The dragon's harem

What Merlin prepared for the maids was a new magical device that she came up with to help the maids. There were hundreds of them, and each morning, they all shave their whole bodies to remain as smooth as possible in case Arad called them. They go as far as to flush their back ends multiple times a day and carefully control their diet. The last thing any of the maids wanted was for Arad to call them in, and then have to take an hour to get ready.

At this point, maintaining that was just a daily routine to them, but shaving even a few minutes would make their lives far easier. That was a part of it, but not the whole thing, since even while Arad wasn’t pressed for money... the maids were consuming a vast amount of funds just to maintain their beauty and readiness.

Money, shaving blades, soap, creams and potions, wax, and even mana stones for the automatic [Instant Wax] staff they use. So, Merlin was also interested in lowering the overall cost.

As Merlin walked into the bath, the maids followed her with curious gazes. "This should help you a lot." She then looked at one of the maids. "How does your day usually go?"

The maid froze for a second and then replied, explaining the daily routine every maid goes through.

The maids wake up every morning before dawn, and they never wake alone. Multiple maids live in the same room, and the minimum is two. The maid Merlin asked lived with three other maids in the same room, and when morning came, they all woke up, and if one didn’t, the others would wake her up.

The first thing they did was head to their private shower room, wash their teeth, and then take a shared bath together, where they all helped each other shave and flush their rear ends to make the process easier, faster, and cleaner. Then they’ll brush their hair, do their beds, wear their uniforms, and then head to work. Then, throughout the day, if any of them needed to use the bathroom, another maid would always go with them to help them flush after.

The maids’ motto was to be ready 24/7, and they took that seriously.

Merlin took the maids toward a large, horizontal capsule with a glass bed inside. "It is still a prototype, but it uses light to burn body hair down to the root." Sitting on the capsule, she pulled two tiny coins. "You lie inside, protect your eyes with these metal coins, and turn it on. In a few seconds, it’ll burn everything down."

The maids looked at the capsule, and then one of them asked an obvious question. "What about our hair?" She pointed at her head, and Merlin looked away. "That’s why it is still a prototype. You’ll go bald." She then summoned a jar of mud, regular clay.

"You can use this to cover your hair and eyebrows, but it isn’t an elegant solution." She then looked at the capsule. "And even if it is a quick pulse of light, it still burns a bit." She extended her hands toward them with the jar of clay. "So? Any of you beautiful ladies want to give it a try?"

The maids stared at the jar, and then back at Merlin. "How long are we talking about?" Hearing that question made Merlin frown a bit. "Well, I won’t call it permanent; using this thing for like six to eight times would reduce the hair by almost ten times. But I still don’t have long-term data."

Hearing that, the maids agreed to be Merlin’s test subjects, and so they took the mud jar. "What about you, Lady Merlin? You’ll take a bath on your own?" One of the maids approached her, and Merlin smiled as darkness and light burned right behind her. "I’m never alone."

From her shadow, a tall dark silhouette emerged, took the shape of a woman, and all of the maids recognized her. Tall, built like a succubus, and with amber skin and long hair burning with shadows... Ombre had grown far stronger and changed a lot, standing behind Merlin like a towering ghost.

Of course, Ombre was never alone, as another voluptuous tall woman hugged her from behind. Her skin was as pale as snow, and her white hair reached down to her knees. Neige wrapped her arms around Ombre’s shoulders as she leaned on her and looked at Merlin’s back.

In the past days, Merlin had sent those two to study and train under Linda and Luminous, respectively, and thanks to that, they had grown far stronger than before. And since they weren’t really living beings, but creatures born in her labyrinth from her magic, the influence of those two drakainas’ magic on their bodies and magic was great.

"Master, did you summon us?" Ombre pushed Neige aside and approached Merlin, kneeling in front of her. After looking a bit sad, Neige approached and did the same, but to win over her sister, she didn’t just kneel, but kissed Merlin’s foot. "I’m at your order, Master."

Seeing that, Ombre quickly bent forward and kissed Merlin’s foot as well, trying not to lose to Neige.

Seeing them, Merlin smiled, let them keep kissing her foot for a few seconds before asking them to stop and stand back again. And there was a good reason for that, she was also using them as test subjects for important research related to Arad, which was important because hours ago, Eris had told her about a few important things when Arad was about to start a fight with Kossuth.

It was surprising to hear from Eris that Arad could be the creator of the entire universe, but that information would need time to be digested. What Merlin wanted to study now was the influence of Arad’s soul on the souls of his own creations. She wanted to understand why people are drawn to him, why they like him, and why they can’t help but eventually fall under his rule.

Even if it wasn’t one-to-one, Merlin is to the people of her labyrinth the same thing Arad is to the entire people of the universe. She had created Ombre and Neige the same way Arad would’ve created everyone else if he were really the creator.

"You can use the capsules; I’ll relax a bit, and those two would take care of me." Merlin waved her hand to the maid as she walked away with Ombre and Neige to the hot bath and soaked in.

As Merlin relaxed, Ombre and Neige each pulled a report and sheepishly handed it to her. "Master, those are what you asked for." Ombre spoke, and Neige nodded, "Everything is written here... we left nothing."

Merlin looked at the sealed report for a second, leaned back, and gave the two a smug smile. "You know that I’m killing or torturing you based on what you’ve written here." She had asked about a detailed log of their thoughts, habits, and what they thought. Everything, and no secrets hidden. Even kissing her feet in that way was an order, and writing what they felt in that moment was a part of the experiment. Of course, they didn’t need to physically write, since those scrolls that Merlin gave them automatically record everything so they can’t lie.

The two looked scared, so she pointed at them with her foot. "What do you think? How bad is it?"

"You’ll kill us..." Ombre mumbled, and Neige closed her eyes. "Do what you want; everything is written there."