Woof woof….
Woof woof....
"Saint-nim."
"What is it?"
"Please leave."
"I don't want to."
"I need to change my clothes."
"That is why I am watching."
Aargh, seriously.
Elisia answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And as if closing the open room door was not enough, she went ahead and locked it.
"Saint-nim."
"What?"
"Why are you locking the door?"
"Because you might run away."
"Do I look like someone who would run away just because she doesn't want to wear a dress?"
"Yes."
I can't even refute that.
It's embarrassing, after all.
I was finally starting to clearly realize that this body was my own.
Yet my mind was still predominantly male.
Had Elisia learned to read my way of thinking just as well as I had gotten to know her?
Elisia stepped right up to me and placed both of her hands on my waist.
Her slender fingers slowly traced along my waistline over the black uniform.
"Take it off."
"That order sounds rather strange."
"You have to take it off to change your clothes, don't you?"
"That is why I will take it off myself. I will hurry up, get dressed, and come out."
"I told you I don't want to."
Her blue eyes narrowed.
She looked poised to rip my uniform off if I told her to leave one more time.
No, it wasn't just a look; I could see her fingers clutching my uniform gradually tightening with force.
If I pushed back just once more, she would probably rip it to shreds on the spot.
I let out a short sigh and placed my hand on the uniform's buttons.
To deal with a mad dog, you have to be just as crazy.
If I let on that I was embarrassed and kept stubbornly resisting, she would only get more excited.
After all, seeing me experience those very emotions was part of what Elisia wanted.
In that case, all I had to do was act completely unfazed.
Fortunately, I had practically become a master at doing just that.
Looking Elisia straight in the eye, I unbuttoned the buttons one by one.
"Did you want to see my body that badly?"
"Who said I wanted to see it?"
"Then please leave."
"No."
"As I thought, you did want to see it."
"Shut up."
Teasing Elisia with my words, I slipped the uniform off below my shoulders.
She was still nowhere near good enough to beat me in a battle of words.
There was no way Elisia could defeat someone with my experience in modern internet keyboard battles.
Meanwhile, the smooth black fabric slid down my arms and fell to the floor.
Left in only the thin undershirt worn beneath, my voluminous black hair tumbled down over my shoulders and chest.
Quite some time had passed since I ended up in a woman's body, but undressing in front of someone else was something I just couldn't get used to.
No, this was a sensation one could never get used to.
And all the more so when the other person was Elisia.
Why else would I stick beside this troublesome brat of a Saint instead of other kind and gentle Saints?
It's because I fell for her at first sight.
Elisia stared intently at my body with her silvery-white hair trailing down past her waist.
The pure-white banquet dress she wore exposed her smooth shoulders and collarbones, while the tailored fabric elegantly embraced her voluptuous chest and slender waist.
She was beautiful.
"Hurry up and take off the shirt too."
"I can take it off on my own."
"You're too slow."
Saying so, Elisia smacked my hand away and began undoing the buttons herself.
And that was despite there still being well over three hours left until the banquet.
Every time Elisia's fingertips brushed past my chest while undoing the buttons, the skin beneath my shirt trembled faintly.
I did my best to maintain an indifferent expression.
"Stay still."
I chose silence instead of an answer.
I also had nothing to say.
I was flinching because her touch was embarrassing, so what could I even say?
As if displeased by my silence, Elisia simply yanked hard on one of the buttons.
Tuduk.
The button fell to the floor.
Without a word, I looked back and forth between the torn thread and Elisia.
"I'm deducting this from Saint-nim's personal funds."
"Over a measly single button?"
"It is my shirt."
"I can just buy you a new one, can't I?"
Elisia answered nonchalantly and proceeded to rip all the remaining buttons right off.
With all its buttons torn off, the slightly ragged shirt fell open on both sides, revealing my undergarments, the cleavage beneath, my smooth abdomen, and slender waistline.
Elisia's gaze slowly drifted downward.
From my face to my neck, from my neck to my chest, and down to my waist and pelvis.
Her eyes held not the slightest hesitation.
Feeling like I might get shaken up, I decided to take the initiative with confidence instead.
Casting off the tattered shirt and wearing only undergarments on my upper body, I proudly puffed out my chest.
"Take a good look to your heart's content."
At my words, Elisia made a repulsed face, stripped off my skirt as well, and began dressing me in the gown.
Having made quite a bold resolution myself, I suppressed my shame and awkwardly waited while she dressed me.
