What... is this...?
"Ugh... what... how did... ah."
Yuna, who had fainted at the sight of Cheon Seong's body, woke and looked around, trying to figure out why she had suddenly collapsed. The vivid feel of the blanket against her skin made her realize exactly how she had fainted. She covered her face and let out a soft, whimpering sound.
"D-Did I... with Seong... that... ugh!"
The image of herself undressed and Seong lying beside her with his top off—so close that their faces would touch if she leaned even a little—rose unbidden in her mind, and her thoughts slid straight into something filthy...
"Hup! Get a grip, Lee Yuna!"
She slapped her own cheeks hard, trying to snap herself out of it, but the moment she had imagined even a little, it was already hopeless.
Clothed, Seong looked almost skinny, yet bare he was packed with tight, rock-hard muscle that looked so good she wanted to touch it, to be held by it. Those thoughts flooded her head completely.
N-No... I shouldn't think about that...
She kept telling herself it was wrong, but her true feelings ran in the opposite direction. She pictured herself in Seong's arms—arms she had never even seen, arms she wasn't sure existed—pressing their bodies together and moving—
"Aaaaah! No no no!!"
She chanted the denial out loud over and over, but when it did no good she kept slapping her cheeks until the fantasy finally stopped. After about the tenth slap her face was red and puffy. She used her unique recovery ability on her burning cheeks, then—half regretful, half relieved that the images had finally ceased—looked around the room. Clothes lay by the pillow, and floating in the air was writing formed of pure mana. Her eyes went round. She scrambled to dress.
"Aaaaah, Unnie, that is so unfair!!"
Complaining to the absent Beatrice, she finished pulling on her clothes and stepped out of the room—only to be met by a single sentence hanging in the air.
If you do not come quickly, this lady shall enjoy him alone. When you wake, come to the next room.
The archaic phrasing alone made the writer obvious.
Seong, who had been lying beside her, was gone. The only person besides Seong and little Hana who could write with mana like that was one woman.
Click!
"Unnie! That is so mean!"
"Hmm~? You arrived sooner than this lady expected."
Beatrice—the woman Yuna was jealous of, and yet the one who had, in a way, brought her and Seong together—had Seong reclining on her lap and was gently stroking his hair...
"Se...ong? Why are you like that?"
"...Please... please don't ask."
Seong receiving a lap pillow from Beatrice was nothing new; Yuna herself had done the same for him many times. That part was fine. The problem was what he was wearing.
An outfit Seong would never put on even if he died—something most men would refuse on principle—was currently on his body.
"Un...nie? What is this...?"
"Can you not tell by looking?"
"I know what it is... that's exactly why it's a problem."
Normally the lap pillow alone would have sparked jealousy, but this time the shock was so complete that even jealousy was forgotten.
A maid outfit.
The classic maid dress was what Seong, currently enjoying Beatrice's lap pillow, was wearing.
A choker with a little bell sat around his neck. Garter belts. And looking closer, animal ears on his head.
Except for men with very particular tastes, no man would ever willingly wear a maid outfit. Yet here was Seong, fully equipped with choker, garters, and animal ears. Yuna rubbed her eyes hard, slapped her cheeks again, but nothing changed.
"Well? Is he not cute?"
"I mean... he is, but why is Seong suddenly wearing a maid outfit?"
If she knew Seong at all, he hated even slightly restrictive clothes. A maid outfit that was both uncomfortable and something he would instinctively refuse was completely beyond her understanding.
No matter how hard she thought, she could not figure out why he was dressed like this.
"It is nothing of great import. Seong, your..."
"S-Stop! Stop it, Beatrice!"
Seong shot upright and clamped a hand over her mouth before she could finish. Beatrice looked thoroughly displeased, peeled his hand away with casual strength, and pinched his cheek.
Stretch—
"You ought to address this lady differently, should you not?"
"Even so, saying that in front of Yuna—!"
"Last night, Seong..."
"I-I understand, Master!"
Forced to speak the words he desperately did not want Yuna to hear, Seong's face went scarlet. Beatrice found the sight so adorable that she pinched and released his cheeks over and over like clay.
No matter how hard she pinched, it never used to hurt... or so Seong thought. This time it hurt.
Not his skin—his heart. The pride he believed he had long since discarded was aching fiercely.
