A Maid’s Dilemma and a Wild Knight’s Secret

Li Chunsheng sat in the living room, his mood exceedingly agitated.

After all, his senior, Liuxia, had inexplicably shrunk in size early that morning and was now deteriorating into a goblin right before his very eyes.

“Damn it! I can’t do anything!” Li Chunsheng clenched his fists, a profound sense of helplessness swelling within him.

Reason dictated that severing ties with Liuxia would be for the best—especially since she herself seemed to harbor similar intentions.

Yet, gazing upon Liuxia’s tears, Li Chunsheng felt a deep, undeniable conviction that he simply could not abandon her.

The current Liuxia, he knew, would undoubtedly push away any and all assistance; such was her nature.

Despite this, ever since that fateful day, he had resolved to stand by her side.

“How could I possibly give up now?”

Bringing the maid outfit delivery home might serve no practical purpose, but Li Chunsheng merely wished to convey a message to Liuxia: ‘You owe me, and I won’t allow you to abandon yourself like this!’

As for how Liuxia looked in it—whether beautiful or unsightly—it mattered not! He simply wanted to keep her! To save her!

Though he had, admittedly, quite eagerly anticipated that very scenario before…

“Chun… Chunsheng…?” A girl’s trembling voice drifted to his ears.

Li Chunsheng swiftly lifted his head at the sound, his breath catching in his throat.

First to greet his eyes were a pair of exquisite, jade-like feet encased in delicate leather shoes, revealing a perfectly sculpted silhouette. Following the lines upward, he found a pair of fair, flawless, slender legs, which irresistibly drew his gaze to what he imagined would be their most shapely and succulent part. Yet, just before that tantalizing boundary, a black-and-white double-layered pleated skirt modestly obscured all intrusive glances, leaving him utterly captivated.

Carrying this lingering sense of longing upward, his eyes were then met by a pair of ample, snow-white peaks that more than compensated for any previous disappointment. Wrapped in a form-fitting top, they commanded an undeniable presence, rendering Li Chunsheng utterly unable to tear his gaze away.

“Ho-how… how do I look?”

Her nervous voice suddenly pierced the air. Li Chunsheng painstakingly shifted his gaze towards her, observing Liuxia’s small face flush crimson, her eyelids demurely lowered as she avoided his eyes, resembling a maiden blossoming with spring.

“Gulp!”

In that instant, it felt as though a radiant arrow had pierced Li Chunsheng’s heart.

He froze, utterly speechless for a moment.

Observing Li Chunsheng’s reaction, Liuxia’s own heart began to pound with anxiety.

‘It must be hideous, right? Absolutely hideous.’

All the confident conjectures she had made moments ago, bolstered by her reflection in the mirror, were instantly shattered the moment she witnessed Li Chunsheng’s response.

A wave of self-doubt washed over her, making her question her aesthetic judgment and believe she wasn’t truly attractive. After all, as a man, he had been rather unremarkable in appearance; how much better could he possibly look as a woman?

“Do… do I not look good?” A hint of a sob crept into Liuxia’s voice. She felt utterly shameless, a ‘hideous freak’ daring to wear a maid outfit.

Despite this, it was, in fact, Li Chunsheng who had made her wear it.

Liuxia’s plaintive, aggrieved voice jolted the dazed Li Chunsheng back to reality.

He immediately shot up a thumbs-up, then exclaimed as if he had stumbled upon a new continent:

“You look absolutely stunning, Liuxia! This outfit suits you perfectly…!”

“Honestly, I was completely mesmerized!”

“If you were truly a girl, Liuxia, I wouldn’t be able to resist pursuing you!”

Li Chunsheng’s fervent praise significantly calmed the restless anxiety in Liuxia’s heart.

Simultaneously, her earlier conjectures gained several more layers of certainty.

Just then, Li Chunsheng noticed something crucial: “Huh? Liuxia, your ears seem to have shrunk back?”

“And your body has returned to its previous state. How miraculous…”

“Ugh, what exactly is going on? Never mind, it’s a good thing either way.”

Li Chunsheng scratched his head, deciding to dismiss the thoughts.

Meanwhile, Liuxia, drawing upon the information she possessed, arrived at a plausible explanation.

As a former university student and a member of the Paladin Reserve, she possessed far more esoteric knowledge than Li Chunsheng.

‘Chunsheng… he’s actually a Wild Knight…’

Wild Knights, as they were known, were individuals who had illegally awakened their powers.

