“Forget it, it is already like this anyway.”
Luo Tiantian looked at her stunning reflection in the mirror and prepared to buy some facial cream. The reality was that she, Luo Tiantian, nineteen years old, suffered from a terminal illness with no money for treatment, and now even her body had completely turned into that of a girl.
“The top priority is still making money. As for my identity and being an undocumented person, once I earn the money to treat my illness, there will be a way to solve it. At worst, I will go to the Police Station and say I have amnesia.”
Survive first, then find a way to trick King You out of some money; everything else could wait. Luo Tiantian returned to her room, put her helmet back on, and lay back down on the bed. She logged into the game and selected her character—Bao Si. Her consciousness sank in.
[Welcome back, Bao Si.] [Your current location: Zhou Royal Palace, Side Hall of King You’s Sleeping Palace.] [Status: Slightly fatigued; Emotional Sensitivity status has vanished.] [Assistance Points: 31. Game Coins: 301.] [You may log out at any time.]
The familiar palace scenery unfolded before her. Incense curled in the air, and brocade curtains hung low. Luo Tiantian immediately looked toward the bed—it was empty. King You was not there.
Luo Tiantian remembered that Lady Si had another task that she seemingly had not completed. She wondered how she was doing now. Yesterday, King You had only ordered people to move her out of the woodshed and granted her the treatment of a lower-class maid; the conditions certainly would not be much better.
Suddenly, there was a light knock on the palace door.
“Lady Si, this servant has been ordered to serve you,” a gentle, respectful female voice sounded from outside.
Luo Tiantian adjusted her dress. “Come in.”
The door was pushed open, and a young girl wearing plain palace maid attire entered with her head bowed, carrying a bronze basin and a cloth. She looked young, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features and downcast eyes. Luo Tiantian did not pay much attention, thinking of how to dismiss her so she could go visit her mother.
The maid placed the bronze basin on a nearby stand, wrung out the cloth, and walked up to Luo Tiantian. “Please wash your hands, My Lady.”
Luo Tiantian reached out her hands. The maid used the warm cloth to carefully and gently wipe Luo Tiantian’s fingers, going from the tips to the gaps between them with meticulous care. Her movements were very light and slow. After wiping her hands, the maid did not retreat immediately. She kept her head down, cradling Luo Tiantian’s freshly cleaned hand.
Then, she performed an action that left Luo Tiantian dumbstruck. The maid quickly lowered her head, extended her pink tongue, and licked Luo Tiantian’s index finger. It was a moist, warm, and fleeting sensation.
Luo Tiantian jerked her hand back in surprise. “You… what are you doing?!”
The maid seemed frightened by her own actions as well. She fell to her knees with a thud, her body trembling slightly. “Please forgive me, My Lady! This servant did not do it on purpose! I just… I just…”
She looked up with tears in her eyes. Her gaze toward Luo Tiantian was filled with flustered shyness and a hint of indescribable obsession. Luo Tiantian saw a tag floating above her head:
[Palace Maid – Xiao Tao] [Status: Bao Si’s Plaything] [Description: A humble palace maid unconsciously drawn to Bao Si’s charm, harboring a secret admiration and a desire to obey you.]
Luo Tiantian finally recognized her. Was this not the maid who had licked her fingers in the main hall during her first login? So, this maid was actually… my plaything?
She, Luo Tiantian—a pathetic soul destitute in reality and bullied by a tyrant player in the game—had actually acquired her own plaything without realizing it? Seeing her remain silent for so long while staring with a strange expression, Xiao Tao grew even more terrified. Tears began to pitter-patter down.
“My Lady, please spare me! This servant will never dare do it again! I just felt that your hands were too beautiful… like jade… I lost my head for a moment…” she stammered her explanation, her cheeks turning so red they looked ready to bleed.
Luo Tiantian looked at her pitiful and somewhat foolish appearance. It was a bit absurd and left her speechless. ‘Forget it, it is just a game setting.’ She seemed quite obedient, at least.
“Get up. I will let it slide this time, but do not do it again.”
Xiao Tao reacted as if she had received a grand pardon, quickly kowtowing. “Thank you for your mercy, My Lady! Thank you!”
She scrambled up and stole a glance at Luo Tiantian. The mix of obsession and cowardice in her eyes made Luo Tiantian feel a bit awkward.
“Is your name Xiao Tao?” Luo Tiantian asked.
“Yes, this servant’s humble name is Xiao Tao.” Xiao Tao kept her head down, her voice thin.
“Which palace are you from? Why did you come to serve me?”
“This servant… entered the palace only after you arrived. I have been your maid from the start.”
“Xiao Tao, are you familiar with the Royal Palace?” Luo Tiantian softened her voice.
Xiao Tao nodded. “This servant has a good memory; I know a bit about every area.”
“Do you know where the lower-class maids’ quarters near the Cold Palace are?”
“I do. Few people go there. It is where palace servants who have committed offenses or fallen out of favor stay. Why do you ask, My Lady?”
“I have a distant relative who just became a lower-class maid there. I want to visit her and bring her some things. But I do not know the exact location, and my status makes it difficult to go…”
Xiao Tao looked a bit excited. “If you trust this servant, I can help you. I know several secluded paths that people rarely use. As long as you do not find me clumsy…”
[Palace Maid Xiao Tao’s Favorability toward you has increased.] [Status ‘Bao Si’s Plaything’ has slightly deepened.] [Xiao Tao’s current inclination: Willing to take risks for you, longing for your recognition and reward.]
‘Is this favorability increasing a bit too easily? And that reward…’ Luo Tiantian had a bad feeling.
The two of them slipped out of the side hall one after the other and entered a narrow palace corridor covered in moss. Xiao Tao was indeed very familiar with the routes, twisting and turning through rarely visited paths. Occasionally, when they encountered patrolling guards or passing palace staff, Xiao Tao would sense them in advance and pull Luo Tiantian to hide behind rockeries or trees.
[Xiao Tao’s Favorability toward you continues to increase.] [The sense of adventure and complicity has strengthened the bond. Xiao Tao looks forward to your toying; it would be best and most thrilling if it could happen right now.]
Luo Tiantian: “…”
‘Whatever, as long as we arrive safely.’
Xiao Tao, walking in front, stopped in her tracks. She turned around to face Luo Tiantian, her delicate face flushed with an abnormal glow in the dim light. Then, under Luo Tiantian’s confused gaze, she rustled around in her seemingly empty sleeves and pulled out two items.
A thin Leather Short Whip that looked quite flexible. A thick, short, unlit Red Candle.
Luo Tiantian: “…?”
She did not immediately register the meaning of these two items in this context until Xiao Tao fell to her knees again, holding the whip and candle high with both hands.
“M-My Lady, I beg you to punish this servant.”
Luo Tiantian’s brain buzzed. She froze. ‘What… what on earth?’
With these?
Xiao Tao looked up, her eyes misty and filled with humble longing. “I know my status is lowly and I am unworthy of being near your jade body. Just now… just now I was audaciously bold and desecrated your fingers! It is a great crime! I beg you to punish me severely so that I may remember this lesson!”
She grew more excited as she spoke, her cheeks crimson and her hands shaking as she held the “punishment tools.”
“I… I have heard that true punishment requires the body to remember the pain. I prepared these only wishing that you… only wishing that you could personally grant me pain… This way, I can forever remember your grace…”
‘Why are you blushing like a tea kettle?! This is not a punishment at all!’
Luo Tiantian found it hard to keep a straight face. Even if she really had to punish her, could she not have done it back in the palace? She had to come all the way out here!
‘You are just intentionally trying to get hit, you sadomasochist!’