An Exquisite Spectacle
It was quite late when Carmel finally returned to the room. I was waiting right by the bed, offering her a bright, beaming smile as I greeted her. "Welcome back, Mother. You're quite late tonight."
Carmel arched an eyebrow as she saw me lifting the sheets, specifically inspecting the very spot where she had been lying just this morning. "What do you think you're doing there?"
I had been searching to see if she'd left anything suspicious behind. Well, telling her the truth wouldn't have caused any real trouble, but... why not throw in a playful tease? "Hmm... I was just taking in your scent, Mother."
"...You're insane..." A wonderful reaction. Highly satisfying. Wearing a look of utter disgust, Carmel sat down at the table. Moments later, a maid who had followed her in placed a tray covered with a silk cloth onto the table.
"What is that?" "An order from the King. It's a selection of dishes from tonight's banquet. He insisted I let you taste them."
While a princess's house arrest was never going to be like a common criminal's imprisonment, receiving such treatment made me wonder if anyone could ever truly reflect on their misdeeds under these conditions. Not that I had any complaints, of course.
When the cloth was removed, a variety of meticulously portioned delicacies was revealed. They were exquisite dishes, enough to whet my appetite even though I had already eaten dinner earlier. I immediately sat down and began to sample them.
"Mmm, delicious. Thank you for bringing these to me, Mother." Carmel's face contorted even further, as if she had just heard something incredibly offensive. She addressed me in a freezing tone.
"Is it wise to eat so defenselessly? For all you know, I might have slipped poison into those." "Poison?"
I hadn't tasted anything unusual in the cold pudding I just swallowed. More than anything, I knew Carmel would never resort to a method so easily traced back to her.
Everyone at the banquet must have shared the same food. If I was the only one who ended up poisoned after receiving the leftovers directly from her, the culprit would be glaringly obvious. Carmel would naturally be the prime suspect.
Wanting her own child to inherit the throne was more than enough motive for a stepmother. Of course, if she were the type to not care about the consequences as long as I was gone, she might have tried it... but Carmel was not the type to act with such reckless, brutish desperation.
Furthermore, any poison Carmel might use would undoubtedly leave traces of magic behind. No matter how faint the residue, I would be able to see it—though I still didn't fully understand the nature of this sight of mine. Thus, I could easily reply with a smile.
"Fufu, because I trust that you wouldn't do something so foolish, Mother."
"Hmph, I wouldn't be so overconfident if I were you. There are plenty of people besides me who view you as a thorn in their side, Sera." Her voice was utterly frigid. Well, I preferred her this way. The loftier and more arrogant her posture, the greater the pleasure of dragging her down.
Carmel, who had been watching me with her arms crossed, spoke again. "So, what did you actually do? Did you manage to find anything?" It seemed she hadn't taken my joke seriously after all. She had already anticipated what I would do in her absence.
Well, if the roles were reversed and Carmel had been confined to my room, she would have done the exact same thing. She would have started by thoroughly searching every nook and cranny, hoping to uncover some hidden weakness.
"No, nothing in particular." It was the truth. I hadn't found any useful information or items in the room. The only things I had learned were Carmel's taste in undergarments and her reading preferences.
It seemed she had already cleared away anything that shouldn't be discovered. Considering my arrival was only decided yesterday, she'd had very little time to prepare. I had to commend her habitual meticulousness.
At any rate, the only thing in this room that hinted at any sort of conspiracy was that wooden box radiating a dark aura. That was it. At my response, Carmel's gaze drifted subtly toward a corner of the room—specifically, toward the very spot where that wooden box sat.
"What is inside that box?" I threw out the question as a sudden strike. Yet, Carmel answered without a hint of fluster. "Nothing special. And I have no reason to tell you what is inside it anyway."
Carmel still didn't know that I possessed the eyes to see magic. I spoke as if it were merely an ordinary locked box. "Hmm, when you put it that way, I can't help but think there's something important inside. Perhaps I should sneak a peek when you're not around, Mother?"
"Hmph, go ahead and try. If you can even open it, that is." She seemed entirely confident that it would never open. She had likely sealed it with magic so that no ordinary person could breach it. How could I figure out a way to open it...? That would be another riddle to solve.
I set down my utensils and gestured for the maid to take the tray away. Watching the table being cleared, Carmel rose from her seat. She then summoned her maids and ordered them to help her change.
Having attended an official external event, Carmel was dressed in a lavish formal gown—an elegant, dignified attire that required a complex process to put on and take off. Several maids gathered around her to assist.
Was she no longer bothered by showing her body to me? Well, it was an unavoidable situation as long as I was staying here. She might have decided that feeling embarrassed would only make her look weak.
