Just before Lilith entered the bathroom for her bath:

“Well, I’ll return after I’m done bathing.”

“Yes, Lilith.”

Click.

“……”

Thump.

“…Whew.”

As he sent her off into the bathroom, Ethan finally let go of the tension he had been holding, collapsing onto the bed with a slightly fatigued expression.

When he suggested using the items in his bag as part of her punishment, Lilith had made a strange, complicated expression.

Ethan wondered if he had misspoken again, worried that Lilith might actually start resenting him this time.

After all, given the nature of the "toys" he had brought in his bag, he figured it would be entirely reasonable for Lilith to despise him.

“…I should probably consider myself lucky that she let it go without saying anything.”

The cat maid headband—he could understand. After all, when he first gave it to her as a gift, she had been delighted.

The problem was with the other two items.

Bundled as a "set" with the cat maid headband and half-forced upon him were a “collar” and a “tail.”

One was a restraining tool more commonly used on animals than on people—a pet collar. In other words, putting this on someone was a way of treating them as an animal.

And the other item, a relatively cute-looking animal tail, had a method of use that was anything but cute.

To attach it to the body, it should ideally have been designed to be worn as a belt or by some adhesive material. But the one in his bag had a rounded, smooth end, meaning it was meant to be inserted into a certain hole in the body.

Even though it was his first time seeing such an object, it hadn’t taken Ethan long to figure out how the toy was meant to be used.

Even if she did something wrong, I didn’t expect her to agree to this so easily.

Maybe Lilith actually wanted to try using this toy, Ethan thought.

The cat headband and the rest of the items had been purchased at the dungeon reward market. Since they had no place to store them before returning to the dormitory, Lilith had been keeping them for him.

Ethan had initially told her that she could just throw away the extra items, as his only real intention was to give her the headband. However, Lilith had refused, saying that they were gifts from him, and had kept them all. Her slightly awkward reaction at the time made Ethan wonder whether Lilith might want to use those items in bed with him.

That was why Ethan had tried probing her feelings during their conversation today, deliberately leaving his bag where it was easy for her to notice, and heading to the bathroom first.

Lilith told me that no matter who it is, if she doesn’t like something, she’ll say it outright, even if it’s me.

According to that logic, Lilith’s silence on this matter was as good as admitting she didn’t dislike the idea of using those toys.

Lilith had firmly stated that she didn’t like the idea of inserting objects shaped like a man’s private parts, but the tail had a simple round ball at the end, so it was probably something she could accept.

More importantly, her expression in front of the mirror, grinning with the cat ear headband on, was the clearest sign. Anyone who saw that would think Lilith was looking forward to playing this kind of role.

Ethan had started suspecting this a while ago. Every time they were intimate, he noticed that Lilith seemed to respond more strongly when he was a little rougher with her.

I’ve heard that some women like being dominated by their partners.

Maybe Lilith was one of those women.

Wearing a cat ear headband, a collar around her neck, and a tail at her rear while being treated like a pet—maybe she secretly wanted that.

Of course, Ethan was slightly nervous about the possibility of misjudging her preferences and being despised for it. But cautiously exploring these ideas might bring him and Lilith even closer.

With that thought, Ethan quietly touched the collar he had taken out of his bag, waiting for his personal maid to finish her bath and return.

Click.

The sound of a latch closing, followed by the feeling of something leather tightening around her neck.

Wondering if it was something familiar she had recently touched, Lilith lowered her gaze and, sure enough, there was the collar they had bought from the dungeon reward market.

“Ethan?”

“Yes, Lilith.”

“…What is this?”

“Well, I wanted to get started a little early.”

“What does wanting to start early have to do with this collar around my neck…?”

Feeling that their conversation was becoming increasingly strange, Lilith noticed Ethan’s half-opened bag lying on the bed.

Seeing that, she finally understood the meaning behind Ethan’s “punishment.”

…Well, of course. Changing into just the headband wouldn’t really count as a punishment.

Instead, he intended to use the collar to control her body.

