With the morning rays coming in through the window, Rick lay in the bathtub and did his best to pretend he was alone. The water was warm, soothing, and his muscles could almost start relaxing and easing themselves into the endeavor.

There was just one problem.

Monica was standing behind him, exactly a twitch away from yanking him out of the tub. Close enough, he could feel the slight movements of her tail as it came ever so close to his head, swishing little sounds. To say nothing that he could quite literally feel her anxiousness oozing through the bond despite his best attempts to ignore it.

“Monica.” He opened his eyes to look up at her, huffing.

Arms crossed, naked, the underline of her bust squeezed and drew his attention as she looked at him then at the tub and then at him again. “Rick no sleep, water bad, Monica protect.” She declared.

She was being a bundle of nerves, and not having any real way to relax her until he stepped out of the potential drowning, he turned his attention towards Dia. “Do you think the Earl has a shower somewhere we could use?”

“If the Lord does, it would likely be in an area of the castle that’s been recently renovated… or in the servant quarters.” She sat at the edge of the bed, wearing a nice white dress, her eyes were lingering on the lump of items that had been dropped off late last night. “Do you really think I should be present during breakfast with the Lord… sir?”

“Monica’s not going to give an alternative.” Rick shrugged. “If she’s going to be there, I want you there too.” His eyes looked up at the feline and sighed. He was not going to be able to relax like this.

Standing up, Monica leaned over to stare at the tub they’d brought in, dipping her clawed hand into the warm water and frowning at it before returning her attention to the very wet and very naked Rick. He almost jumped when she groped his ass and licked his ear, and Monica was all giggles instantly, leaving him to just grumble and turn his attention to the next enemy to contend with: clothes.

Not having any ‘formal’ wear, the Earl had given him some.

And he had a feeling this was going to be a very long day.

“Might as well…” With a dejected sigh, he glanced at the smirking Dia. “Mind lending me a hand?”

“Of course, sir.”

Getting dressed up and looking himself over in the mirror, Rick was left with a sense that he’d been thrown into the early 90s vision of what nobility should look like. Big floopy sleeves, pants with wide bottoms, and a slight dip in the shirt that left his clavicles in view. Normally it would have felt tacky and just… off, but after almost two months of seeing maidens walking around with their collars, wearing skirts and dresses, it seemed that the second and more important objective of the set of clothes was to make it loud and clear he was human, and a male.

“You look good, sir.” Dia said with a slight smile as her hands glowed, combing his hair with a tickling touch. “Would you wish to shave?”

“… might as well.” He rubbed at the shadow he’d developed during the past couple days, turning to face Dia and, with a sigh, leaning forward.

The same glowing tickling hands moved from his hair down to his chin and cheeks. It felt as if his face went slightly numb for a split second before he could feel the warmth of her touch. It barely took a second before she called the whole operation complete with a peck to his cheek.

“I honestly had not expected you to know a shaving spell.”

“It’s not a spell.”

“I don’t see the difference.”

“To cast a spell, I need to very carefully manipulate my elemental energy into a stable structure to run my power through.” Dia caressed his chin. “It… is a difference akin to pushing a rock up a hill or tying some pulleys together and then pulling on the rope.”

“So you can get the same result with either.”

“Spells take longer and cost more energy, allowing for less flexibility.” She replied cheekily, taking a step back.

He didn’t let her escape, taking a longer step and reaching up to her neck. Dia froze, then melted as he kissed her in full. His hands were about to move to her shoulders, but she urged them further up, to her choker. “Not now.”

“I know, I know.” She whispered, leaning into his arms, pressing her head against his shoulder.

The moment lasted about half a second before Monica had moved herself behind Rick, wrapped him into her arms, and harrumphed, play-biting his shoulder opposite to the one Dia had lay claim to. At least she didn’t shove the nurse off this time… progress.

“Yeah, yeah.” Holding back from just sighing, he kept the hug with one hand and used the other to pat Monica’s hip.

There was a knock at the door, both maidens squeezed him slightly tighter.

“Come in.”

Rick forgot about the furniture Monica had piled on the door as it screeched open. Deneva peeked. “The meal is ready, sir.”

“We’ll be out in a second.”

“Certainly.”

Having Dia let go was easy, having Monica do it… not as much. The instant the impassive face and voice of Deneva had crossed the room’s threshold, Monica had gone from just possessive to protective. It was a sharpness, an edge that left her entirely too ready to jump with her claws out and fangs ready.