Wearing a maid outfit in front of the two women he loved was already mortifying enough to kill him. Calling her Master on top of that... he wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and never come out.
"M-Master?"
"Do not simply stand there. Come here at once."
When Seong called Beatrice "Master," Yuna's mouth fell open. Beatrice beckoned her over with a lazy wave of the hand. Yuna nodded without a word, sat beside Seong, and looked at the man who seemed ready to die of shame.
She reached out and gently stroked his burning-hot face.
"Seong. Right now you look incredibly cute."
Even if he looked thin when dressed, Seong was not a small man by any measure of height or frame.
A large adult male in a maid outfit ought to look awkward and strange in places, and Seong was no exception... yet that was only true in strangers' eyes. To his lover Yuna, he was simply cute.
Hearing her call him cute in the maid outfit, Seong finally understood what it felt like when the two of them said the same about him—and why they had always averted their eyes and blushed so hard.
It wasn't that he had never heard it... but before the regression, instead of "cute" he had constantly been called scary, fierce, ghost-like, or "what kind of ghoul are you?" After regressing, the sheer number of times he had been called cute was almost suspiciously high.
Even the first time he had shared skinship with Beatrice and Yuna he had felt a little embarrassed, but compared to this it was nothing.
The shame of wearing a full maid outfit complete with animal ears while receiving a lap pillow from both of the women he loved was beyond any words he possessed.
He would rather walk outside like this, clear a dungeon, or stroll through a crowded downtown. That would be less humiliating.
Other people's opinions had never mattered to him; he could simply ignore them.
But these two occupied an enormous place inside him. They were the lovers he loved.
He truly did not want to do this... yet if it was something he could do for them, he wanted to do anything for the women he loved.
The women he must protect no matter what—that was Yuna and Beatrice.
Receiving a lap pillow from his lover while fully armed in a maid outfit would not leave any photographic evidence—
Click!
Now it had become photographic evidence...
Click! Click! Click!
Yuna held up her phone and snapped pictures from every angle, squealing "Kyaa kyaa so cute!" Beatrice stroked him the way one pets a cat.
Watching the two of them continue to enjoy themselves so openly, the embarrassment began to give way to a quiet satisfaction.
Just taking these photos was enough to make Yuna and Beatrice happy.
No matter how mortifying the outfit was, he could wear it again and again if it made them smile like this.
That was how precious they were to him. That was how much he loved them. So it was all right.
He wanted to repay the love they had given him. If that repayment meant wearing a maid outfit and letting them take hundreds of photos, he would do it. Their love for him was so overwhelming it felt undeserved.
The hearts of the two women who loved him even when he was stained with blood and filth were vast beyond measure.
That love... was so great that even a lifetime of repayment would never be enough.
They probably had no idea how much comfort he drew from the love they gave him.
That even if he turned the entire world into his enemy, he could still fight for them.
. . . . . .
The reason I ended up in the maid outfit was simple: Beatrice told me to put it on.
Click.
Beatrice carried me into the room over her shoulder and set me down.
"What is all this...?"
It was a room in my own house that I alone had never been allowed to see. It was packed with clothes.
If they had been ordinary clothes I would not have been flustered. The problem was that every single garment was anything but ordinary.
Cosplay outfits.
Costumes for imitating fictional characters and figures filled the entire space.
"Come. Choose one."
"Um, Beatrice...? When you say choose...?"
She smiled and pointed at the mountain of cosplay outfits piled behind her and stuffed into the wardrobe.
"What else would it be? Naturally, choose the clothes you will wear."
"You're seriously telling me to put one of those on? For real? No. Absolutely not."
When was the last time I had ever defied Beatrice? Had I ever defied her at all? For the first time I had no choice but to refuse.
Because...
"At least let me pick from the men's costumes!"
Every single cosplay outfit she indicated was women's wear.
If they had been men's costumes I could have gritted my teeth and worn one. Even if not often, maybe once a week.
But women's cosplay was simply too much.
Maid outfits, sailor uniforms of the Japanese schoolgirl variety, and pieces with so little fabric that the maid dress looked modest by comparison.
Some even came with garter belts and animal-ear headbands. Cosplayers would have lost their minds.
"My dear. When this lady approached you in that manner you rejected and pushed her away, yet you truly seemed to enjoy Yuna."
