Chapter 288

Letting the scalding water cascade down, Li En felt a deep, heartfelt comfort as he bathed.

The advantage of having an excellent alchemist as a friend is that when you truly need something, she can hand-craft you a breakthrough invention.

"Really good. Really good."

The new showerhead worked well; after five minutes of bathing, Li En wrapped himself in a robe and returned to his room.

But before that, he walked around to the back of the bathroom.

"Snap!"

A finger snap ignited flames beneath the alchemical furnace; he pulled the lever, replaced the bucket of water, and began heating another pool.

"Lana, it's your turn in five minutes. Lana?!" The little one who should have been outside had vanished again.

The little one stubbornly refused to enter; to prove it was "safe," Li En had to go in first—only to run off himself.

"Every bath feels like a battle."

Li En sighed. The little one disliked bathing and couldn't understand why she had to do it every day. In this era, besides noble ladies, bathing once a month was perfectly normal—and mostly with cold water.

"Snacks are gone." He shouted loudly into the living room.

"Bad friend!"

The little one sprang out instantly, glared at Li En, then hurried off to fetch a towel and clean clothes—but before leaving, she couldn't resist running back, kicking him with her calf, making a face, and darting away again.

Li En merely smiled and shook his head. The little one was growing increasingly "mature," at least emotionally richer.

"Let me tend the furnace, Young Master. In this regard, you're more of an old noble than the Young Lady."

Housekeeper Martha smiled subtly. Though the Young Master was born a count, he lacked common sense in some ways, yet clung stubbornly to habits even grand nobles wouldn't uphold.

"It's just personal habit. I can't sleep well unless I'm clean."

"What an enviable habit. The desert kingdom's daily baths—your family's wealth is truly admirable."

Li En gave a subtle smile, then shook his head.

"Besides, I can bathe daily now mainly because the cost is near zero."

Outside the mansion, water and fire were heated with wood and coal slag—anyone who'd used them knew it was no small hassle. In this world, these were expensive, limited resources, especially as steam engines began consuming coal in bulk, driving coal prices up daily.

Li En's method? Spend a bit of magic to summon flame, stabilizing the modified alchemical furnace to heat water—purely a model of near-zero cost.

Yet even households with such capability rarely held this habit; it was more a shift in mindset.

"Martha, if we mass-produce these furnaces and sell them… Never mind. I didn't say anything."

Looking at little Lana, still pouting as she reluctantly brought the towel and tiny undergarments, Li En sighed.

Just because he had this need didn't mean others did. Most just wiped themselves down. Many even believed bathing too often caused illness.

To avoid odor, just sprinkle perfume or incense on the skin.

To change a person's—or even a region's—habit, to make everyone use three household hot-water furnaces, was like trying to sell shoes to people who preferred going barefoot. Li En felt he had no such power.

"The Young Lady has started bathing daily."

Suddenly, Martha's unexpected remark, spoken while staring at the furnace, startled Li En.

The girl had quietly changed her own habits for your sake.

Li En knew that serpents generally disliked water, and their scales didn't require much moisture.

"I understand."

Li En also knew that when he was promised a barony, the one who laughed the hardest was Salliman.

Because in a knight and viscount marriage, the knight always became the vassal—Salliman would relinquish her title, and Li En would merely be a son-in-law. But a marriage between two viscounts was different; nominally, Li En could take the lead.

Though the Sudar family was no longer an ordinary viscountcy, noble circles operated this way: the strong devour the weak, and the conquered quietly submit without provocation.

"Viscount? A bit difficult." The girl's hope made Li En sigh.

But considering the Hero Trials ahead, it didn't seem so hard—just keep fighting forward.

"Little Lana, dry off. Wait—you've only washed for a minute? Go back. Sister will wash your hair."

Watching Viscount Salliman lift the lifeless little one and carry her back into the bathroom, Li En smiled.

Lions aren't afraid of water, are they? But now, the little one seemed to have lost all her racial traits.

After cleaning away the bloodstains, Li En collapsed onto the sofa and fell asleep from exhaustion. When he awoke again, the aroma of dishes on the table filled the air, and he saw the girl dozing with her head resting on the table.