The woman with glasses stopped a step away from the bed. She made no bow to the floor, even though she was dealing with the Royal Pet of the Demon Queen - her position at court clearly meant she owed reverence to no one other than the Demon Queen Herself.
Instead, she offered a slight, perfectly executed nod.
“Cordelia Nocturne. Head Maid of the Royal Household and chief administrator of Her Majesty’s private wing.”
From behind her pillow, Lily blinked in surprise.
“Head Maid?”
“All maids within this palace fall under my direct jurisdiction,” Cordelia replied smoothly.
In that exact fraction of a second, Vespera’s earlier confession flashed through Lily’s mind:
I planned to play with you for about an hour, and then hand you over as a reward to my newly appointed Elite Maids so they could play with you...
Oh fuck... ran through her mind, accompanied by a massive cold shiver.
Involuntarily trying to save her skin and ward off any threat from the head of the house staff, Lily automatically tensed her ear muscles, folding them slightly, her eyes sparkling with a helpless, pleading luster granted by her perk.
“N-Nice to meet you...” she squeaked in the sweetest tone she could muster.
Cordelia looked down at her, tilting her head slightly as she adjusted the position of her glasses on her nose.
“Please do not use that on me.”
“Use what?” Lily blinked.
“Puppy Eyes,” the Head Maid replied without a shred of emotion.
Lily: “...”
The girl swallowed hard, staring at her in stunned silence.
Alright... This woman is definitely no idiot.
She knows my System skills and even knows when I'm using them.
Cordelia ignored her bewilderment without a word and stepped up to the edge of the bed, placing a neatly pressed, folded set of clothes upon it.
Lily peeked out nervously from behind her pillow shield. She stared at the black fabric for a moment, silent as a stone.
It was no cheap costume - it was visibly crafted with unbelievable precision: an exquisite, demonic-royal bunny suit.
The upper portion consisted of matte black velvet combined with smooth satin, featuring a sharply defined, corset-style waist boned with stays and accented by subtle silver embroidery along the edges.
At collarbone height, a small, intricate crest of the Demon Queen’s castle was embroidered. Accompanying it was a stiff, white collar with a small black bow at the center, white wrist cuffs, black sheer stockings reaching mid-thigh, and elegant black ankle boots set on a modest, stable heel.
At the back of the one-piece outfit was a neatly sewn, small opening cut perfectly for her real, fluffy bunny tail.
Lily stared at the set in complete silence.
“...”
Cordelia waited patiently as well, her arms folded over her stomach.
“No,” Lily finally blurted out flatly.
“Pardon?” The maid raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not wearing that.”
“Understood.” Cordelia nodded calmly.
Lily’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“Really?! Just like that?!”
“Naturally,” Cordelia replied coldly, reaching her hands toward the folded outfit.
“I shall inform Her Majesty that you refused to carry out her direct order regarding your attire.”
Lily’s pure pragmatism and survival instincts went into overdrive. The girl immediately threw her pillow aside and lunged her hands toward the outfit.
“PLEASE WAIT! I’ll wear it! I didn't say I was refusing completely!”
Cordelia stayed her hands, gazing down at the girl standing before her.
Suddenly, her burgundy eyes lowered.
She looked at the folded costume, then at Lily’s exposed, exceptionally wide hips, then back at the clothing... and once more at her thick, heavy thighs, which created a drastic contrast with her tiny waist.
A long, intensely heavy silence fell.
“Lady Lily,” she finally spoke up.
“Y-Yes?”
“Did your silhouette look like this fifty minutes ago?”
Forgetting her embarrassment for a moment, Lily puffed out her small chest proudly and tapped it with a little fist.
“No! I upgraded it myself!” she replied briskly, mentally pointing to her new perk, Heavy Hips, which granted her a whole +10 STR and +10 END.
She expected an admiring “Incredible!” at the very least but Cordelia looked at her silently for a moment.
“I see.”
She then looked down at the prepared set once more.
“In that case, this outfit no longer fits you.”
“...What?”
“Her Majesty provided me with your measurements from fifty-two minutes ago,” Cordelia explained dryly, staring at her sweeping buttocks.
“They are currently completely obsolete.”
Shame returned with redoubled force. Without unnecessary words, Cordelia reached into a small pocket at her belt and pulled out a flexible tailor’s tape measure.
“Please stand up straight.”
“Right now?!”
“Yes.”
“But I’m naked!”
Cordelia looked at her from behind her glasses without batting an eye.
“I noticed.”