Now that she understood everything, she could finally accept why Ethan thought using the items from his bag was a “punishment.”

Though, to be honest, it’s still a bit surprising….

But at least this seemed like an appropriate punishment for a maid who had messed with her master’s personal belongings without permission.

Besides, Lilith had already agreed to the punishment. It would go against her pride as a maid to take back her words now. So, she forced herself to act as naturally as possible.

“Do you think the collar’s too much for you?”

“…No, it’s fine. I just didn’t expect you to be so eager as to fasten it on me right after I came out of the bathroom, but this isn’t a problem.”

“If it’s not a problem, doesn’t that mean it’s not much of a punishment?”

“…I meant that it’s not a problem in terms of the punishment itself, Ethan.”

In truth, this kind of play wasn’t something Lilith was entirely against.

Wearing a collar as part of a pet play scenario was something most men probably fantasized about at least once. Besides, the collar had come as part of the set with the cat maid headband.

While being restrained wasn’t necessarily a good experience, Lilith trusted Ethan enough to be okay with it.

“Well, since Lilith says it’s okay, I’m going to give it a little tug.”

“Huh?”

Pull!

“Ah, ngh…?”

“Is it too much?”

“N-no…. It’s, it’s just the right amount of pressure….”

“Hmm?”

“…I-I mean, it’s the perfect amount of pain for a punishment.”

…This is a bit dangerous.

While wearing the collar itself didn’t evoke any particular feelings, the moment Ethan pulled on it, a strange thrill shot through her.

On top of that, she started remembering the fantasies she had during their Natural Sciences exploration in the forest, and things began to feel a little odd.

…No way.

Could it be that she really had a submissive streak when it came to Ethan? That was an uncomfortable thought.

Feeling pleasure just from having sex with a man was something Lilith could dismiss as a natural reaction for a woman. But adding elements like this into the mix was a little worrying.

A woman who enjoys being choked by a collar is hardly different from a masochist, right? Lilith shuddered at the thought, her black cat ears bouncing slightly as she shifted her head, the headband now sitting snugly on top of her hair.

Swoosh.

“Here you go, Lilith. Your favorite cat ear headband.”

“…It’s not that I like it. I’m just using it because of your kindness, Ethan.”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t meow in front of the mirror earlier?”

“I, I already told you that never happened…”

“With the cat ears and the collar on, you really do look like a pet cat now. So, when are you going to stop speaking like a human, Lilith?”

“……”

Sigh, honestly…

I should’ve known he wouldn’t let it go so easily. From the beginning, he planned to make me do this.

Well, I’d already been thinking about speaking like a cat for him anyway. If this is what Ethan wants, then I suppose I can indulge him with some embarrassing cat-girl cosplay.

…But, only because he wants it. It’s not like I want to be doing this ridiculous thing.

“Nya, nyaaaang….”

“……”

“To think you have fantasies about doing this kind of perverted thing… E-Ethan, you’re definitely a bit of a pervert, nyaaang…”

“There you go, good job. You’re cute, Lilith.”

“T-thank you, nyaaaang….”

…This is humiliating.

This is way more embarrassing than I expected.

Even though I started this myself, now that I’m meowing and pretending to be a cat-girl, my face is burning just from the sheer awkwardness of it all.

Still, it probably won’t get more embarrassing than this….

Resigned to spending the day acting like a cat-girl maid with cat ears and a collar, Lilith steeled herself mentally.

…Huh?

It was then that she noticed Ethan rummaging through his bag on the bed.

Wait, is there more?

I thought I only saw the headband earlier, but it seems there’s something else in there besides the collar.

As the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but remember the last part of the “Cat Maid Set” we had seen at the dungeon reward market.

Sssssk.

Wait, hold on….

And just as I feared, the object I had expected emerged from the bag, sending a chill down my spine and making the hair on my body stand on end.

It was the tail… or rather, the way it was meant to be worn was nothing short of obscene. Ethan was holding it as he approached me, and instinctively, I started backing away in fear.

This… No matter how much it’s Ethan, this feels like it's crossing a line…?!