Chapter 39: Must You Keep Finding New Ways to Wash My Feet?

As Louis was recording, the sound of a spell interrupted the sisters’ leisurely conversation. They turned around, curious, to see what he was doing.

“That’s settled then.” Louis stuffed the crystal ball back into his bag. “I’ll buy a foot basin in a couple of days.”

With that, he picked up "Nowhere, Never Seen" and began leafing through it.

The sisters were momentarily stunned, not immediately grasping what had happened. After a brief pause, they exchanged glances, looked back at Louis with his serious, almost petulant demeanor, and could barely suppress another bout of laughter.

This bookworm—did he really believe he possessed some hidden talent? Had he taken it seriously?

What a jester he was!

“Louis, make sure the basin is big enough,” Helen said, blinking at him. “My sister and I still have plenty of clothes to wash.”

Osyclis’s eyes suddenly sparkled with inspiration—she had a brilliant idea. She secretly slid a piece of parchment to Helen under the table, then gave her a discreet pinch.

Seeing the parchment, Helen instantly understood. Her slyly mischievous sister had just cast a spell to write a whole list onto that parchment—a wager between Helen and Louis. Whoever lost would be responsible for cleaning the house, cooking, and washing everyone’s laundry in the future.

With a few spells added, this scoundrel Louis wouldn’t be able to back out!

Helen was confident she would win, so she quickly jotted down a few more items—leg massages, shoulder rubs, acts of flattery, and so on.

“Ahem, Louis, have you given any thought to the assignment I gave you yesterday?” Osyclis coughed, drawing his attention.

Just as Louis, puzzled, wondered what these two sisters were scheming, Helen suddenly grabbed his hand, trying to press it onto the parchment.

As their trick succeeded, the sisters excitedly examined the parchment, exchanged exaggerated winks, and kept adding more stipulations—Helen even added foot washing, but after Osyclis whispered something in her ear, Helen gave Louis a look of utter disdain and changed it to sock washing.

Louis was utterly stunned.

[Louis felt that these two sisters clearly took him for a fool—and he was right.]

[It was obvious Osyclis had no intention of acting like a proper teacher; she simply wanted to use him as a personal attendant. Helen, too, just wanted to watch him flounder around like a clueless bookworm and have some fun at his expense.]

[It seemed these two loafers were intent on making him serve them. After all, there were no obedient maids in this academy, and they had long been plotting how to put Louis to work. Today, they had finally extended their wicked claws toward poor Louis, and Louis decided...]

[A. Play the role of the two highnesses’ little attendant—after all, some of the items on that parchment didn’t sound half bad, hehe. Completion rewards: Mysterious Tome *1, Twisted Affection *2, The Sisters’ Curious Training *2]

Louis nearly snorted in outrage at this narration—who the hell was the attendant here? They were treating him like one?

They started this!

He looked at the next passage.

[B. Show mischievous Helen who’s really the master here! Completion reward: Maid *1]

[The sly culprit Osyclis would push Helen to take the lead and play the good cop herself—he’d probably never win against her schemes.]

Louis ignored this commentary entirely; he decided this so-called maid would be multiplied into maid *2.

“This wager doesn’t count. I didn’t swear to it with a spell,” Louis declared, reaching for the parchment.

“Hey! Louis! You can’t back out now!” Helen snatched the parchment, slapping the table and goading him: “Didn’t you say you’d buy a wash basin? Ha! All talk, no action!”

“Ahem, Louis,” Osyclis drawled, playing the mediator, her tone gentle as tea. “A gentleman never breaks his word. You shouldn’t bully Helen like this~”

“Heh.” Louis eyed this green-tea princess and pointed at the parchment. “The bet’s on, but you agreed to wash my feet—you have to sign your name, or I’m out.”

Osyclis’s eyes widened.

What did he just say?

He wanted her to wash his feet?!

Osyclis, raised in the sheltered warmth of the palace, could hardly believe anyone would dare say such a thing to her.

She was dumbfounded.

“Hahahaha, that’s hilarious—sister, he wants you to wash his feet!” Helen clutched her stomach, laughing. Louis really had read himself silly.

“Just look at your clothes—you never bother to wash them. What a mess,” Louis said, and with a wave of his wand, he added a line to the parchment: “If you want me to do your laundry, don’t make Helen take the blame while you hide behind her.”