In any case, it was a magnificent spectacle for me. I sat back comfortably at the table, enjoying Carmel's slow undressing. Even without having been there, I could easily picture it. Every noble and commoner who laid eyes on Carmel today must have had their gaze utterly stolen by the Queen's breathtaking beauty.
Though they would never show it outwardly, they surely indulged in all kinds of wild fantasies in their minds. Yet, while they had to settle for mere imagination, actually witnessing her body in the flesh was a privilege reserved solely for me, her roommate. Of course, the maids attending to her saw this daily, but for me, it was a treat.
I was thoroughly enjoying that privilege right now. Watching the striptease of the most noble woman in the kingdom was not an experience easily come by—especially twice a day, morning and night. If house arrest came with this level of premium service, I wouldn't mind doing it a few more times.
My gaze, dripping with dark desire, swept repeatedly over Carmel's body as the maids' hands busily worked. Looking at her pale, milky thighs and her full breasts, I unconsciously licked my lips.
Carmel seemed fully aware of my gaze. She glared at me with a look of sheer resentment before quickly turning her head away, clearly trying to maintain her composure. However, her resolve quickly crumbled.
"A-A screen... You there, go fetch a privacy screen immediately!" "Pardon? A screen? But why..." "Don't talk back! Just bring it when I tell you to!" "Ah, yes! M-My apologies!"
Carmel's voice was incredibly sharp. The designated maid scurried out of the room in a panic. In the meantime, the undressing process came to a halt. The remaining maids held their breath, seemingly accustomed to Carmel venting her frustration without any apparent reason.
All the while, Carmel remained half-naked, completely exposed to my predatory gaze. Her face burned a bright crimson. Had my blatantly lecherous stare finally awakened a sudden sense of shame in her? Perhaps because she had tried so hard to act unbothered, the rebound of embarrassment she felt now seemed immense.
At the same time, a dark ecstasy swelled within me. Not only was it a feast for my eyes, but seeing Carmel burning with humiliation was more than enough to stimulate my depraved desires.
Finally, the maid who had gone to fetch the screen returned. She brought a circular folding screen, which they quickly set up around Carmel before resuming their work.
Of course, I had no intention of giving up such a magnificent view. I rose from my seat, pulled aside the screen, and stepped inside. "Y-Your Highness?" The maids looked utterly bewildered. I replied in an incredibly serene voice. "You don't mind, do you? I'm just here to observe."
Naturally, Carmel was anything but serene. She tried desperately to maintain her composure, but her voice trembled slightly. "What... what do you think you're doing? Can't you see I'm in the middle of changing?"
"Of course I can see it. I was just thinking that I should learn from your elegant poise, Mother. I'm taking notes for future reference." "T-That is absurd..."
The sharp, commanding tone she had used earlier was completely gone. With a fading voice, Carmel was visibly trembling with shame. Though anxious, the maids continued their work. But the moment a maid's hand reached to change her undergarments, Carmel slapped it away.
"N-No, leave the undergarments... That's enough... Just bring the indoor robe, quickly..." "Ah, yes, of course!" Still trying to maintain her dignity in front of her servants, I see. I stepped forward, stopping the maid who was bringing the robe, and took another step closer to Carmel.
"No, that won't do, Mother. You must change properly. Shall I help you a little?" Finally pushed past her limit, sparks flared in Carmel's eyes. Glaring at me, she raised her voice.
"Have you forgotten why you were sent here in the first place? You are currently being punished for your insolence toward me, yet you dare to act like this again...! Back off this instant, Sera!"
"Insolence? I was merely trying to learn from my graceful mother's elegant deportment. For you to find it so repulsive... I'm actually a bit hurt."
Even as I spoke with such sly amusement, I was engraving Carmel's body into my mind from this close distance. The red indentations left by the tight, restrictive formal wear she had worn all day were clearly visible on her skin. I had seen her body multiple times, but this was a remarkably rare sight.
"How dare you speak so shamelessly...!" "If that's not the reason, then what is? Are you suggesting there is some other reason I would want to watch you, Mother?" "That... you..."
'Because you're lusting after my body.' There was no way she could say those words out loud in front of her maids. Carmel seemed to swallow her resentment and shame with a tight throat. Instead of arguing with me further, she commanded the maid beside her.
"...Continue." "B-But, the undergarments..." "I don't care. Just do it." "Ah, yes, understood!"
It seemed she had finally given up. She had resigned herself to exposing her naked body to me. Watching Carmel glare at me with such helpless fury, I couldn't help but smile. Inwardly, of course—a deep, dark, and utterly depraved smile.
[An error occurred. Reference: 88d8e1c1-1e71-4430-b10d-3de824718008 at 2026-05-26T16:27:35.774Z]