Chapter 10
How could this be? What exactly was happening?
Lisbeth initially thought Staros had orchestrated this whole ordeal purely to prank her. However, the moment Christy appeared, she realized who the true mastermind was. Though Lisbeth yearned to understand Christy’s motives, her immediate predicament left her utterly humiliated.
After all, the Demon Lord herself had commanded her to wear that scandalously revealing outfit. Refusal was simply not an option. With a sigh of resignation, Lisbeth stepped forward from the back row, her gaze falling upon Christy as she spoke, “Demon Lord, I don’t understand your reasons for this, but to make me wear something like this in front of everyone is far too…”
“Silence. Put it on.”
Lisbeth tried to protest further, but before she could finish, Christy cut off any possibility of retreat. With another weary sigh, Lisbeth stepped forward and accepted the special maid uniform from Airenst’s hands.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go change…”
Left with no alternative, Lisbeth sighed once more as she retreated to the back of the grand hall, dutifully donning the custom maid uniform.
****
Ten minutes later—
“I’m ready, Demon Lord…”
The outfit, as it turned out, was even more revealing than she had imagined. Unless she constantly held the skirt down, Lisbeth felt a chill beneath her, knowing her underwear was perpetually on the verge of exposure.
To make matters worse, the bust featured a large opening, practically guaranteeing a peek at her ‘important parts’ with the slightest bend.
Upon seeing Lisbeth truly clad in the garment, Christy nodded in satisfaction. She then turned to address all the regular maids present, “Do you see? This is the appearance and figure a personal maid should possess. Especially these useless fats, all of you, pay close attention!”
‘This is truly an unexpected level of embarrassment.’
After all, at her core, Lisbeth was still a man. Back on the battlefield, it was hardly uncommon to walk through camp bare-chested. Yet now, donning this outrageously revealing maid uniform, an unprecedented wave of shame washed over her entire being, leaving her face flushed and utterly bewildered.
Observing Lisbeth’s profound discomfort, Hilda quickly stepped forward, gently taking Christy’s hand. She whispered into her ear, “Demon Lord, although you haven’t fully cooled down from the incident involving their surveillance in the laboratory, embarrassing her in front of everyone might reflect poorly on a personal maid’s dignity, wouldn’t it?”
Hearing Hilda’s words, Christy let out a cold scoff. She replied softly to Hilda, “Hmph, of course I know. But this busty vixen has crossed my line repeatedly. If I don’t teach her a lesson now, won’t she just walk all over me later?”
“Demon Lord…”
As Hilda had suspected, even though Christy had thoroughly chastised Lisbeth and Staros last time, her anger had not entirely dissipated. With this thought, Hilda instinctively glanced towards Staros, a premonition that Staros would soon face trouble herself.
“Airenst, bring that over.”
“Yes.”
True to Hilda’s prediction, after making Lisbeth don the special maid uniform, Christy waved a hand towards Airenst. The next second, Airenst produced another extremely revealing maid uniform from seemingly nowhere, though this one was noticeably several sizes smaller.
Witnessing this, Staros, whose face had just moments ago worn a smug, schadenfreude-filled smile, nearly burst into tears.
“Demon Lord, this isn’t what we agreed upon!”
Though Staros’s words were practically a sob, Christy didn’t even spare her a glance. Instead, she continued to address the regular maids in the grand hall, “While ordinarily, one person is sufficient to set the standard for etiquette, I feel that having only this buxom… *ahem*, only Lisbeth here isn’t quite enough. Therefore, I’ve prepared another outfit for our Staros.”
“Demon Lord!! You can’t do this!! This really isn’t what we agreed…”
“Silence. Put it on.”
Staros attempted to argue further, but just like Lisbeth earlier, she was silenced by Christy before she could even begin. In the end, she had no choice but to obey Christy’s command and dutifully put on the other special maid uniform.