This nearly made Osyclis faint from rage—the nerve of this insubordinate pupil!

Her face flushed red and green with fury as she glared at Louis, who glared right back. In that instant, sparks seemed to crackle between their eyes.

Seeing this bookworm daring to glare back, Osyclis’s eyes nearly blazed with fire.

This student was simply outrageous! She would have to give him a proper dueling lesson later.

Helen, on the other hand, was nearly doubled over with laughter—whether her sister was angry or Louis got his comeuppance, she was delighted either way.

“What are you staring at?” Louis retorted. “As a teacher, you have to keep your word—if I can’t master it in seven days, I’ll serve you both as an attendant! But if you’ve misjudged and I do have talent, you must honor your promise!”

“Very well, Sir Louis, very well.” Osyclis was so angry she laughed.

So you insist on making me wash your feet, do you?

Osyclis thought that washing his feet was too easy for him. She should make him drink the foot water!

“Sir Louis, since you’re so confident, I’ll teach you well. But if you fail to learn, don’t blame me for not warning you, you self-professed prodigy.” She wiggled her slippered foot with a sly smile, thinking up ways to deal with him later.

Clearly, Osyclis was hinting that if Louis failed, his punishment would be far more than just acting as a houseboy.

Helen watched her sister and Louis bicker, her big eyes brimming with mischief, itching to toss flower petals in celebration.

Her sister would surely be driven mad today; just look at her face—it made Helen want to burst out laughing.

Louis was definitely doomed; just wait, her sister would deal with this scoundrel thoroughly.

Soon, the wager among the three was officially signed. To prevent anyone from backing out, each cast a spell upon it.

Helen’s was “Restless Mind”—whenever the loser saw the socks left unwashed, they would be unbearably uneasy. Truly wicked.

After Helen’s spell succeeded, Osyclis praised her a bit, then, with a genteel air, demonstrated “Restless Mind” on the enchanted parchment again—clearly worried her sister’s spellwork wasn’t strong enough.

Afterwards, she gave them both a detailed explanation of the technique, turning it into a little lesson, while also showing off her ladylike composure—yes, she was a princess and wouldn’t be upset by a mere child.

I’m not angry.

I am absolutely not angry!!

Finally, with a bright smile masking her vengeful heart, Osyclis cast a “Crushing Shame” spell and explained its function—whoever failed to do the washing would be overwhelmed with guilt, hiding under their blanket in tears, the shame only fading after silently apologizing countless times in their heart. If the task was left undone another day, the feeling would only intensify.

“In the future, if you meet any goblins fond of cheating, this spell will teach them a severe lesson!” Osyclis said, pointedly, without looking at Louis.

Watching this twenty-something girl put on such airs, Louis rolled his eyes dramatically.

She was clearly the type who couldn’t lose gracefully—Helen might not cheat, but Osyclis certainly would.

But it was too late—both sisters were sly and their spells, though not particularly harmful, were deeply humiliating.

After all, people know themselves best. For Helen, nothing was worse than a restless mind; for Osyclis, nothing stung more than a guilty conscience.

Louis was quite satisfied and didn’t bother adding any other spells. He simply encouraged them—he cast a spell so that after finishing these chores, the young “maids” would feel a deep sense of happiness, satisfaction, and accomplishment, as if spurred on by their innermost selves.

He also recast the sisters’ own spells—Osyclis, a novice, could only perform them at level one, and needed her wand. Helen was even less skilled, at zero—yet Osyclis still praised her. Truly, her standards as a teacher were absurdly low.

Louis admitted that his own mastery of these spells wasn’t much higher—he’d only practiced them a few times while reading, just enough to memorize them.

For a grade-schooler, a few tries amounted to Helen’s level.

But for Louis, who had long since mastered the arcane secrets of magic, any spell was child’s play; a few repetitions brought him to level three.

And that was sufficient.

Before, these spells merely induced restlessness and shame.

Now, if a day passed without washing someone’s socks or feet, the urge would gnaw at one’s mind, leaving them sleepless, unable to eat or rest. Eventually, someone would sneak up in the night, while others slept, to wash socks or gently wipe someone’s feet at their bedside.

When all was done, Louis and Osyclis locked eyes again, sparks flashing between them.

Each felt certain the other was doomed.