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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Ways to Please the Master! (Or Not)
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Every slave wore an iron slave collar.
At first glance, it was just a plain restraint, like a shackle.
In the original story, the focus was on the time after Piel and the other heroines had already shed their slave status.
So the info I'd heard back then was just...
'It activates a restraint spell if you harm your master.'
'It's infused with magic that forces absolute obedience to commands.'
'Only the master can remove it.'
And so on.
That was about it.
So I had no idea.
That this collar had a function like this.
To be precise, it might not have been an original feature.
But just moments ago, the moment Piel's eyes sparkled as she asked if I had a dog leash, the slave collar started reshaping itself.
Click.
The black iron rearranged in an instant, taking on the exact appearance of a 'dog collar.'
The next click added the leash.
And that's why I'm in this situation now.
In the vast garden of the Argent estate, I'm holding the leash extending from the slave collar and taking a walk.
And the 'dog' is... of course, Piel.
Ears perked up, tail wagging excitedly, crawling briskly on all fours in her maid outfit ahead of me.
The clothes are a high-class maid uniform, but the behavior is pure pet.
I can't tell if I'm crazy or if this world is.
But one thing is certain.
Piel looks happy right now.
She's not hiding her tail. She's not hunching her body. She's not afraid of me.
Instead, she tugs lightly on the leash to lead the way, and when I pause, she turns back with sparkling eyes, urging me on.
What a insane situation, but I found myself chuckling without realizing it.
"How is it, Master? My parents always fought sometimes, but the next day they'd go on a walk like this and make up right away!"
"Ah, um... yeah... I feel a bit better now..."
"Hehe! See? Our house was always in the snowy mountains, but every time they came back from a walk to the cabin, they were both drenched in sweat!"
A 'vigorous walk' in the snowy mountains that left them both soaked in sweat.
The image popping into my head right now isn't a walk but something else... no, it must be my dirty mind.
I was thinking that when the real problem arose elsewhere.
Lucas Argent.
The illegitimate son of a shadowy family even royalty couldn't touch, treated like a ghost even in the mansion.
Normally, people passed by as if I didn't exist, but now it was different.
Someone once said it, right?
Even the bottom has a bottom.
And I was feeling that in real time right now.
Murmur murmur murmur.
I'd chosen an empty area near the annex's inner courtyard, but everyone was watching.
And without fail, they were all whispering.
"Whoa... he gets one slave and now he's got the kid on a dog leash, making her crawl?"
"As soon as something weaker shows up, his true colors come out... ugh, disgusting."
"I felt sorry for him as a bastard, but now I see he's just a dog bastard."
The gazes of passing maids.
Faces that always treated me like air were now openly showing disgust.
Eyes asking how he could do this.
Eyes looking at me like filthy vermin.
I get it.
I can see exactly what they're misunderstanding.
Everyone's convinced I'm making the slave crawl around to my taste.
'Fuck... that's not my thing.'
But could I stop because of that?
Piel was laughing properly for the first time since being dragged into this mansion.
She's crawling hard, wagging her tail to please her master like imitating her parents. If I said "This is embarrassing, let's stop" here?
That wouldn't just crush Piel's spirit—it would deny the 'way of love' her deceased parents passed down to her.
So I pushed the stares aside for now.
Lucas Argent was this kind of character from the start anyway.
What's the difference between zero treatment in the family and negative one?
Besides, unlike the original, I planned to bolt from this house at the first opportunity anyway.
In other words, my one priority right now.
Don't break Piel's tail.
I walked slowly behind the wagging tail, pretending to stay calm.
And decided to at least act like a gentleman.
"Piel, everything's fine, but... lower your hips a bit. Your panties are showing."
"Eek?! M-Master, don't look...!"
"I don't want to see it, but it's visible, you rascal."
About ten minutes in.
Piel, who seemed like she'd walk forever, suddenly stopped.
"Master! That's enough walking for now!"
"Oh?"
I let out a brief sigh of relief.
The story about her parents returning drenched from a 'vigorous walk' had me uneasy, wondering if I'd get dragged into some stamina race too.
Of course, the relief lasted three seconds.
What Piel pulled from her bosom was a round metal tray.
