Entering the place—right there, at the very end of that hallway—the door had now closed. Everything was inside that room.
"… "
The girls looked around.
A dressing room—though it looked more like a wardrobe hall. A fairly large and orderly space, with a structure different from the one seen in Eidoriku. One could say the entire layout resembled a clothing department made specifically for maids.
Unlike a conventional dressing room, this place had a changing area that contained several drawers filled with various items. There were also smaller, more confined spaces, along with a sewing section. This could be noticed at first glance, mainly because the place was very well organized.
Looking around, the girls—the slaves—took in the entire room. A few windows on the left side, directly across from the door they had entered through, allowed sunlight to pass inside. The daylight still lingered since it was early.
Everything looked quite good, to be honest. And considering this was the maids' dressing room, it seemed far better structured than the Akuma mansion. Eidoriku didn't have anything like this. Because of that, whenever sewing, measuring, or tailoring had to be done, it became much more tedious than usual.
It was good to know that Helmet actually cared about this.
"… "
All the slaves stood in line, waiting for an order to obey.
The elf maid with crimson eyes was carefully examining each of them. When she had entered through the door, she had immediately stepped to the side of the line. After studying each of them for a moment, she finally shifted her gaze elsewhere, toward a spot beside her.
Footsteps sounded across the wooden floor.
A third presence was approaching.
Another maid appeared—this one somewhat different from the albino elf. Her hair was more brown than black, loose, with two earrings on each ear. Her blue eyes were darker than Lior's. She had two rabbit ears and stood taller than the cat-boy.
She stepped beside the crimson-eyed elf, followed by two more girls.
One was a gray-haired cat-girl with green eyes, about the same height as Haru—who was slightly taller than Lior. The other was a dog-girl standing beside her, with light brown hair and yellow eyes.
There they all were.
All the maids wearing the same uniform used by the servants of the mansion.
Standing side by side in front of the slaves who were still dressed in rags.
They observed them with calculated, cold expressions—somewhat uncomfortable, to be honest. The atmosphere in the room was not very pleasant, and that only added to the already heavy feeling present throughout the mansion.
There they stood, all of them.
Looking closely at each one of the slaves.
"..."
[Elf maid: Well... let me introduce myself.]
The elf maid spoke, and all the slaves turned toward her.
[Elf maid: I am Amaya, the one in charge of organizing the clothing rooms in the mansion. All of you are slaves who were bought from the Eidoriku mansion, correct? You already have an idea of how work is done and how one acts in these situations. It is not very difficult to understand what I am going to explain to you; in fact, you can probably deduce it already.]
[Slaves: ...]
[Amaya: According to what I was told, all of you know how to speak Imperium, right?]
[Slaves: ...]
All the slaves looked at each other before answering.
[Amaya: ...]
[Lylia: Yes... Miss Amaya.]
[Slaves: ...]
[Amaya: ...]
[Lylia: ...]
The maids looked at each other.
[Amaya: Does anyone know how to read? How familiar are you with the language?]
[Slaves: ...]
[Lylia: Our way of knowing the language is a bit... different...]
Lylia spoke in response.
[Lylia: Our former master, Lord Akuma Eidoriku, used a special method to teach us.]
[Amaya: I see you speak quite fluently. What methods were those?]
[Lylia: Mhm... ahem...]
[Slaves: ...]
Lylia turned to look briefly at her companions. All of them were looking at her. Then she turned toward Amaya.
[Lylia: He used a blessing. That was the way we learned the language. We do not fully understand what it means, so please forgive our misunderstandings.]
[Slaves: ...]
All the slaves looked at each other, then turned toward the maids. They gave a small bow as a form of apology.
[Amaya: Mhm... good...]
[Lylia: ...]
[Amaya: And what about reading and writing?]
Amaya looked at each slave one by one as she asked.
[Amaya: You.]
[Lior: A-ah... E-ehmm... I-I d-don't knyow... I d-don't knyow how to read or write, M-Miss A-Amaya.]
[Amaya: You?]
[Ahym... I a-also don't knyow...]
[Amaya: ...]
[Me neither...]
[Amaya: ...]
[I d-don't knyow...] [Me neither...] [Forgive me, but I don't know either.]
[Amaya: ...]
She turned back to look at Lylia.
[Lylia: I... am also ignorant in that area.]
[Amaya: ...]
The maids regained their composure.
[Amaya: Ahem... well, I think you will serve us quite well.]
[Slaves: ...]
[Amaya: We will give you your uniforms. As you can see, it is quite simple, so it should not be difficult for you to put them on.]
