That Half-Finished Drink Was Lethal— What Happened When I Left My Bottle Behind in a 1:4 Male-to-Female World - 21

Chapter 21: That Service Is Lethal — Leaking Screams of Madness

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― Yuu Yuuki’s POV ―

The Ootori Villa.

It was far too inorganic to be called a “home,” severed from the bustle of the city like a giant gravestone. An expansive, meticulously maintained garden stretched out before me. From the asphalt, which had just been sprinkled with water, rose the scent of damp earth and a piercing floral fragrance. Behind me, a black sedan glided away silently. And standing beside me, nestled close like a shadow, was Reika Ootori’s exclusive secretary—Chihiro Kujo. Her indigo eyes pierced through me not as if I were a human being, but with a coldness reserved for “used furniture” waiting to be polished.

“Yuuki-sama. …No, from today, let us dispense with honorifics and call you simply ‘Yuuki.’ That is the Ootori law here.”

Kujo-san’s voice was surprisingly quiet, grazing my ear like a sharp blade.

“……Yes.”

“Your voice is too small. …It seems you will be worth the education.”

(Three hundred million yen. I wonder how many lifetimes of mine that’s worth. But Shizuku-san should be able to handle it. Until then, I have no choice but to endure this.)

As I stepped into the entrance hall, the crystal chandelier on the ceiling pierced through me with a dazzling light. The marble floor was polished to a mirror finish. I felt as if the footprints from my dirty sneakers were a terrible crime.

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I was led to a dressing room in a corner of the estate. Kujo-san had prepared a jet-black tuxedo. The high-grade wool was so smooth it felt as if it clung to my fingertips at the slightest touch. I changed my clothes as I was told. With each button I fastened on the shirt, I felt my freedom being stripped away bit by bit from my skin. The stiff collar tightened around my neck, making my breathing slightly labored.

“……Will this be alright?”

Seeing myself in front of the mirror, I involuntarily caught my breath.

“The formal attire of an Ootori butler. It is a ceremonial uniform for swearing absolute obedience to one’s lord, and at the same time, a beautiful restraint meant to strip away the wearer’s humanity and transform them into a ‘noble possession’.”

The overly well-tailored black jacket emphasized the lines of my shoulders. The waist was tightly tapered, and the lines of my legs stood out with startling clarity. This was decisively different from the apron I wore at my part-time job. This garment was a noble slave’s chain, designed to rob the wearer of their will and signify that they were someone’s “property.”

“……How pitiable.”

Behind me, Kujo-san’s voice trembled slightly. Our gazes met through the mirror. She was staring at the line of my waist and the Adam’s apple emphasized by the bowtie with a gaze so sharp it felt like she was trying to shoot me dead.

(Kujo-san? Her cheeks are slightly red, and I feel like her breathing has become a little faster. Did I do something to anger her?)

“How much a man’s formal ‘service’ attire disturbs a woman’s order… You truly do not understand in the real sense.”

“……Is it strange? As I thought, it doesn’t suit me.”

“No. …I am merely bewildered because it ‘matches’ too well.”

Kujo-san spoke coldly and gave my back a firm push. The moment her fingertips touched my shoulder through the fabric, her own shoulders gave a sudden jerk.

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Leaving the dressing room, we walked down a long corridor. The portraits of successive generations of the Ootori family hanging on the walls seemed to be sneering at me. The maids I passed stopped in their tracks all at once and stared at me. What resided in their eyes was not sympathy. It looked like naked “possessiveness,” like gazing at a jewel in a polished showroom window, and a chill ran down my spine. The sound of me swallowing echoed in the quiet corridor.

“……This is the Lady’s private room.”

Kujo-san stopped in front of a giant double door adorned with gold work.

Knock, knock.

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― Reika Ootori’s POV ―

Knock, knock.

The moment that sound echoed, an electric current ran down my spine.

“……Enter.”

The beating of my heart was so fast and violent that it felt like it was pushing back against the corset of my dress. Three hundred million yen. My Yuu-sama, whom I bought as compensation for that price.

“……Excuse me. The butler… Yuuki, entering.”

Ah, how wonderful. In that instant, the fountain pen slipped from my fingertips.

“A jet-black tuxedo. It is the most immoral formal attire in this world, designed for a man to swear ‘service.’ A final weapon meant to stir the master’s sadism and complete the pleasure of dominance.”

The firm lines of Yuu’s shoulders. The tightly tapered waist. And the supple Adam’s apple emphasized by the black bowtie.

(W-What is this? This beauty that is almost… violent. It far exceeds my calculations…!)

The depths of my stomach burned as if molten iron had been poured in. A “possession” that was supposed to be bound by the chain of three hundred million yen. Yet, the man standing there was no slave I had obtained through my schemes. He was the very “deadly poison” that repainted my world into a vivid madness in an instant.

“……You are late, Yuuki. ……The Ootori correct answer is to act five minutes ahead of time.”

I could tell my own voice was trembling pathetically. With every step he took, the sound of his polished leather shoes hitting the floor synchronized with my heartbeat.

