Arad walked into the cold bath, relaxing in the water. To him, such a temperature difference wasn't that significant.
The three bathmaids walked to the edge, standing ready for any call.
Soon after, Isdis finished washing and approached the bath, smiling, "You cooled it?" She tapped the water with her foot, finding it cold.
Arad nodded, "I don't care what temperature it's in, so I might as well make it what you're comfortable with,"
Isdis giggled, slowly sliding into the water, "I didn't expect that from you."
"You have Zephyr to thank for this," Arad closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to relax for a while.
"COLD!" Rey cried as she tapped the water with her toes. "Is it cold?" Ray asked with a worried face.
"It's cold!" Rey replied, shivering.
Ray approached the water and touched it with her hand, "It's not that cold, a bit lower than room temperature."
Rey approached her from the back and with a gentle tap from her foot. She pushed Ray into the water. SPLASH!
"COLD!" Ray cried, standing up like a nail as the fine hair on her body stood.
Rey stared at her with a smug smile, "See, it's not cold as you said,"
"SISTER!" Ray growled, grabbing Rey by the ankle and pulling her toward the water. Rey resisted, trying to hold her ground.
"Let go of me!" Rey growled, kicking Ray in the face, trying to push her back to the water.
Arad opened his eyes, staring at the two naked maids fighting at the edge of the water. "Why are you two fighting?" He couldn't under what was their problem. To him, both of them wanted to get into the water. Why is Ray angry Rey pushed her there then?
Arad could feel that he was missing something. He waited for them to reply to his question, but the two were so busy fighting that they didn't hear him.
"Do they always fight ?" Arad asked, looking at Isdis.
"They do," She replied with a deep sight, "They do fight quite often when out of work. I remember once waking up in the middle of the night to them fighting with brooms. When I asked, they said something about a rat and noise."
"A rat in your room?" Arad asked with a puzzled face. Such a creature shouldn't be able to get to the princess's room.
"I don't really know. They didn't give me a clear answer, and I was sleepy, so I went back to bed and left them to fight." Isdis replied, putting one leg on the other as she closed her eyes.
Arad looked back at Rey and Ray, a faint glimmer crossed his body. For a split second, his body looked as if it was covered with oil.
Rey had Ray caught in a choke hold with her leg, pulling on her hair with one hand while kicking at her guts with one leg.
Ray had Rey's calf in her mouth with a bite, pulling her toward the water with all of her weight like a crocodile trying to drag a struggling deer.
Arad sighed. The fight was getting out of hand rapidly. He lifted his hand and pointed a finger at them. The glimmer around his body faded as the color of his skin shifted for the blink of an eye.
He was sitting in the cold water, and the two maids wrestled at the edge. That only meant one thing.
Some of the bath's water rushed into Arad's stomach, cooling even further until almost frozen.
The cold water rushed across Arad's body and to the tip of his finger, charging into a ball. Isdis blinked, sensing how cold that water was.
PEW! A stream of cold water burst from his finger, rushing toward Rey's head.
Rey's eyes shifted toward the stream, as if time itself slowed. Arad could see her letting go of Ray in the blink of an eye. Thud! Her body jerked down, dodging the stream at the last moment.
Arad blinked, surprised she managed to dodge it even if the attack was barely refined. Her reactions must be on the edge of what a human can do innately.
He fully opened his palm, shooting four more streams of water at Rey.
She twisted her body, the streams barely gazing at her as they passed between her legs and arms. Arad instantly knew that the first dodge wasn't luck. She's capable.
Rey stared at Arad for a moment, her eyes focused on his left hand that just started moving. She expected another five streams of water to rush out of his fingers.
As Arad's palm lifted, nothing came out of his fingers. He turned his wrist, making them point at himself.
The first five streams that missed Rey curved before hitting the wall, guided by Gravity magic as they got pulled back toward Arad.
Arad could see Rey's expression change as she realized late.
PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! The five streams hit her back and butt, sending her flying to the water in the blink of an eye. Her body fell at Arad's feet, her eyes spinning from the impact.
Arad lifted her body with his leg, "Never stand in one place even if you can dodge. A still target is a dead target." He said.
Thud! Two thighs wrapped around Arad's neck from behind his head, and two hands closed his eyes, "Then why didn't you move?" Ray had snuck behind him as her sister acted as bait.
"I already moved," Arad replied, his body disintegrating into silver dust. Ray gasped, confused.
Thud! Ray felt a foot push her into the water. SPLASH! She instantly stood in the water, staring back to see Arad standing there.
"What did you do?" Ray gasped.
Arad looked down at her, "Gemini, a druid constellation. I left a dummy body and turned into a small fish before I even fired the first stream." He walked into the water, sitting in his place.
"You two aren't just maids," He stared at Ray, "Trained bodyguards, your skills are equal to that of d-rank adventurers."
Ray sat in the water as Rey woke up, "Someone has to protect Lady Isdis," Ray said with a passive face.
"Sister is right, albeit this was an embarrassing demonstration." Rey sat up.
Isdis opened her eyes, seeing Rey and Ray sitting beside Arad, almost hugging his arms.
"What are you two doing?" She asked, glaring at them.
"Warm," Rey replied with a passive face.
"The water around him," Ray added without any expression on her face.
SPLASH! Isdis rushed forward, grabbing them by the arms and pulling them away. "He's mine," She sat on Arad's lap, almost growling like a hungry beast.
The two maids stared at her, "Unfair," Ray said.
"Really, where did you find him?" Rey added.