"Boo! Yer not being honest here." Meredith pursed her lips. "Okay, how about this, then. Out of all the lads here, which one do ye want ta know aboot ye last?"

Immediately, Christian's face came to the front of Robin's mind. She blinked.

"I see ye've got someone, than." Meredith leaned back, a roguish smile upon her face.

"Ye know, the person you usually want least ta know ye're not being honest, is usually the one ye care about the most. An those are tha ones ye end up falling in love with." Meredith pointed out, pouring herself a cup of tea.

Robin opened her mouth, intending to refute, but couldn't. She considered the situation carefully. Did she really care about Christian...to the point of love? She certainly didn't hate him...but...

Going over her memories, Robin found she truly did care about Christian. The time they spent together had unnoticeably become the times she treasured. She had caught a glimmer of an idea back at the tower. But she had been denying it all this time. Because...

Finally, Robin opened her mouth.

"It would never work out. He already has someone he loves. I won't break up a happy couple out of selfishness."

"One-sided love is still love, deary." Meredith pointed out.

"So what if I do? So what if I don't? He and I live in two different worlds. I am bound to leave him...It would never work." Robin shook her head.

"Ah, me. Ya can lead a horse ta water..." Meredith shook her head and clucked to herself.

"h.e.l.lo?, Merry? I can't find Robin. Have ye seen the dear?" Ayva's voice can from the other side of the sliding doors.

"Don worry, Sister, Robin's in here with me!" Meredith winked at Robin conspiratorily.

"Ah, ye scared me fer a moment. Merry didn't do anything too bad to ye, did she?" Ayva asked as she opened the door.

Robin glanced at Merry.

"If she didn't know my secret..." She began slowly. "Then I'd have thought she was trying to pull a marriage scam."

"Pppft! Hahahah! Marriage scam!? That's a good 'un!" Merry chortled.

"Ye didn't!" Ayva gasped disapprovingly.

"I'm afraid she already has. But she owned up to her prank before things truly became awkward." Robin poured herself a cup of tea.

"And so? I believe I was supposed to have a good talk with your cousin, Marlburn, was it?" Robin asked.

""Marlgurn."" The two sisters corrected.

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"Ah, yes. Marlgurn." Robin nodded, sipping at the tea. "I'm afraid I didn't quite make it to the office. Is he waiting for me?"

Ayva smiled bashfully. "Actually..." She glanced at Merry. "That was just a ruse. Tha real reason Ah sent ye away is cuz there's actually a secret hidden hot spring on tha property, which would be perfect fer helping ye ta keep yer gender hidden. Ye can soak there in peace, an then just tell the others that yer already overheated when ye return."

"So thorough!" Robin exclaimed. 'Unlike a certain duo' She thought to herself.

-----

""Achoo!"" Jasmine and Chelsea both sneezed at the same time. They were in the middle of was.h.i.+ng up before entering the hot spring.

"Am I catching a cold?" Jasmine wondered.

"No, I think it's the smell of the sulphur. It's tickling my nose." Chelsea said as she made a face and wrinkled her nose.

"Well, I suppose we can't avoid it for now..." Jasmine sighed. "So we need to make sure to enjoy this experience to our utmost! Right?!"

"Yessiree!" Chelsea fake saluted. "Ack! I got soap in my eyes!"

--------

Robin was led down a secret pathway that was unlit by luminescent stones. Ayva held a dark lantern with her to light the way. They walked straight up to the gargantuan stone boulder in the center of the property. To be honest, it looked like an egg-shaped volcano, easily four, if not five stories tall.

Robin looked up at it in admiration of its size, until she heard a familiar click. She glanced down to see a stone door detach itself from the boulder, swinging open silently. She had honestly thought the boulder was there for mere decoration as part of the landscape. But, in reality, she found out it was not.

After following Ayva inside, she found it was the secret hot springs room. The spring itself was an opaque blue. A circle had been cut out of the ceiling to release the steam and let the moonlight s.h.i.+ne in.

"This is our secret hot spring." Ayva replied. "Ah've already had Merry grab ye some clothes, so ye can relax and have a good undisturbed soak in here."

"Thank you for everything, Ayva." Robin replied. "You're a lifesaver."

"I dinna about that, but if'n ye like, I kin show ye the sacred tome we have preserved in the study once yer done here."

"Oh? That would be lovely, thank you." Robin replied with a warm smile.

"Have a good soak then!" Ayva waved a farewell as she left the room.

Robin placed all her clothes within her bracer, and placed it off to the side with her magic bag, where she could keep an eye on it. Why didn't Robin place her magic bag into her storage bracer as well?

Well...

Robin didn't know what would happen if she put a s.p.a.cial storage bag inside another s.p.a.cial storage. But, she was not willing to risk anything bad happening. For all she knew, she would be accidentally sent to an astral plane, or have all her items be destroyed or lost in a s.p.a.cial rift. And so, for the time being, the two remained separate.

After she had washed and entered the hot springs, the earlier conversation with Merry came to mind. Her cheeks blushed as she lowered herself in the water and blew bubbles.

------------

"Ah~Why didn't I ever think about trying this sooner? I feel like all my fatigue is just melting away..." Grey relaxed into the pool until only his head was above water.

Christian sat in the water, too. But, he was not quite relaxed. He was sitting where he had a clear view of the entrance, so he would know when Robin arrived. Every now and then he would glance at the exit.

"Give it up. The dwarf is probably going on a long gaff about his great grand-uncle or something." Quinn shook his head, and patted Christian's shoulder.

"Robin said he'd be here later." Christian replied evenly.

"Oh? You trust Robin's word that much, huh?" a nearby Keith noted. 'Even though it was pretty clear that he wasn't interested in joining us, earlier.'

Keith looked at Christian, pondering Robin's reaction. Originally, he thought that Robin might be mysophobic, but now...

'If I'm not wrong...Robin probably...No, this kind of thing should be confirmed directly. I won't say anything unless I know for certain.'

"He's taking too long. What is keeping him?" Christian grumbled.

"Hey, you think he went and took a dip in the public mixed bath?" Earl wondered.

"Mixed bath? Heh! What's the difference between the mixed bath and the women's bath?" Daniel jeered.

"I dunno. Would you be confident enough to enter the mixed bath and have the ladies stare at you?" Grey snorted. The n.o.blemen shuddered. While they were confident in their appearance, such a thing would be the exact opposite of relaxing.

"Robin's not the type to do something like that." Christian shook his head.

"Why not? He's a natural lady killer. You remember the ball a few months ago." Earl pointed out.

"That was because of his status. If he wasn't the hero, would they have paid him any attention?" Christian replied, a bit heated.

"""Yes.""" The men replied.

"Ooh, is the prince jealous? Or don't you realize that Robin is naturally good-looking? Seriously, he looks almost like a doll!" Grey teased.

"I'm not-!" Christian denied.

"He can swordfight, has insane stamina, is all attribute with magic, smart, can cook amazing foreign dishes, and can do handy craft? Seriously? Someone that freakishly perfect shouldn't be a man~" Earl counted off the things they had learned about Robin, ending it with a joke.

"Well, too bad then! Robin just so happens to be a man." Christian chuckled. "Feeling insignificant yet? I'm surprised you haven't bowed to his obvious superiority, yet!"

"Ooh! We should, we should!" Grey laughed. "The next time we see him, we should all bow to his superiority. n.o.body say anything about why we're bowing, okay?"

The guards jokingly agreed.

"But still, it's been almost an hour. Is he even coming? I'm gonna need to get out soon." Daniel noted.