(Follow the Ootori teachings.)

Telling myself that, I intentionally put on the cold smile of a ruler.

“It is your first job as a butler. ……Kneel.”

“……Yes, My Lady.”

Yuu knelt at my feet without hesitation. My downcast vision. I could see the nape of Yuu’s neck. His clean hair, cut short. And the youthful heat transmitted through the butler’s uniform.

(A-Ah…! Yuu-sama is kneeling at my feet. ……I feel like my brain is going to melt…!

I lifted my trembling right leg and placed it carelessly upon his knee.My bare foot, encased in silk stockings.

“I command your first task as my butler. ……Yuuki, change my legs into new stockings.”

Yuu’s shoulders gave a start.

“……C-Change them, you say…?”

“Did you just question me? ……In Ootori, there is no such thing as repeating oneself.”

I slowly slid the black silk stockings I was wearing down to the middle of my thigh with my own fingertips. My white, heated skin was revealed. Yuu’s gaze swam as if trying to avoid my leg.

(Good. Be more bewildered. Drown more in the beauty that is me…)

Yuu opened the package of new stockings with trembling hands. The sound of the delicate fibers rubbing together echoed unnaturally in the silent bedroom.

“……E-Excuse me. Reika-san…”

Yuu’s fingertips touched my toes.

―!!

It was hot. A shock like being struck by lightning ran from my toes through my spine, causing the back of my brain to burst into white.

(N-No way. They’re just fingertips, so why are they so hot…!?)

Yuu slid the stocking from the bridge of my foot to my ankle with unbelievable care to ensure no wrinkles formed. His neatly trimmed nails occasionally grazed my skin. Every time that happened, the depths of my stomach twisted as if a rag were being wrung out, and my breathing became shallow.

“……Yuuki, ……go further ……up, ……and do it meticulously.”

I desperately suppressed my voice, which felt like it was about to tremble, and commanded him haughtily. Yuu’s fingertips traced my calf this time, crawling up to the back of my knee and then to my soft thigh.

(A-Ah. Yuu’s breath is hitting my skin. ……The Ootori mask, my mask, is being peeled away…!)

Looking down, the arms peeking out from the sleeves of Yuu’s tuxedo had masculine veins standing out due to the strength he was exerting. The moment I saw that, my vision burst into white.

I was supposed to be dominating him, yet I was being dominated. I was supposed to be looking down at him as he knelt, yet my soul was crawling beneath his fingertips, howling like a beast to be stained more, to be touched more.

“……Yuuki. ……That’s enough. ……Next, ……”

Glancing out the window, I saw a single drone circling.

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― Shizuku Kisaragi’s POV ―

The loud screech of tires echoed below the building… but this was no time for such leisurely descriptions. My office had now turned into a complete “battlefield.”

“A-Ah… Yuu-kun’s fingers are touching such filthy skin…!”

Mimori-san screamed in front of the oversized monitor set up in the office.A high-definition image captured by the drone. It showed the entire process of Yuu-kun putting the stockings on Reika. Yuu-kun’s firm arms with veins standing out as he knelt…

“You… you Ootori bitch!!”

Miya-san’s roar made the air in the office vibrate. I could see her fingertips trembling slightly while fresh blood dripped from her nose due to anger and for some reason, excitement.

“I haven’t even let him touch my legs yet! And yet that brat is monopolizing Yuu’s kindness…! I’ll kill her, I’ll level the whole annex along with that woman!!”

(Wait, Miya-san, calm down! Don’t swing that bat around!)

“……Disinfect, ……disinfect… the filth must be disinfected…”

Rin-san muttered eerily while staring into empty space. Her eyes had completely lost their light, and her unfocused white eyes reflected the light from the monitor. In her hands, a special padlock rattled with a sound like a death sentence.

“A-Ah… ……Resolution, upscaling to 16K. ……Yuu-san’s respiration rate, 1.5 times normal. ……I will make Ootori… cardiac arrest (Shutdown)…!”

Mimori-san’s voice leaking from the speakers had turned icy all of a sudden.

(That drone is definitely loading some dangerous program.)

“……Hey, all of you, don’t breathe on the monitor! Ah! You’re getting spit on it!”

(A-Ah, but… Yuu-kun in that tuxedo, the way he’s kneeling, and those veins visible from his sleeves. ……It’s too scandalous. The reason inside me is about to crumble past the wall of the law…!)

(Even though I have to save Yuu-kun as a lawyer, the woman inside me is screaming that she “wants to see more.”)

“We’re moving the operation forward! Mimori-san, identify the entry point! Before Yuu-kun… before that boy’s ‘purity’ is completely stolen, we’re going to drag him out from that woman’s hands!”

“Ugh… ……Drone, entry point identification, complete. ……Target, Reika Ootori. ……Delete, commence…!”

The Crazed Heroine Alliance finally sprang into action. The sight of their backs as they kicked open the office door and leaped into the night city was less like heroes of justice and more like hunters stalking their prey.

【Until Reika Ootori does ○○ to Yuu, 90 minutes remaining】

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