Ram's absolute certainty made Frederica's heart skip a beat.
Judging from how forward Hayashi Maki had been so far… it really did feel like there was no escaping him.
Just thinking about the heat she'd felt at her waist earlier made Frederica's cheeks flush bright red.
"No, absolutely not! Don't think about that! Get a grip, Frederica. You're just a maid. Don't go imagining things you shouldn't!"
She shook her head hard until her heart finally calmed down a little—though she knew she'd never be as composed as before.
Taking a deep breath, Frederica slowly sank her voluptuous body into the bath.
Her full chest rose up with the water, forming a dangerously tempting curve.
…
Leaving the head maid's complicated feelings aside, Hayashi Maki, meanwhile, received an invitation.
Delivered in person by Felix Argyle.
"Yo, long time no see, Hayashi Maki–little bro! Still as dazzling as ever, huh? Really makes a cat jealous, nya~"
The cross-dressing cat-eared beauty pitched his voice soft and sweet, waving cheerfully at Hayashi Maki.
A guy acting cute like that—and actually pulling it off.
Hayashi Maki's mouth twitched, but he still responded calmly.
"Cut the small talk, Sir Felix. You're here, so what does Crusch-sama want?"
"Uh…" His bluntness took Felix's energy down a notch.
"Hayashi Maki–little bro, that kind of thing can only be explained by one's lord personally, nya~ People like me are just attendants. I'm here to invite you as a guest."
"Your reputation's been echoing all over the capital lately. My lady Crusch is very interested in your methods. Would you be willing to honor us and come talk, nya?"
"Of course. Since it's Crusch-sama inviting me, I'm definitely interested. Let's go now."
Hayashi Maki smiled and agreed, then turned his head and called back inside:
"Beatrice, come here. Want to go out and play with me?"
"I do! Don't you dare try to ditch Betty."
To Felix's shock, a ridiculously cute girl with golden twin drills hopped straight into Hayashi Maki's arms.
"H–hiss… is… may I ask who this is?"
Unlike Hayashi Maki, whose magic felt almost completely ordinary on the surface, Beatrice was practically radiating power. Her magic, still not fully stable after being filled with his massive mana, made her stand out like a walking beacon to any mage.
Hayashi Maki pinched her cheek affectionately as he held her and explained:
"This is Beatrice, a great spirit of the Yin attribute, and my contracted partner. Come on, Beatrice, say hello to Sir Felix."
Beatrice glanced over her shoulder at Felix, then promptly turned away and burrowed her face back into Hayashi Maki's chest.
"Hmph."
She couldn't have given him a colder reception.
Felix immediately broke into a sweat. A great spirit—and a Yin-aligned one at that!
Julius was already terrifying with just a handful of lesser spirits. And here Emilia's camp had not one but two great spirits. It was insane.
"Beatrice, don't be rude," Hayashi Maki said, stroking the little spirit's hair.
Only then did Beatrice reluctantly lift her head and say, "…Hello."
"Ah, yes—hello to you as well, Beatrice-sama!"
Felix hurried to respond, his respect for Hayashi Maki growing even deeper.
Someone who could keep a terrifying great spirit this docile around him… that alone proved how formidable he really was.
"That's my good girl. My Beatrice really is the best," Hayashi Maki said, kissing her cheek and earning an indignant rub of her face against his chest.
"Honestly, you got your drool all over Betty's face again. You're awful!"
"Haha, can't help it. You're too cute."
Once he'd finished teasing Beatrice, he looked back at Felix.
"Alright then, let's go, Sir Felix. We shouldn't keep Crusch-sama waiting."
"Right this way!"
Felix wiped his brow and led the way.
A dragon carriage was already waiting outside.
Standing by it in a black butler's uniform was an elderly man with white hair and a white beard.
He was old, but stood straight as a blade, and his sharp gaze was like a drawn sword.
No surprise—it was the former "Sword Demon" himself, Wilhelm van Astrea, grandfather of the red-haired Sword Saint. Still tough as steel despite his age, he was Crusch's strongest asset.
After Hayashi Maki climbed aboard with Beatrice, Wilhelm took the reins and guided the dragon carriage toward Crusch's estate.
Felix sat with them in the cabin, giving Hayashi Maki and Beatrice a rather complicated look.
"What's with that weird stare?" Hayashi Maki asked. "Sir Felix, I'll say it again—I'm not into men."
He added that last part very seriously, like it was some sacred article of faith.
Felix scratched his cheek awkwardly, the cat ears on his head twitching.
Hayashi Maki decided it was probably best that a certain cat-obsessed Yukinoshita Yukino from his original world never meet this one.
A catboy this cute would absolutely push her buttons.
"C'mon, Hayashi Maki–little bro, you don't have to say it like that! Isn't Felix cute enough, nya?"
Felix gazed at him mournfully, tail swishing.
If he'd been a girl, Hayashi Maki might actually have grabbed that tail just to see the reaction.
Unfortunately… he wasn't.
"Cute or not, you're still a guy," Hayashi Maki said flatly. "I'm a perfectly straight man, thanks."
Felix burst out laughing.
"Haha, fair enough. Still feels kind of funny, though. You're totally doing an Anastasia impression, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Am I pulling it off?"
"It's spot-on— too spot-on. Just… feels weird. You don't have Anastasia-sama's level of cuteness~"
"Well duh. I'm a man. How am I supposed to be all soft and adorable like a girl?"
"Oof—was that a personal attack? You're insulting my image, nya?"
Even when he got indignant, Felix still moved and spoke like a girl, which Hayashi Maki found… visually exhausting.
"I'm not insulting you," Hayashi Maki said. "I just need to keep my orientation intact. So please, Sir Felix, if you're going to talk to me, at least use a man's voice."
"Impossible request~ Felix's voice is just naturally like this, nya~!"
Felix rolled his eyes, but he didn't seem offended.
Dressing and acting this way went back to his past—being a cat-eared demi-human came with a lot of painful history.
Crusch was the one who saved him, and she never once looked at him with disgust.
Hayashi Maki's gaze, though a little strange, held no contempt either, which made Felix instinctively like him more.
So he was more than happy to joke around and chat like this.
And at the same time, he was fulfilling his duty: subtly probing for information on behalf of Crusch Karsten-sama.
Because if they went into negotiations with Hayashi Maki knowing nothing about him, Crusch would be at a disadvantage.
And Hayashi Maki, after all, was part of Emilia's camp—one of Crusch's direct rivals.