She stood on two legs, offering it politely like a tribute, eyes sparkling.
"Now, let's play 'frisbee'!"
"...Frisbee?"
Piel shook the tray excitedly in both hands as she explained.
"Dad always took a frisbee when going on walks with Mom! He said throwing it to make her chase and turn around was the most fun!"
"Ah, um... I see..."
A frisbee toss to show backsides during a 'vigorous walk' sweaty enough for snowy mountains.
...Is my imagination too lewd?
Yeah, definitely.
My thoughts wandered, but for the innocent joy of the surviving child, I played dumb.
"By the way, this is more tray than frisbee, isn't it? From the kitchen?"
"Yes! There were no frisbees in the mansion, so I went to the kitchen and said it was 'needed for the master,' and they rushed over and gave it to me!"
And the head chef bastard in the meantime...
After getting stomped on the instep, his efficiency shot up 200%.
Anyway, now I was about to play frisbee like a pet owner with a beastkin kid.
The mansion stares would get even colder, but what's it matter when they've already hit rock bottom.
"Alright, let's do it."
"Yes, Master!"
Piel lowered herself to all fours again.
Her tail waved like ocean waves, full of anticipation.
I threw the metal tray as far as I could with all my strength.
Piel was running harder than ever.
On all fours, panting, tail whipping like the wind.
How long had it been?
Since she could run freely like this, without suppressing her beastly instincts, following her heart.
Mom always emphasized one thing.
Beastkin aren't beasts; they're people, so crawling on all fours should be avoided.
That's how you grow into a fine beastkin.
But at other times, she said something different.
"Still, if a man comes along who makes your tail wag on its own and you want to run on all fours that badly... you don't have to hide it in front of him."
Piel had asked.
"Mom, how do you know when it's that man?"
"Hehe... You'll know naturally when you grow up, Piel. Even if you don't want to, your 'lower belly' will rumble and send the signal."
She hadn't understood back then.
What 'lower belly rumbling' meant.
But now, she felt like she knew all too well.
The master who didn't discard her even covered in dirt, called her family instead of slave, bathed with her in warm water instead of a cold bucket, and ate at eye level on the floor.
Thinking of such a Lucas made Piel's lower belly truly rumble.
Painfully, hotly, stuffily.
And... Piel came to a quick conclusion.
'Ah, so this is the signal... The lower belly rumbling means my tummy's happy from Master buying so much delicious meat!'
The pure interpretation unique to an innocent girl firmly believing it couldn't mean anything else.
So Piel kept running on all fours.
Chasing the flying tray overhead, as if her whole life aimed for it.
Mouth open, tail wagging, with the face of a slave, a pet, and the most excited beastkin female in the world.
She thought this happy time would last forever.
Really.
Then, in that moment—
Whoosh.
"Gasp! The tray went into the bushes."
Piel had been fetching the tray Lucas threw in five seconds flat, like a hunting dog in training. She was so eager it was shredding his arm instead.
So this time, to give his arm a real break, he threw it farther, over the annex boundary and deep into the bushes.
Piel picked up the tray from between the gently rustling bushes.
And right as she turned to head back.
"Oh my... oh my oh my oh my!"
"Hm?"
A sudden shadow appeared.
And footsteps approaching briskly.
Before Piel could look up in surprise, soft white hands 'squished' her cheeks.
"So cute! What is this? Did the Argent family have a maid like this?"
The girl kneaded Piel's cheeks every which way, gushing admiration like she couldn't hold it in.
"My god... hair color fresh like an orange, eyes sparkling like dewdrops... ears fluffy and soft... aaah, too pretty!"
"H-Hueee...?"
"Cute enough to shock me! I want to raise this kid myself? What's your name? Whose slave are you?"
She had sapphire-blue eyes shining like gems and a matching rose ornament in her hair, looking just like a princess from a fairy tale.
Piel couldn't help thinking so; she was that beautiful.
But.
Anyone who knew this girl's true identity could never stop at just 'cute.'
Because she was one of the next formal heir candidates of the Argent family, which managed the kingdom's 'darkness'—the fourth daughter, one year older than Lucas.
Syl Argent.
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