Chapter 5
What the hell is wrong with this bastard?
He kept fondling my breasts, completely undeterred by my resistance.
I grabbed his hands and tried to pull them away, but for some reason, I couldn't muster any strength.
He'd even slipped his hand inside my clothes and started groping me there, and I barely managed to hold back a moan.
Lucille finally stepped in and stopped him, since he showed no sign of stopping.
'That weird sensation is still lingering. Damn it.'
This was the first time anyone had ever touched my breasts.
When I touched them myself, I hadn't felt much, but having someone else touch them made me feel indescribably disgusted.
He's really committing to his villain role.
"Lord Rael. I don't mind what you do where no one can see, but would you please refrain from doing that in front of me?"
"I was just about to see how she tastes, and you sure know how to ruin the mood."
"She'll be your personal maid from now on anyway, Lord Rael. You can do that later."
"Yeah, yeah. Fine, so let's just get started already."
What?
What on earth was happening right now?
There was no such thing as a personal maid in the original story.
Even when the protagonist destroyed this ducal house, there hadn't been a single mention of a maid.
'This is seriously going off the rails.'
"Then please sign here.
"What are the effects?
"It's a contract bound by the soul, so neither party will be able to break it."
"Neither side can break it, huh? I like that."
Lucille handed Rael the paper I'd written my name on and began explaining various things to him.
The paper, which had been completely blank when I'd written my name, was now filled with letters glowing blue.
'I knew it. Something is definitely wrong here.'
I sensed something was off and was just about to approach the paper to check it when Rael suddenly stood up.
"What did you say your name was?"
"...I'm Serena."
"Serena. From this moment on, I appoint you as my personal maid."
"Pardon?"
I'd wondered if I hadn't already been his personal maid, but the answer came to me immediately.
The moment Rael said he was appointing me his personal maid, something strange began happening to my body.
"Ugh!"
I suddenly found it hard to breathe and dropped to my knees on the floor.
'What on earth is happening...?'
At the same time as it became difficult to breathe, I felt as if someone were squeezing my heart.
My head spun from the pain, and my face grew redder and redder.
"Hngh..."
"What's wrong with her?"
"It seems her soul is fiercely rejecting the contract."
"It'd be nice if she died like this."
"She won't die. No one has ever rejected this contract."
I couldn't hear what those two were saying.
But I could understand this much.
Their conversation was about my current state, and the paper I'd just written my name on was the cause of all this.
'Wait, was that a contract?'
It was my fault for letting my guard down just because nothing was written on it.
I should've run when I first sensed something was off!
"Ugh?!"
A moment later, pain tore through my entire body, as if I were being ripped apart.
A torrent of pain came crashing over me at incredible speed. I bit my tongue and fought with all my might to stay conscious, but in the end, I was swept into the heart of it and lost consciousness.
.
.
.
I don't know how much time had passed, but at any rate, I was able to open my eyes again.
I came to in a different room from the one I'd been in just moments ago: Rael's room, the young duke's room where he'd tried to pounce on me.
And I was lying on the bed in that room.
I hurriedly tried to get up and leave, but my body collapsed to the floor like a machine that had run out of power.
Even when I tried to push myself up with my arms, they were so weak that I kept falling flat on the floor again.
"Why can't I get any strength into my body?"
After struggling for a long while, I eventually came to terms with reality.
I couldn't move right now, so I'd have to wait for someone to come help me.
But the important thing was that this was the room of the young duke, the biggest wastrel in the empire.
Who would even think to open this room?
-Creeeak.
'Huh, it's opening.'
But as expected.
Naturally, the person who opened the door was Rael.
He was still holding a bottle of alcohol. Just like before, he took a drink and then approached me.
"Now I can finally get a good look at your face."
"Ugh."
"You don't have to look so disgusted. I'm not going to do anything to you right now."
"What did you do to me?"
"What do you think? It's a contract. Well, a one-sided master-servant contract."
According to him, I was now bound to him by a contract of the soul.
Soul contracts appeared only three times in the story.
Since nothing could sever the bond between the two parties, both sides avoided soul contracts.