Lily: “...”
“Please extend your arms to the sides,” the Head Maid commanded efficiently.
Lily stood on the carpet, burning so intensely that her ears turned a deep burgundy.
Cordelia stepped up to her and, with absolute, professional indifference, began applying the tape measure to various spots: measuring shoulder width, chest circumference, her narrow waist, hip depth, thigh thickness, and total height.
There wasn't an ounce of sexual undertone in her demeanor - she acted exactly as though she were measuring newly purchased drapes for a ballroom, which made it all the more absurd and embarrassing for Lily.
When the tape wrapped around her new, thick hips, Cordelia paused.
“One hundred and six centimeters,” she read aloud.
She applied the tape once more, double-checking.
“Exactly one hundred and six.”
She looked down at the delicate upper half of Lily’s body from above.
“Interesting.”
“WHAT IS INTERESTING?!” Lily blurted out in panic.
“The disproportion,” Cordelia replied dryly.
“Please don't call it that! I couldn't help it - I had to widen my hips to get 20 stat points!” Lily said, embarrassed as she tried to stand still.
Her petite body began to tremble slightly from the cool draft in the chamber and extreme stress.
Cordelia noticed the trembling in a fraction of a second. Without a single comment or jab, she turned around, snatched a thick, soft blanket resting over the back of an armchair, and draped it over the girl's shoulders with a swift motion, wrapping her up tightly.
Lily froze in surprise, pulling the blanket up under her chin.
“Oh...”
“There is no need to freeze simply because Her Majesty possesses an extraordinarily peculiar sense of humor,” Cordelia offered humbly, taking off her glasses and wiping them with a cloth.
Lily felt a tiny spark of hope ignite in her head.
Wait...
Did this woman just criticize the Demon Queen’s behavior?!
She doesn't view everything Vespera does as sacred!
I have someone normal here!
Taking advantage of the moment while Cordelia adjusted something on her tape and scribbled a short note on a magical scrap of paper, Lily tried to gently test the waters:
“Lady Cordelia...?”
“Yes?”
“Is... is Mistress Vespera always... like this?”
“Please specify the term 'like this,'” the maid replied without even looking up.
Lily began frantically counting on her fingers emerging from the blanket:
“Brazen. Perverted. Extremely capricious. Arrogant. Pushy... And she just does absolutely whatever pops into her head without considering anyone else!”
Cordelia remained silent for a long moment. Lily fell into a sudden panic that she had gone too far and was about to be punished for insulting the ruler.
“N-Not that I want to insult my Mistress!” she added quickly in fear.
Cordelia placed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and looked at her coldly.
“Your description is, in essence, entirely accurate.”
Lily: “...”
“And... and you really serve her?” she blurted out, stunned.
“For two hundred and thirty-seven years.”
“VOLUNTARILY?!”
Cordelia adjusted her white glove at her wrist.
“For the majority of that period.”
For the majority?! Lily repeated frantically in her head.
But before she could ask another question, the maid skillfully changed the topic, reaching for the outfit lying on the bed.
Cordelia placed her hand on the velvet fabric of the corset. The silver threads of embroidery suddenly flared with a soft, purple light, and small black runes began shifting along the seams.
The material stretched and reshaped itself, expanding the indentation at the hips and the lower portion of the suit precisely to the one hundred and six centimeters read moments ago.
“Her Majesty instructed that it be made strictly according to your earlier measurements,” Cordelia muttered with quiet rebuke in her voice, visibly annoyed at having to alter the work over her sovereign’s whim.
“Did... did Mistress select it personally?” Lily asked, pointing to the outfit before her.
“Personally,” Cordelia answered shortly, lifting the modified set.
“Please drop the blanket. I shall assist you in dressing.”
The dressing process was a pure demonstration of professionalism, though for Lily it proved to be a chaotic ordeal.
She kept losing herself in the stockings, the clasps of the corset stays, and fitting her fluffy tail through the cutout in the back.
Yet Cordelia aided her with the attire, doing it all rapidly and without fuss.
The problem arose only when the maid’s hands had to shift the girl's thick, pale hair to clasp the stiff collar with the bow, accidentally brushing against her long, fluffy bunny ear.
“Ahn~ !” A loud, deeply delicious, submissive groan tore from Lily’s chest, making the entire chamber spin.
Cordelia froze instantly. Her hand hovered in midair as she looked down at the girl's face - flushed deep purple with shame as she covered her mouth with her hands, burning with embarrassment.