As Amaya said that, the other maids went to retrieve something that was on the sewing table. The clothing pieces, and the full set in general with the apron and headpiece, including shoes and stockings. They quickly returned with everything in their hands.
[Amaya: ...]
Amaya approached Lior after receiving the smallest size available. She stepped in front of him and handed the clothing to him.
The cat-boy received the uniform and stared at it. He placed the shoes on the floor together with the stockings, and opened the clothing to look at the fabric more carefully.
This uniform did not have a harness system to hold all the inner garments in place. To be honest, that was quite uncomfortable, so Lior felt grateful to have this bit of luck. The cat-boy lowered his gaze and looked at the dress as a whole.
It was entirely black, including the collar and all those parts that the Eidoriku dress had in white. Something worth mentioning was that it also didn't have the floral decoration on the upper part. Instead, the design was along the lower edges, giving the dress a cleaner and more orderly appearance.
The white apron was what stood out the most from the whole set. Unlike the half-waist aprons, this one covered the chest down to the legs, being a more normal type of apron. Unlike the dress, it did have more decorated edges, though still white. One could say that thanks to the apron, the uniform had more brightness. The last remaining pieces were the undergarments, the headpiece, and the gloves.
[Amaya: The changing rooms are over there. Go change. If any of you have problems with the sizes, let us know.]
Pointing with a finger behind her, there were several cubicles with curtains. Changing rooms covered with red fabric; they could be seen from here.
[Lior: ...]
Lior looked at the clothes he held in his hands. He picked up what he had left on the floor and hurried quickly to enter one of the changing rooms. The other girls, as soon as they heard the order, obeyed, leaving the cat-boy behind. Lylia, for her part, gave Lior a worried look. Honestly, even though that dress was the smallest size, it would still be too big for the cat-boy. That could be seen at a glance. In the Eidoriku mansion, the clothing he wore was clearly adjusted to his size.
The cat-boy walked and walked until he reached his destination. He opened the curtain and closed it carefully. His movements showed delicacy; that entire year being a servant had changed him quite a bit. One could say he was much more refined in his manners, besides participating in imposed activities in a different and more efficient way. He had adapted quite well, to be honest.
"..."
After entering the cubicle, Lior noticed a white mirror which he avoided. His gaze simply did not stop in front of it; it was completely diverted to the small bench placed in a corner between the two walls on the right. The bench, a dull wooden brown color, was slightly dusty. Lior simply passed his hand over it and left his entire uniform there, except for his underwear.
The cat-boy took off his clothes, the rags that had accompanied him during this repetitive journey. Those seven days were reflected in how horrible they smelled.
Speaking of that, Lior had not bathed. In fact, none of them here had bathed except the maids. Wasn't it a bit disgusting to put on clean clothes in these conditions? Supposedly, Helmet was stricter about presentation than even Akuma himself.
"Chiyo told me that some time ago, when I ended up staining Miss Petra's clothes."
Well, it wasn't like it mattered much right now, but it was still a somewhat impartial detail. For now, he only had to get dressed. That was his purpose at the end of the day. After that, they would give him more instructions, and he would have to fulfill many more things and…
[Lior: N-nyah...]
"..."
Ah, damn...
It hurt when I raised my arm. Right, it's bandaged. The wound itself doesn't hurt, but since it's healing while still open, it rubs against the bandages. I need to be more careful when lifting it. That sound that came out of me… I don't want to repeat it.
"..."
[Lior: ...]
Lior put on the panties and the stockings. The wooden floor was clean, so there was no problem with them getting dirty, except for the little dust he had brushed off earlier. No one would notice.
He grabbed the black dress and put it on, raising both arms carefully. He slipped into the black dress, which felt fine and delicate to the touch. It was perfect for its purpose—very comfortable.
Then he grabbed a corset and placed it properly around his waist, tightening it firmly just as he had been instructed. After that came the apron, tied from the neck and the back.
Then the cat-boy put on his headpiece, gloves, and finally moved to finish with his neck...
No.
Not the neck—because he already had his collar.
Adjusting everything at last, he was ready, except for one thing.
[Lior: Mhm... i-it's too big around the chest... Miss Amaya said that if we had problems... we should call them.]
He turned and opened the curtain, then turned back again to pick up the dirty rags.
He reached for them when...
"..."
A mirror...
Something large and white. It looked quite nice, reflecting everything around it with complete normality. Lior's gaze fell on it for a moment.
Lior's eyes passed over the mirror, and he saw something.
He saw someone.
A girl...
On the other side...
It wasn't him...
"..."
It was at that moment that he remembered—it was a reflection.
That was where he was supposed to be.
Right?
"..."
...
"..."
...
"..."
[Lior: Hah...]
What?
¿?
"..."