Half an hour later, Ram was leaning weakly in a certain someone's arms, breathing hard, her cheeks flushed bright red.
She looked so cute it was almost criminal.
The corners of Hayashi Maki's lips lifted into a satisfied smile.
His palm rested on the girl's smooth white calf, his fingers closing around it with familiar ease as he idly toyed with it.
His gaze fell on her slightly swollen, rosy lips, and his mood grew even better.
Everywhere his hand touched felt like a jolt of electricity to Ram, a strange tingling spreading through her.
Maybe because they had kissed, she now felt just a tiny bit more favorable toward this man she claimed to despise.
Up to this point, he'd come off as arrogant and rude, shameless and lewd, his eyes always full of indecent thoughts.
But he hadn't actually hurt her or her sister Rem.
They say eyes are the window to the soul, and when their lips had been pressed together earlier, Ram had seriously looked into his eyes.
He hadn't dodged her gaze at all; instead, he looked straight at her with burning, earnest eyes.
In the end, it was Ram who'd gotten embarrassed first and closed her eyes, breaking eye contact.
His unbelievable power had healed the injury even Roswaal had been unable to cure.
When someone weak acts cocky, it's just arrogance and makes them look like a clown—like Subaru in the early story, for example.
But when someone truly powerful is brash, it gives a completely different impression. That's confidence—a sense that they're in control of everything.
The strong, while intimidating, also naturally inspire trust.
Right now, the impression Hayashi Maki gave Ram was "mysterious and overwhelmingly strong."
As she was thinking this, Ram subconsciously pressed down on the warm hand that was sliding up from her calf to somewhere far too high.
"Don't…"
Hearing her soft, catlike murmur of protest made Hayashi Maki feel unreasonably pleased.
He bent down and kissed her on the forehead with a teasing smile. "Don't what?"
Ram endured her embarrassment and shot him a sharp glare with those pink eyes of hers.
"Lewd master, please take your dog paw off me."
One of Hayashi Maki's eyebrows lifted. He reached up and pinched her cute little face a couple of times.
"Oh? A mere maid, and after your master heals your injury you dare call him a dog? That's way too much. I'll have to punish you."
Ram's heart skipped a beat. She instinctively lifted her small hand to block him.
Sure enough—
That indecent man leaned in again, his lips landing right on her pale palm.
He brushed her hand aside and kept closing in, clearly intent on "punishing" her.
Ram sighed and calmly met his gaze, saying nothing.
Hayashi Maki stopped and, seeing that cold little expression on her face, felt a flash of irritation.
Well, he knew it was normal for Ram to reject him—they'd barely just met.
But his possessiveness was too strong. The colder she was, the more he wanted to close that distance between them.
His pause surprised Ram a little. Her clear eyes flickered; it seemed she was starting to figure out his personality.
Compared to her sister Rem, Ram was without a doubt the smarter and gentler one.
You could say she was Roswaal's last emotional support—and what Hayashi Maki wanted was to completely take hold of this lovely maid so she'd never be able to leave him.
There was no need to explain how intense a man's possessiveness could be.
After a moment of silent eye contact, Ram quietly said, "Ram knows you're very strong. Even Roswaal-sama isn't your match. If you want to have Ram, then please agree to one condition."
"What condition? Let's hear it."
Hayashi Maki stared at her face with burning eyes, his hand still wandering over her slim waist without scruple.
Ram fought back the strange tingling in her body and gritted her teeth. "Ram has only one request: you must not kill Roswaal-sama. He is the one who saved Rem and me. Before you came, Roswaal-sama was the one who gave us a place to live."
"As long as you agree to that, Ram will serve you wholeheartedly as your maid. Otherwise… you'll only ever get a corpse."
Hayashi Maki couldn't help but snort and smirk.
"Oh? So if I don't agree, you'll just die? You're not worried about Rem, then?"
Her body shook. Of course she cared about Rem—but from what she'd seen of this man, lewd as he was, he didn't seem like someone who would harm her sister.
"So you're going to use Rem to force me to behave?" she asked coolly, fingers digging into his waist.
Hayashi Maki sucked in a sharp breath. "Trying to murder your master, huh? What a vicious maid. I healed you and this is how you repay me?"
Ram ignored him, shutting her eyes as if resigning herself. Her grip on his waist stayed firm.
Then suddenly, her lips were captured again. She opened her eyes to see a pair of gentle ones looking back at her.
"Alright, alright. What can I do? I'm softest with my own girls," he said. "I can promise not to kill Roswaal—but if he insists on courting death himself, I won't be taking the blame."
"Not enough," Ram replied, completely serious. "You also have to promise that no matter what happens in the future, you will always spare Roswaal-sama's life."
Hayashi Maki looked extremely displeased. "Now you're pushing it. If he tries to kill me, I'm supposed to let him live?"
Ram knew she was being unreasonable, but she also knew how to use her advantages. She pouted slightly and smiled at him.
"That depends on how much you really care about Ram, doesn't it—mmph!"
Before she could finish, he kissed her again.
When their lips parted, Hayashi Maki pinched her cheek in exasperation. "Fine, fine, I promise. For me, Ram is far more important than Roswaal. No matter what happens, I'll spare his life."
"But if he still insists on asking for it after that, don't you start overthinking it."
"Mm. Ram won't," she replied.
She wasn't stupid.
Even if she wanted to repay Roswaal, once Hayashi Maki spared him and he still chose to "seek death," her debt would be paid. At that point, she wouldn't have anything more to say.
After he agreed to her condition, the atmosphere between them softened considerably.
Hayashi Maki flashed a wicked smile. "Since we've reached an understanding… as my maid, Ram, you know what you're supposed to do now, right?"
She glanced at him and feigned confusion. "Ram doesn't understand what you're talking about."
"Oh? You don't? That's fine. I'll just have to teach you."
His eyes grew hotter as he stared at her pretty face. He pulled her down with him as he lay back.
Ram's breathing sped up, her cheeks turning crimson.
She shot him a look full of contempt for his lustful urgency, then let out a quiet sigh.
Her snow-white arms slowly slid up and wrapped around his neck.
As their lips met again, she responded softly.
Since she'd given her word, she wouldn't go back on it.