Bovina adjusted the bell on her colr, its clear chime synchronizing with the rhythmic flick of her cow tail. She looked at Neko with a gentle smile, though the knowledge she was about to impart cast a shadow over their seemingly pleasant conversation.

  “To be promoted to an Elite Maid, you must fulfill two key requirements,” she began, tracing sigils once more on the magical crystal. “First, you must pass the educational tests, which should be retively easy for anyone with average intelligence. The second matter, however, is much more difficult: possessing a minimum of Rank B.”

  Neko flinched at the mention of Rank B. He had only just reached Rank E, and even that had cost him every shred of his dignity during his night with Lilith.

  “The best among the Elite Maids who manage to reach Rank A can be promoted directly by Lady Lilith to the position of Great Matron of Sin,” Bovina added, pride swelling in her voice.

  The image on the board began to swirl and shrink again. Three new figures of women appeared before Neko in cssic maid uniforms, though each radiated a different degree of confidence.

  “These are, respectively: Senior Maid, Maid, and Junior Maid,” Bovina expined, pointing to them in turn. “Remember, sweetie, ‘Maid’ is only an official title. Each of them can have completely different tasks and specializations. For example: one might handle the gardens, another the kitchen and preparing exquisite dinners, and yet another the cleaning of the castle or administration under Elene’s watchful eye.”

  The teacher leaned against the desk, her gargantuan breasts straining the cow-print fabric precariously.

  “They are the workers of this castle. Just as we, the Great Matrons of Sin, are the backbone of this structure, they are our hands and feet. Like worker ants that make this pce function at all.”

  Bovina straightened up and began to list the physical requirements, causing Neko to feel a sudden knot in his stomach.

  “The lowest rung in the hierarchy of servants who are not mere tools is the Junior Maid. To even dream of that title, your strength must reach at least the level of Rank E.”

  Neko felt a sudden, painful squeeze in his gut, his hand instinctively clenching the hem of his scandalously short skirt.

  Rank E... that’s my current level, he thought in terror, realizing that despite his ‘Epic’ css, in terms of raw power, he was merely at the starting level of the lowest servant in the castle.

  “A regur Maid, who already possesses her own specialization and real duties, must hold Rank D,” Bovina continued, heedless of how pale Neko had turned under her gaze. “And if you dream of being a Senior Maid, managing others and representing our Mistress externally, the requirements rise to Rank C. Without that level, no one here will take you seriously.”

  Neko lowered his gaze to his hands. Since he himself held Rank E, it meant that in the combat hierarchy, he was at the very bottom of the ‘ant’ food chain.

  “But there is something even lower...” Bovina let out a heavy sigh, and the image on the wall shifted to the very bottom, revealing sves with hollow stares. “At the very end of the hierarchy are the Sves. They are used for anything their owner asks of them. They have no rights of their own, no voice of protest. They are simply tools, mostly in the hands of the maids, to make fulfilling their duties easier.”

  Neko shuddered, remembering Elene’s warning that he wouldn't survive a day in the harem without Lilith’s protection.

  “Unlike the rest of the girls in our system, sves do not go through a selection process,” Bovina added with a hint of sadness. “They are simply purchased at markets when the castle needs raw bor.”

  Neko sat motionless, the bell on his tail falling silent as he went rigid with fear. The realization that his status as an ‘Epic Sex Sve’ put him in a unique, yet incredibly dangerous position made his short schoolgirl skirt feel as heavy as lead.

  “Am I...” Neko began, his voice trembling. “In the eyes of the system, am I also just... a tool without a voice?”

  Bovina approached him and stroked his ears again, triggering an involuntary purring sound he couldn't stop.

  “You hold the status of our Mistress’s Favorite, sweetie. That makes you someone special, but also a target for all the jealous eyes in this castle.”

  Bovina again made a lithe movement with her hand over the crystal, and the images on the wall swirled, giving way to the final projection. At the very bottom of the hierarchy, a portrait of Neko appeared - in his new, sweet schoolgirl outfit, looking slightly bewildered.

  Bovina smiled, but this time a fsh of something like pity sparkled in her eyes.

  “At the very end, we have you, sweetie,” she began, the bells at her breasts letting out a quiet, warning chime. “Your situation is terribly specific. On one hand, officially, you are just a sve. That means theoretically everyone in this castle has the right to give you orders and do with you exactly what they please.”

  Neko felt an icy shiver of dread run down his spine, his cat ears pinning ft against his head. The vision of being a toy for every person he encountered in this dark pce made his head swim.

  “But...” Bovina added quickly, seeing the boy turn pale, “due to the special treatment from Lady Lilith, no one in this castle will dare give you an order or exploit you with impunity. Aside from your status, you are primarily the sve of the Queen herself. That gives you unique protection.”

