“Of course, this competition sounds pretty fair.”
Wha…
Leia actually agreed?!!
This was supposed to be nothing but a ridiculous smokescreen!
Is this the Leia I know? But if it really is her, why turn down a battle she could easily win and choose such an absurd set of rules instead?
It was as good as two armies facing off across the battlefield and settling things with a game of chess. No, forget chess—this was more like each side catching a cricket in the woods and pitting them against each other. Loser eats dirt!
And it fulfilled every single one of my demands to boot…
If I won, Leia wouldn’t even mind me tugging on her collar?
I’d have the right to get her pregnant—even turning Leia into a sweet little wife overnight wasn’t out of the question.
Xuefei’s mind filled at once with the image of an adorable dragon girl curled up against her, puffing out tiny fireballs. Her eyes sparkled brighter than ever. But the sheer absurdity of a maid competition made her backpedal and plead.
“R-Leia, um, I was just kidding around. The maid competition? Total spur-of-the-moment brain fart. It doesn’t count.”
Leia, on the other hand, seemed genuinely puzzled.
“I think it’s great, actually. Let’s go with that as our duel. Truth be told, I wouldn’t accept any other challenge. Who knew Xuefei had such a gift for this!”
“Wahhh…”
It looked like the maid competition was happening, like it or not.
But that was fine. It was still way better than squaring off against Leia backed by twenty-seven gods and the Evil Dragon. Compared to getting knocked out, dragged to bed, and collared, playing maid was a small price to pay.
Xuefei shook her head. Leia stopped fondling her and gazed at her with eager anticipation…
Besides, who said she was guaranteed to lose?
A maid contest came down to patience, endurance, and professional skill—nothing whatsoever to do with divine power. And Xuefei had a bit of serving experience up her sleeve. No matter how you sliced it, she had the upper hand!
“Then let’s do it,” Xuefei declared with brimming confidence. “But we need a judge. Who do you think would be good, Leia?”
They couldn’t score each other, obviously. Without some kind of upset, it’d just be mutual zero scores—utterly pointless.
Logically, the fairest way was multiple judges averaging their scores. But they couldn’t trail a horde of maids behind them to take notes; that would turn the whole contest upside down.
The judge had to be as few as possible—ideally one. Impartial to either side. And loaded with all the experience a proper maid should have.
Xuefei rubbed her chin.
Laer seemed like a solid pick at first glance.
But that girl was firmly in Leia’s camp. If she refereed, Xuefei parading around with a collar at the wedding was a foregone conclusion!
And if she wasn’t mistaken, the wedding wouldn’t just have the entire Maid Corps in attendance. Royals from every corner of the Evil Dragon’s domain would come calling too. Getting collared right then—what a thrilling spectacle that would be… or rather, what a mortifying one?
Her reputation? Up in smoke.
The maids all thought she and Leia were in a perfectly normal romance. Spotting that collar, they’d probably explode on the spot.
In short: Laer was a no-go!
She needed someone fair and impartial. Someone like…
“How about Celi?”
“I’ll go with whatever Xuefei says~”
“Then it’s Celi,” Xuefei said, her lips curving into a smile.
Celi was the picture of fairness.
Or… not quite.
Truth be told, the pick had zilch to do with impartiality~
The Evil Dragon’s contract could kill Celi outright. And Xuefei was the one who’d set her on the straight and narrow. Psychologically speaking, that gave Xuefei a massive edge over Leia!
Fairness? What fairness? It was all rigged from the start! Victory was in the bag!
“So, shall we decide who goes first? Who plays maid for whom?” Leia ran her fingers along Xuefei’s perked-up little tail, draping it across her lap and stroking the delicate scales like she was petting a cat.
Xuefei figured the order didn’t really matter.
It was all scored objectively anyway. And knowing your opponent’s service style might even be a disadvantage. First or second, each had its pros.
“How about Xuefei serves as my maid first?” Leia spoke up with her proposal, her hand never pausing as she savored the touch.
“Sure, that works.”
“Since Xuefei’s on board, let’s get started right away?”
“Ah…?”
Right then, the door to the Tea Room swung open.
Sure enough, the tall, black-haired maid Laer was the one who walked in. She approached Lady Leia and bowed her head slightly.
“I’ve already notified Celi. Please rest assured, Lady Leia.”
Lady Xuefei’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Ha…?”
But before her shock could even fade, Laer’s gaze had already shifted to her. With a faint smile, Laer said, “Lady Xuefei, please come with me. Let’s pick out a suitable maid outfit~”
“Ha…??”
Lady Xuefei’s cute, bewildered voice echoed through the tea room. She had no idea what sound to make next.
So fast?
No, no, no!
Hadn’t they just been setting the rules for the match? Why did it feel like Laer had been waiting outside the door for ages? Had these two already cooked up some scheme together? If she remembered right, she and Leia had only just returned from the Snake Demon Country!
Leia’s smile grew all the brighter.
True, asking a pregnant Xuefei to don a maid outfit and wait on her hand and foot was pushing things a bit far. But as the Dragon King, she would lavish every care on Xuefei, serving her so thoroughly that she wouldn’t be able to get enough~
And so, under Leia’s watchful gaze, Laer escorted Xuefei to the dressing room.
~~~
Moments later, Xuefei stared at the array of maid outfits in deep contemplation. Garter stockings, satin ribbons tied at the waist, aprons that accentuated an adorable charm, headpieces that served as the perfect finishing touch—all of them were familiar, everyday adornments that pleased the eye without fail.
But the moment Xuefei imagined those things draped over her own body, any spark of interest melted away like snowflakes in the wind, leaving behind nothing but endless shame!
She had never dreamed that maid attire could be this cute. Who the hell had designed it like this, anyway? Weren’t you supposed to be Evil Dragon Lady Leia’s most elite guards?
“If your tail feels uncomfortable, we can shorten the skirt for you a little~,” Laer said with a smile as she suddenly pushed open the dressing room door, breaking the quiet atmosphere. “That way, your alluring absolute territory will be on full display for Lady Leia. She’ll absolutely love how you look~”
Xuefei’s diamond-shaped eyes widened bit by bit, her face burning red. She lowered her head toward the full-length mirror before her…
Absolute territory?!
