Cheng Xi flinched, instinctively crossing her arms over her chest.
“What are you trying to do!”
Of course, Mary and Mani couldn’t understand human language.
Seeming to sense her fear, Mary spoke as gently as she could.
“Don’t be afraid.
We’re just going to give you a bath.”
“Bath.” They pointed to the bathtub, then to her clothes.
‘They want to give me a bath?’ Cheng Xi more or less understood.
‘Right, a pet you’ve just brought home needs to be cleaned first.
But they’re not going to give me some kind of shot after this, are they?’
Her left shoulder had already been branded with the mark of a pet.
The brand, the size of a baby’s fist, was like a slave’s tattoo.
She had never liked tattoos of any kind, to say nothing of this mark, which was a symbol of her humiliation.
“I’d rather do it myself!” Cheng Xi said, her expression resistant as she dodged their touch, intending to take her clothes off on her own.
‘At least they’re both female.
Otherwise, this would be utterly humiliating!’
She slowly slipped off her dress, revealing a short tank top and panties underneath.
Both of the Lady Rabbits’ eyes went wide.
Their gazes were fixed on her, making Cheng Xi freeze.
She felt uncomfortable all over.
‘We’re all female, do these Aliens have to be so dramatic!’
Turning her back to them, she quickly shed her remaining clothes and stepped into the tub.
The moment she stepped in, the cold water made her gasp.
Cheng Xi sucked in a breath, finding it hard not to complain.
‘Aliens may have tough constitutions and not care about the water temperature, but my body is fragile!
If this keeps up, I’m afraid my healthy body will become chronically cold!’
She couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
‘I’ve already fallen this far.
How long I’ll even survive is an open question, so why am I worrying about trivial things like this?’
Mary and Mani did have some common sense.
They knew that human skin was delicate, so they chose the softest soaps and shampoos, made for infants.
Yes… the kind used for newborn cubs.
With the pair’s ‘enthusiastic’ help, the already clean Cheng Xi was washed until she was fragrant all over.
Afterward, Cheng Xi dried her own hair while waiting for them to bring her new clothes.
But she saw the two Lady Rabbits simply look at each other, not making a move.
Mary said, annoyed, “Oh no.
I forgot to prepare new clothes for the Duke’s human pet.”
Mani asked, “What should we do?
Should we tell Butler Quisen?”
“Yes.
Mani, go ask the Butler.
I’ll get the new pajamas I bought and let the cute human pet wear them for now.
I’ve heard human skin is very delicate; we can’t let her soak so long that she gets waterlogged.”
If anything at all happened to the human pet, they would have no way of answering to the Duke.
Human pets were extremely expensive.
Even if both of them were sold, their combined price wouldn’t be enough to buy a single one.
Cheng Xi had no idea what they were saying.
All she knew was that they handed her a large piece of clothing to put on.
She wasn’t picky about the style, but… ‘What about underwear???’
‘This is kind of revealing!’
“Hey, could you two be a little more thorough? Don’t you think something’s missing?” Cheng Xi asked helplessly, pointing inside her collar to indicate she needed something to wear underneath.
Mary and Mani seemed to understand and offered an explanation.
But since neither side could understand the other, communication was impossible.
They could only guess based on gestures.
Cheng Xi watched them, completely bewildered.
One of them was speaking into a device on her wrist.
‘Maybe she’s reporting to a superior?’
After they finished their discussion, one of the Lady Rabbits suddenly left.
She returned with a soft measuring tape, and then the two of them rudely lifted her clothes and began taking her measurements.
Cheng Xi was speechless.
She couldn’t help but curse them in her mind.
‘They don’t treat me like a person at all!’
She reluctantly complied.
About half an hour after they took her measurements, a pile of gorgeous, beautiful clothes was delivered.
Most of them were various kinds of ornate dresses—the type of princess gowns with layer upon layer of fabric.
If she were a little girl, she would have died of happiness to see so many.
But looking at the pile now, she only felt a faint, dead-inside apathy.
They were gorgeous but impractical.
She couldn’t even be bothered to look at them, simply picking out a set of pajamas.
Ignoring the two Lady Rabbits’ disappointed gazes, she moved on to choose some suitable underwear.
However, when she saw the underwear they had brought, a few cracks appeared in her calm facade.
‘Black, red, blue… Why is it all lace?!’
‘Is this something a proper pet is supposed to wear?!’
Cheng Xi froze.
She had the sudden urge to grab the tank top she’d just taken off and put it back on.
She stood motionless for a long time.
Mary and Mani thought she didn’t know which one to choose, so they enthusiastically picked out their own favorites and held them out to her.
“Wear this one!
It’s pretty~”
“Oh, Mani, that one’s too mature and sexy.
This one is cuter~~” Mary said, picking out a red lace set with a small bow.
That bright color…
Cheng Xi’s eye twitched.
Faced with their ‘eagerly expectant’ gazes, she finally gritted her teeth and chose the black set, which seemed the most conservative.
Since she hadn’t chosen the ones they’d picked out for her, Mary and Mani looked disappointed and dejected again.
“Mary, do you think she doesn’t like us?”
Mary was more understanding.
“It’s normal for a little pet to be wary when she’s suddenly in a new environment.”
“If we play with her more, she’ll naturally warm up to us.”
“That’s true. But she’s just so cute. No wonder the Beast King forbids nobles from keeping human pets of the opposite sex. I’m a female, and even I can barely handle it.” Mani couldn’t get enough of the human pet’s soft, smooth skin.
Even as a female, she couldn’t resist the urge to ravage her.
And she was a female of the Rabbit Clan, the gentlest of all the races, to say nothing of the males.
Mary wasn’t quite so dramatic.
She simply thought humans had evolved to be perfectly beautiful.
“But,” she added, “not all human pets evolved so well. The one the Beast King gave our Duke must be a premium specimen. I’ve seen other members of the Beast Clan show off their human pets online. Only a few are good-looking, and even they aren’t as beautiful as the one from the Beast King.”
Mani was surprised.
“Really? Doesn’t that mean the human pet from the Beast King is even more expensive?”
Mary nodded.
“The cheapest human pets on the market cost over a million Star Coins.
The one from the Beast King must be worth tens of millions, right?
Or even more.”
“Wow!” Mani looked at Cheng Xi, her gaze a mixture of shock and awe.
‘We have to take good care of this human pet.
She’s so expensive.’
Completely unable to understand them, Cheng Xi watched their expressions with utter confusion, entirely unaware that her monetary value in Outer Space had already far exceeded her wildest imagination…
“Oh my, I almost forgot! The human pet hasn’t eaten yet. Mary, you watch her. I’ll go get some food for the human.”
…
「Five minutes later.」
Staring at the bowl of viscous goo in front of her, Cheng Xi took a deep breath, then picked up her spoon and began to eat, one scoop at a time.
She had been eating this stuff for over a month.
Even an idiot could have guessed that this was the pet food the Aliens had specially prepared for humans.