After the three of them had finished sorting out August's name, Arvell put August onto the silver carpet and walked over to the bathroom.
Since this was a duke's mansion, the entire estate was quite developed in terms of amenities.
They even had a bathtub in the corner that had taps with running hot water.
While normal citizens had to go to public bathhouses, or use personally drawn water from a local water source to bathe, through the use of beast cores and inscribed magic spells, mages were able to create running hot water.
They took a beast core from an aquatic beast and engraved it with a simple spell to produce water, before putting it behind a beast core taken from a beast capable of using fire.
Engraving the beast core with a spell to produce warmth, the produced water would be warmed to the desired temperature.
Naturally, this discovery completely shook the world, making those select few mages incredibly rich.
Selling their inventions to nobles was an excellent way to earn money after all.
People who had too much money were the ones who tended to spend more on personal luxury.
Why not enjoy benefits if you had the money?
While these nobles had to replace their beast cores every few months or years due to them running out of energy, they felt that it was still worth it.
Once you experience a nice warm bath, you can't simply go back.
Arvell wholeheartedly agreed with this.
He had missed having warm baths when he was living out in the wilderness.
Plunges in the cold lakes and rivers had become his norm.
If he hadn't forgotten about the fact that the duke's place had warm baths, he would have taken one last night as well.
He wasn't really dirty, even after their trip, since he had quickly washed before they set off yesterday.
If he wanted to meet the duke, there was no way he would poorly present himself.
First impressions were quite important after all.
As the water began filling the tub, Arvell took off his clothes and slid into the bath with August in his arms.
After removing his shirt, Arvell's two mismatched wings sprung out, extending outwards.
'It's been a while since I could properly stretch my wings,' he smiled to himself.
August had dispelled his illusion since Arvell told him he could, returning him into his golden dragon form.
He lay curled up on Arvell's tummy, enjoying the feeling of warmth that Arvell provided.
It was quite relaxing for August, making him feel safe and at home.
…Which was why he didn't see the rising water until it was too late.
"KYUUUUUU!!!"
August went into a panic when the warm water touched his scales, and tried to jump out of the tub before it could get him any wetter.
'Come on August, It's just a bath! There's nothing to be worried about!'
Arvell tried to convey to August that it was in no harm, but the baby dragon was far too panicked to listen to him.
August didn't know what that warm wet stuff was, but it didn't want any more of it!
Arvell quickly grabbed August and hugged him tightly, before letting the warm water warm him up.
August closed his eyes tightly in fear.
As the warm water washed slowly over him, August quivered in fear.
Why was this man making him do this?
Was something bad going to happen?
However, unexpectedly nothing happened to August.
In fact… The water felt kind of good…
"See, It's perfectly fine!" Arvell reassured.
August slowly opened his eyes, and moved his clawed hand through the water, causing a small disturbance on the water's surface.
His eyes lit up as he put his hand back into the water, but this time he playfully slapped the water.
A small spurt of water shot out and hit Arvell square in the face.
*Ptooey*
Arvell coughed out some water that made it up to his nose, before turning his gaze to the dragon who was throwing him an apologetic gaze.
Through his contract, he could tell the dragon felt sorry for what it had done.
It could feel that Arvell wasn't too happy when he accidentally inhaled some water.
Arvell's frown broke into a soft smile before he splashed the baby dragon back in retaliation.
It was August's turn to be bewildered now, however it took Arvell's actions as a declaration of war.
The two of them began spraying each other with water, spilling a sizeable amount of it onto the floor as well.
Lykos watched the two play with a content smile.
'Instead of a father and son, these two are more like siblings…' He mused.
If Lykos was, to be honest, he was a little surprised when he saw Arvell's smile.
After all… Unlike his usual fake smiles, this time, it was genuine.
The kind of smile he would only ever show to Lykos himself, as he was one of the few people Arvell could actually open up to.
This could only mean one thing.
He had completely opened up to August.
'Hopefully, Arvell can open up more in the future… Maybe he could even overcome his inner demons…'
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