Complete Confinement (3)

The moment I felt bewildered by the food placed in the dog bowl-no, my bowl-that Ethan set down on the floor.

I looked up at him, wondering if what I saw before my eyes was truly my ‘breakfast,’ but he simply waited in silence for me to eat.

“Ethan Young Master-nim?”

“Eat quickly. There’s a lot to do today.”

“……”

…For now, should I meekly do as Ethan says?

Somehow, it felt like further resistance here wouldn’t change anything, and to understand why the situation had come to this in the first place, I needed a bit more information.

To recover the year of memories that had suddenly vanished, it seemed better to act cooperatively with him for now.

“Understood, Ethan Young Master-nim. To be honest, I still don’t know why Ethan Young Master-nim is demanding such actions from me, but if that is what Ethan Young Master-nim desires, then I will comply for now.”

“…You’re suddenly saying things similar to when you first arrived, Lilith.”

“……”

The moment I was about to dismiss Ethan’s words and begin the meal before me.

“……?”

It was immediately after that I realized he had only placed the bowl down and hadn’t given me any other utensils.

“Ethan Young Master-nim.”

“Yes, Lilith.”

“I don’t seem to have received a spoon or fork yet, but if it’s not too much trouble, could you hand them over?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Huh?”

“Lilith, have you ever seen a dog or a cat eat with a fork or spoon? I recall telling you this on the first day.”

…Right, I somehow expected this. But I just asked, just in case.

It seemed certain that I would have to bury my face in the food here, so for now, I meekly followed Ethan’s words and plunged my face into my bowl.

“…Haaah.”

“……”

“Haaah…. Haaah-eup…”

“……”

Fuck. This is so damn uncomfortable.

It couldn’t be helped. A human body isn’t structured for quadrupedal movement in the first place.

Even if they served a meal in a dog bowl like this, I couldn’t skillfully lap it up like a real dog. At least if they gave me a spoon, it might be different.

‘Still, for dog food, it’s quite a luxurious meal.’

At first glance, it looked like leftover food had been haphazardly scooped in, but surprisingly, the bowl contained a rather well-balanced meal.

The topmost section held a lettuce salad drizzled with oil dressing. The middle layer contained chicken risotto, buttered baguette, and cube steak, divided into three sections.

Of course, since it was all in one bowl, some mixing was inevitable, but even considering that, it was an excellent meal. Perhaps it was just like Ethan’s own breakfast, transferred into a single bowl.

Furthermore, the fact that soup or dessert wasn’t included at all felt like an unexpected consideration. It would have been even harder to eat if soggy soup or cream cake had been mixed into this meal.

“……”

It would have been much better if Ethan wasn’t silently watching me eat to such an overwhelming degree, but I suppose it couldn’t be helped.

After emptying the bowl as much as I could, I cautiously observed his expression.

“Are you done eating?”

“…Yes.”

“You ate pretty well. Was it delicious?”

“…It was.”

“That’s good. Here, water.”

-Jjoreureureuk.

“…Thank you, Ethan Young Master-nim.”

Ethan deliberately poured the water he brought in a kettle into the dog bowl and offered it to me.

It seemed the bowl I first found was probably the water bowl. After all, a food bowl would need to be washed daily for hygiene.

-Kkolk-kak, Kkolk-kak.

“……”

I could have held it with my hands and drunk, but Ethan probably wanted me to act like a dog, so for now, I meekly brought my face to the bowl and quenched my thirst as he wished. At this moment, Ethan literally held my ‘collar’.

In a quadrupedal position, I brought my lips to the edge, then slightly tilted the bowl to let the water flow down my throat.

It was definitely my first time drinking water in such a manner, but surprisingly, when I tried it myself, it went down quite easily.

“Heup, Hueueu…”

“Alright, Lilith. Bring your face this way.”

“……Yes.”

-Seueuk, Seueueuk.

Finally, Ethan took a napkin himself and wiped my mouth, concluding the meal.

Even though I was receiving service from the next Blackwood Lord, my situation was such that I couldn’t possibly be pleased.

“Isabelle. Katarina. Are you outside?”

-Beolk-keok!

“Yes, yes…! I-It’s Katarina, Y-Young Master-nim…!”

As soon as Ethan called, the red-haired maid hastily opened the door and entered the room.

Ethan naturally handed the kettle containing my empty bowl to her, who appeared so quickly as if she had been on standby.

“Take this to the kitchen.”

“Yes!”

“And tell the Head Butler to ensure no one else but you and Isabelle comes to the 4th floor today as well.”

