“Clever~ You understand me perfectly, don’t you?”
Lisbeth watched Staros, who was beaming with a mischievous smile. Her lips irresistibly twitched.
“Staros,” she began slowly, “could you please use your brain before you speak? Setting aside the fact that my soul is male, however useless I might be, I am still one of the personal maids. If I were to participate in that selection and fail, wouldn’t it be an immense disgrace?”
“Oh, why are you so rigid in your thinking? You don’t actually need to participate in the selection. Just secretly sign up, and make sure Hilda doesn’t find out.
When it’s time to actually go on stage, you can simply play dead. I’m sure Hilda would immediately kick you off the platform if she saw you. Wouldn’t that give you a perfectly legitimate reason to observe from the sidelines?”
“And even if the worst came to pass, if you really did fail, wouldn’t that be a perfect excuse to avoid helping at the celebration banquet? After all, at that banquet, you can’t eat anything and you’d have to constantly serve those arrogant nobles. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t want to go.”
“Hmm, there’s actually some truth to what you’re saying.”
It had to be said, Staros truly struck a chord with Lisbeth. She genuinely had no interest whatsoever in that celebration banquet, so if she could avoid helping, losing a little face didn’t seem like such a big deal.
With this thought in mind, Lisbeth nodded.
“Alright, if that’s the case, I’ll go,” she conceded. “It’s my day off today, so I might as well go and have some fun.”
“Right? Right? Let’s go! Beautiful scenery awaits us!!”
****
Time flew by quickly, and soon it was time for the afternoon selection to begin. As planned, Lisbeth secretly registered and then slipped into the selection venue.
It was clear that Hilda placed great importance on this selection, having cleared out a large auditorium in the central district of the Demon Lord’s Castle to serve as the selection grounds.
At that moment, the grand auditorium was filled with over a hundred ordinary maids, all of whom were there to participate in the selection. To avoid revealing her identity, Lisbeth discreetly took a seat in the very last row of the auditorium.
Although a few maids nearly gasped aloud when they saw her enter, the maids working in the Demon Lord’s Castle were all well-trained. They quickly suppressed their voices, though they continued to stare curiously at Lisbeth.
“Oh my, please don’t stare at me like that. I’m quite shy~”
Being intensely stared at by the surrounding maids, even Lisbeth was starting to feel overwhelmed. Upon hearing her words, the maids hastily averted their gazes, though they still occasionally snuck glances at Lisbeth.
Shortly after Lisbeth entered, Hilda walked into the auditorium as scheduled. Addressing all the maids present, she announced, “Ladies, I thank you all for coming as promised to participate in the selection for the celebration banquet staff. As the Head Maid, I feel very pleased.”
“However, I regret to inform you that only a mere twenty maids are required inside the banquet hall this time. After deducting the six personal maids, myself included, today’s selection only needs to choose fifteen indoor maids.”
“Even though positions are limited, I sincerely hope that those who are not selected do not lose heart, and those who are chosen do not become arrogant. Now then, let the celebration banquet staff selection officially begin.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
As soon as Hilda’s words fell, a thunderous applause erupted throughout the grand auditorium. Lisbeth, observing the scene, felt a trace of confusion.
After all, she had come to this celebration banquet selection hoping to feast her eyes on something spectacular, but the current scene bore no resemblance whatsoever to the visuals she had envisioned.
Therefore, Lisbeth immediately lowered her voice and quietly asked a maid beside her, “Excuse me, this is the celebration banquet selection today, right? But I recall this event also involves checking everyone’s figures and appearances. Why is everyone wearing a maid uniform?”
“Hmm? Lady Lisbeth, I’m not quite sure what you mean.”
Upon hearing Lisbeth’s question, the maid she had addressed also displayed a puzzled expression. “There will indeed be a posture selection today,” she explained softly, “but that is merely to ensure a maid possesses proper deportment.”
“If we didn’t wear maid uniforms and instead wore casual clothes, wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?”
“Eh!?”
After hearing the maid’s explanation, Lisbeth suddenly realized she had no idea what she had been thinking, to have so easily believed Staros’s words.
