I realized something after leaving Mariet alone with her parents.

Mariet’s parents were the first parents of any of my wives who I knew. That was her mom and dad. They might not have been her blood relatives, and she might have basically been their maid, but she was also basically their daughter. They raised her and took care of her until her death. No matter what their official relationship was, they were her parents, and they deserved that respect.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was that they were the first parents of one of my wives who I knew. Well, not technically. Technically, Chloe’s parents were the first ones I knew, but I hadn’t seen them in over fifteen years. They probably had no idea that I was even dating their daughter. As far as they knew… she suddenly vanished one day while working at her job delivering pizza.

Letting her parents know that she was alright was probably a good idea.

But that wasn’t the point either. The point was that Mariet’s parents were the first of my wives who I knew and who were actually present in our universe. Not only did I have to make sure my wives were taken care of—well, my wives, children, Lake, all the cats, the tower animals, and everybody else, but I also had to make sure to leave a good impression on Mariet’s parents. I didn’t believe any of that nonsense about needing the parents’ permission to marry their child, but I did want them to approve of me regardless.

Wait.

Why?

Why did I want them to approve of me? Since when did I care about what anybody thought of me? I was only supposed to care about my wives and daughters. Mariet’s parents were just supposed to be more people. I wasn’t supposed to care about them. I had no attachment to them and I didn’t believe in caring about somebody just because somebody I cared about cared about them.

But when I thought about Mariet’s parents… I got nervous and worried about whether or not they would like me.

“I think I’m broken,” I said to myself.

No, Drake, you’re not “broken.” What you feel is a thing called “caring.” It means you’re capable of empathy and emotions. It’s normal to care about your wife’s parents. That’s a good thing. Now, I know it might be hard for you to believe that considering you’re a loli-kidnapping villain, but for once in your life, you are feeling something good that you should embrace. Become a better, caring, empathetic person. You might even stop being such a villain if you do.

“I could always snap my ability to feel empathy away.”

That is THE worst thing you have ever thought of.

“I could also snap my fingers and make it so that you enter a mind-numbing state of pleasure for years just from being looked at by me.”

hot.

Also, I will persevere through the pleasure to kick you in the shin until you undo it if you ever do that… without my permission first, anyways.

But also, you realize you’re just making yourself even more villainous by threatening me with something like that, no matter how hot it is, right?

“Being a villain is better than being a hero.”

I don’t know why I even bother with you.

Anyways, stop thinking you’re broken for FEELING FEELINGS LIKE A HUMAN BEING.

Window vanished after that, leaving me alone with the disgusting things known as “feelings.”

Well, while Mariet explained everything about our current situation to her parents, it was time for me to continue on my quest of providing fanservice to my remaining wives.

Lavi, Claire, and Valkyria were left.

Since Mariet was busy and Claire walked around like she had no idea what to do with her life whenever she didn’t have me or Mariet to serve, I decided that Claire was next.

But I had to find her fir—

“You called, my lord?” Claire asked, bowing down in front of me. She might have been in a pretty nice bikini that left little of her curvy body to the imagination, but all I could think about was how she managed to appear right in front of me just as I was thinking about finding her.

“Can you read my mind or something?” I asked.

“No, but a maid always knows when she is needed.”

“So, being able to teleport directly to her master is a maid’s special power or something?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s put that to the test.”

I snapped my fingers, sending Claire to the other side of the planet. What was there on the other side? I had no idea. All I knew was that I sent her to the exact opposite side of I Don’t Know.

Then, after waiting a couple of seconds, I thought to myself, I sure wish Claire was here. I’m in need of a mai—

“You called, my lord?” Claire asked, bowing down in front of me again. Only, this time, she was shivering and she had some snow scattered around her body.

“So, you really do have a superpower as a maid. But if it works for you, why doesn’t it work for Clawdia and Mariet?” I asked.

“Clawdia is an imposter who fetishizes what it means to be a maid.”

“And you don’t?”

“I may fetishize it, but I also have the soul of a maid true. I would desire for such a life even if all sexual elements were removed from it.”

“And what about Mariet?”

