “He’s literally glued to the wood, eavesdropping on us!”
Hearing the Defender’s victorious cheering, Lucian felt a sudden, sinking premonition.
Sure enough, even the sweet, innocent Angelina let out a soft, disappointed sigh. “Mr. Lucian… I think eavesdropping on maidens in the bath is one of the most ungentlemanly things a person can do. Croissant was just testing you, and unfortunately, you failed.”
“Croissant, you setup artist!”
Lucian’s reputation shattered on the spot. He instantly plummeted from a brilliant, handsome older brother figure to a degenerate bath-peeping pervert in the eyes of the high schooler. And honestly, he had walked right into it.
After Croissant had finally exhausted her teasing and the apartment’s atmosphere settled into a comfortable domestic quiet, Lucian prepared a fresh cup of coffee and handed it to Angelina.
“Thank you.” The innocent high school girl took the warm mug with both hands, bowing her head in a perfectly polite gesture of gratitude.
Faint wisps of steam still curled from her damp hair. Even though she had used the exact same shampoo Lucian used every day, the scent blooming off Angelina’s skin felt entirely different—sweeter, softer., she was currently wearing a spare set of Croissant’s pajamas. The black-and-white cow print pattern, which usually looked entirely unremarkable on the Defender, suddenly looked incredibly… prominent, stretching taut across Angelina’s chest.
High school girls are truly terrifying creatures, Lucian reflected for the hundredth time, silently shaking his head to clear his thoughts.
Desperate to salvage whatever remained of his dignified image, Lucian cleared his throat and adopted a serious, professional tone. “So, Angelina, what are your plans now? I remember you mentioning you came to Lungmen to deliver a letter. If you need help tracking someone down, I can pull some strings.”
Angelina offered a shy, radiant smile. “Thank you, Mr. Lucian. Thanks to you, I’ve made it this far safely. And I’ve actually already found my mission target! It’s all thanks to the good luck you brought me.”
Lucian practically had to squint against the blinding purity of that sunny smile.
Too cute. Angelina was simply too cute. She was an actual, literal angel. Lucian seriously debated whether he could use his lingering authority as a Holy Son to officially canonize her as Saint Angelina. If all the angels in Laterano were this innocent and lovely, he never would have run away from the city in the first place.
, her claim about finding her target wasn’t just polite flattery.
Angelina set her coffee down, reached into her messenger bag, and carefully pulled out a sealed envelope. She walked straight over to the sofa, stopping in front of Texas, and extended the letter with both hands.
Under the surprised gaze of everyone in the room, she spoke with earnest respect. “You are Miss Texas of Siracusa, correct? I apologize for not finding the right moment to ask earlier, but when I heard your name, I wondered if it might be you. I have a letter for you. Would you please sign for it?”