"Girl, we're not here for fun. We're here to see if you can swim," Auntie Ethel sighed, but upon seeing the best puppy eyes that I could muster, she clicked her tongue and slowly let go of my collar. "Go ahead…" She sighed once again.

"Wait! Young Miss! Please don't dirty those clothes-!"

But it was too late as I was already splashing in the shallow end, which was about up to my chest, but it was still fun to splash around in.

I had never had the chance to experience such a thing in my past life since I was always focused on improving myself and my kingdom… but now that I feel free, doing things like this is amazing.

I could feel the slight hostility between the group slowly melt away as they saw me having fun and eventually decided to jump in… all except for my maid of death, of course, as she kept watch of the only entrance and exit to this place.

…

I blew bubbles into the water as I sat in the lap of my maid of fire. Not only was she surprisingly warm even in this cold water, but she was also very good at giving back scratches.

"Alright, let's get to the real problem," Auntie Ethel cut off the fun, and as I glanced upwards, I saw her wading through the water in order to get to me.

"Just… a few… more minutes," I muttered, so tired that I could barely even keep my eyes open.

"Miss Maid, please stop pampering her. She's going to fall asleep if you keep pampering her like that," Auntie Ethel cut in once again, grabbing my arm and attempting to rip me out of her embrace.

"As of now, I only listen to my Mistress and the Young Miss-"

"It's fine," I sighed, not wanting to brew any more conflict as I was already tired of their constant arguing that nearly brought me to rip my ears off.

Their nagging and such was a bore and annoyance to my ears, but once they got going, I couldn't do anything about it. So, my best bet was to just cut off the annoying bits as soon as it began to grow and reveal themselves.

"Let's get going," I turned to my maid but was quickly sat back down in the shallow end just as Ethel began to open her lips.

"No need to get up as of now… we can practice right here because you're so short," She smiled, clearly intending to annoy me and as I was grabbed by the belly from behind, I felt Athena's cool breath brush against the back of my neck.

"Deep breaths…"

"I-I know how to swim," I muttered, embarrassed, making a red blush travel all the way from my face down to the bottom of my neck.

"Oh really?" Athena's smug voice trailed off before letting me go just as I began to rise into a swimming position. "Then let's see your swimming, and we'll see if it's passable or not."

But just as I began to mimic the moves, I noticed my arms and legs began to flail without going anywhere at all.

I was slowly sinking like a boat filled with water, only to begin drowning not even a few seconds later.

I was just about to use one of my skills to try and save myself but was quickly caught by Athena, who dragged me up and patted my back, forcing me to cough up all the salty water I had nearly inhaled into my lungs.

"It's alright… I'm here," She slowly muttered, but I didn't like being treated like a baby, so I quickly shoved her away from me and went to go and try again. "Alright then… it seems you got it," Athena lightly chuckled before seeing me nearly drown once again.

This time Auntie Ethel helped me up, but just when I tried to start swimming yet again, I found myself unable to move from her grasp.

"Stay," she ordered, and through a few grumbles, I reluctantly agreed as she slowly showed me through the process.

I was a fast learner and immediately got the technique down within under half an hour, but I still found myself struggling when trying to swim downwards.

"Swimming on the surface and swimming up and down within the water are two different things. You want to move like a snake or frog underneath the surface, using slight bits of momentum to quickly push you forward,"

"I-I see…" I muttered before seeing Auntie Ethel move to the deep end and duck under the water, kicking her legs to go downwards.

Her body wriggled like a snake, yet for some reason, she didn't move momentum as she continued through the water.

And as she resurfaced, a halo of bright water surrounded her head, leaving her with a speechless appearance.

"Show off… Sweetie, Auntie Ethel here has skills that allow her to propel her movements forward. So, don't get any weird expectations about anything, 'cause you won't be able to move like that even if you practiced for a thousand years," Athena smiled.

"Can Mother swim?" I turned to my maid of fire, who was quietly waiting in the corner, ready to save me if need be. My maid of ice was doing the same, but she was also having a quiet conversation with my maid of death, who continued to keep a lookout.

"Ummm… I don't think so. During her time, there was no need to swim unless it was for sport. Most underwater places, in fact, are filled with such dangerous sea creatures that even the strongest of dungeon runners struggle with."

My maid of fire didn't look a hundred percent sure, so I took her words with a grain of salt before going to practice yet again.

"Honey, couldn't you just give her-"

Suddenly, Auntie Ethel cut off Athena with a sharp smile, clearly intent on shutting her up, so she kept quiet and helped me with my swimming practice.

I kept this in mind as we practiced, but soon the thought slipped out, and I was just having fun as I began to learn this foreign and new skill.

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