“Waaah… Why is this dress so short? It’s so cold…”
“Hmph… Who told you to laugh so happily earlier? Now you’re facing the consequences, aren’t you?”
When Staros returned to the grand hall after changing, she instantly reacted just like Lisbeth, attempting to hide behind her, as if trying to conceal herself as much as possible.
Observing the two flushed figures at the front, the regular maids in the back rows of the grand hall fell silent, not a single one uttering a word.
Sensing the increasingly peculiar atmosphere in the grand hall, Christy, at some point, took a slender stick from Hilda. She tapped the bodies of the two women at the front of the hall and announced, “Very well, now that both of you have donned these special maid uniforms, let’s discuss why I’ve made you wear them.”
“First, as you all know, this celebration banquet will require the selected maids to wear special maid uniforms. The outfits they are currently wearing are among the designs you might be asked to wear that night.”
She continued, “Although these two designs were rejected quite some time ago, the designer was insistent on submitting them. Therefore, I’ve decided to hold a vote. Hilda, Airenst, you two go and change into the other two maid uniforms.”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing Christy’s instructions, Hilda and Airenst proceeded backstage to change into the other two maid uniforms. Unlike the outfits Lisbeth and Staros wore, these maid uniforms were completely modest, even appearing to be improved versions of the standard personal maid attire.
Hilda’s long hair, which had previously been coiled behind her head, now cascaded down her back like a waterfall. The already ornate personal maid uniform, having been refined, now adorned Hilda with an ineffable elegance.
Beside Hilda, Airenst gracefully tossed her silver-white hair, her face adorned with a perfect smile as she surveyed all the regular maids present.
“So, so beautiful!!”
If the regular maids had been utterly silent after seeing Lisbeth and Staros’s outfits, now the entire hall erupted in gasps of admiration. Simultaneously, Lisbeth and Staros, who had been too mortified to speak moments before, stood frozen in place.
‘I… I never thought the old hag could look so beautiful when she dressed up.’
“No, no, Lisbeth, what are you saying? Head Maid Hilda is famously beautiful. She’s incredibly popular in various Demon Lord’s Castles, not to mention she’s a three-time champion of the Maid Competition and the first maid in history to be simultaneously praised by three Great Demon Lords. In other words, she’s actually an incredibly formidable person!”
‘Really?’
To be honest, Lisbeth’s primary reason for calling Hilda an ‘old hag’ stemmed from the fact that in the Demon Lord’s Castle two hundred years in the future, Hilda was the only one who had consistently remained by Christy’s side.
During that time, Lisbeth had been relentlessly tormented by Hilda, so even after returning to an era two centuries earlier, she couldn’t help but still refer to her as such.
But it was only now that she realized Hilda was such an accomplished individual—a fact Lisbeth had never even considered before. As they continued their murmuring, Christy spoke up once more.
“Alright, then, next is the voting segment. Which of these maid uniform designs do you all prefer?”
*Swish!*
The answer was unequivocally clear. All the regular maids uniformly pointed towards the maid uniforms worn by Hilda and Airenst. Seeing everyone’s response, Christy nodded and declared, “Very well, then it’s decided! The maid uniforms worn by Hilda and Airenst will be the official attire for this banquet. I hope you all strive hard; perhaps you too can wear such beautiful clothes and earn handsome rewards~”
Having delivered her statement, Christy lifted her foot, appearing ready to depart. Witnessing this, Lisbeth and Staros immediately breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to return backstage to change.
However, before they could move, Christy suddenly interjected, “Ah, that’s right, I almost forgot to mention! To boost everyone’s enthusiasm, Lisbeth and Staros will remain in these two outfits until the selection process concludes. During this time, you are welcome to admire their current appearance at your leisure.”
“H-huh!? Demon Lord, you can’t do this!!!”
Although both Lisbeth and Staros cried out in anguish, Christy merely ignored their pleas, her face adorned with a satisfied smile as she exited the grand hall of the selection venue.