Sitting down, I leaned back, tapping my finger on the desk as I looked at Mavis, who was dealing with the aftereffects of the pain; eventually, she lifted her head, glaring at me as she rose to her feet. "No shouting or yelling? You're not going to threaten me or something?" Raising an eyebrow, I curiously observed Mavis, who continued to silently stare at me, fury and hatred burning within her eyes.
Seeing how she didn't respond, I just shrugged my shoulders, not bothering to push the matter. "I suppose you'd know about the pact best; since you're not attacking me, I'm glad. It means there isn't a loophole or secret to bypass it." Bringing my hands behind my head, I kicked my feet onto the desk, gazing at the ceiling in silence.
Several minutes of pure silence slowly passed as Marston stood quietly in the corner while Mavis glared at me; though, eventually, I opened my mouth to speak. "No questions? Really?" Tilting my head, I glanced at Mavis, who didn't react to my question, causing me to shake my head as I stood up. "I wanted to rub this in, but you're doing a good job at making this unfun for me… Follow me."
Stretching my back, I gestured for Mavis to follow as I left the room, walking through the halls, eventually exiting the mansion into the back courtyard, where I saw Vanye training, looking beautiful as usual. 'Yep, can't wait to eat that.' Licking my lips as I ogled her butt, she must've felt my intense gaze as she looked in my direction, only to roll her eyes when she saw me.
While continuing to ogle Vanye as she trained, I approached one of the maids tending to a small garden. "Excuse me, but can you indoctrinate this woman? She's a new maid." The maid stood up, a bit startled when she laid eyes on me, before nodding while bowing. "Of course, My Lord." Shifting her gaze from me to Mavis, the maid suddenly froze in place, her body trembling as her expression quickly turned terrified.
Clicking my tongue, I narrowed my eyes at Mavis, who suddenly dropped to her knees, shaking terribly while grabbing her head in agonizing pain. "You okay?" Grabbing the maid's shoulder, she broke free from whatever Mavis had done to her. "W-What, I-I'm back?" "You never left." "B-But, the blood, the bodies, t-they surrounded me, y-you–" "Calm your mind, whatever you saw, none of that happened. It was purely in your mind."
Thankfully, I was able to persuade the maid, though it was clear she was still deeply unnerved, which was partly my fault; I shouldn't have expected Mavis to react kindly, or just merely indifferently, to another human. "How about this, take the next few days off? Treat it as a vacation, ordered personally by your Lord." "O-Okay. T-Thank you, My Lord."
Faintly smiling, I shifted my gaze to Mavis, who had experienced that agonizing, soul-deep pain again. "Mavis. You're the lowest one here. Everyone is above you in authority. You'll serve as a maid in my home… Think of it as me repaying the bit of mercy you showed me." To ensure she understood where she now stands, I had her experience that pain for several more seconds, causing her to slam her head repeatedly into the ground until it finally stopped.
"Now follow her." Glaring at Mavis, who stood up, blood leaking from her forehead, as the hatred and fury within her eyes seemed to have multiplied as she stared at me. "Don't treat her special." Patting the maid's shoulder, I stepped back, allowing her to take things from there. "F-Follow me." Suppressing her early emotions, the maid spoke to Mavis before walking off, forcing Mavis to follow as they headed to the servants' housing.
As they walked off, Vanye, who had been training, approached me. "Do you think she'll listen to them?" I raised an eyebrow before nodding. "If she doesn't, she'll experience the pain of her soul being torn, and let me tell you, it's borderline haunting… I'm still terrified of experiencing it again." As I watched Mavis and the maid walk off, I glanced at Vanye before shivering in fear.
"I think you should've killed her." "Maybe. But now we have a chance to have children." I was unable to refute Vanye, so I did the next best thing: I hugged her from behind and rested my chin on her shoulder. "Hmm, have you gotten shorter?" Although briefly, Vanye went stiff before shaking her head. "No, perhaps you got taller?" "I suddenly started to grow again at 32? Yeah, okay, come up with a better lie… What did you do, Vanye?"
