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Various lives gathered in Beth’s greenhouse.

The trees spread their branches as wide as they could, and the flowers bloomed with great blossoms, as if expressing with their entire bodies the joy of having been born into this world. Ants marched in formation, and fairies flew about as they pleased.

Beth’s peaceful place of joint rule between humans and fairies, where anyone could become happy, was called the “Sanctuary.”

A gentle breeze blew through the Sanctuary again today.

“If I move the bishop here, your king will be completely exposed.”

“Hmph. How simplistic. If I move the king, I can sweep up your soldiers all at once.”

In this greenhouse that was supposed to be peaceful, two men giving off an ominous air faced each other with their beautiful faces over the chess set on the table.

They were Naranda, the appraisal supervisor of the Magic Institute, and Oberon, the Fairy King who had emerged from a slug by Beth’s hand in this greenhouse.

These two seemed to be similar in personality somehow.

They did not appear to like each other very much, but they often loitered together in the greenhouse like this and played chess while not looking very happy about it.

Beth found it strange why they were always loitering together if neither of them liked the other, but Beth liked both Naranda and Oberon, so she left them alone.

“Ah! The bath here really is the best.”

Eloise had happily made herself at home in Noel and Beth’s house, which stood beside the Magic Institute, and often came to take baths.

This mansion was one of the rewards given to Noel and Beth by Eugenia.

It was a small, elegant mansion with a beautiful garden, built so that the aging concubine mother could live quietly alone near her daughter.

It was a mansion given to them by Eugenia, who thought it would be just right for the two of them to live in, but Eloise, Rodney, and even Naranda all frequently made themselves at home in this mansion and would not go back to their own homes.

Incidentally, since it was a house and estate right in the middle of the Royal Capital, even though it was called the reward of a modest house and estate, in the remote regions it would have been valuable enough to build a castle.

Though it was sturdily built, the interior was not decorated especially luxuriously; instead, there were old but well-maintained built-in furnishings, linen like what Beth had used in the countryside, gentle green curtains dyed by Beth herself with plant dyes, old handmade quilts, and hand-carved wooden crafts from Beth’s Village.

In the middle of the Royal Capital, where everything was showy and highly decorated, this house, with its simple interior that was not at all noble-like and was arranged to suit Beth’s lifestyle, was truly comfortable.

Eloise vigorously dried her hair with a towel, went to the kitchen on her own, poured fruit wine, thoughtfully cast ice magic on it, and drank it down with delicious-sounding gulps.

“You, seriously, show a little restraint.”

Noel looked exasperated at his cousin, who came to someone else’s house, took baths on her own, ate and drank on her own, and sometimes even stayed the night on her own.

“It is fine, isn’t it? Beth said it was fine.”

Eloise, giving off the scent of expensive soap, threw herself onto the sofa in the guest room and said that without the slightest sign of guilt.

“Beth really is good at creating comfortable spaces, but when it comes to greenhouses and baths, she is truly a genius. Both are supremely comfortable.”

“Eloise-sama brings such nice soap, so baths have become even more enjoyable.”

Good-natured Beth smiled and brought her freshly picked tomatoes from the garden, cooled in the well, after Eloise’s bath.

The tomatoes Beth grew were movingly sweet, and chilled like that, they were perfect after a bath.

Noel had a bitter look on his face because Eloise was making herself at home in the house he had with his precious fiancée, but Beth was also allowed to freely use the bath goods Eloise had brought in on her own, such as expensive soaps with heavenly fragrances and the finest bath towels that made one sleepy just by touching them, so Beth welcomed Eloise’s visits.

Beth loved baths.

When Beth had been in the countryside, she washed her body with hot water filling a small tub, and cleaned herself at the public bathhouse only when she went into town.

That was the common way of bathing in the countryside.

The thing that surprised Beth the most when she entered the dormitory in the Royal Capital was that each room had a small bathtub and shower.

Beth, delighted with the dormitory bath, had hung fresh eucalyptus leaves over the installed dormitory shower and lined up moisture-loving plants beside the bathtub, creating a comfortable bath for herself.

Of course, this house also had a built-in bath, but it had become old and needed renovation before they moved in, so when Noel asked Beth what kind of bath she wanted,

“Then, could you make the bath not a small tub like the baths in the countryside, but a large tub with the nice scent of Japanese cypress?”

Beth, who did not know much about what noble baths were generally like, said that dreamily.

That was the most luxurious bath Beth could imagine.

Delighted by the wish of Beth, who rarely asked for anything, Noel happily ordered a huge Japanese cypress tub as the bathtub that very day.

“To think you prepared such a large tub for me. I love you, Noel-sama!”

Beth was overjoyed by the enormous tub, the likes of which she had never seen.

Beth had imagined something about the size of a wine barrel at most, but the bathtub Noel had prepared was about the size of a small boat, and she could relax in it even with her legs stretched out.

It became Noel’s daily routine to use magic to draw up well water into the enormous Japanese cypress tub large enough for her to stretch out her legs, warm it to just the right temperature, and diligently prepare Beth’s bath for her.

“Beth, you absolutely insisted that the tub had to be Japanese cypress, but the bathroom really is filled with the scent of Japanese cypress, and it is unbelievably comfortable.”

Ever since she had cleaned herself with a small tub, Beth had been particular that the small tub she used to clean herself absolutely had to be Japanese cypress.

Pleased by Beth’s great delight at the Japanese cypress bath, Noel replaced the tiled floor with flooring made from the same Japanese cypress, spread pure white decorative gravel around the tub, opened up a large window so the trees and plants of the garden could be seen, and even cast vision-obscuring magic on the window so that it could not be seen from outside.

Noel, who had been a shower person, had also completely fallen for the charm of baths, leading to the present.

“Did you know, Beth? In the neighboring country, there are things called hot springs, where hot water bubbles up from underground, and baths exist where people bathe using that water. I would like to take you there someday.”

“Hot water bubbles up from underground? Noel-sama really knows everything. It sounds just like magic!”

Beth’s eyes sparkled as she dreamily imagined those hot springs.