Half an hour later.
Karin got the intel she wanted from Erika and formally took her leave.
After saying goodbye to Erika, Karin went to find one of her classmates—Elianna.
"Click."
With a soft sound, before Elianna could even respond, Karin simply opened Elianna's door.
"Huh? …Cough, cough, cough!!"
Realizing someone had come in, Elianna—who'd been drinking milk—instinctively coughed several times, doing everything she could to erase the evidence in her mouth and in the cup.
Luckily, Elianna was already practiced at this. Forcing her small mouth open as wide as she could, she managed—right as Karin walked in—to swallow the remaining symbiote in the cup in one go.
"Cough, cough, cough…! …Cough, cough!"
Only after a few more coughs did Elianna finally lift her eyes to the intruder.
"Karin-san, please don't just walk into other people's rooms without knocking!~" Elianna puffed out her red lips, staring at Karin with clear displeasure.
Karin hurriedly raised a hand, looking like she was begging forgiveness.
But even as she did, the corners of her catlike smile curled up into something teasing.
"Sorry, sorry. I'll knock next time. Anyway—could I trouble you to make me a cappuccino first?" Karin, the scheming maid, pressed her hands together in an exaggerated plea.
"Yes, yes, I got it," Elianna replied helplessly.
"I seriously don't know if you picked this up from Lady Erika—actually getting into cappuccinos."
Since Erika's favorite coffee was cappuccino, Elianna had long since mastered the art of making it.
And this dorm—Dorm 417—was fairly high-end. On top of that, her room was specifically for maids, so she actually had proper coffee equipment on hand.
"Hm hm hm~~~"
Humming as she worked, Elianna suddenly sensed something and snapped her gaze toward Karin.
Karin was standing by the tray that held the milk glass Elianna had just used.
But Karin withdrew her small hand so quickly that Elianna didn't see what she actually did—only the brief flicker of motion.
Elianna didn't notice the faint fingerprint now left on the side of the glass. Clearly, Karin had braced her hand against it and wiped it once.
"Karin, what are you doing?" Elianna frowned.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about what Lady Erika said—about the new king, Sai Akuto-sama," Karin replied, savoring the lingering taste as she casually tossed out Akuto's name.
Just as she expected, Elianna's attention snapped away immediately.
"Huh? Lady Erika said something about Akuto-sama?" Elianna asked at once, openly concerned.
Elianna could be a bit mischievous at times, but most of the time she was still airheaded and straightforward. In the original story, the worst she ever did was peek at Erika kissing—she didn't really cross lines.
Karin was different. Karin was the type who could pull out her mistress's novel and hand it to her mistress's nemesis. If you were ranking "black-bellied," Karin was leagues above Elianna.
…
What Karin didn't know was that Elianna's intense interest had nothing to do with what Karin imagined.
Elianna was paying attention because Akuto had already told her he planned to put Liliana and her personal maid—Karin—into the same bed.
The moment Karin brought up Akuto, Elianna reflexively assumed that was what Karin meant, which was why she looked so invested.
"Mm. That's right. Lady Erika said quite a bit about Akuto-sama," Karin continued with a smile.
Hearing that, Elianna's misunderstanding only deepened—she immediately started treating Karin like a "future insider." What she didn't know was that Erika was only saying those things to give her best friend Liliana a helpful push.
"I… I see…" Elianna gave an awkward little laugh as she sized Karin up.
Well… Karin's chest was a bit smaller than hers, and she was petite, and her personality was honestly awful—but purely in terms of cuteness, Karin really was adorable. More adorable than Liliana, the "hard-to-handle" mistress Akuto-sama somehow ended up getting involved with.
"By the way, Elianna—so I can serve Akuto-sama better in the future, and so I don't cause trouble when I do… could you teach me some of your experience?" Karin asked seriously.
Karin genuinely wanted to learn. She wanted to understand Akuto better, which was why—after asking Erika—she came to ask Elianna too.
On the one hand, the more she understood Akuto, the easier it would be for her to help Liliana along. Karin's personality was nasty, and she loved messing with Liliana, but of course she still wanted Liliana to end up with the person she liked.
On the other hand, knowing more about Akuto would help her avoid mistakes at work. From what she'd heard, the new king was merciful most of the time—but that wasn't an excuse to get careless.
