Chapter 3: Looks like a bottom, but is actually a top

Merlot blinked as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Her white hair was tied up in a high ponytail behind her head. Her golden eyes showed a hint of surprise.

Her graceful figure stood upright and composed. The black and white maid outfit, modified in length, gave her a sharp, professional aura.

The pair of white stockings on her legs added a touch of innocence to her dignified and valiant look.

All of this came together to shape her current appearance: pure yet intelligent, elegant yet alluring.

A completely new Merlot.

But Lady Ada was not satisfied.

She studied Merlot and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, mumbling things like, “Still not quite right…”

Then she started rummaging through the mountain of stockings again.

For the next while, Merlot became nothing more than a dress-up doll in Lady Ada’s hands, trying on one combination of stockings after another.

Eventually, what Lady Ada liked best was a pair of 30D seamless black pantyhose.

The black spandex material subtly revealed just the right hint of skin underneath, adding a sense of mystery and allure to Merlot.

Matched with a pair of elegant size-38 black high heels, and combined with Merlot’s 177 cm height—

which wasn’t short by any means for a girl—it made Lady Ada’s eyes sparkle as if she had just discovered

a treasure!

This time, Lady Ada looked truly thrilled. Merlot could almost see a flood of precise data being calculated in her eyes.

Data about her body…

Then, Lady Ada took out her phone and made a call.

“Hello? It’s me, Ada… Yes, don’t talk yet. I need to place a rush order. Listen carefully—measurements are 98/59/90, height is 177 cm…”

Merlot froze for a second, then instinctively hugged her body, staring at Ada in horror.

Ada, meanwhile, kept scanning Merlot like a machine, reading out data point by point to the person on the phone.

At that moment, Merlot felt a kind of fear she had never known before.

Not even when facing that Void God had she ever felt scared!

But standing in front of Lady Ada, Merlot felt like she wasn’t wearing anything at all.

When Ada finished the call, she looked at Merlot with a teasing smile.

“What’s with that look? Surprised that I know your body measurements so well?”

Then she stepped forward, leaned in close, and said with a hint of flirtation, “Take a guess—who do you think changed your clothes?”

Merlot instantly jumped back two steps, hugging herself tightly, her face full of disbelief.

Seeing this reaction only made Ada even more delighted!

She didn’t know what Merlot used to be like, but now, this once-great Glorious Knight… or rather, Glorious Lady Knight, was just so adorable after becoming a girl!

With such a bold, heroic face, who would’ve thought she was so shy?

This contrast was just too delicious…

After snapping all sorts of photos of her, the elegant lady finally let Merlot off the hook.

“Alright, enough playing around. Let’s get to serious matters.”

Sitting on the bed, Merlot grumbled in her mind, You mean you’re finally done having your fun…

Ada didn’t care what Merlot was thinking. She said on her own, “Have you heard of the Knight Tournament?”

Merlot nodded.

She hadn’t earned her title through the tournament, but she knew all about this most popular competition.

Ada continued, “Actually, I’ve been planning my revenge for many years. Even if I hadn’t met you, I was going to carry it out. And the most important piece of that plan… is the Knight Tournament.”

She took a sip of her coffee, “But now that you’re here, things might go more smoothly.”

Merlot frowned slightly, “I think I understand what you’re suggesting, ma’am. You want me to become the tournament champion and earn a knight title, right?”

She shook her head, “That wouldn’t have been hard for the old me. But now, as you’ve seen…”

She held up her wrist to show the Thorn’s Kiss mark, and said, “The Thorn’s Kiss causes excruciating pain

when I use psionic energy. I already tried it earlier—right now I can’t even bring out one percent of my

former strength.”

Ada gently held her wrist, “I know. But do you know how to remove the Thorn’s Kiss?”

Merlot thought for a moment, then shook her head.

Ada explained, “There was once a proud wandering knight who was also punished with the Seal of Spirit,

just like you. She was tortured by it, but eventually, she kneeled before the noble who cursed her and

became their personal s*ave. Only then was the Thorn’s Kiss removed.”

At this point, Ada’s lips curled into a sneer. “And now, that knight has earned a title and been repackaged as some sort of world-saving hero. Guess who she is?”

Merlot thought hard. One face after another appeared in her mind.

Ada had said “she,” so it was clearly a female title knight.

There were currently 27 title knights in total. Seven were women. And of those, only one had once been a wandering knight…

The one known as the “Heaven’s Punishment” title knight—Evne Mellowetti.

She was also the enforcer of the federation’s laws.

And the Thorn’s Kiss on Merlot’s wrist—it had been placed by her!

“You figured it out?” Ada smiled, clearly enjoying herself.

Merlot’s face turned grim. She said, “So, the supposedly just and righteous Heaven’s Punishment Knight is actually some noble’s private s*ave…”

Ada added with a sly grin, “Calling her a s*ave is just a nice way of putting it. Who knows what that cold, untouchable knight lady acts like in that noble’s bed?”

Her gaze toward Merlot suddenly turned strangely intense, giving Merlot chills all over.

“Ahem, why don’t you just tell me how to remove the Thorn’s Kiss?” Merlot quietly shifted away from Ada, trying to change the subject.

Ada looked away and took another sip of coffee, “No idea.”

“I said I don’t know,” Ada repeated calmly. “But since the Heaven’s Punishment Knight had hers removed, there must be a way. We just don’t know what it is yet.”

Merlot covered her face, speechless.

So all that was for nothing…

“But,” Ada said lightly, “since a method clearly exists, all we need to do is find it. And now, we already have a target.”

Merlot frowned. “You mean…”

Ada smiled, lips curled. “One of the rules of the Knight Tournament is that the champion can challenge

any current title knight. If they win, they take that knight’s ranking. Of course… the ranking itself doesn’t

matter to us. What matters is…”

Merlot finally understood Ada’s true intention and finished her sentence:

“We can force the Heaven’s Punishment Knight to tell us how to remove the Thorn’s Kiss!”