“She is subservient, but it is in her nature to serve. It is her love language, one could say. She serves out of love for those around her, not for the sake of serving. A maid does not perform her duty because she believes it will make those around her happy; a maid does her job because she understands that it is her purpose.”

“So, basically, this is some sort of maid gatekeeping where only maids who believe in being maids for the sake of being maids, and who believe that it is their purpose to serve, get to teleport to their master whenever needed?”

“I have no idea, my lord.”

“That’s weird, but—wait. Did you say you don’t know?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you say any of that?”

“Because you asked me a question and it is a maid’s duty to satisfy her master’s requests.”

“So… you made up some bullshit to answer my first question, but then you admitted to not knowing when it came to confirming it?”

“That is correct.”

“Then… where’s the consistency?”

“There is none, but allow me to say this.”

“Say what?”

“This.”

“This what?”

“This.”

“Yes, but—oh.” I narrowed my eyes at Claire. “Really?”

Claire, who was usually pretty serious looking all the time, flashed me a quick show of a sly smile before returning to her usual, serious expression.

“I forgot that you have a pretty cheesy sense of humor sometimes.”

“I would argue that my sense of humor is not cheesy, but batty.”

“What makes it—oh. I get it.”

Claire smiled again before asking, “Now then, was there anything you wanted, my lord? Is there any service you need? You did desire my presence, after all.”

“Have you forgotten the purpose of today? I’m giving all of you fanservice. Now it’s your turn.”

“I am but a maid. It is my duty to serve, not to be served.”

“I know. That’s why you’re going to give me a massage. My shoulders are stiff after giving everybody else fanservice so far.” I turned away from her and sat down on the sand. “Now, get to it.”

Part of me felt like I was being too selfish by giving one of my wives special treatment by ordering her to massage me… but that was exactly the kind of thing that Claire was into.

I didn’t even have to look at her to know that she was smiling when she said, “Yes, my lord.”

Then, Claire being Claire, I felt her chest press against my back. To be fair, even if she didn’t intend to, it probably would have been impossible for her to give me a back massage which didn’t include her pressing her breasts against me in one way or another. The only way that was probably possible was… by awkwardly standing at arm’s length away, which would make giving a massage pretty difficult, I would assume.

What came up was, admittedly, a moan. A moan caused by her placing her hands on my shoulders and gently digging her fingers into me before beginning the massage proper.

I didn’t expect to suddenly feel so tired, but I did.

Maybe I was overworking myself just a bit. I was dedicating the whole day to my wives, I traveled through time, and didn’t take a single break. Sitting down and getting a massage was the closest thing to a break that I had all day, and my exhaustion hit me harder than ever before.

“You are incredibly tense, my lord,” Claire said as she dug her fingers into the backs of my shoulders. “You should rest.”

“A short nap… doesn’t sound too bad,” I replied. “But I still have more fanservice to give.”

“It can wait until after your rest. There is enough time in the day for you to receive rest and to attend to the others.”

“But I don’t want to make them wait.”

“They would be upset and unable to enjoy their fanservice as much if they knew you were tired and overworked. Therefore, I must ask you to rest. I will stay with you as you… ah. My lord… I believe I have caught on to what you are doing.”

I let out a yawn and asked, “And just what is it that I’m doing?”

“You are purposely acting like a tired master in need of service because you know that the ultimate form of fanservice for me would be to let me spoil you as your maid.”

“You caught me. But I wasn’t planning on being this tired. I guess your massage just has that effect on me. Anyways, if I’m going to take a nap, let me use your thighs as a pillow.”

“Of course. However, your shoulders need to loosen up still. Shall I massage you until you fall asleep and then place your head on my lap?”

Another yawn escaped my lips. I already felt like I was on the verge of passing out just from the massage, so I doubted I would be awake long enough to make it to her lap. “That… that works.”

“Very well, my lord. Now please, rest your eyes and—”

The next time I opened my eyes, I looked up and saw… nothing.

I was used to that, mainly thanks to Delphi. I didn’t even have to be able to see to know what was going on.

My head was on Claire’s lap and the reason I couldn’t see was because her breasts were hanging down over my eyes. They were easily large enough to cover most of my face if my head was on her lap.

“Your chest makes a perfect blackout curtain,” I said.

