Humanity's Greatest Invention
“Haap!! Hot!!”
- Clang!Clang!Clang!!
The quiet backyard of the Grand Duke's castle.
This place, rarely visited by anyone, was unofficially Edrick's exclusive training ground.
But there had been one person sharing it with him for a very long time.
“Lily! I'm going harder!”
“Ugh…!! I'll block it all, no problem.”
It was Lily, Edrick's personal maid—and these days, his full-time secretary.
The year Edrick turned ten and Lily nine.
Lily, who had started living in the Grand Duke's castle, spent countless hours here with him from that point on.
“My goodness… Lady Lily's skill looks on par with any average knight…”
“Is that impressive? From this lady's view, the master's swordplay seems far superior.”
“Of course it is! Lord Edrick is probably the strongest person in the entire North. But even holding back as he is, there aren't many knights who could parry his blade like that.”
By the way, there were two spectators watching their spar today.
Karina, nominally Edrick's guard knight but practically the Frost Phoenix Privia's nanny.
Privia, naturally, was stuck right to Karina's side, munching on a carrot.
“So does that mean this girl Lily is stronger than the knights?”
“Hmm… hard to say. Her style seems pretty different from the knights'.”
Karina said that, then focused her gaze more intently on Lily's swordsmanship.
‘The Hayden Knight Order's style is fundamentally defensive swordplay, specialized for formations and holding lines. But Lady Lily's…’
Her basics didn't pale in comparison to Karina herself, the North's only female knight.
But the direction of her technique was completely different.
If anything, it was the polar opposite of the Hayden Knight Order's—purely aggressive.
‘She said she's been sparring with Young Master Edrick since childhood.’
Honestly, it wasn't a style with much formal foundation.
They say a sword reflects the swordsman.
That's why each school or family has its own distinct character—because they've evolved from practical needs.
For instance, the Hayden Knight Order's obsession with fundamentals to a fault, prioritizing defense over quick kills, and valuing formation integrity above all.
That's because their enemies are the massive monster hordes invading the Grand Duchy regardless of season.
That's the root of Hayden swordsmanship, and every knight shares those values, even if their skill levels differ.
But Lily's sword.
It held no such principles.
Far from holding ground, it danced endlessly, shifting positions to strike the foe.
It wasn't a technique suited to her solid fundamentals.
Yet to Karina, Lily's blade still seemed to assert something powerfully.
“I feel passion in it.”
“Passion? What do you mean?”
“Oh, just mumbling to myself, Privia. About Lady Lily's swordsmanship.”
A sword conversing with Edrick through clashes.
And a desperate longing to close the distance, hurling her whole body forward.
Desperation in a sword—such mismatched words, but that's exactly how it struck Karina.
Then, with a sharp crack, Lily's wooden sword flew into the air.
“Kuh…!”
“That's enough. Good work.”
No matter how she slipped through blind spots or targeted vitals, she couldn't overcome a Sword Master's overwhelming physique and dynamic vision.
Edrick lightly twisted his wrist, crumbling her stance and knocking the sword away. The spar ended.
- Clap clap clap clap
Lily, face still expressionless, picked up her fallen sword and walked to Edrick.
“Is that enough to satisfy you? Young master's sword cravings.”
“That phrasing sounds kinda off. Is 'sword cravings' even a real term?”
“Then get back to work.”
“Uwaaa!! Nah, spot on. I'll take Privia for a walk first. Then lunch, then work.”
“Eh? This lady doesn't need a walk or anything.”
“When the master says walk, you walk. Since when do pets talk back? Privia, transform!”
“H-Hey, Young Master Edrick!! Why are you flying off on Privia?!”
Edrick hopped on the hastily transformed Privia and took off, with Karina scrambling after them.
Lily let out a sigh of relief and headed back to the Grand Duke's office alone.
- Creeeak
Back in the empty office, Lily's eyes fell on the teacup sitting on Edrick's desk.
She quickly glanced around to confirm no one was there, then hurried to the desk.
She slyly pocketed the teacup Edrick had emptied into her maid uniform's front pouch.
- Pat pat pat pat
Finishing the deed at lightspeed, Lily returned to her room and shut the door.
“Haa… Young Master Edrick.”
The moment the door clicked shut, Lily's icy expression melted into a dopey grin.
“So majestic today too. Ahh. How many days since I last sparred with him?”
Surprisingly, Karina had sensed it right.
