"Um, Miss Mimi?"

"What's the matter, Aya?"

"Well... what does this mean?"

"Can't you tell? I'm feeding you, open your mouth, be a good girl."

So why are you doing this in the first place! Aya stared at the small piece of meatloaf that was approaching her mouth, exuding a fragrant aroma and slowly oozing with juice. Out of a dual reaction both psychological and physiological, she swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

It smelled so delicious, irresistible, but what was Mimi's intention behind using this feeding play!

At this moment, Miss Mimi was sitting on a small stool, serving food to both Chirp and Aya at the same time. While her attitude toward Chirp was gentle as a spring breeze, her demeanor toward Aya was as cold as a Siberian arctic blast... Although there were no obvious actions in words or gestures, Aya always felt as if she could see something resembling hellfire when she looked at Mimi.

On the other side, the chief maid kept her eyes fixed on Aya, scanning her face and not missing any subtle change in expression.

"Sorry, Aya, I wasn't very nice to you when you first arrived at the castle."

"Oh, it's okay..."

"Although I don't like you, I really thought that your face was a waste not being in a maid outfit when you first came. Maybe with some proper training, you could have become the perfect maid for His Highness."

"Don't just pretend I didn't hear that!"

"So, did anything happen between you and His Highness when I wasn't around?"

"Something did... Wait, how did we suddenly get to this topic?" Aya almost choked on the meat in her mouth, her heart pounding.

Tsk, did I reveal something? Mimi grunted in annoyance, but judging from Aya's reaction, this guy definitely has a secret.

This was probably the most agonizing lunch that Aya had ever experienced. Despite the delicious taste of Mimi's specially made meatloaf served with sautéed asparagus and corn salad, she couldn't fully enjoy the food when under Mimi's scrutinizing gaze resembling that of interrogating a suspect, always being careful not to accidentally say something inappropriate.

"Well then, I will take my leave."

Quickly clearing the table and food cart, Mimi affectionately rubbed Chirp's head with its erect animal ears, pushing the cart as she left.

"Does this count as passing the test?"

Watching Mimi's figure disappear outside the door and the wooden door slowly closing, Aya unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Even though it was a bit agonizing just now, as long as she could make Miss Mimi stop suspecting her, everything would be fine. Or... would it?

In the afternoon, after being continuously defeated in Chinese checkers by Chirp, Aya decided to regain her confidence. So she chose to play Tiran's favorite board game - Flying Chess. Of course, in Tiran's version, you had to remove one piece of clothing every time you lose.

What? Chirp can join in too? Officer, Officer, please come over here, we have a hentai to arrest.

Unfortunately, Aya soon found out that even when rolling the dice, she couldn't win against Chirp, rolling a six almost every time! Was this some kind of fate or luck of the heavens?

"Chirp, you can control the force and angle of the throw, just calculate the trajectory and you can ensure the six is facing up in the end."

She provided a reasonable method that couldn't actually be executed, truly, apart from a dragon-shaped computer, it was impossible!

Aya simply laid back with a blank expression, ah, there's nothing to fear anymore, her self-esteem had been thoroughly crushed by her daughter's intelligence.

But, as it turned out, there was still something left to lose.

For example, the pink-haired chief maid who quietly entered the room without a sound.

"This is the dessert the chef made today."

Miss Mimi calmly approached Aya and set the tray down, skillfully preparing tea to accompany the fruit cake - her gaze still locked onto Aya.

Shit! The chef hasn't returned yet, and the recent meals at the castle have been cooked by the maids themselves, clearly, she's targeting me! Aya felt a chill run down her spine, debating if she should just hide in her shell like a turtle.

After enduring the tea-time interrogation, Aya pitifully sought Chirp's approval to stop playing. Poor thing, it's not that Mama doesn't love you, it's just that the demon queen is truly terrifying.

...

After what felt like an eternity.

Having claimed she was just taking a nap and sneaking into an empty room to avoid Mimi, Aya found herself unconsciously drifting off to sleep in bed, not having slept all night and being mentally crushed by Chirp's intellect and tormented by Mimi's mind games.

And upon waking up.

"...Ugh, my neck hurts, did I sleep wrong?"

"If it's a neck pain, I can consider giving you a massage, as long as you confess what happened between you and His Highness in Loking."

"Thanks, please be gentle... Mimi?!"