But the moment Karin said "experience serving Akuto-sama," Elianna fully classified her as one of "their own."
In Elianna's view, if Akuto had already made moves on Erika and her, then doing the same to Liliana and Karin was only natural.
"E-experience serving Akuto-sama…?"
As she said it, Elianna remembered the way Akuto had only torn open a small gap and then… stayed inside her, asleep. Heat rushed into her face in an instant.
"Hmm?"
Karin noticed Elianna's mood was a little off, but she didn't comment—only kept her expression calm as she continued.
"Yes. Experience serving Akuto-sama."
"Elianna, you know my mistress Liliana is in love with the new king. And with how Akuto-sama is right now—never turning down beautiful girls—Liliana-sama is definitely going to become one of Akuto-sama's partners."
"So isn't it only natural that I learn in advance how to serve Akuto-sama?" Karin spread her hands.
"O-okay… okay~ Let me think…" Elianna began carefully recalling the key points.
"Okay, first—shoes," Elianna said, looking down at her own and Karin's black maid shoes.
"Shoes?" Karin tilted her head.
"Right. Shoes." Elianna nodded hard.
"Sometimes Akuto-sama likes me to serve him while wearing shoes, so before you go to Akuto-sama's room, it's best to wash them clean first," Elianna instructed with complete seriousness.
Even if she didn't, Akuto would probably use a cleansing spell to clean them for her—but that was Akuto's choice. Whether she washed her shoes or not was about her attitude.
"…"
Karin felt like her brain was short-circuiting. She tried her best to imagine it in the dirtiest direction possible, and still couldn't figure out what "serving Akuto" had to do with shoes.
Thankfully, Elianna didn't stop talking, so Karin could keep harvesting information.
"Besides shoes, it should be stockings…"
Elianna looked toward Karin's feet. Under Karin's deep-blue maid dress were black stockings hugging her delicate feet. They didn't stand out the way Elianna's dark-navy stockings did, but they were still acceptable.
As for the maid dress itself… Elianna's dark-navy uniform and Karin's deep-blue one were basically tied. Neither had anything especially distinctive. Aside from the stockings, they both looked conservative—really the biggest difference was the three "maid-ish" frills at the hem and the way Karin's hem had the same three accents.
"Stockings?" Karin tilted her head again. She didn't understand the shoe thing, but she felt like she could probably understand the stocking thing.
"Exactly. Stockings." Elianna nodded emphatically.
"Anyway, remember: don't take them off. If you can, pick a freshly washed pair—high quality material. Don't wear yesterday's cheap, flimsy ones," Elianna said, speaking from experience.
Elianna felt like even if she wore stockings she'd had on all day, Akuto probably wouldn't mind—and Akuto had cleansing spells anyway. But again: whether Akuto did it or not was Akuto's choice. As maids, they needed to show the right attitude.
"Okay… I… I understand…" Karin swallowed hard.
She couldn't shake the feeling that the Elianna in front of her wasn't the Elianna she knew. Wasn't Elianna supposed to be scatterbrained? Why was she talking about bedroom matters so casually now?
So it really was… a man's "nourishment," wasn't it? Karin couldn't help thinking.
And so, after Elianna's nonstop lecture, Karin's knowledge expanded yet again.
Things like: "Even if you end up changing stockings a few times later, your starting gear still matters—Akuto-sama paying attention to you and you showing the right attitude."
Things like: "White panties are best, but don't pick a style that's too plain, and don't pick something that's too hard to move aside. Not wearing any is an option too, but Akuto-sama might only start asking for that later."
Things like: "You can eat a little at dinner, but don't eat too much—otherwise you won't have room for anything else later."
After the barrage, Elianna finally arrived at the last point.
"Mm, and last is your mouth. Karin, make sure you brush really well, okay~ It has to be the kind of brushing where you swallow the toothpaste foam, because only then can you completely clean your mouth and throat."
"Y-yes. Okay. I understand…"
…
[Since you understand, then Karin—come find me tonight at twelve.] The moment Karin responded, she heard a man's voice inside her head.
Th-This… this was… the new king's voice!?
"Ghk—!"
Karin sucked in a sharp breath.
So that meant… everything she'd just said had been under Akuto-sama's watch the whole time?!
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]