Edrick and the other clueless male knights in the castle might miss it.
But Lily's sword truly embodied her passion to get just a little closer to him.
For Lily, the spars starting from age nine were like bodily conversations with Edrick.
After lifting Edrick's teacup for another sticky French indirect kiss.
Lily began carefully removing her maid uniform.
“Hehe. Good thing I prepared the secretary outfit. He seems to like it too.”
The office look from chapter 5 of Report on the Abusive Maid Miss J.
They said it embodied the pride of career women in the capital, boldly working their jobs.
In the novel, young nobles with a fetish for abusive maids.
Desperate to dress their own maids in it, they end up swooning in ecstasy.
Well, the novel's heat went way beyond that.
“I tailored it perfectly to my figure… but he's not that interested?”
Such office looks were only worn by young women in the capital, hard to find in the North.
Handy Lily had studied the novel's illustrations all night.
She bought similar fabrics and colors, crafting a proper office look.
Handmade, so shorter and tighter than the illustration.
The novel had a scene like that too.
Jeen felt his breath catch at Jaina's outfit. Her sleek legs, hidden under baggy maid clothes before. The jet-black silk stockings hugging them. The taut belt holding the stockings up. Without thinking, Jeen reached out to touch it.
“Finally got it. Hehe.”
Lily didn't know, but in this romance fantasy world, stockings existed—strictly in era-appropriate form.
Edrick's old world's stockings were nylon-made.
Nylon, a synthetic, didn't exist in this world with early Industrial Revolution tech.
So how did stockings exist?
Silk ones predated nylon.
But without stretchy elasticity, they slid down fast even pulled to the thighs.
That's why this era had the perfect companion for them.
The garter belt.
A band around the hips with straps clipping the stockings taut above the thighs.
The non-stretchy silk pulled tight by the straps.
Between a tight skirt's slit, the clip's bite on bare thigh flesh created perfect tension.
Truly humanity's greatest invention.
And that pinnacle of human ingenuity was in Lily's hands.
“I managed the silk stockings somehow, but this I couldn't make alone.”
To buy the garter belt, Lily had secretly ordered from a high-end lingerie boutique for noble ladies.
Meaning until now, even in the North's freezing winters, she'd bared her pale legs under tight miniskirts.
“Wonder what face he'll make when he sees me in this today?”
Lily knew.
Since donning the tight office miniskirt and white blouse.
Edrick's eyes kept flicking to her bare legs.
And when she turned her back unguarded for work.
His gaze bored into her rear like pins on her nape.
Per Abusive Maid Miss J, the office look's completion was stockings and garter belt.
Humming a tune, Lily set the garter belt aside and took the office look from the wall.
Change into this, then prep lunch for young master.
Sandwich menu?
Crispy bacon he loves, fresh lettuce, salty cheese piled high.
‘Perfect for light eating with one hand during paperwork.’
The sloppy young master would surely get crumbs or sauce on his mouth.
Then, with a contemptuous look he'd melt for: “Truly, young master is so sloppy.” Wipe his mouth gently.
What a perfect meal.
A pleased smile spread on Lily's lips.
As she buttoned the blouse fully and picked up the skirt.
- Whirr
Lily suddenly felt the room spin with vertigo.
What?
Oh, sleep-deprived lately.
‘Yesterday two hours… day before, one…’
No helping it.
Obsessed with becoming a capable secretary to help him.
With a thud, Lily collapsed onto the bed.
*
“Ugh…”
“Lily! You awake?”
At the calling voice, Lily slowly opened her eyes.
Before her, a worried face—the person Lily loved most in the world.
“Young… Master Edrick.”
“You scared me! Lunchtime passed and no Lily, so I came to your room. Found you passed out on the bed.”
Truly relieved, Edrick poured out words rapidly.
Lily tried lifting her lips in a smile at him, then snapped back to blank-faced.
‘No. Always expressionless. That's what he likes.’
His face made her want to smile anyway.
Cautiously, she pulled the blanket to her chin to hide her mouth.
Right then.
‘…Huh?’
Glancing under the covers at her clothes, Lily felt a faint wrongness.
She'd been changing before collapsing, right?
White blouse on top, no skirt yet.
‘Pajamas?’
But now the blouse was off.
Her blue polka-dot pajama top and bottoms hugged her body.
Face flushing, Lily spoke.
“Young master…”
“Yeah? What?”
“You saw, didn't you?”