Aya suddenly sat up in bed, seeing the emotionless chief maid sitting on a chair by the bed with a book on her knees, a quarter of the way through.

"Don't deny it? Then that means you're admitting it." Mimi mercilessly opened her right hand, and a cluster of crimson flames burst into existence.

"Admit what, why would I confess in such a situation! And how did you get in here!"

This doesn't make sense, she locked the doors and windows, and even if she had a key, it would be impossible to enter. It's like a perfect setup for a locked-room murder mystery.

However, Aya's eyes caught a glimpse of the melted metal on the side of the door, maybe it once was the doorknob and lock.

Urgh...

Realizing the situation, Aya's mind immediately pieced together a scene where Mimi melted the lock with her fiery hands and stood by the bed, staring at her like a ghost.

Did I accidentally say something I shouldn't have in my sleep?

At the thought, Aya’s heart raced uncontrollably, her hand covering her mouth subconsciously.

As if reading Aya's thoughts, Mimi scoffed, "Don't worry, you didn't say anything inappropriate while you were asleep."

Phew, that's a relief... Aya's expression relaxed upon hearing that, but then she realized her mistake as she saw Mimi observing her changing facial expressions.

"So, you still think I did something to His Highness, huh?" Mimi gritted her teeth.

"No! Absolutely not!" Aya vehemently refuted, "I didn't do anything to Tiran! Actually, she's the one who did something to me."

Faced with Aya's firm denial, Mimi was momentarily taken aback.

"So you have no evidence, right?" Aya retorted defiantly, "Don't just jump to conclusions! If you bully me again, I'll report you to Tiran!"

Mimi had no response to Aya's sudden turn in the conversation, unable to continue pressing the issue.

But the chief maid didn't seem ready to give up just yet.

...

"I say... have you taken a liking to me?"

Aya, holding a fishing rod, threw an apple towards a nearby grove of short trees less than ten meters away. The apple disappeared into the foliage and was caught by a fair hand that reached out.

Mimi took a bite of the apple, expressionless, and continued to stare at him.

...

"Damn it! I don't believe you can find your way here like this!"

Aya, using Magic to create an air pocket at the bottom of the castle's lake, thought viciously. She was challenging Mimi, daring her to come find her!

Looking up, she saw a ring of fire glowing in the water where the sunlight couldn't penetrate due to depth and the bubbles accompanying the flames.

...

"Ha... Ha... You can't reach me here, right!"

In the cloudy sky, Aya in dragon form beat her large wings, cautiously scanning left and right with her long neck. Though theoretically an Infernal didn't have the ability to fly, there was no way Mimi could reach the sky to chase her... right?

Though still uneasy, Aya couldn’t think of a way for Mimi to reach such heights.

Huh?

Suddenly, Aya felt a subtle coiling sensation on her tail, and turning around, she saw a silver metallic whip entangled there, extending to where a certain chief maid was hanging on, her pink hair dancing wildly in the high winds.

...

"It's time to give up."

Aya thought so.

...

That night.

After spending the whole day trying to shake off Mimi's surveillance, Aya was exhausted as she lay in the bathtub in her room, letting the hot water rise over her cheeks.

The light distorted by the water made everything blurry, and as Aya lay under the water blowing bubbles, she counted silently up to ten, then sat up.

As expected.

The chief maid pulled a small stool and sat by the bathtub with a book on her lap, having read about a quarter of it already.

"When are you going to stop following me? How long do you plan to do this?" Aya was getting a bit frustrated.

"Huh? Why would I fight with you? I can't beat you, after all."

Mimi replied matter-of-factly.

Hey, that's not what you said when you first brought me back. A twitch formed in the corner of Aya's eye.

"What's the point of following me then?"

"Of course, to wait for you to admit what you did to His Highness."

"So you've decided I did something!"

"And then?" Aya continued, "Didn't you also say you can't beat me?"

"Hmph, there's no need to beat you to kill a dragon," Mimi sneered.

"Aren't you afraid I'll strike first?" Aya bared her claws, "rua!"

"Would you?" Mimi, as if seeing through Aya, pitifully crossed her hands over her chest.

Man, she changes her tune so quickly! So you're just bullying the honest one, huh?!

Mimi found Aya's reactions quite amusing, her gaze subtly probing Aya's form, finally landing on a certain spot, her cheeks blushing.

"You... Actually, you're quite impressive."

"Huh?" Aya blinked.