No matter what I said, there was no real choice.
"This lady is merciful, and so she shall grant you a choice. Either confess to Yuna exactly what you did last night while holding her, or wear one of these. Choose."
"...I'll wear it."
Between telling Yuna the truth and putting on cosplay, the only option I could take was the second. I chose the maid outfit, which at least had relatively more fabric.
"But Beatrice? None of these even fit me—"
Snap.
She adjusted the size with magic, then methodically fitted me with the cat-ear headband, the bell choker, and the garter belts. Looking thoroughly satisfied, she delivered the final demand that finished me off completely.
"As punishment for making this lady jealous, you shall wear the maid outfit for the entire day and address this lady as 'Master'."
"...Yes, Master."
Past resignation, past hollowness, feeling as though his soul were leaving his body, Cheon Seong simply agreed. Beatrice considered for a moment, then leaned in and whispered something.
Seong's eyes went wide. He looked at her as if asking whether she was serious. Beatrice's face flushed and she nodded.
Even with the tempting condition attached, the maid outfit was still a high hurdle for a first attempt. Still, thanks to Beatrice he found just enough courage to put it on.
And so, having donned the maid outfit with future plans in mind, I was now receiving a lap pillow from Yuna.
If Beatrice was healthy, elastic softness, Yuna was cozy warmth that wrapped around me completely—the kind of softness people call a mother's embrace.
And beyond that...
Squish.
Softness like Yuna's, warm and yielding, pressing against my face.
Marveling at the sheer adaptability of the human mind that had already grown used to the maid outfit, I simply enjoyed Yuna's coziness and sent a quiet telepathic message to the Beatrice watching us.
I'm looking forward to it, Beatrice.
She gave no reply, yet somehow I knew exactly what state she was in.
Even Beatrice could feel embarrassment.
"So I want to live here with you too, Seong... is that okay?"
Yuna, who had previously refused to move in, calmly explained why she had said no and then asked if she could live with him after all.
"Of course, Yuna. I'll help you move your things tomorrow."
She felt how genuinely happy he was at the idea. She climbed on top of him, cupped his face, and kissed him deeply.
Smooch—!
Seong wrapped his arms around her slender waist and savored the kiss. Watching from the side, Beatrice remarked:
"If only the clothes you are wearing were normal, this would have been truly romantic. What a pity."
Even as she said it, her eyes still found the scene romantic. Seong knew it was merely cute revenge for the telepathy he had sent earlier, so he only found her adorable.
I'm looking forward to it.
"Ugh...!"
One telepathic line was enough to land a clean counter. Beatrice turned her face away from Seong's mischievous grin.
Perhaps jealous of the way Seong was looking at Beatrice so fondly, Yuna narrowed her eyes. Without breaking the kiss she guided his hand onto her full chest and made him squeeze.
Seong flinched at the sudden supreme softness, then accepted it. Yuna smiled in satisfaction.
"...."
Yuna was not the only one feeling jealous.
Beatrice's blush lasted only a moment. Unwilling to lose to Yuna's bold move, she slid closer, pulled one of Seong's hands free, and pressed it firmly against her own chest.
Yuna's softness was like the richest whipped cream; Beatrice's was like pudding—springy yet yielding. The two different, exquisite sensations in his hands made Seong try to pull away in flustered panic, but neither woman would allow it.
They held his hands even more firmly in place, forcing him to keep squeezing, until the softness filled every space between his fingers.
Pwah.
Yuna finally broke the kiss. As if she had been waiting for exactly that moment, Beatrice claimed his mouth at once.
While Beatrice kissed him, Yuna pushed his clothes aside and left her mark on the inviting line of his collarbone. Caught between the two suddenly aggressive women, Seong was like a butterfly trapped in a spider's web—unable even to struggle, slowly being consumed by the spiders named Yuna and Beatrice.
It was clearly a situation of pure reward for him, yet what he felt was unexpected embarrassment.
Their sheer aggressiveness made him feel more shame than he had when he first put on the maid outfit.
Click.
"Daddy~ Hana's bore—"
That embarrassment instantly doubled the moment Hana walked into the room.
"H-Hana?"
Even Beatrice, who had summoned Seong here in the first place, had not seen this coming.