Their powers existed outside the Temple’s authority system, lacking any systematic cultivation methods. They varied wildly in nature, with immense disparities in their strength.

Alongside goblins, Wild Knights were also considered destabilizing elements of society, targets that Paladins were obligated to eradicate.

However, Wild Knights typically possessed only a single power, their methods limited, making most of them no match for Paladins who wielded a comprehensive array of abilities.

As Liuxia had not yet become a Paladin herself, she was not privy to further classified information.

‘However, combining the available information and knowledge, Chunsheng’s power seems to be the ability to transform any ‘person’ who has drunk his blood into a girl that matches his preferences?’

‘What a… peculiar power.’ Liuxia’s emotions were a tangled knot. In her mind, she had swiftly changed ‘lewd’ to ‘peculiar’.

As his close senior, the girl naturally knew what kind of girls Li Chunsheng favored.

‘Given my current appearance, it seems I’ve quite literally captured my junior’s heart, haven’t I?’

Nevertheless, it was thanks to Li Chunsheng’s power that she had managed to evade the Investigator’s pursuit.

And, for the time being, she had averted the fate of completely degenerating into a goblin.

‘Based on the current analysis, the power’s activation conditions appear to be bidirectional. Assuming the consumption of his blood, first, the power user themselves must possess the desire for the other party to transform—Chunsheng’s wish is likely to be [I hope Liuxia doesn’t become a goblin], isn’t it?’

‘Second, the transformed party should also harbor a desire for the change. In my case, not wanting to become a goblin served as the catalyst for transformation. If this desire wanes, it will affect my transformed state.’

‘Conversely, if I actively wish to transform, or even hope my appearance better suits Chunsheng’s preferences, the power’s effect will intensify, which explains my recovery.’

‘Furthermore, if I were to harbor thoughts of leaving my junior, the influence of the power would supposedly diminish, causing the transformed party to revert. This might also be why my body initially shrank; after all, my goblin form was precisely that of a small goblin…’

‘However, Chunsheng seems utterly unaware of this power he possesses. To help him conceal it, it’s best he remains ignorant.’

After all, if he knew he was also one of those targeted by the Paladins, wouldn’t his junior inadvertently create vulnerabilities by trying too hard to hide it in the future?

He might even get carried away and cause trouble—and if that attracted the Paladins, it would be disastrous.

At this thought, Liuxia’s face suddenly flushed crimson. ‘Then… then to avoid causing Chunsheng any trouble, following this line of reasoning, I must genuinely desire to become the girl of Chunsheng’s ideals. That way, his power’s effect will be even stronger, and I’ll be less likely to be exposed…’

‘If this desire reaches a certain threshold, could I actually become a true girl?’

‘But… I’m clearly a man. To hope to become the girl of my junior’s ideals, that’s just too…’

‘However, Chunsheng bought me a maid outfit… does that mean his ideal girl is also a maid?’

The girl began to imagine herself serving her junior according to a maid’s duties, feeling a blush of embarrassment.

While Liuxia was blushing and lost in her reverie, Li Chunsheng, who had been incessantly praising her, observed her demeanor and concluded that his senior was likely embarrassed by his compliments.

He thus ceased speaking, tentatively calling out, “Liuxia?”

“Ah? What is it? Master?” Still engrossed in her imaginings, Liuxia was startled by the sudden call and, by force of habit from her thoughts, blurted out “Master” to Li Chunsheng.

The atmosphere instantly froze. Li Chunsheng’s face flushed crimson, and two streams of nosebleed involuntarily trickled from beneath his nostrils.

“Pfft…!” The girl burst into laughter. Li Chunsheng immediately realized his impropriety, awkwardly wiping his nosebleed as he exclaimed, “Ah! Ah, right, it’s getting late, I’m off to work!”

With that, he fled the scene as if his life depended on it.

“Wait…! You haven’t eaten breakfast yet…!”

Li Chunsheng, a peak Black Iron practitioner, ran with astonishing speed, vanishing in an instant. Liuxia, who had just been amused, momentarily forgot her predicament, murmuring to herself with a hint of helplessness:

“He truly saved me once again…”

The last time had been when Chunsheng was quite young; he likely wouldn’t even remember it.

Despite being the senior, she was perpetually rescued by her junior.

Her debt to him was truly growing larger and larger.

“How ever can I repay him?” Liuxia found herself momentarily lost in thought.