“I shall return anon! And there had best be curry when I do!”
“Do you never get sick of curry?”
“I could eat curry thrice daily and never tire of it, not once!”
“Oi oi… you would ABSOLUTELY tire of it.”
“NEVER! Not in ten thousand years!”
“Fine — I’ll feed you regular curry a few more times, and once the timing feels right, I’ll make you curry hot pot. Which means I’d better start growing napa cabbage and green onion…”
“Ho? CURRY HOT POT, sayest thou?!”
After that exchange, Cornelia went home — and at dusk—
While Ouroboros was cleaning the cabin, a cyclops came calling.
Cyclopes can’t speak, but by the letter it carried, it was a courier from Cornelia.
Along with the letter, it presented a parcel; the moment I accepted, the cyclops bowed and departed.
—So. The parcel… contained a maid uniform.
“A delivery from Lady Cornelia?”
“Yeah, but it’s a maid uniform.”
Apparently grasping Cornelia’s intent immediately, Ouroboros took the parcel and vanished toward the storehouse.
Minutes later, Ouroboros returned to the cabin, fully changed into the maid uniform.
“How does it… look? Master?”
“Well — it suits you, I’ll give it that.”
Maybe it’s the change of clothes, but the nightlife-hostess aura from earlier has mostly evaporated.
Actually — she’s a straightforward beauty, to the point I nearly caught myself staring.
Then Ouroboros pinched the hem of her skirt daintily in both hands and dipped it upward, just slightly.
“I am in your care from this day forward, Master. If anything is unsatisfactory, you need only say the word.”
And she bowed, holding the pose.
Whoa. That is an IMPRESSIVELY maid-like maneuver.
“You know you don’t have to do any of this if you hate it, right?”
“It is Lady Cornelia’s instruction, and… at the Demon Lord’s manor, attending to Lady Cornelia’s personal needs was already my duty as her aide. I beg of you — please allow me to remain here.”
“I mean, if you WANT to stay, I’m not going to stop you…”
Then, with a light flush crossing her cheeks, Ouroboros asked:
“You’ve seen how I normally dress, but—”
Ah, right. The usual outfit. Chest half-out. Full hostess-bar regalia.
“—in truth, I have no experience.”
“Experience?”
What is this woman talking about?
I tilted my head.
“That is — tonight I must share your bedchamber, so… this fact needed disclosing up front, or complications would arise.”
”…Wait. Meaning what?”
Ouroboros’s face went scarlet, knees pressing together, fidgeting.
“My resolve is already set.”
Oi oi, seriously…
”…Cornelia’s orders didn’t go THAT far, surely?”
“No,” Ouroboros said, shaking her head.
“I am a woman, first. Even for Lady Cornelia… I would never do such a thing on ORDERS.”
“Then…?”
“You are someone Lady Cornelia declared precious beyond measure. And — I failed to sense it before, but you carry a power beyond all reckoning. As my second liege… I have judged you worthy of everything I am. That is my own conclusion.”
“No, but, see…”
And there, Ouroboros turned her glistening, pleading, upturned eyes on me.
—She is, and I cannot stress this enough, devastatingly alluring.
Not the cute genre like Sonya. Not sexy dynamite like Maria.
Slighter of chest, with that faint shadow about her… if “bewitching” fits any woman alive, it’s this one.
“—Am I… unwanted?”
To which I answered with my most honest feelings:
“I don’t hate this at all.”
And so, one way or another, our cabin gained — yet again — one more housemate.