I hissed in pain, rubbing my aching side with a white-gloved hand as I slowly hauled myself up from the rug. Every movement was punctuated by the cheerful yet maddening jingle of the bell on my tail, which now felt like the loudest sound in the entire castle.

  Elene stood in the doorway, watching my clumsiness from above. Finally, she let out a melodic ugh, though there was a quality to it that sent a chill down my spine.

  “My, you have nothing to fear, kitten. I won’t eat you whole... at least, not today,” she said lightly. But her gaze - predatory and piercing - suggested otherwise.

  I might have felt safer if she weren't looking at me like she was mentally deciding which part of my new body to consume first.

  I straightened up tentatively, trying to salvage some shred of dignity despite my wrinkled pink maid outfit. I opened my mouth to respond, but the expression on Elene’s face shifted drastically.

  Her nostrils fred. Her smile vanished in a heartbeat, repced by deep, suspicious focus as she caught that specific scent - one unlike anything she had encountered before.

  As a succubus, a being who fed on essence and emotion, she couldn’t overlook such a dramatic change in her charge’s aura.

  Her eyes widened even further as a thought crossed her mind.

  Before I could blink, Elene simply... vanished from where she stood and reappeared inches from my face.

  What the fuck?! Can she teleport?! I thought in a panic, feeling the gust of air hit my skin.

  In reality, it wasn't spatial magic. The gap in our stats was so colossal that, compared to my pathetic Agility, her movement was simply too fast for a human (or feline) eye to track. She stood over me now, radiating an aura so heavy it practically pinned me to the floor.

  Without a word of warning, she reached out with an aggressive swipe, grabbed the hem of my short skirt, and yanked it up, exposing my pink ce panties. When her gaze nded on the massive, dried stains - the evidence of my midnight "adventure" - her eyes fred with a dangerous light.

  “Did I not make myself clear yesterday, you miserable pet?” she demanded. Her voice was now ice-cold, stripped of all its previous pyfulness. “I told you explicitly: do not dare py with your own body in Lady Lilith’s absence.”

  The atmosphere in the room took a sharp, dark turn.

  The air grew thick with her fury. I felt my legs begin to tremble from pure, primal terror.

  I stood there with my dress hiked up, exposed in my shame, unable to squeeze out a single word to expin that it was Lady Lilith herself who had brought me to this state.

  Elene narrowed her eyes, her predatory stare hitting me with the force of a physical blow. Before I could even think about running, her thin, demonic tail whipped through the air like a sh and coiled tightly around my throat. I felt a stinging heat as the heart-shaped spade grazed my skin.

  The grip tightened just enough to immobilize my head while forcing me into shallow, ragged gasps.

  “You’d better have a damn good excuse for the mess in your panties, little one,” she hissed, bringing her face so close I could feel the heat radiating from her skin. “Because looking at what you’ve done here, there is no way you’re escaping punishment.”

  I looked into her eyes, tears of sheer, helpless frustration welling in my own. It was so goddamn unfair! I hadn’t broken the rules; her own Mistress had used me like a toy, and now I was the one who was going to catch hell for it. The pressure on my neck eased slightly, and Elene looked at me impatiently, her hands twitching.

  “Well? Do you have a defense, or should I just drag you to the dungeons for a lesson in humility right now?”

  “I-I... I’m so sorry, Mistress Elene! I didn't want to...” I started frantically, but that was a mistake.

  In a split second, the tail constricted with such force that my air supply was completely cut off. My hands flew instinctively to my throat, cwing at the muscur grip. All I could manage was a choked, wheezing sound.

  “I don't want to hear apologies, I want expnations!” she growled. I heard a note of authentic panic mixed with her fury. “Do you have any idea what Lady Lilith will do to me if she thinks I failed to supervise a slut like you? If she thinks you can't go a single day without pleasuring yourself behind her back? I’m the one who has to answer for your insubordination!”

  I realized Elene was actually afraid, which only made her tighten her tail even more. I felt the blood pounding in my temples; the world began to spin.

  Tears streamed down my cheeks, soaking the colr of my pink dress. The bell on my tail chimed pathetically with every tremor. The sense of injustice was almost as painful as the ck of oxygen.

  Just as my face began to turn blue and my resistance ebbed away, Elene caught something in my gaze - perhaps the raw terror, or perhaps the new, sweet scent of my talent finally had a sedative effect on her. The grip suddenly loosened. She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to control the shaking of her own hands.