“Ah, you have awoken, my lord,” Claire replied. “Do you feel better now?”

“Yeah, thanks. I guess I passed out pretty suddenly there.”

“It is most understandable.”

“How long was I out for?”

“Only a couple of hours.”

“That was… longer than I thought it would be.”

“Nonsense. You need even more rest. A mere couple of hours is nothing.”

“I doubt you want to sit here all day letting me use your lap as a pillow.”

“Oh? Then you must not know your wife and maid that well, my husband and lord. Nothing would make me happier than to stay here with you all day. You could sleep using my lap for the rest of time itself and I would never wish for it to end for even a second.”

I slid my head out from underneath her breasts and sat up in front of her, turning around to face her as well. “When it’s my turn to get fanservice, I’m going to force you to rest and use my lap as a pillow instead.”

“You are cruel.”

“I know. How horrible. I want to make my wife get some sleep. I’m the worst. No wonder Window calls me a villain all the time.”

“It is alright. I may desire to serve, but I will also enjoy you forcing yourself onto my body. Many fantasies featuring maids with their masters involve such a concept.”

“You made me letting you sleep while using my thighs as a pillow sound actually villainous!”

Claire giggled for a moment before saying, “You are my villainous master, are you not? I am simply making sure that your image is not destroyed.”

“You’re the one destroying it right now!”

“Oh my. All I did was want to help you as your faithful maid, yet you are yelling at me so cruelly… I am incredibly aroused. Thank you.”

“Then I’ll be even more villainous by arousing you and then ditching you to go give one of my other wives attention.”

Claire let out a gentle gasp and subtly rubbed her thighs together when she heard that.

I narrowed my eyes at her and said, “Don’t tell me, Claire. You like the idea of me using you for my own selfish gain before throwing you to the side to go give a different woman attention.”

“I… it… you see, that is… a rather common theme in stories featuring masters and maids…”

“Ah. So, you want to be the tragic maid who loves her master, but her master loves his wife more and only sees his maid as a disposable toy to use and abuse.”

Claire, who was usually so serious and calm, blushed and bit her lower lip.

“Then that’s what I’ll do. I’m going to leave you here alone while I go find a different wife of mine to give fanservice to. I’ll make her feel far more special and important than I’ve ever made you feel.”

As soon as those words left my mouth… I felt bad. Actually bad. I was almost about to apologize and ask her if I took things too far by saying that, but…

Claire was smiling and twitching in a way that told me she was feeling a lot of pleasure at the moment.

“You’re an emotional masochist as much as you are a physical one, aren’t you?” I asked her.

All she could even do at that point was nod.

I didn’t think anybody would ever surpass Clawdia as a masochist, but after discovering Claire’s latest fetish, I was pretty confident in her being the biggest masochist out of everybody.

“Unfortunately for you,” I said to Claire, leaning in to grab her by her chin, “I’m a villain, and that means I’m selfish and I do what I want.” So, I kissed her. Rather than tease her some more by talking about going off to be with another woman, I kissed Claire, and I made sure that she felt loved. “I’ll tease you every now and then, but I don’t think I’m heroic enough to satisfy your emotional abuse kink.”

Claire calmed down a bit and smiled before giving me another kiss in return. “I love you as my villainous master, my lord, and I would have you no other way. Besides, I already get my fill of being ‘cheated’ on by Mariet giving you so much attention.”

“Wait. Mariet… you said so yourself earlier. She’s a girl who likes to make others happy. Then… if she knows about your kink… not only does she get to make me happy by doing things for me, but she gets to make you happy and fulfill your kink by giving me more attention than she gives you now.”

“Indeed. Not only does she satisfy me by satisfying you instead of spending time with me, but she also satisfies me by monopolizing you and stealing your attention from me. It is a win-win for me. Either I get to spend time with either one of you, which obviously makes me happy, or you are both stolen away from me, which also makes me happy… and more.”

“What a lucky maid you are. You get to win no matter what happens.”

“Are we not all rather lucky to be sharing this world together?”

“Well, you’re right about that.” I kissed her again. “I’m going to go cheat on you by giving another wife fanservice now.”

“Please do, my lord.”

“You emotional masochist.”