I have a newfound respect for my cousin… How on earth she manages to drink so much on an empty stomach and not vomit immediately must be her hidden superpower. Grace thought miserably as she set down the freshly emptied glass back onto the table and resisted the urge to throw it all back up. 

The bottle of whiskey still more than half-full sitting next to the glass was originally supposed to be a welcome home present for Jisoo whenever she returned. It was very difficult to order her favorites, so Grace snatched this one up the moment one of her secretaries found a good vendor. Unfortunately, she was quickly discovering that perhaps the reason Jisoo loved this whiskey so much was how damn strong it was. Two shots in and Grace felt woozy.

Despite her stomachs’ protest, Grace reached for the bottle once again and began to pour herself another shot. She inhaled sharply then brought it to her lips and splashed it against the back of her throat and swallowed immediately. 

It was a lousy attempt at a shot. Nearly half the scotch slid down her taste buds and sent chills down her spine and she sputtered up air and saliva as the burning sensation trickled down her throat into the rest of her belly. She muttered aloud to nobody in particular. “Ugh… Maybe this was a mistake.” 

“Is everything alright?” A familiar voice asked from down the hall, followed by a curious set of footsteps. Grace’s grip on the glass tightened, which caused a hairline crack in the side of it. She blinked, mumbled something obscene under her breath, then reached for a different shot glass. 

Yuxi appeared around the corner dressed in one of Grace’s nightgowns. In spite of how much resentment she carried for her, Grace could not help but leer perversely at the ‘maid’. She was of average height, with long dark hair and doe eyes. Her generous curves in spite of her flat, toned belly was something that Grace greatly admired too. 

Their relationship was not formed on much more than intense physical intimacy, Grace was well-aware. While they would cuddle together, Grace never thought she would feel so hurt by a betrayal of her trust like this. After all, they shared basically no emotional connection whatsoever. 

And yet here I am. Making a damn fool of myself over some floozy who took a fat paycheck to spy on me. Grace thought and rubbed her temples to avoid making eye contact with Yuxi who sauntered over to take a seat next to her. “Not really.” She murmured in reply. “I wasted Jisoo’s welcome home present.” Grace pouted and gestured towards the whiskey. 

Yuxi inspected it and raised her brow. “This is top-shelf. Why are you shooting it?” She asked and noted the shot glasses Grace had in front of her. “A good whiskey like this should be savored.”

“Hmph. You sound exactly like Jisoo.” 

“Well, I did learn a lot from Miss Jisoo while I was her maid. Sometimes she would gather the maids, butlers, and other staff around the house to play drinking games.” Yuxi giggled and smiled fondly at the memory. “And she also taught me that if you are having issues with shots, try using a chaser to lessen the burning sensation.” She mused and rose to stroll to the kitchen.

Hmph. You know her so well, hmm? Grace thought and watched Yuxi stand and walk towards the fridge. While the maid’s back was turned, she carefully slipped something out of her pocket and placed it next to her lap on the chair carefully. 

Her eyes never left Yuxi for one moment, who returned a few moments later with a pair of ice-cold beers and a small metal bottle opener. “So, what’s the occasion?” The maid asked as she popped off the bottle cap and passed Grace a beer, which the taller woman accepted. “Something tells me that you aren’t out here because you couldn’t sleep.”

“You could say that.” Grace agreed with a nod as she took another shot, then immediately took a sip of beer. Yuxi was right; it did alleviate the burn. 

The maid poured herself a drink as well, then brought it to her lips to take a small sip. “Well, what’s wrong? I thought I heard you walking around earlier.”

“Oh, nothing at all. I was just checking in on the little ones.” Grace lied effortlessly with a nonchalant shrug. “Eren in particular still worries me. In spite of all his progress I sometimes feel like he’s just… Not who he says he is, if that makes any sense?”

“In what regard?” Yuxi asked innocently, her eyes betrayed nothing as she inquired further. 

Grace could feel the outline of the syringe next to her thigh and shifted slightly in her seat to make sure that it did not slip and fall off the chair. Yuxi was a good liar. A great one, actually. However now that she was looking for it, Grace could hear just the slightest inflection in her voice. Any normal person would not have been able to hear it. 

However, for a xian, it was more pronounced. Her hearing was much better than an ordinary human, and she could tune out some sounds to accentuate others across great distances. Grace could hear just the slightest quiver in Yuxi’s tone and sighed loudly as if she was dejected by something else.

She poured them both more whiskey. “I’m not sure. Perhaps I’m just seeing things, but at times I think both he and Maeve are just playing a role. They definitely speak as though they have seen the light of what I’m trying to do for them both, however, is that just a ruse to deceive me?” Grace wondered aloud. “Eren is not an ordinary worthless human. He’s an extraordinary man with several talents, a warrior’s resolve, and quick wits. Likewise, Maeve has impressed me greatly.”

