Lyra did not stir from her slumber until closer to noon the following day. The bed she slept in was massive, easily fitting four more people, and was filled with pillows and fuzzy blankets. It had been the best sleep she had ever had ever since she transmigrated into this fantasy world, without any doubt. She was also thankful no one had disturbed her or bothered to wake her, so that now when she woke up, she actually felt well-rested.
She had managed to slip down from the bed, naked feet on the carpet, butt naked as she did a few stretches, before she realized she was actually not even alone in the room. Just a few meters to the side, along the wall, stood a female servant in maids-clothing. It was Sofie, one of the maids she had essentially forced to have tea and cake with her in the reception room yesterday. So here she was, in the nude, standing before the bed, in front of Sofie. Their gazes met, and Lyra stood unmoving like a statue, arms over her head, frozen mid stretch.
Her mind raced, unsure how to react. She had been so used to going around in the nude every now and then in her spirit sanctuary that she had not thought to even look around before getting out of bed. And now here she was, flashing one of the maids. She considered shielding herself, covering up her privates... but why should she feel embarrassed? This was her room for the time being, and she was an attractive woman. Sofie was also a woman. And Sofie was clearly also a professional, as her eyes never left Lyra's face. She just smiled, and said:
"Good morning Your Highness, did you rest well?"
This professionalism caught Lyra a bit off-guard, but she was very thankful for it. She nodded a bit bashfully, and lowered her arms to her sides, before responding:
-"I did, very much so... but why do you call me Your Highness?"
Sofie smiled brightly, as she answered happily: "Because the Royal Family said to treat you as if you were Royalty. I was assigned to be your personal maid from now on. I will see to all your needs moving forward!"
-"Oh, that is great news, Sofie. Right?" Lyra said politely, while secretly cursing that sly old Emperor. She had not agreed to marry one of the Princes yet, but here he was already informing the Palace that she was essentially Royalty, which most would assume to mean only one thing.
"Oh definitely, Your Highness! I jumped at the chance to serve you right away! Now, would you like to get dressed? It is currently 10:41 in the forenoon." Sofie said, before she moved to pull the curtains from the windows, bringing more light into the bedroom. It was a mid-sized room, for being the palace. For being anywhere else, it was massive. It was in fact larger than her entire cottage had been, back home in her sanctuary. There was a fireplace, a sofa and table, various dressers, mirrors, a large make-up section, a jewelry-box, and desk and a bookcase, and then the massive bed of course, and the entire floor covered by fluffy warm carpet. There were also three doors. One seemed to lead out to the corridor, while the other would take her to a walk-in closet and the last one to her bathroom.
-"Is it possible to take a bath, perhaps, instead?" Lyra asked. She did not want to rush, and she had not properly bathed in a bit over a week. Thankfully she did not smell or anything, but she quite enjoyed bathing and would have preferred to properly clean her body at least once a day, so she wanted to take this chance if it was provided to her.
"Of course, Your Highness. I will run the water in the tub right away." Sofie said, bowed deeply, and then hurried over with quick steps towards the bathroom. Moments later, Lyra heard the water running. She was a bit curious how such things worked in a fantasy world, so she followed Sofie shortly after into the bathroom. She was pleasantly surprised when she found that the water was steaming gently as it poured from a tap into to the large tub.
-"How do you get hot water?" Lyra asked the maid, curiously.
"Oh! Here in the palace, we use fire crystals. It is a kind of elemental stone you can get from certain monsters related to fire. You can also mine them from volcanic areas. They are really expensive, because it is so dangerous to acquire them, so they are only really used here in the Palace, or in the mansions of the very wealthy." Sofie said, as she kept her hand in the water, checking the temperature and occasionally adjusting the heat of the incoming water by turning a small knob near the tap.
-"Fascinating." Lyra said, hands on her hips, her posture relaxed as she had seemingly gotten used to being nude in front of her maid.
"Indeed! Back in my hometown, we had to use firewood to heat water in big metal tubs, if we wanted hot water. This is much more convenient!" Sofie responded, keeping an eye on the water level.
-"Where is your hometown?" Lyra asked curiously, as she sat down on the edge of the tub, closing her legs together, hands in her lap, as she gazed at Sofie.
"Oh, you probably have not heard of it. A smaller city, almost 30 day's ride in a carriage from here. Didn't have much work, so I took a chance and came to the Capital when I turned 16. It is a nice place, but very rural." Sofie responded with a smile.
-"Any family there?" Lyra asked.
"It was just me and my Grandma. My mother passed away from a sickness that swept through town when I was 8, and my father got drafted for the war 7 seven years ago. Never came back. When the war ended, I realized he was gone for good, so I left and came here." she said, still smiling, but it felt more forced.
-"I am very sorry to hear that." Lyra said with sincerity, and reached her hand out unconsciously to gently pat the maid on the head. Sofie did not seem to mind, and offered a proper real smile, before responding: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, but I am doing fine now. Life in the Palace is good, and I feel blessed to be here."
Lyra nodded, before looking back down over her shoulder into the tub. It was almost ready. "Would you like to get in now, Your Highness?" Sofie asked, and Lyra nodded. She stood up, and raised her leg, lifting her foot over the edge, before slowly slipping it down into the hot waters. A shudder passed through her body as the hot water enveloped her foot, it felt amazing. First proper hot bath in this new world as well. Sure, she had swam and bathed in the river and lake in her Spirit Sanctuary, but even at the height of summer that water would never get warmer than maybe 25 degrees.