  Bovina flicked her finger, and Neko’s icon on the board shot upward, stopping just below the portraits of the six wives and above the row of Great Matrons of Sin.

  “In practice, your position looks something like this. You are above us, but still below Lilith’s wives. However, don't have a mistaken idea of your invulnerability,” she warned, narrowing her eyes. “The Great Matrons of Sin still have every right to punish you if you deserve it. We’ll just have to deal with expining it to Lilith afterward. And knowing our Mistress and her attachment to us, as long as we don't abuse our power and do something extremely stupid, she will always believe our words. So don't count on being able to use your position to escape us.”

  Neko nodded, understanding that his ‘high status’ was fragile and relied solely on the Queen’s mood.

  “Remember one more thing,” Bovina turned serious, her cow tail ceasing its rhythmic beat against her legs. “If Lilith ever loses interest in you, you’ll end up at the very bottom of that dder in a fraction of a second. Without her grace, you will be nothing but a tool.”

  Neko trembled, clenching his hands into the fabric of his skirt. The awareness that his only salvation was being ‘interesting’ to the monster who ensved him was paralyzing. Seeing his fear, Bovina’s expression suddenly softened, and she smiled warmly.

  “But you know... looking at it from the side, you have nothing to worry about. The fact that Lilith spent the night with you even though Lady Elizabeth was in the castle says a lot about how much you fascinate her. That’s rarely seen.”

  Neko’s eyes went wide, and his face instantly flooded with crimson. “Y-you know about that, Bovina?” he choked out, feeling a searing shame.

  The woman let out a pearly ugh, her giant breasts bouncing in time with the bells. After a moment, however, she sighed softly, her gaze becoming somewhat distant.

  “Of course I know. Lady Elizabeth wasn't very happy about it... and someone had to take her anger upon themselves.”

  The puzzle pieces immediately clicked together in Neko’s head. He recalled Elizabeth’s dominant, terrifying aura and the ‘monster’ he had seen clearly outlined in her tex pants. He imagined the furious Consort finding out that Lilith preferred pying with a new ‘kitten’ instead of her. He looked at Bovina with a sudden sadness and guilt.

  “I... I’m sorry, Bovina,” he whispered, lowering his head. “Because of me, you had to...”

  Bovina approached him and stroked his head again, ruffling the pink hair between his ears. “You have nothing to apologize for, sweetie. It wasn't my first time with her. It’s just that out of all the wives, Elizabeth is the most... durable and demanding. It’s part of my duties.”

  Neko looked at her with a mix of admiration and deep respect. Imagining that this gentle woman was able to take the full fury and physical power of Elizabeth - with all her ‘equipment’ - made him feel an immense respect for his teacher. Bovina wasn't just a cow-beauty with bells; she was someone who had survived a csh with a true demon of desire.

  The Cow Woman leaned down low over the seated Neko, the bells at her breasts letting out a long, tempting chime as they nearly touched the desktop. Her face was only a few centimeters from his cat ears, and he felt her hot, milky breath on his skin.

  “It's not like I didn't enjoy it either, kitten,” she added in a whisper tinged with a dangerous persuasion. “I like rough py, too... but let’s say up to a certain level. Even my endurance has its limits when someone like Elizabeth is involved.”

  Hearing this, Neko felt sharp goosebumps race down his back, and his [Ethereal Addiction] reacted with a sudden surge of heat. He remembered Elizabeth’s sternness and how mercilessly his buttocks had burned after her smack.

  Though Bovina had seemed like an oasis of gentleness and peace until now, those words brutally brought him back to reality. He realized that in this castle, no one was normal. Even this gentle woman stroking his head was part of the world of Desire, where everyone had to hide some dark, perverted nature within.

  Neko looked at her in a way he couldn't define - a mixture of disbelief, fear, and a budding theory in his mind. Bovina, seeing this strange expression, tilted her head slightly, the bell on her leather colr chiming softly.

  “What’s with the face, sweetie?” she asked with a smile, narrowing her rge eyes. “Do you have questions about the hierarchy, or is something else bothering you?”

  Neko felt his heart thudding against his ribs, and the tight colr of his student outfit suddenly began to choke him. In a rush of adrenaline and mounting consternation, before he could bite his tongue, he blurted out what had been circling his mind for the st few moments:

  “I... I just thought every woman in this castle was a sadistic, dominant psycho...” he began, his voice trembling as he looked straight into Bovina’s cleavage, where the bells were still lightly quivering. “But you... you look more like a masochist and a cow to me than that kind of dominant person.”