“Ah, understood!”

…It really seems like she knew.

Katarina took the plate, openly seeing me confined within the iron bars, yet acting as if it were a perfectly normal sight.

As I watched her with a truly bewildered expression, unable to understand anything, Katarina’s eyes met mine for a moment.

“Ah, Lilith-nim…”

“……”

“Oh, good luck today, Lilith-nim!”

“……?”

Katarina uttered incomprehensible words until the very end, then hastily walked out of the room.

Honestly, just a moment ago, I couldn’t believe that Isabelle or Katarina knew about my situation, but seeing Katarina’s reaction just now was truly baffling.

‘If Katarina is reacting so calmly, then surely Isabelle too…?’

…It can’t be Isabelle.

No matter what, she’s supposedly my closest friend. She’s the friend I’ve known the longest in this world, and she even helped me back when I couldn’t properly use magic.

As Katarina left, I somehow tried to spin a hopeful narrative in my mind, then shifted my gaze to Ethan, who was unfastening my collar from the iron bars.

-Chareung, Chareureung.

The chains slowly loosened with a scraping and clanging sound against the iron bars.

It seemed this was probably the usual routine. They would tie me with chains and confine me when I slept, then release me after breakfast so I could spend the day freely.

Indeed, even Ethan wouldn’t keep me locked in iron bars 24 hours a day. In that respect, he was still somewhat reasonable.

“Alright, Lilith. You’ve eaten, so let’s go for a short walk.”

“Yes, Ethan Young Master-nim.”

My collar was still around my neck, but at least I could get out of the iron bars. That was something.

Thinking that, I meekly started to walk again, but Ethan, seemingly displeased with my actions, merely blocked the room entrance and glared at me.

“Ethan Young Master-nim?”

“…Lilith, I said let’s go for a walk.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then why are you following me on two feet like normal? We did this just yesterday, did you forget the rules again?”

“…What are you talking about, Ethan Young Master-nim?”

“Lilith is my pet, so you shouldn’t walk around on two feet like this. Go back inside and crawl out on all fours.”

…No, even so, that’s a bit much.

To be honest, I’m already compromising a lot just by going outside with a collar on. And now you want me to crawl out on all fours?

Since I’ve been quiet, he seems to be doing whatever he wants, but it was about time I put a stop to Ethan’s unreasonable behavior.

“You’re spouting ridiculous nonsense.”

“…Lilith?”

“What? Crawl out on all fours? Are you kidding me? Why don’t you just tell me to crawl between your legs, huh?”

“……”

“Just because I keep putting up with it, do you think I’m actually your slave? You should know when to restrain yourself when I’m playing along. What kind of crazy bullshit is this, acting like a complete scoundrel?”

For the first time in a while, I unleashed a torrent of curses at Ethan.

He seemed to have toned down his scoundrel antics and been quiet for a while, so I had been holding back from cursing him out as much as possible. But if he started acting like a scoundrel again, of course, my mouth would open again.

An eye for an eye, and responding to crazy bullshit with crazy bullshit was only fair.

“Hmph. Alright. So that’s your answer, Lilith.”

“Answer or not, what woman would ever agree to you acting like this? Stop your bullshit and unfasten this collar. From today, I’m quitting being your exclusive maid and everything else. I’m fucking sick of this, seriously.”

Up until now, I had endured to some extent to grasp the situation, but my patience was slowly reaching its limit.

Even for me, I couldn’t tolerate Ethan treating me like a pet in this manner.

To be precise, it wasn’t that I disliked being treated like a pet, but rather that I hated being looked down upon and treated disrespectfully without any reason.

The last time I wore a cat ear headband and a tail and acted cute, it was partly because I had done something wrong to Ethan that day, and more importantly, it was also a victory reward for Ethan’s win against Harold, so I endured it.

I absolutely could not tolerate a relationship where I was treated like a slave for no reason on a regular basis like this.

“This is more like Lilith. I thought you had become too docile lately, but you were just pretending to be well-behaved.”

“Stop putting on airs and unfasten this collar. Or else, I’ll fucking unleash magic indiscriminately here…”

“Go on. Unleash magic indiscriminately, or whatever you want to do.”

“…What?”

Ethan calmly smiled and glared at me, despite knowing my mana reserves, when I threatened to unleash magic indiscriminately.

-Chwaaaak!!

“…Huh?”

…In that moment, as my thoughts paused in bewilderment at his reaction, the clothes I was wearing were torn by his hand.