The contracted party had to obey the contractor's orders absolutely, and refusing an order would trigger a coercive force.
'And now I've made one of those soul contracts?'
I'm screwed.
Seriously screwed.
At this rate, forget about a peaceful life—I have to go to the academy with him.
If the distance between the contractor and me grew too great, I would be forcibly transported to wherever he was.
"Get up for now."
"Even if you tell me to get up, I can't move."
"Get up."
[Coercive force is being applied]
"Wait, what is that... Ugh!"
My body, which had been unable to get up until just now, began to rise against my will.
Even though every muscle in my body screamed, my body showed no sign of stopping, and eventually I was standing in front of Rael.
'It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!'
"See? You can get up after all."
"Hngh..."
"Lie down on the bed."
My body was thrown onto the bed, and only then was I able to move of my own will again.
But the muscles I'd overworked kept screaming, and I couldn't move even though I wanted to.
Besides, what was that voice I'd just heard?
The woman's voice, laced with mechanical sounds, seemed to be audible only to me. Rael paid it no attention, and I began hearing the voice more and more often, and at a greater volume.
'Are you trying to kill me?!'
"Your face really is pretty. It's the kind of face that makes me want to eat you up right now."
"......"
"You're no fun."
I couldn't say anything.
Even if I'd wanted to, my mouth wouldn't open.
"You don't have to say anything."
-Rustle.
Rael climbed on top of me as I lay there, unable to move. He put his hand on my waist and lifted my clothes.
He took something out of his pocket and held it against my lower abdomen.
What was he trying to do?
"Hup?"
His lips touched mine.
'What the hell are you doing?!'
Even when I was a man, I hadn't gotten to have my first kiss—and now it was being taken from me like this?
I'm really going crazy!
-Sizzle!
"Kyaah!"
Pain shot through me, and I bit Rael's lip lightly.
But Rael didn't seem to care at all and kept kissing me.
"Mm. It's done."
"Hah...hah..."
"You've got quite a nice expression now. Rest up. I'll come back later."
-BANG!
Too much had happened; my mind couldn't process it.
What had just happened to me? What had I just felt?
'Did I just kiss a man? Me?'
For just a brief moment while our lips were touching, I thought it felt good.
The heat I'd felt at first had somehow turned into pleasure, and I hadn't been able to resist at all.
Not only had I kissed a villain—the villain destined to die at the protagonist's hands—but I'd even thought it felt good.
'Just die. You should just die, you idiot!'
I couldn't keep despairing like this, so I called up the status window, which I hadn't cared about until now.
"Status Window!"
The status window looked drastically different from the last time I'd seen it.
There were all sorts of descriptions, but what caught my eye was the talent status that had remained locked until now.
'My talent unlocked?'
I didn't know what had caused my talent to unlock, but it was news like a flower blooming in the midst of despair.
At least, it was to me.
'Let's take a closer look.'
[Status Window]
[Name: Serena] [Age: 15]
[Weight: ??]
Strength: A+ (Enhanced)
Agility: A++ (Enhanced)
Durability: B- (Enhanced)
Luck: C- (Enhanced)
Talent: Basic Maid Aptitude
1. Maid's Talent (All stats increase significantly while you are a maid)
2. A Maid's Devotion (Your stats increase as you get injured)
3. Combat Maid (Anything in your hands becomes a weapon, and your durability increases significantly)
4. A Maid's Secret (When wearing a maid uniform, a subspace forms inside the skirt)
Status: Soul Contract
[Soul Contract]
[1. Obey your master unconditionally.]
[2. Protect your master unconditionally.]
[3. Give everything for your master.]
Coercive Force (00.00%)
(The higher the coercive force, the more freedom of movement is taken away from the body when carrying out orders)
(Coercive force increases each time an order is disobeyed, and decreases each time an order is carried out)
## The terms of the contract have been relaxed by the system
The talent I'd thought was nothing special was far better than I'd expected.
I wanted to savor that joy as much as I could, but the details of the soul contract below it made me depressed all over again.
'Does this mean I'll have to obey all his orders now?'
Looks like I really am cursed with the worst luck.
Damn it.