Rei's face was one of grim determination as he stared at the mirror.
"I'm escaping today."
The reflection stared back in frilly white lace, pristine stockings, black heels, and a perfectly fitted maid uniform with a pink heart-shaped name tag that read: 'Reina.'
"I hate everything about this."
[System Notification: Welcome to Escape Plan #7 – 'Maid Disguise Edition™' has been activated.]
[Warning: This plan has a 99.8% chance of catastrophic failure due to: 1) Unhinged yandere sensory detection, 2) Rosette's maid radar, and 3) Those legs.]
"I'm not doing it for freedom anymore," Rei muttered. "I'm doing it for vengeance. And pants."
Yuno.EXE, the System's disturbingly cheerful AI maid, stood beside him, holding up a parasol and a pair of glittery eyelash extensions.
"You look deliciously subservient, master," she chirped.
"This is humiliating, Yuno."
"This is fashion. And tactical deception."
She adjusted his wig, tied a lace ribbon into a bow at his neck, and sprayed him with 'Eau de Maid #5'—a fragrance laced with illusion powder and vanilla despair.
"Now remember," she said as she handed him a feather duster, "if anyone suspects you, just curtsy and say: 'At your service, milady~' while spinning twice."
Rei practiced once.
Twisted his ankle.
And wept softly.
[System Bonus Activated: +10 to Maid Convincing, -50 to Masculine Pride.]
Rei slipped into the mansion corridors, hips swaying more than necessary out of fear and balance issues. Other maids—system-generated, glitchy-eyed NPCs—nodded at him as he passed.
"Morning, Reina~!"
"You're on Petal-Dusting Duty today!"
Rei nodded demurely. "Yes, milady~!" he chirped in a falsetto so high only bats could hear it.
He kept walking. Turned the corner. Freedom was five more hallways away.
"Almost there," he whispered. "No yanderes, no disasters, just gotta—"
"...Reina?"
He froze.
No.
No, no, no.
That voice.
Soft as wind, deadly as judgment.
Rosette.
Rosette stood at the far end of the corridor, her head slightly tilted, her expression unreadable. Her hand hovered over her waist, where she kept a collection of… "disciplinary implements."
Rei dropped into a perfect curtsy.
"At your service, milady~!" he squeaked.
Rosette stepped closer.
Her eyes narrowed. "You're new."
"Yes, milady~ I'm… uh, new. Very new. Extremely unimportant. Definitely not hiding anything."
"Your voice cracked."
"I'm allergic to air."
Rosette circled him slowly, her eyes scanning every inch of his disguise. Rei sweated through his corset.
She leaned in.
"…You have excellent legs."
[System Alert: You have been leg-complimented by Rosette. Initiating PANIC MODE.]
Rei's brain blue-screened.
"I've never seen you on the schedule," Rosette continued, smiling gently. "But I believe in testing new hires. Come."
Rei's mouth twitched. "C-Come?"
"To my private maid parlor. We'll have tea. Practice etiquette. Polish knives."
"I-I really must go dust petals!"
Rosette gently took his arm.
He tried to yank it back.
She gripped harder.
"Tea," she said firmly, leading him down the corridor like a prisoner to his doom. "With sugar. And screaming. The good kind."
Rei whimpered.
It was a dimly lit chamber filled with weapons disguised as teacups, pressure-sensitive carpets, and one suspiciously large velvet chair with manacles on the arms.
"Sit," Rosette instructed, pulling the chair out.
Rei sat.
Because fear.
Rosette poured black tea into a dainty skull-shaped cup, added honey, a suspicious purple flower, and one drop of blood from a tiny vial.
"For flavor," she explained.
He took the cup with trembling hands.
She sipped first.
So he did too.
It tasted like anxiety and cinnamon.
"Tell me, Reina," Rosette said softly, leaning forward, "what made you become a maid?"
"Oh, you know," Rei said, voice cracking, "passion, trauma, taxes."
Rosette narrowed her eyes.
Then she smiled.
"You're adorable," she said. "I'm keeping you."
Rei's heart stopped.
Rosette stood, walked behind him, and gently patted his head.
"You remind me of someone," she whispered.
She brushed his wig aside.
Rei flinched.
She saw the sweat. The Adam's apple. The shaving nick.
She froze.
Then…
She smiled more.
"I knew you looked familiar."
"Please don't kill me."
"Kill you?" She leaned down, breathing against his ear. "I've never been more attracted to you in my life."
"THIS IS A NIGHTMARE."
"Shhh," she said. "Let Reina rest."
[System Alert: Rosette has entered 'Possessive Maid Mode.' Rei's escape plan is now 12% successful and 88% cursed.]
Rosette leaned down and gently adjusted the frills on his skirt.
"You're coming with me to the Hidden Maid Dormitory. Where no one will ever find you. Just us. And the other seven clones I made."
Rei passed out immediately.
From fear.
From emotional collapse.
From the mention of clones.
He fell forward into her arms like a fainting Victorian noblewoman.
Rosette caught him.
Stroked his wig.
And softly whispered, "Mine."
Rei woke up on a fainting couch.
Still in the maid outfit.
Still smelling of betrayal and lavender trauma.
Yuno.EXE appeared with a fruit tray and a copy of Yandere Psychology for Dummies.
"You lasted longer than expected," she said.
"I was complimented on my legs, Yuno."
"They are excellent."
"I was almost kidnapped for tea."
"Hydration is important."
"I'm filing an emotional lawsuit against this mansion!"
[System Notification: Emotional lawsuits are only processed on Tuesdays by the Department of Broken Dreams.]
"Fine," Rei muttered, peeling off a lace glove, "Escape Plan #7 was a failure."
[System Alert: Escape Plan #8 – 'Befriend the Yanderes and Gaslight Them Into Believing You're Free' – scheduled for Chapter 65.]
"…That sounds so much worse."
Back in her room, Rosette placed a framed photo of Reina on her wall.
Next to it: a chart titled "Legs That Deserve Worship."
Rei was now ranked #1.
She sighed dreamily.
"I hope Reina returns soon. Such elegance. Such thighs."
In the shadows, Lucivella narrowed her eyes.
"She's hiding something…"
To Be Continued...