When they did manage to leave, Rick gestured at one of the bundles and Monica immediately picked it up. The thing was almost as large as she was, but she didn’t really exert herself any, her focus remaining on the green-haired maiden that was awaiting them outside the room.

Since yesterday, Deneva had changed her clothes out of her serious armor and was now wearing… a maid uniform. The skirt was long, flowing all the way to her ankles, with black sleeves and an apron. Her face was impassive, but Rick had the creeping feeling that she was not happy about it. Especially considering her actual job and rank.

He’d call it a hunch.

“This way, sir.” With her hair done into a tight knot, the maiden walked down the stony corridors of the fortress with Monica keeping a good ten meter separation and making sure Rick would be behind her every step of the way.

She led them to a sunlit room with a table about five meters long. It was a rather simple place, with a glass chandelier. On top of the white cloth that covered the table were plates with more food Rick had seen in one place short of when they were processing the monster hog.

“Rick, welcome.” The Earl was at the opposite end, bowing his head in greeting and wearing a slightly fancier version of the clothes that had been provided to Rick. “Protocol normally would have us eschew all maidens and just share a pleasant meal, but I understand your circumstances are somewhat unique. You will have to excuse me as I will request Deneva to stay.”

“I thank your consideration.” He returned the gesture, bowing slightly lower as Victor had indicated was protocol. “I heard it was customary for guests to bring a gift to their host. Last night Victor was kind enough to send my things over, and I have something that I hope is to your appreciation.”

Looking at Monica, he reached for the bundle. She just dropped the thing and Rick almost toppled over. The thing must have weighed forty kilos easily.

“During our trip, my maiden happened to encounter a particularly large boar.” He grunted, moving to drop the thing at the side of the table where the Early could see it. “I lack the knowledge in leather and furs, but I thought its hide might be appreciated by someone with more experience in these things.”

“That… that is just one fur?” The plump man frowned, looking at the man-sized bundle and quickly making a gesture at Deneva.

The maiden approached and Monica’s hackles rose, the growl was low, barely audible. Rick felt his heart freeze in his chest as the expressionless maiden did not waste so much as a split second, grabbing the parcel and turning away with a bowed head and slumped shoulders. With the parcel in tow, she approached her Lord and dropped it.

A flicker of her wrist and she used a small knife to open it.

Rick hadn’t seen where she’d been hiding the weapon.

“Oh my.” The Earl’s expression brightened as he saw the cloth open up and reveal the black fur of the boar. “This… must have been quite the hunt.” With a slight nod, he glanced at the door behind him and clapped once.

Three maidens wearing maid uniforms moved in, took one look at Monica, paled, then at Deneva, and turned chalk white. Only then did they look at their Lord and the fur he was gesturing towards, and they moved with immediacy in their every step, rushing in to take the fur and leave at a speed that would have made a Formula 1 pit-stop jealous.

“I will have to admire it more in detail once it’s been properly processed.” The Earl turned back to Rick, smile wide as he bowed deeper than when he’d greeted them. “This is simply marvelous! It is very rare to find hogs of such a size. A gift most welcome, and one I wish to reciprocate.”

“It is unnecessary. Your hospitality is more than enough.” Rick avoided gritting his teeth, keeping his smile polite and drawing from experience having to talk to potential donors to the university he worked at.

“I insist.” Came the response, he stretched out his hand towards Deneva. “I’ve recently come to acquire a particularly powerful device, a most excellent-.”

“Stop.” Rick did not waste an instant, eyes fixing firmly on Deneva and not on the Earl, the green-haired maiden halting mid gesture as she’d been reaching into the folds of her dress. “Is it a sphere, white and red?”

“Why yes!” The Earl had not noticed, not seen the tension on Rick’s face or Dia. But Deneva had. “Are you familiar with it?”

“I must apologize, but could you wrap it up? Or perhaps place it into a box of some sort?” He spoke hurriedly, his head gesturing towards Monica. “I fear that though I may not have ever used such an item, my maiden has had one used on her and seeing one may… startle her.”

“Oh… oh!” The Earl looked at the frowning tense Monica and nodded. “Certainly, I will have it delivered to your room, then.”

“Thank you for your generosity.”

“Let us eat, then.” The Earl gestured at the table. “Lest the meal cools.”

Rick bowed, he smiled, he kept his expression placid and the conversation light.

And made sure not to forget Deneva had been carrying a ready-to-use pokeball in her pocket all this time.