At the moment I realized the dog bowl—or rather, my bowl—filled with food was placed on the floor by Ethan, I felt a wave of bewilderment.
Could this really be my “breakfast”? I glanced up at him, but he just stood there, waiting in silence as if expecting me to eat.
“Master Ethan?”
“Hurry up and eat. There’s plenty to do today.”
“...”
...Maybe I should just comply for now.
Resisting further didn’t seem like it would change anything, and I needed more information to understand why things had reached this point.
If I wanted to recover the lost year of my memory, cooperating with him might be the better option.
“All right, Master Ethan. To be honest, I still don’t fully understand why you’re requiring this of me, but if this is what you want, I’ll comply for now.”
“...Saying things like you did when you first arrived, Lilith.”
“...”
I half-listened to his words and prepared to begin eating when I realized something was missing.
“...?”
It hit me only then that he’d set down the bowl without any utensils.
“Master Ethan.”
“Yes, Lilith?”
“I haven’t received a spoon or fork. Would you mind providing me one?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Pardon?”
“Have you ever seen a dog «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» or a cat eat with a fork or spoon? I remember explaining this to you on your first day.”
...Right, I kind of expected that answer. I asked on the off chance, just in case.
It seemed that burying my face in the bowl was inevitable, so I lowered myself to follow his instructions.
“...Sigh.”
“...”
“Sigh... Hah...”
“...”
This was, frankly, extremely uncomfortable.
The human body simply wasn’t designed for quadrupedal eating. Even if he served me food in a dog bowl, there was no way I could eat it as naturally as an actual dog might. A spoon, at the very least, would’ve made this much easier.
“Well, for dog food, it’s quite a fancy spread.”
Although it looked haphazardly tossed together, the contents of the bowl were fairly well-balanced.
On the top was a lettuce salad with an oil dressing. The middle layer held chicken risotto, buttered baguette, and cubed steak, all neatly separated. Though some items mingled a bit, this was a pretty decent meal. It seemed as if Ethan had simply transferred his usual breakfast into a single bowl.
He even left out soup or dessert, which was surprisingly considerate, as adding anything too liquid or creamy would’ve made this meal much harder to eat.
“...”
Things would’ve been much better without Ethan silently observing me as I ate, but it wasn’t something I could change. After managing to empty the bowl, I glanced at him carefully.
“Finished?”
“...Yes.”
“You did well. Was it good?”
“...Yes.”
“Good. Here, have some water.”
-Drip, drip, drip.
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.
“...Thank you, Master Ethan.”
He poured water from a pitcher directly into the dog bowl and offered it to me.
It seemed the first bowl I’d found was indeed a water dish. After all, food dishes need washing daily for hygiene.
-Gulp, gulp.
“...”
I could’ve just lifted the bowl with my hands, but Ethan likely wanted me to continue acting “like a pet.” So, I complied, lowering my head to the bowl and sipping the water. Ethan was literally holding my “leash” right now.
In a crawling position, I tilted the bowl slightly to bring the water to my lips.
Today was probably the first time I’d ever drunk water this way, but surprisingly, it wasn’t as hard as I’d imagined.
“Haaah...”
“Lilith, face this way.”
“...Yes.”
-Swish, swish.
Finally, Ethan wiped my mouth with a napkin, bringing my meal to a close.
Though I was being attended by the future lord of Blackwood himself, I could hardly feel any satisfaction from it.
“Isabel. Katarina. Are you outside?”
-Creak!
“Yes, yes...! I-it’s Katarina, s-sir...!”
Ethan called, and a red-haired maid burst into the room, as if she’d been waiting right outside the whole time. Ethan casually handed her the empty bowl and pitcher.
“Take this back to the kitchen.”
“Yes!”
“Also, inform the head butler to keep everyone off the fourth floor today except you and Isabel.”
“Yes, sir!”
...So, she knew all along.
Katarina accepted the bowl, clearly aware of the sight before her: me locked in the cage. To her, it was a normal scene, apparently. I stared at her in disbelief, and our eyes met briefly.
“Ah, Miss Lilith...”
“...”
“G-good luck today, Miss Lilith!”
“...?”
With that cryptic remark, she left the room in a hurry.
Until that moment, I’d doubted that Isabel or Katarina knew about my situation, but Katarina’s reaction left me stunned.
“If Katarina is reacting this way...does Isabel...?”
No... Isabel wouldn’t.
She’s my closest friend here. She’s known me the longest, even since I couldn’t properly cast magic. She helped me then, so...
Holding onto that hope, I looked back at Ethan, who was now unfastening the chain attached to the cage.
-Clink, clink.
The sound of metal against metal echoed as the chain slowly unraveled.
This seemed to be a regular routine. I’d be chained and confined while I slept, then freed after breakfast to go about my day.
At least he was letting me out of the cage. Even Ethan wouldn’t keep me confined 24/7. He was somewhat reasonable, I supposed.
“All right, Lilith. Let’s go out for a short walk since you’ve had breakfast.”
“Yes, Master Ethan.”
The leash still around my neck, I felt some relief at the prospect of stepping out of the cage. But as I began to move, Ethan blocked the doorway, glaring at me.
“Master Ethan?”
“...Lilith, I said we’re going out for a walk.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So why are you standing on two legs? Did you already forget yesterday’s rule?”
“...What are you talking about, Master Ethan?”
“Lilith, you’re my pet, so walking on two legs is out of the question. Go back in, then crawl out on all fours.”
...This was just absurd.
Honestly, wearing a leash outside was already pushing my limits, but crawling on all fours?
Ethan was taking liberties now, and I couldn’t let him get away with this nonsense.
“Are you kidding me?”
“...Lilith?”
“What? Crawl out on all fours? Why not just ask me to crawl between your legs while you’re at it, huh?”
“...”
“You think I’m your slave because I’ve been going along with this crap? If you’re going to act like a brat, at least learn some restraint. Do you think this is normal?”
For the first time in a while, I let Ethan have it. I’d been holding back on cursing him out, but if he was going to start acting like a tyrant, I wasn’t going to stay quiet.
Eye for an eye, absurdity for absurdity.
“Hah. So that’s your answer, Lilith.”
“Answer? You think any woman would just put up with this? Get this leash off me. As of today, I’m done being your maid. I’m done with this crap.”
Up until now, I’d been willing to go along to understand what was happening, but my patience had finally run out. No matter how close we were, I wasn’t about to tolerate being treated like a pet.
It wasn’t just the pet treatment—I couldn’t stand the condescension and disregard for no reason at all.
Back when I wore those cat ears and a tail, I’d done it because I felt guilty for something I’d done, and it was my way of celebrating Ethan’s victory over Harold. But this was different—this wasn’t even remotely tolerable.
“This is the Lilith I know. I knew you were only pretending to be obedient.”
“Stop playing around and take off this leash. If not, I swear I’ll start firing magic at—”
“Go ahead. Let’s see you fire some magic.”
“...What?”
He knew my magical abilities, yet he looked at me, smiling as if challenging me to follow through.
-Rip!!
“...Huh?”
In my moment of shock, my clothes were torn away by his hand.