  “Speak,” she commanded coldly, though her voice was steadier now. “Tell me exactly what happened before I lose the st of my patience.”

  I gulped in air, coughing and massaging my bruised neck.

  Once I found my voice, the words came spilling out in a torrent. With my head hung low, choking on my own shame, I described Lilith’s visit the night before. I told her about the bottle, about how the Mistress made me drink milk on her p, how she teased my body, and how she eventually, personally, brought me to that state before leaving me in the dirty lingerie all night.

  Elene narrowed her eyes even further, scrutinizing my shaking form as if trying to burn a hole through my thoughts. Her voice was unnaturally ft.

  “Are you lying to me, little one?” she asked. “Because if you’re trying to pin your own guilt on Lady Lilith, I promise you, it will be the st thing you do in this incarnation.”

  I looked up at her, a fresh wave of tears threatening to spill over.

  “Mistress Elene... I’m telling the truth!” I choked out, sobbing quietly. “I swear, Lady Lilith visited me st night. She made me drink from that bottle... she touched me like that... she did this to me...”

  Elene frowned, clearly warring with her own thoughts. She didn't sense a trace of her Mistress's aura in the room. Yet, the succubus suddenly froze.

  Her expression underwent a total metamorphosis.

  She remembered this morning. She remembered the specific, mysterious smile Lilith had given her when mentioning that a “surprise” was waiting.

  Everything clicked into a single, perverted picture. Elene let out a long breath, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion.

  “Mistress... that was more terrifying than a surprise,” she whispered under her breath, shaking her head.

  The weight of her aura finally lifted. She exhaled with visible relief.

  At least the horny kitten hadn't acted of his own accord or broken a direct command.

  She looked at me, and for a fleeting second, I saw something in her eyes that looked like... sympathy? She seemed to realize she had nearly strangled me over her superior’s whim.

  “I believe you,” she said curtly.

  The weight lifted from my chest. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, relieved that the interrogation was over. I didn't notice, however, that as Elene watched my defenseless, tear-streaked face, she felt a sudden, sadistic spike of arousal.

  Honestly... if he didn't belong to Lady Lilith, I could have spent some very interesting nights with this sweetling, she thought, instinctively licking her lips before mentally scolding herself.

  Elene knew her pce. She wouldn't touch Lilith’s property.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” she snapped, her tone turning harsh to hide her inner conflict.

  I froze, not understanding. I stared at her bnkly, which only seemed to irritate her more. Elene let out a heavy sigh and pointed a meaningful finger directly at my hips.

  “Are you going to take those panties off, or do you pn to parade around all day like a cum-drunk slut in lingerie full of dried filth?” she asked maliciously.

  I felt my face go up in fmes. My heart hammered against my ribs. Under Elene’s watchful, almost hungry gaze, I slowly reached under the hem of my pink skirt. My hands shook so badly I couldn't hook my fingers under the ce waistband at first. Finally, with great effort, I slid the panties down.

  As the fabric left my body, I felt a sudden, unpleasant rush of cold. Without the underwear, the short maid’s petticoat offered zero protection. I felt more exposed and vulnerable than ever before.

  Elene held out her hand, palm up. Understanding what she wanted, I stepped toward her hesitantly. Avoiding her eyes, I handed over the evidence of my nightly degradation. The moment her fingers closed on the fabric, her ring fred with that same light Lilith used. The panties simply vanished into thin air.

  Damn, I really am jealous of that item, I thought for a moment. If I had a ring like that, at least cleaning would be easier... or I could hide a weapon.

  I let out a long breath, feeling the tension in my shoulders finally start to ebb.

  “God, these mornings are getting crazier every day,” I muttered to myself. “At least that’s over with. I managed to avoid the worst of it...”

  I felt almost lighthearted, thinking that since we’d cleared up the Lilith situation, Elene would just send me to the bath to get cleaned up.

  But then, the succubus gave a slow nod, and that specific, cold smile - the one that never signaled anything good - returned to her lips.

  “Good. Now that you’ve finally gotten rid of that mess,” she began, her voice turning unnaturally silky, “it’s high time we move on to your punishment.”

  In a heartbeat, my relief evaporated, repced by icy terror.

  My cat ears snapped to attention, standing rigid, and my fluffy tail went ramrod straight behind my back.