“...hmm?” 

Rasputina slowly blinked her bleary eyes as she stared at the dark ceiling of Anastasia’s chamber. It was still not yet sunrise, but she realised that she had awoken and couldn’t exactly fall back to her slumber immediately. 

Turning to the source of the jarring warmth radiating from her side, she frowned and whispered, “Princess…what are you doing?” 

Anastasia stirred and propped herself up on one elbow, her silky hair which shimmered in the faint moonlight cascading down her bare shoulders. “Mmrg, what’s wrong?” 

“Erm, why are you lying on my bed?” 

“Oh,” she said quietly and smiled. “Cos’ I was feeling cold?” 

“I see…now get your ass back to your bed.”

“Don’t wanna, Rasputina is warmer than my blanket~” Anastasia snuggled up to her side and held her arm in her hands like a clingy girlfriend. 

She would be lying if she said she disliked having the princess so close to her on the same bed, so she didn’t say anything as Anastasia caressed her hand lovingly; in fact, she feared she was liking her touch a bit too much. 

“Ana—” 

“Hey, Rasputina,” she murmured, her dreamy eyes gazing right at hers. “Tell me, how is it like having to be a Saintess every day?” 

Rasputina blinked in surprise. “W-why do you ask such a question suddenly?” 

“Aww, come on, I’m curious to know~” 

“Er…” She managed a weak smile at her. “I’m tired now, so let’s go to sleep first, alright? I can tell you tomorrow.” 

Anastasia pouted. “Eughhh? Not fun, tell me now! Now!”

“...” Letting out a resigned sigh, Rasputina tried to come up with something that would satisfy her curiosity. “Well, it isn’t really anything wonderful as it might first sound…I always have to put on airs around people so that they will take me seriously as the real Saintess. I have to watch over what I say at every moment. And right now, I have to burden myself watching over a pitiful princess.” 

“H-hii! T-t-the last part is a joke, right?”

“Sorry, I made a mistake—I’m watching over a child pretending to be a pitiful princess.” 

“Uwww, Rasputina is bullying meee-”

“Joking, I’m joking,” she quickly said, stifling her giggles. 

“So, so, I heard that you are from a different country across the sea,” Anastasia whispered, giving her an expectant look. “What do you do back in your home as the Saintess, Rasputina?”

“Mm…I look after the Church, I suppose. And the entire territory of the Königreich Kievsta as well.” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled faintly. “But usually, a close aide of mine helps me out with all the administrative work and dealings of the country, since my main responsibility is leading the Church and my beloved followers.” 

Anastasia leaned in closer, excitement flashing in her sparkling eyes. “Ooh, what’s the name of your close aide? What does he or she look like?” 

“Uh…it’s he.” Rasputina hesitated. “Theo. That’s his name. He looks like…a baboon, if you ask me.” 

“A baboon?” She let out a surprised giggle and covered her mouth with her hand cutely. “Hehe, I hope I can meet Theo in future to see for myself.”

“Mm, I hope you can get the chance to,” Rasputina murmured absent-mindedly. “Let’s go back to sleep now, shall we?”

“Okaaayy…”

Barely a minute passed before Anastasia’s eyes fluttered open again. 

“Rasputina…”

“...yes?”

“I still can’t sleep.” 

“...what about I read you a bedtime story?” she suggested, remembering hearing about a popular soothing ritual to encourage children to sleep better. 

“Bedtime story?” Anastasia giggled. “Sure, why not?”

Rasputina reached out to take the remaining wrapped book off the nightstand and opened it up; the moonlight shining in through the large lattice windows dimly illuminated the ink-stamped words on the crisp first page. 

Le Conte de deux cités

Livre I - Rappelé à la vie.

“A-ahem.” She cleared her throat slightly before beginning to read the first chapter, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”¹A main theme of Charles Dickson's A Tale of Two Cities is resurrection (Rappelé à la vie - "Recalled to Life"), which parallels the theme of transmigration in this story.

 

---

 

The next time Rasputina opened her eyes, a bright light filled her vision. Beside her lay the half-opened book that she had read until her mind was too exhausted to continue.

“Morning, Rasputina~” Anastasia’s pleasant voice wafted into her ears like honey. “Did you sleep well?” 

“M-morning…” She let out an involuntary yawn and rubbed her eyes at the princess’ slender figure. Then, she blinked and almost jumped straight out of her bed. “E-eeehhh?! W-w-why are you n-naked??”

“Oh, I was going to take a morning bath,” she replied calmly, tilting her head to look at the panicking Saintess. “Since you’re awake, why don’t we go together?” 

“Y-y-you—do you have any idea what you’re saying?!!”

“Come on, we already did it once before, I wanna do it again!” 

If the King had heard his daughter speaking such unspeakable things, he would probably have disowned her on the spot, Rasputina thought to herself as she was pulled into the antechamber by Anastasia and stripped off her nightgown. 

The bubbly sound of water splashing filled their ears once they stepped into the luxurious bathroom. Two marble statues of a Goddess holding a vase on their shoulder stood at the far corners of the chamber, pouring fresh water into the large bath in front of them. A circular skylight above then allowed the morning sun to shine through. Floating on the water surface were small purple petals which gave the bathwater a faint citrus-like fragrance. 

“Ooh, today’s flavour is rosemary!” Anastasia clapped her hands together in delight. 

Rasputina murmured curiously, “flavour?”

“Mm-hmm, the maid comes in once a day to change the bathwater. Yesterday was lavender, I think, then it was jasmine the previous previous day.” Anastasia took her hand and guided her down the marble steps slowly. “I heard that rosemary helps to relieve stress and improve your blood circulation. Do you know that?” 

She shook her head, to which Anastasia laughed. 

“Ooh, then you should definitely try this bath out.” She winked at Rasputina. “Itʼs healthier and more effective than coffee, trust me.” 

“Hmm…” She submerged her body into the bubbling water, the floating flower petals gently brushing against her skin as she waded further into the bath. A pleasant warmth soaked into her body, and she could feel the fatigue in her muscles dissipating away like magic. 

Instinctively she let out a relaxed sigh, closing her eyes and leaning her head back as she did so. 

Anastasia smiled and moved behind her body. “If you do this, you will feel even better.” 

“Do what—!” She gasped loudly when the princess suddenly placed her hands on her shoulders and gave them a firm squeeze. “E-e-eh?” 

“Relax, relax~” Anastasia began to slowly massage her shoulders, then worked her way down her back to her hips and lower to her thighs.

Rasputina felt a tingling shot of pleasure run through her body in response and bit down her lip to stop herself from moaning. She should probably stop Anastasia before she went too far, she thought hazily; yet her body was yearning for more as she felt the princessʼ hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her in close, pressing her taut breasts against her back. 

A mellifluous voice melted in her ear. “Close your eyes...”

She did so without a second thought; suddenly, a weird damp sensation in her right ear made her squirm and pull away in shock. “W-w-wha?”

Anastasia retracted her tongue and giggled, enjoying her bold flirtation with her and the giddy moment afterwards. “Caught you by surprise, didnʼt I?”

“You—” Rasputina cursed silently at herself for falling right into Anastasiaʼs trap. “Oi, donʼt you dare try to run away!”