Shrimp-Catching Seaweed's Perilous Embrace
"Do whatever you want, Lady. I'll cheer on anything you do."
Viola, the head maid's day begins at six in the morning. Because her charge, Chloe, is no morning sleeper, Viola herself has to rise ridiculously early—making a mockery of her title—and dive into her duties. There's no doubt that starting the day at six is a trial. But there are clear advantages to her charge's light sleeping habits.
"Good night."
"See you tomorrow."
"Yeah. You've gotten pretty decent now, so keep up the good work from here on out, Arona, Perona."
Like being able to clock out earlier than everyone else.
Most maids start their mornings early anyway, so rather than slaving away from dawn like a regular maid, she could think of it as getting off more than an hour ahead of schedule—and that was quite the comfort.
"Haa... time to go home and draw."
With today's tasks wrapped up, Viola was just finishing her kitchen duties and heading out when—
"Vio, Viola!"
"Lady Marian?"
Marian burst into the kitchen, frantically searching for her.
"There, you're here...."
"May I ask what's wrong?"
But Marian's state was a bit off. Her face was beet red, her breathing ragged... like she'd committed some grave sin?
"Salt, I need salt."
"Salt, you say?"
Despite the grave atmosphere, what she wanted was just salt.... At Viola's glance, Arona hurriedly yanked open the spice cabinet and thrust out an entire jar of salt.
"May I ask why you need it?"
"Uh, well...."
She could hand over the salt, but Marian's reaction felt somehow suspicious. What on earth could be the problem? Viola's instincts—honed from rising to head maid in just eight years despite her commoner roots—were screaming that something was amiss, while also warning that digging deeper might be dangerous.
Viola pondered what to do for a moment.
"F-Follow me."
"Follow you?"
"I need someone to help, so come on."
"Understood. Arona, Perona, clean up the kitchen and handle the rest of the duties."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Head Maid."
Instead, Marian had come asking Viola for help. Grabbing the salt jar, Viola trailed after her to the secluded rear garden.
"Lady Marian? Why here of all places...."
"Quiet and just follow. It's urgent."
"Ah, understood."
Why come all the way out here? It was a spot few people visited even normally—just once a week to clear the piled-up fallen leaves. Far from entrances, dining halls, anything. No windows. Nothing but the outer walls of the Grand Duke's Castle.
"Hic...!"
...?
Or at least, it should have been.
Something strange was making noise.
"What...."
"Get out the salt, Viola."
"Pardon?"
"It's time to use the salt—hand it over...."
Did Marian know something? Her cheeks burned even redder than before as she demanded the salt. And now, rounding the corner along the outer walls into the rear garden—
"Eh...?"
What caught Viola's eye was—
"I-I'm... gonna die...."
Chloe, her mouth stuffed with what looked like seaweed stalks. Her hair disheveled, her usual haughty beauty utterly ruined, her body slick with viscous mucus. Breasts, thighs, hips—all viciously constricted by the writhing seaweed stalks, as if alive on dry land. Forcing stalks into her gaping mouth.
"What... is this...."
"Sprinkle the salt, quick!"
"Ah, yes!"
No time to understand, no one to explain. With Chloe choking and gasping that she'd suffocate to death, who could stand there calmly asking questions? She had no clue why salt, but nobles always had their reasons.
"Hya!"
Viola roughly twisted off the lid and dumped the salt over Chloe and the seaweed. Instantly—
"Eh?"
"It's... shriveling!"
The stalks convulsed wildly, losing vitality, soon releasing Chloe and crumbling to ash.
"Hahk, haa...."
Finally freed, Chloe—
"F-Fucking hell... sustaining on mouth moisture...."
—muttered just that before collapsing atop the ashen remains and losing consciousness.
"Q-Quick, let's get her to her room."
"Yes...."
And Viola—
Whoa... gotta draw this the second we're back.
—thanked Chloe for the inspiration, supporting the mucus-drenched, erotically glistening form back to her bedroom.
"Whoa...."
After helping bathe the mucus-covered Chloe, Viola immediately flipped open her sketchbook. The image of Chloe ravaged by the seaweed stalks was still vivid in her mind. Even to another woman, the lascivious scene was breathtaking. Having carried the unconscious Chloe and then bathed her, even her nude form flickered teasingly in Viola's thoughts.
Bits of info gleaned from dressing her, now fused with tactile memories from the bath—it was like her wicked imagination was running wild.
"Maybe I could draw it...?"
Perhaps she could even depict Chloe nude, at the mercy of the seaweed. Viola didn't know why she wanted to draw something so grotesque, but the urge was there.
A woman violated by seaweed stalks like monster tentacles. A sight no ordinary maid would ever witness, plus the sketchbook of Chloe that had reignited her passion for drawing....
"Let's do it."
Viola's hand moved as if entranced. Lines flowed from her fingers, piling up to form depth. And that depth sculpted flesh more real than reality itself.
"The seaweed here...."
Atop that revealed body, Viola added the grotesque, massive seaweed stalks she'd just seen—man-eating horrors. Dripping mucus, they crushed Chloe's naked form, squeezing with bone-breaking force.
"Hoo...."
The finished piece was the most provocative she'd ever drawn. Chloe had been ravaged by the stalks, but not nude. Viola had created a scene absent from reality right there in her sketchbook.
"Ah."
Only then did Viola realize why seeing that sketchbook of Chloe had made her pick up the pen again.
The reason was simple.
"That drawing...."
She never could have imagined Chloe in such a sheer negligee. Viola had started drawing to possess, even if just on paper, what she lacked. First her father from memory, then pretty homes and delicacies. After entering the Grand Duke's service, such lacks faded....
Drawing had been her way to fill those voids.
Now it was solidifying into a hobby.
"I'm developing a weird hobby...."
Not just any hobby—a profoundly twisted one. Drawing others in dire straits wasn't normal.
But....
"It's all Teacher's fault."
She had no intention of stopping. No harm if she didn't get caught.... And damn, it was fun.
"Just one more, then I'll quit."
With that, Viola began what might be her final Chloe sketch—or just the second.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
Chloe, just regaining consciousness after passing out—
"Ah, uh, ah...!"
—saw Marian at a loss for words and chuckled, pulling her into an embrace.
"You did great."
"L-Liar...."
"You made such amazing progress with the alchemy I taught you—enough to catch me. Keep it up."
"R-Really...?"
"Yes. I'll praise you every time you craft an artifact that can snag me. Keep at it."
She was obviously wracked with guilt. Better to praise her, assure her she did nothing wrong. If anything, Chloe had failed to respond properly.
This incident was Chloe's fault. Marian was guilty only of crafting too well.
"I-I'll work hard.... C-Chloe can't die.... I'll make an artifact to catch that seaweed too. When you collapsed right after breaking free, I really thought you'd d-die...."
"Yes, do whatever you want. I'll cheer on anything you do."
"O-Okay...."
She hugged the trembling Marian tight....
And 2 years and 6 months passed.
Chloe was twenty-two. Marian, fifteen.
And Marian—
"Where do you think you're running!"
—began lessons in hunting Chloe, making full use of her artifact skills honed over nearly three years.