Chapter 5: Zhuge Repeating Crossbow

“Miss, it’s time to wake up.”

At noon the following day, Su Na—who had slept like the dead—was finally dragged out from the warm “seal” of her blankets by her personal maid, Levi.

Still forced to boot up against her will, Su Na blinked at Levi with sleepy eyes. She tilted her head, leaned against the maid’s shoulder, and promptly drifted back to sleep.

It had already been late last night, and she still had to finish drawing the structural blueprints for the repeating crossbow she planned to build. Even with the System helping her along, dawn was already breaking by the time she finally went to bed.

So it wasn’t that she was lazy.

She simply hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

Unfortunately, staying in bed wasn’t an option. Baron Khepri usually only had lunch with his family at midday. Outside of that brief window, seeing him at all was nearly impossible.

So Su Na decisively handed the entire “getting ready” process over to her personal maid.

Looking at Su Na’s adorably flushed face from sleeping under the covers, Levi smiled fondly and gently pinched her soft cheek before signaling the other maids behind her to prepare the washing supplies.

In the original story, Levi was Su Na’s most trusted confidante.

The two were exceptionally close. Even when the original Su Na—hopelessly lovestruck over Charlie—noticed that Charlie openly disliked Levi, she stubbornly refused to dismiss her.

Levi, in turn, protected Su Na until the very end of her life.

Unlike hereditary household maids who served noble families for generations, Levi came from a traditional knightly household.

Her father was one of Baron Khepri’s most trusted commanders, so the relationship between the two girls wasn’t simply that of mistress and servant. They were closer to childhood companions—almost like sisters or best friends.

Nor was Levi merely skilled at taking care of Su Na’s daily needs.

Five years older than Su Na, Levi had already completed every academic and martial examination required for promotion to knighthood while Su Na was still attending school. She had even followed her father into the kingdom’s foreign campaigns, experiencing real combat and surviving the baptism of war.

When it came to fighting, even ten Su Nas tied together wouldn’t be a match for Levi.

She was both Su Na’s personal maid…

…and her guardian knight.

This was perfectly normal among noble families.

The childhood companions raised alongside an heir would eventually become the backbone of that heir’s administration after inheriting the family title.

After all, once the older generation passed away, what made people willing to accept that you were now the ruler?

The stability of an eldest son’s or eldest daughter’s inheritance had never depended solely on royal recognition or family tradition.

It depended on the trusted companions who had grown up beside them since childhood.

***

By the time the washing and grooming were finished, Su Na had finally woken up.

She obediently sat up straight while Levi helped her change out of her silk nightgown and into her everyday clothes.

The previous night, Su Na had assumed removing the elaborate dress had been such a hassle simply because it was formal attire.

Now she realized…

Everything noblewomen wore was this complicated!

Once she had changed into a loose white linen undergarment, one of the younger maids knelt before her, gently lifted one of her feet onto a small stool, accepted a pair of white stockings from another maid, and carefully pulled them over her leg.

The stockings were drawn all the way up to her knees before being secured in place with a garter tied into a neat bow.

Knee-high stockings of this era had no elastic, so they relied entirely on garters to stay in place.

Next, Levi helped Su Na to her feet and slipped a white pleated linen underskirt over her. Another maid standing behind adjusted it neatly around her waist before fastening it with ribbons.

After that came the rigid corset.

Constructed from layers of linen reinforced with flexible animal bone, it functioned much like a shaping vest. As the maid behind her tightened the laces, Su Na was forced to straighten her back, lift her chin, and draw in her waist.

Another maid inserted a long wooden busk into the front of the corset.

As the laces continued to tighten, Su Na immediately began to feel uncomfortable.

“L-Lighter…! I can’t breathe!”

Hearing the panic in her young mistress’s voice, the maid behind her immediately apologized in alarm.

“M-Miss, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

She froze on the spot, completely at a loss.

She hadn’t even tightened the corset very much yet—only about four rounds of the laces—and the young maid’s mind had gone completely blank.

Levi, who had been arranging the outer dress nearby, turned around after hearing the commotion.

Seeing Su Na’s reddened eyes, looking as though tears might spill out at any moment, she was momentarily stunned.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she hurried behind Su Na and loosened every lace on the corset.

Only then did Su Na finally relax, letting out a long breath of relief.

It wasn’t that she was particularly delicate.

This thing was simply inhumane.

Her body had only just begun developing, yet the corset compressed everything into an almost perfectly flat silhouette.

No wonder it felt suffocating.

If she had to compare it to something men could understand…

It was like making a perfectly healthy man wear a skin-tight pair of iron briefs, then pretending a certain important part of his anatomy didn’t exist while mercilessly compressing every bit of available space.

Anyone would be driven to tears.

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