The next morning, Elvira awoke from a deep sleep.
Usually, as Queen, the first thing she would do upon waking was to summon the maids waiting by the door to help her change into formal attire.
But today, she didn’t do that. Instead, dressed in a light, semi-transparent nightgown, she walked with an elegant and cheerful step to the sofa in the room, ready to greet the poor man who had suffered through a sleepless night.
“Good morning, Maurice. Did you sleep well last night? As for me, I slept incredibly well. In fact, it was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in three years.”
Despite knowing full well that Maurice hadn’t slept well, the willful white-haired Queen still teased him in a relaxed tone. Her stunning face, the envy of her own gender, showed not a trace of guilt or pity—only confident satisfaction with the current situation.
“……”
“Don’t think you can just ignore me with silence, okay? I’ve already removed the restraints on your head. If you don’t speak, I’ll just assume you enjoy being a puppet. You don’t want to be immobilized forever, give up on thinking, and become a real puppet, do you?”
Seeing the man before her unmoving, the Queen folded one arm across her chest and waved the other dismissively, wearing a mocking, sadistic smile—a demon disguised as a breathtaking beauty.
“…I don’t want to answer such a boring question. If you think it’s so easy to rest, why don’t you try it yourself?”
Maurice, who hadn’t slept all night, was still posed with his hands behind his back and legs and chest exposed in an ‘embarrassing’ position. The marks Elvira had left were still as conspicuous as they’d been the night before.
But his mental state wasn’t too bad. He still wore the same cold, uncooperative expression.
Now that the restraints on his head had been removed, he shot the proud Queen a frosty look, as if she were an idiot.
“Don’t be so angry. This was just a small punishment, all because you broke my heart, Maurice. Don’t be fooled by my appearance; actually, I’m very sad, you know~?”
“…Is that so? How gentle of you, Your Majesty.”
Maurice, completely unconvinced by Elvira’s feigned sorrow, replied with a cold chuckle that sounded like praise but was actually mockery. He turned his head away, unwilling to look at her another moment.
Yet as soon as he turned away, Elvira forcibly redirected his face, making him stare straight at her… chest.
Through the semi-transparent nightgown, the fullness enclosed in white lace was almost all Maurice could see—a sense of pressure so intense it seemed it might come crashing down on him at any moment.
Elvira was now pressing one knee onto the sofa between Maurice’s legs, cupping his cheeks in both hands—a truly intimate gesture.
If it weren’t Elvira, Maurice might actually find it a bit alluring.
But this wasn’t meant as a reward for Maurice. After forcibly turning his head, she fixed it in place again, then adjusted his entire body so he now faced her bed, not the wall.
“You’re not allowed to look away, understand? I forbid it. You must watch me closely.”
Her voice, as commanding as any tyrant queen, rang in Maurice’s ears.
The amusing part was that Maurice couldn’t even see Elvira at the moment—he almost wanted to laugh at her, thinking she’d lost her mind.
But Maurice held his tongue, because he quickly realized what Elvira meant.
Soon, Elvira appeared in his field of vision again, but this time, two young and beautiful maids came with her.
Elvira sat at the edge of the bed—perfectly centered in Maurice’s view—and began changing into her formal attire with the maids’ assistance.
With their help, Elvira took off her white, sheer nightgown and slowly slid pure white stockings onto her delicate feet. As she dressed, she sent Maurice teasing looks, deliberately stretching her beautiful legs out in the air, showing off every curve.
She wanted Maurice to fully appreciate her body, to understand how charming she was, and to utterly captivate him.
Now that she’d claimed his body, she naturally wanted his heart as well. Mind and body, she wanted them all—she was a queen, after all, and greed came naturally.
So Elvira made Maurice watch as she transformed, step by step, from her lingerie into her regal gown—restoring herself to the dignified, noble Queen in everyone’s eyes.
But rather than Elvira, Maurice found himself more impressed by the professional composure of the two maids.
They completely ignored his presence, calmly changing Elvira’s clothes and arranging her hair right in front of him.
Their calm was remarkable, and their figures and faces were nothing to scoff at—more attractive than Elvira herself, in Maurice’s opinion.
Whoa, I can’t keep thinking like this, Maurice told himself. If Elvira noticed, there’d be no hope of her lifting the restraints today.
He carefully weighed his options—he didn’t want to keep being treated as a puppet.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Maurice. What do you think? Today, I changed into a dress that goes even better with white stockings. Do you have anything you want to say? I’ll allow you to praise me, you know?”
Some time later, fully dressed and accompanied by the two maids, Elvira approached Maurice.
Already beautiful, she was positively radiant in her finery.
Not to mention the crown symbolizing royal authority—even the earrings and necklace, gleaming with status and wealth, looked extravagantly expensive. The white gown, adorned with tiny blue gemstones, was the kind of luxury not everyone could pull off.
But Elvira’s unrivaled confidence in her own beauty easily outshone the brilliance of her jewels. Her unshakable belief in her beauty was maddening, but even more infuriating was that she truly had every reason to be so confident.
“…I have nothing to say. Haven’t you already heard every kind of praise there is?”
Now freed from his head restraints again, Maurice replied in a flat voice that betrayed no emotion.
Elvira didn’t miss his slight hesitation or the begrudging tone that stopped short of calling her unattractive, and a look of satisfaction quickly spread across her face.
“Hehe, of course. I am, after all, the Queen of Dratnia. Thank you for your honest answer. As a reward, have a good rest and wait for me to return tonight. I must attend to state affairs. See you this evening, my dear Maurice~”
As her imperious words fell, Maurice found his body could move again.
With that, she confidently turned and left, completely unconcerned that Maurice might attack her from behind.
Of course, Maurice would never do such a thing.
As the maids opened the doors on either side, the Queen took up her wand from where it was placed by the entrance and left her bedchamber, leaving Maurice with only the image of her noble, elegant back.
The two maids quickly followed, closing the door from the outside, never once interacting with Maurice.
“…If she weren’t so willful, she’d truly be quite captivating. What a pity.”
Now able to move freely again, Maurice muttered to himself, then climbed onto the Queen’s bed, ready for sleep.
Though his body, thanks to magic, was not physically tired, his mind certainly was.
Since Elvira told him to rest, he naturally took advantage of the only bed in the room.
He saw no reason to be polite—after all, the luxurious conditions here were merely compensation for the toll on his mind and body!