Scoffing in amusement, I removed her helmet, revealing her disfigured face as I kissed her cheek while she tried resisting, though after enough kisses, she eventually caved in. "H-How'd you know?" "No one can lie before my eyes. Though even without that, I know you well enough to know when you lie. So, what was it?" "Don't laugh, okay? Y-You have to promise not to laugh." "Okay, I promise."
"I-I asked Kurama to make a potion to reduce my height." Vanye avoided my face as she quietly spoke. "Why? Do you not like your height?" "I-I don't feel w-womanly being the same height as you. I-I want to look up at you, to be embraced by someone bigger, t-to feel protected." With every word Vanye spoke, her voice got quieter, and her face got redder, until she mirrored her hair.
"Is that why?" She didn't verbally respond but just nodded, causing me to use [Expand] on myself, doubling my size. "I could always just do this, you know?" Holding Vanye in my arms, I looked down at her, but she just shook her head. "I-It's not the same." Shrinking back down to normal size, I shrugged my shoulders.
"Alright, well, if that's what you truly want, I won't stop you, but if it helps, I love the height you currently are… Also, out of all the things to ask Kurama, you ask for a height reduction potion and not a potion to heal your disfigured body?" Brushing aside her hair, I rubbed the back of my hand across her face, only for her to shoot me an intense yet embarrassed look.
"ALEX!" "What, I'm just saying, not like I'm wrong." "Y-You! Y-You know I don't like it when people mention it." Heavily blushing, Vanye gripped her sword and pointed it at me, causing me to take several steps back. "Hey, I only said one bad thing; you shouldn't be that mad yet." "But I'm already deeply embarrassed! This is your fault!" "Says the person swinging a sword at me! HELP!" Turning on my heel, I sprinted, running for my life while Vanye chased me.
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A Few Weeks Later
"So, I'm enjoying this, but why?" Glancing down at Chloe, who was lying nude on my desk in the office, food was scattered across her body as I used chopsticks to eat off her. "Jasmine and I made a bet, and I lost… Well, maybe I actually won, hehe." Pouting slightly, Chloe broke into a smile, chuckling slightly as I grabbed a piece of lamb off her breast.
"I love you, Chloe, but you're weird." "Says the person happily eating off my body." Having been caught by Chloe, she flashed me a cheeky smirk, causing me to lean down, licking the juices clean off her breast, making her moan, before I nodded. "Touché." Just as I was about to grab another food from her stomach, the door was suddenly opened as the head maid entered.
"My Lo—" Freezing at the entrance, I looked at the head maid while Chloe stood up, causing the food to fall while she grabbed a towel to cover herself. "Y-You saw nothing!" Shouting, Chloe ran off, exiting my office, while I looked at the head maid, partially annoyed. "Care to explain why you suddenly barged into my office?" "I-I deeply apologize, My Lord. Lady Jasmine asked me to do so."
Hearing her, I softly sighed, my annoyance for her shifting to Jasmine as I waved my hand. "Haa, and I was enjoying myself as well… Anyway, since you're already here, how is that one maid doing?" Promising to deal with Jasmine later, I set my chopsticks down and looked at the head-maid who regained her demeanor of a veteran maid.
"Mavis? She is performing perfectly, I have no complaints about her work ethic, but she is very rude. At first, she mostly ignored us, but now she speaks down to us." She frowned slightly as she approached the desk, carefully avoiding the food.
As I listened to her, I faintly nodded. 'So her anger has cooled off to acceptance? Well, this was about the same time as for me as well.' There was no doubt that Mavis was still furious; as a matter of fact, it's probably only grown more intense, but one can't stay angry forever. She was a dormant volcano. Currently, she's accepted her situation; now she's just biding her time, waiting to one day escape from my clutches, just like I'd done.
"Good. Treat her no differently. Punish her if need be. I do not care." She nodded, bowing slightly in response. "Understood, My Lord." Without another word, she walked off, exiting from my office, leaving me alone as I leaned back. "Haa, I would've liked to finish that food."