“They’re... v-very sensitive...” Lily forced out, startled.
“I noticed,” Cordelia replied calmly.
And from that moment until the last fastener was secured, her hands bypassed the girl's ears with surgical precision, never touching them once without a prior, quiet warning.
The difference in approach was monumental - Vespera did whatever she pleased, treating her like a toy, while Cordelia respected her boundaries wherever they did not conflict with her official duties.
When the final hook was fastened, the Head Maid took Lily by the shoulders and turned her toward a massive, floor-to-ceiling mirror framed in gold.
Lily saw the full, breathtaking effect of her new appearance for the first time.
Standing before the mirror was a petite, impossibly sweet bunny girl with soft, snow-white hair and large, fluffy ears.
Her delicate shoulders and tiny waist were nipped into an elegant, corset-style bunny suit with silver embroidery, from which emerged her new, unbelievably wide, luscious hips and thick thighs encased in black, sheer stockings.
A small black bow adorned her neck, and from the back of the outfit protruded a fluffy, white tail.
Lily stared at her reflection in absolute, prolonged silence.
“I... I really look like someone’s fucking bunny...” she finally managed softly.
“Technically speaking... that is precisely what you are,” Cordelia replied unperturbed, standing right behind her.
“Cordelia!” Lily sniffled.
For the first time, a microscopic, nearly imperceptible movement appeared on the sterile, cold maid’s face - the corner of her mouth twitched slightly upward in a first, near-smile.
But Lily failed to notice it, consumed by her reflection in the mirror.
Before leaving, Cordelia reached into her pocket once more and pulled out a black velvet choker featuring a small, gilded plaque.
“Another thing?!” Lily groaned in worry.
The maid swiftly fastened it around her neck.
“This emblem designates the Royal Pet of the Demon Queen,” she explained in a cool, serious tone.
“It informs every inhabitant of the palace that you remain under Her Majesty’s direct, personal protection.”
Lily stopped joking and her ears twitched slightly.
“Protection...?”
“No one in this castle possesses the right to touch you, harm you, or give you orders without the express consent of the Queen,” Cordelia replied, straightening up.
That revelation hit Lily with immense force.
She realized that Vespera’s declaration - You’re mine - wasn't merely a filthy mockery; it carried firm, real legal and political weight in this world.
Cordelia approached the grand doors, but before laying her hand on the knob, she turned around and looked at her with absolute gravity.
“Lady Lily. There are currently several thousand demons of various ranks and origins within the palace. Not all will be pleased with the fact that Her Majesty brought an unknown entity into her private chambers and placed her as her personal pet.”
Lily went rigid.
“So... someone might want to hurt me?”
“No,” the maid replied flatly. Then she added with a cold pause: “Unless they prove to be exceptionally stupid.”
Lily exhaled a gust of air from her lungs, looking at the woman's posture.
“Lady Cordelia...?”
“Yes?”
“You’re probably the first completely normal and rational person I’ve met in this world.”
Though so far I’ve seen a grand total of two, and beating the Demon Queen isn't saying much.
Cordelia paused her hand on the doorknob. She turned her head and looked at her from behind her glasses.
“Please never repeat that to Her Majesty.”
Lily offered a soft smile.
“I promise.”
“I would not trust your promises after a single conversation,” the maid replied dryly.
“Ouch...” Lily mumbled, though a first wave of fondness for this strict administrator surged within her.
Cordelia pushed the heavy oak doors open.
For the first time, the gigantic, majestic corridor of the Demon Queen’s palace unfolded before Lily’s eyes. Rows of guards armed to the teeth lined the walls, while groups of maids and other female demons passed by.
Lily took her first step onto the marble floor. The silver chimes on her heels rang out, and hundreds of red, demonic eyes pivoted straight toward her in a fraction of a second.
Only now, under the barrage of so many stares, did it fully sink in that she was walking through a palace in a skimpily cut royal bunny suit with exposed thighs and a fluffy tail.
Her ears slowly, frantically drooped over her face.
“Cordelia...”
“Yes?”
“Everyone is looking at me.”
“Indeed.”
“Can we go back to the room?”
“No.”
“Can I at least get a cloak?!”
“No.”
“Why?!” Lily squeaked in desperation.
Cordelia moved forward with a straight spine, tossing out coldly over her shoulder:
“Her Majesty explicitly forbade it.”
VESPERAAAAA! Lily wailed frantically in her mind, taking hesitant steps on her heels as she embarked on her first official stroll through the demonic castle.