Eagerly, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and lifted the other into the tub as well. Then she lowered herself gracefully into the tub, the water level rising against the wall of the tub, before she had submerged most of her body into the water. She guessed the water temperature here was about 40 degrees, and it felt absolutely divine! She shifted, leaning back against the back of the tub, the water reaching to just above her breasts.
-"Oh Sofie, this is amazing." she mused out loud, sighing with absolutely content as she ran a hand up and down along her submerged leg.
"I am happy it pleases you, Your Highness. Would you like me to wash your hair and massage your scalp?" Sofie asked, as she sat beside the tub, watching Lyra intently.
-"You'd do that?" Lyra asked, the surprise evident on her face.
"Of course. I could also wash your entire body and give you a full-body massage after the bath." the maid answered proudly.
-"J-just the hair and scalp for now, please?" Lyra said in response. She did not feel ready for a full-body wash and full body massage just yet.
"Absolutely, coming right up!" Sofie said, standing up to fetch a small watering can, as well as a wooden bowl with a lid on it. Then she slipped in at the end of the tub, near Lyra's head, and sat down on both her knees. She lowered the can into the hot water, and filled it up, before she gently placed a hand at the back of Lyra's head, lifting it up gently, before she turned the can, letting warm water sprinkle down over Lyra's head in an easily controlled fashion.
And Sofie was good at this, carefully making sure no amount of water fell over Lyra's face. With perfect control, she washed Lyra's long, light blue hair with the water from the can, occasionally running her fingers between the strands of hair, making sure to wash it properly. "You truly have amazing hair, Your Highness. I've never felt hair this soft before in my entire life. And the color is so unique! Never seen hair that is blue like this before." Sofie complimented as she worked. Lyra smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of the warm water poured gently over her hair, and Sofie's fingers as they deftly worked her hair.
-"Thanks, Sofie." Lyra said gently, as she got lost in the moment. Then, Sofie reached for the bowl with the lid, and scooped up some white cream with her fingers. She put the cream on Lyra's head and began kneading it into the hair, slathering it out. The cream foamed just like shampoo, and smelled gently of strawberries which Lyra liked. Then came the crème de la crème as the french back in her old world would say, which was when Sofie started dragging her nails along Lyra's scalp gently, further massaging in the shampoo towards her hair-roots and scalp. Lyra could not help but shiver with pleasure, and let out what one might consider a purr, similar to that of a cat. That's how amazing it felt.
Sofie giggled, unable to stop herself from laughing at the adorable reaction from the High Elf in the tub. "You like it, Your Highness?" she said with a glint in her eyes, already fully-well knowing the answer.
-"Yes, so so much! Wow, your nails and fingers feel amazing! You sure you're not using magic of some kind?" Lyra answered, shivering slightly under Sofie's care.
"No magic, Your Highness. Just me." Sofie said with a bright smile, very happy she could please Lyra to such an extent.
-"Goodness... I should just marry you, rather than one of the Princes." Lyra commented, still purring away in the tub as Sofie massaged her scalp and shampooed her hair. Sofie's face turned beet-red at the comment, and she stammered a bit as she struggled to make her response:
"Y-your H-h-higness! Y-You m-mustn't joke l-like that!" Sofie stammered, though her fingers kept working all the same. Suddenly overcome by a bout of playfulness, Lyra opted to tease her maid just a little bit more, as she said:
-"Who said anything about joking?"
Lyra smirked, envisioning how the poor maid wanted to melt into the floor right about now. She wasn't usually such a tease, but the good amount of sleep in a comfy bed and this hot bath and massage had certainly seemed to put her in an extremely good mood. Everything she had done so far past week was suddenly more than worth it, just for this moment alone.
"Y-your Highness! You m-mustn't!" the maid finally squeaked.
Lyra chuckled, opening her eyes briefly, looking up at Sofie. "Forgive me, Sofie, but I could not help it." she said gently, and somewhat apologetically, realizing she had put the poor maid in an awkward position.
Sofie exhaled loudly, face still red, fingers still massaging Lyra's hair and head. She said eventually: "You nearly gave me a heart-attack, Your Highness. Who would wash and massage your hair and scalp next time, then!?"
Lyra laughed. A proper, melodious laughter that seemed to come from her very toes. Delightful and pure, she had not laughed like that in maybe ever. Certainly not back on earth. She lifted a hand from the waters once her laughing had subsided, and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
-"Right you are, Sofie, right you are. I will reflect on my actions." Lyra said, wheezing slightly.
"Good!" the maid said, grinning from ear to ear, as she filled the watering can once again, and began to gently wash the shampoo from Lyra's hair. She added bashfully: "Even your laughter is so pretty..."
-"Thank you, Sofie. I think you are very pretty too~" Lyra said in response, and once again, poor Sofie who had just recovered from the previous bout, found herself turning beet red again!
"YOUR HIGHNESS! Y-YOU PROMISED Y-YOU WOULDN'T!" she nearly shouted, and Lyra could not help but laugh again. That lazy and relaxing forenoon, Lyra was truly, truly happy. Relaxed, well-rested, properly cleaned and mirthful.
And so it was with a light heart and happy steps that she, 1 hour later, steered her feet towards the Royal Dining Hall once more, where she intended to join the Royal Family for lunch, although for her it would be breakfast. She been properly washed and then dressed in a more simple yet still elegant white dress. Sofie had used another fire-crystal device to dry Lyra's hair, and for a moment she felt as if she was back on Earth, having her mother blow-dry her hair after a shower. Before she had lost her hair to cancer that is.
Regardless, not even the memory of cancer could take her down from this happy high she was experiencing. She believed there was nothing which could ruin her amazing mood, but whether that would be the case, however, that remains to be seen...