She had originally thought the “posture selection” meant stripping down to her underwear, but now, upon reflection, if it was merely to check deportment, there would be absolutely no need to remove any clothes.
With this realization, Lisbeth immediately cast an angry gaze towards Staros at the judges’ table. As if she had anticipated Lisbeth’s gaze, Staros’s face revealed a faint smile. She lightly extended a thumb and slowly drew it across her own neck in a mocking gesture.
‘C-could it be?! I’ve been tricked!?’
At that moment, Lisbeth’s heart seemed to stop beating. Before she could react, Staros took a deep breath and shouted loudly, “Everyone, I’ve actually specifically invited a guest to participate in our selection event today! It’s Lisbeth, who has just been appointed as a personal maid!”
Whoosh!!
As soon as Staros’s words fell, a beam of illuminating magic, seemingly from nowhere, directly struck Lisbeth, exposing her entire body to everyone’s view.
Seeing this, Hilda grabbed Staros’s hand and hurriedly whispered, “Hey, what kind of stunt are you pulling? What does this have to do with Lisbeth?”
It seemed Hilda was also in the dark, as she displayed an anxious expression. Staros, however, simply smiled faintly at Hilda, then continued, raising her voice, “I believe everyone knows, don’t they?
The most crucial part of today’s selection is the deportment assessment, and as a judge, I feel we can’t proceed without a standard. Therefore, this time, Miss Lisbeth, one of our personal maids, has decided to serve as our standard for deportment!
To showcase her exquisite figure, she will also wear this specially designed maid uniform!”
“Hmm!?”
As soon as Staros’s words fell, Airenst, another personal maid, appeared out of nowhere. She presented a maid uniform with a super short skirt and a very revealing neckline to everyone.
“This outfit was created by our Demon Lord’s Castle tailor, who spent three days and three nights on it,” Airenst announced to all the ordinary maids. “Next, our Lisbeth will wear this dress to serve as the standard for all of you during the selection!”
‘Damn it!! I’ve been framed, ahhhh!!!’
The moment Lisbeth saw Airenst, she immediately understood what was going on. According to Airenst’s words, if the maid uniform had been made three days ago, it meant this was premeditated.
The masterminds were clearly those two, Staros and Airenst.
It was then that Lisbeth finally understood what “feasting her eyes” truly meant. There would indeed be a sight to behold, but the one being gazed upon was Lisbeth herself.
“Oh my~ Alex, if this continues, you really will have to wear that outfit. If you wear something like that, you’ll never get married in your life.”
“Little Sword, shut up! I never planned on marrying anyone anyway!”
Listening to Clotilde’s gloating voice, Lisbeth felt the first urge in her life to snap her own sword in half. Yet, the immediate crisis left her no time to ponder such things.
Although she didn’t understand what she had done to make Staros and Airenst conspire to frame her, she decided to refuse the current situation first.
Regardless, if she personally refused to wear the outfit, surely no one could force her. Taking a deep breath, Lisbeth declared, “Please allow me to refuse this.
While I was indeed invited to participate in this selection event, I had no idea I would be required to wear such an outfit. So, please permit me to here—”
“Lisbeth, I command you to put it on.”
“Eh!?”
Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of a door opening echoed from the entrance of the auditorium. The next second, a petite figure walked into the auditorium.
“Eh!? Demon Lord!?”
Lisbeth would never mistake that familiar voice or that petite figure; it was undoubtedly Christy herself. After speaking, Christy generated a magic circle beneath her feet and instantly teleported directly to the auditorium’s podium, where she picked up the very revealing maid uniform.
“Lisbeth,” Christy stated, “now is the perfect time to showcase your perfect figure, isn’t it? As a personal maid, you must set an example for all the ordinary maids. Therefore, I will not permit you to refuse here; put this outfit on.”
“…”
At that moment, Lisbeth gently covered her face. She unconsciously gazed up at the auditorium’s ceiling and silently screamed in her heart.
‘So, it was you, Demon Lord, who orchestrated this entire scheme, ahhhh!!!’