The dress clung tightly to the body from the chest down to the waist, before billowing out voluminously below the pelvis.
Wearing clothes of a design I had never worn before in my entire life felt a bit awkward.
"Raise your arms."
"What are you trying to do this time?"
"Adjust it."
"Isn't this finished?"
"Not yet."
Elisia moved behind me.
Then she slipped her hands into the inside of the dress.
When her hands, both warm yet cool, touched my bare skin, I gritted my teeth and held back my body from shivering slightly.
Thank goodness Elisia was not in front of me.
"I don't know how you ever became my adjutant when you don't even know basic things like this."
The hands that slipped inside the dress smoothed out the fabric along my flanks.
Every time her fingers brushed beneath my breasts and against my waist, the sensation was transmitted vividly.
I desperately kept my eyes fixed solely on the mirror in front of me.
Reflected in the mirror stood a beautiful woman with long black hair and golden eyes.
Except for the fitting, this was the first time I was wearing this black dress, and it suited me quite well.
Splendid golden embroidery spread along the shoulders and neckline, and the skirt flared out beneath the waist as if darkness were rippling.
Belatedly, I realized that I was actually quite pretty.
"Don't we match quite well? Black and silver."
Silver and black.
A Saint as pure white and dazzling as snow, and an adjutant as dark and gorgeous as the night.
Standing side by side in the mirror, we looked like a picture intentionally paired together.
Regardless of what I said or did, Elisia took hold of the dress's waist ribbon and spoke.
"I'm going to tighten it."
"Keep it moderate."
"I know."
Jjuuk.
"Ugh."
The waist of the dress cinched tight in an instant.
My chest was pushed upward, and my waist became so slender that it seemed one could wrap a single hand around it.
The problem was that this was my first time wearing such a constricting dress, and I could barely breathe.
"Saint-nim."
"What?"
"Loosen it, please."
"No."
"I can't breathe."
"You're exaggerating. I tightened it less than what was done to me."
If you put it like that, I have nothing to say, but...
Still, this is seriously hard to bear...!
Elisia looked at me in that state and smiled sweetly.
While feeling an inexplicable sense of dread, I waited for now.
"Do you want me to loosen it?"
"Yes."
"Then bark like a dog. With that cheeky mouth of yours. Ah, make it cute, okay?"
"...."
Ah, seriously.
I stared intently at Elisia, who was smiling as if thoroughly amused.
My look asked if she was serious.
And naturally, her answer was singular.
"Aren't you going to do it?"
"I'll do it...."
I shall definitely have my revenge for this humiliation.
Gritting my teeth, I opened my trembling mouth.
Then, an exceedingly faint and timid-sounding noise leaked out.
"Wang-wang...."
"Good girl. Our Rhea did splendidly."
Only then did the ribbon loosen slightly.
"Is this much enough?"
"...Yes."
Only now did air finally fill my lungs.
With a flushed face, I took a deep breath.
Watching me do so, Elisia wrapped both hands around my waist.
Her slender fingers moved slowly along the narrowed curve.
"This much is pretty too."
"Me?"
"The dress."
Elisia turned my body around so that I was facing her.
Her fair, beautiful face drew close.
Her blue eyes examined my collarbones and chest exposed along the neckline of the dress.
Soon, her brow furrowed slightly.
"It's cut too low."
"You were the one who chose it, Saint-nim."
"I didn't know it would be this much when worn."
"Whatever. Wear this only this once and never wear it again."
"Understood."
I don't want to either.
If I wear this, I feel like I'll just be reminded of the dog barking I just committed.
Elisia placed her palms against my chest and tugged the dress's fabric upward.
No matter how much she pulled it up, the garment was originally made that way, so it slid right back down.
Elisia's expression still displayed displeasure, but she didn't do anything more.
"Rhea. Aren't you truly lewd? How could you even wear a dress like this?"
"Me...?"
"Yes. Then is it me wearing it?"
Uh....
Doesn't she realize that what she's wearing right now is way lewder than mine?
And you were the one who picked this out for me...!
Dumbfounded, I was about to say something, but held it in.
Even if I said something, this Saint wouldn't even listen.
If she was going to listen in the first place, she wouldn't have shifted the blame onto me like this.
When I thought about having to go to a banquet hall where the major figures of the Holy Kingdom, including the Pope, would gather alongside this Elisia, my chest felt heavy.
I could only hope and pray she wouldn't go and cause an incident.