An improvised drying rack, made from the leftover wood during the process of building a temporary shelter.

It was a simple drying rack, hastily assembled by tying five wooden sticks together with plant vines. But it was good enough to hang my soaking wet clothes to dry.

“Are you really going to undress...?”

“Would you rather I stay in wet clothes and catch a cold?”

“No, I didn’t mean that, but…”

I took off my academy uniform jacket, drenched by the river, and hung it up. I also placed my water-soaked shirt and skirt on the rack, one by one.

“How far are you planning to undress...?”

“I'll have to remove all the clothes that cover most of my body. If I keep them on, they'll just steal away my body heat even faster.”

After taking off my gloves and knee socks and hanging them as well, I slightly tilted my shoes near the campfire to dry. Then, hugging my arms around myself, I sat by the fire, trying to dry my wet body.

“…Lilith. Are you really going to stay like that?”

“Are you disappointed? It sounds like you were hoping I’d take off my underwear as well.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“I apologize, but no matter what, even I wouldn’t go so far as to be shameless enough to be naked in such an open space. Just because I allowed you to call me a ‘lewd maid’ in bed doesn’t mean I’d be performing indecent acts in everyday life, Ethan Dojonnim.”

“…But you don’t exactly seem to be in a modest state right now, Lilith.”

…For once, I agreed with Ethan’s opinion, but I couldn’t just keep wearing wet clothes.

The only way to avoid getting wet in the first place would’ve been to undress completely before using the mana blast. In the end, it was just a matter of whether I took the clothes off before or after.

As I sat by the fire, drying myself, I noticed that Ethan’s face, sitting across from me, had turned red.

‘Still getting embarrassed over something like this… It’s kind of cute.’

It wasn’t so bad, confirming, albeit unintentionally, that Ethan’s heart still leaned towards me.

After all, we were temporary lovers. It wasn’t a bad thing for lovers to get excited just by looking at each other.

‘In a way, sitting like this makes me feel like I’m really Lilith.’

It wasn’t that my body had turned into Lilith, but rather that the situation felt similar. In the original story, Lilith was treated poorly enough that there were more CG scenes of her being stripped than there were of her fully clothed.

There were plenty of scenes where she was made to crawl on all fours outside, dressed only in underwear, or sometimes even less, with nothing but a collar and tail as she was 'taken on a walk.' It’s not like they could describe every scene in detail, so some parts were inevitably skipped in the flashback scenes.

Thinking that such a future might have awaited me, drying myself in just my underwear didn’t feel all that shameful.

Besides, the only person watching was Ethan, and he had already seen even beyond what’s under my underwear.

‘If it were the Ethan from the original story instead… would he have pounced on me by now?’

That guy, who lacked self-control and lived off lust, would surely have done so. There’s no way he would have stayed still with Lilith in her underwear right in front of him.

No, not just stayed still — he would have ordered her to strip. There’s no way he wouldn’t take advantage of being alone with his maid in the woods like this.

Instead of underwear, Lilith would have been left with nothing to wear except a collar, headband, or perhaps a tail attached in some weird way.

Instead of clothing, the only things covering her body would’ve been humiliating items, while Ethan dragged her by the leash, making her crawl on the ground to satisfy his perverted desires.

‘If today’s Ethan did that to me... I’d end up in the same situation, wouldn’t I…?’

“…Heuh.”

…What? What’s happening?

For a moment, a strange thrill coursed through my body from below, causing an involuntary shudder.

The sensation caught me off guard, and before I knew it, a soft moan slipped out.

‘…Wait, no way.’

Was I actually feeling aroused just from imagining Ethan training me like a pet?

…No, that can’t be. That’s ridiculous, even thinking about it logically.

Sure, Lilith in Luminar Academy was a maid used by Ethan to satisfy his lust, but that was the original Lilith. Aside from appearance, I was an entirely different character.

Even the original Lilith didn’t enjoy Ethan’s lewd acts. It made no sense for me, who had the memories of being a man in a past life, to be turned on by such a thing.

There’s no way I’d be excited by the idea of being treated as a naked pet and crawling around in such a risky situation where any student or professor could catch me.

“…Ugh, ahh?!”

“…Lilith?”

“Y-Yes?!”

“…What’s wrong all of a sudden? Did you step on something?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

…This is dangerous.

I’d better not dwell on this kind of imagination. If I keep thinking about it in denial, my mind might actually break.

‘At least it's a good thing my underwear is already wet from the river.’

…At least Ethan wouldn’t notice that only certain parts of my underwear had gotten wet.

As I adjusted my posture, sitting with my legs close together to hide my underwear as much as possible while warming myself by the fire, I saw Ethan glance at me with a strange expression before standing up without hesitation and walking towards me.

‘…Could it be?’

Was he really going to pounce on me?

Now? During the class?

And when I’ve just used a mana blast and can’t resist?

• Thump. Thump. Thump.

No, calm down, calm down.

I can’t let this happen. What if we get caught? Failing the course and being expelled wasn’t worth it.

Even if it’s unlikely to be caught, with the professor not intervening unless life was in danger, I couldn’t take the chance.

Especially since I had just exhausted all my mana with the mana blast, and my only weapon, a dagger, was hanging with my clothes on the drying rack.

…So if Ethan really did pounce on me right now, I’d have no way to resist.

• Swoosh, swish.

“…….”

Just as my thoughts were getting too chaotic to think straight, I heard the sound of fabric brushing behind me.

I closed my eyes tightly, bracing myself for what was coming. But then, I felt the warmth of clothing being draped over my shoulders.

• Slip.

“For now, just wear this, Lilith. You’ll get cold like that.”

“…Huh?”

“You looked like you were shivering. You’ve been making pained noises since earlier, too.”

“……”

Yeah, it was still too cold to walk around in just underwear. It had rained last night, after all.

I hadn’t noticed due to the heat coming from my body earlier, but Ethan’s words made me realize the chill of the wind brushing against me.

• Whoosh.

“Ugh…”

As the cold wind penetrated my body, it naturally caused a moan to escape again.

…Yeah, I must have misunderstood.

It wasn’t that I had gotten excited from dirty thoughts or anything. I had just let out a moan at the same time as the cold wind hit me.

It was just a coincidence that I had those strange thoughts at that exact moment, causing me to link the two together.

At least I hadn’t truly turned into a lewd maid.

“…Thank you, Ethan Dojonnim.”

“If you get any colder, just tell me. I can give you my pants if necessary.”

“…No, that won’t be necessary.”

With a grateful smile, I clutched the collar of the coat Ethan had draped over my shoulders a little tighter.

The clothes had been worn all day, so his scent lingered heavily on them.

If I had any mana left, I would have used a clean spell to freshen them up, but I had drained nearly all my over 4,000 mana points with the mana blast earlier.

‘In this environment, my mana will recover slower than usual…’

I couldn’t afford to waste my hard-earned mana, gathered through food and rest, on a mere clean spell.