“So, if I may ask, what specifically makes you think they are deceiving you?” 

“It’s little things from time to time that make me wonder, that’s all. Take Maeve’s pitiful attempts at learning how to speak Mandarin Chinese for example. It’s been months and she can barely string together a sentence!” Grace proclaimed. “However, there are times when I’ll be talking either on the phone or to someone else, and she’ll seem to be following along with the conversation. Little cues in her facial expressions which lead me to believe she understands a lot more than she lets on.” She remarked.

Grace leaned a little closer and looked down the hallway where her pets were, as if nervous they might be listening in. “And as for Eren? Well, his mistakes and such that Maeve shouts at him for… What if they are just an attempt to make me think their little game is a bit more realistic? After all they would likely know if they switched overnight to be obedient toys, I would be suspicious.”

“I never noticed any of that before. It’s incredible that you have seen these things before!” Yuxi exclaimed in a rather obvious lie which made Grace giggle slightly. 

Ah. So, you thought I didn’t know about Eren and Maeve’s little games then? That’s quite interesting. Grace thought to herself and continued, and devilish smile creeping up her face. “But I must also confess that those two are not the only ones I’ve had my suspicions about.” She admitted and stared at Yuxi knowingly, who became noticeably uncomfortable at that remark. “There are some in the Amrita Corporation who leech off others, and their enablers who scheme to gain even a slight advantage. Sometimes it’s spies. Other times it’s collusion with other masters.”

“G-Grace… I~?” Yuxi began but was cut-off by the slam of a paper bag onto the table which immediately burst open. The color in the maid’s face drained when several dozens of the tiny listening devices spilled out onto the table, which caused the bottle of whiskey to topple over and spill all over them. 

Soaked through, the micro-devices were rendered useless almost immediately as they clogged up with the strong liquid, which corroded them nearly immediately. “And it’s so strange! These little fuckers were all over my house! And in my cars! And even my fucking shoes.” Grace said in a saccharine tone. “But what’s even more strange is that the only person who had access to all of my stuff for the past few months… Well, that has to be you, right?” She asked sarcastically.

In a flash Yuxi tried to stand up and move away from Grace but was stopped by a face-full of beer which splashed into her eyes. Temporarily blinded, Yuxi gasped when she felt the all too recognizable pain of a needle pass through the flesh of her neck and stab deep into her blood veins. 

Moments later her vision darkened, and the last thing she felt was her body rapidly shrinking into her own clothes. 

Keiko gasped when she felt the alchemical cocktail first enter her bloodstream. It was a pain that was difficult to describe, perhaps most similar to the sensation that came immediately after the sting of a hornet. 

She had witnessed the shrinking process countless times, but never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined it would be her one day being reduced into a speck. The irony was not lost on her that once she had doomed countless people to this exact fate as part of her work, and now her own arrogance had made her sloppy.

For a split second she was falling, before she landed painfully in a clumped-up ball of her own clothes which cushioned her collision with the chair only slightly. Dazed, she attempted to crawl frantically away. There may be no way out of this, but even a one percent chance of escape was better than nothing. 

Even if Grace doesn’t kill me… Satsuki absolutely will. Keiko thought with a grimace, moments before she felt the fabric, she had been crawling across pull taut and she was raised into the air. A massive hand bigger than a semi-truck slithered into the clothes through the upper opening. She squealed and tried to hide from it, but Grace noticed the slight movement all too easily and quickly grasped her.

Each finger was much bigger than Keiko was. It occurred to her that the size of the gargantuan digits would indicate that she had been struck by a microspeck dose. As opposed to making her the average height of three inches tall which was common for most ordinary specks, she was less than half of that. 

Grace pulled her out from beneath her own blouse, then held the freshly created speck up in front of her beautiful face. At this size it was possible to appreciate just how inhumanely gorgeous she really was; even with a new perspective that magnified blemishes or imperfections, Grace appeared even more striking as a giantess which served to exemplify her goddess-like beauty.

Keiko couldn’t help but smile faintly. There were far worse ways to die than at the hands of a goddess, and especially one whom she had slighted by underestimating. To think, Keiko had been under the impression that Grace was a brutish thug who cared only for indulgence. How wrong she was, since she had known this whole time that Eren and Maeve were merely playing a role. 

“Hmm? What’s with that look? This isn’t a kinky game y’know.” Grace noted, and as if to prove her point enveloped Keiko within her fist tight enough to draw out a wheeze. “Tell me who you serve, and I’ll let you live. You can spend the rest of your life as a coddled pet.”

“Y-You mean like those two you’ve kept trapped here for months?” Keiko managed to utter as the fingers wrapped tightly around her midsection, each one squeezing down on her like a constrictor. 

If you really did know… Keiko coughed as the vengeful goddess continued to squeeze until she was turning purple. “I-If you knew… Why d-d-did you play along?” She asked. 

Grace cocked her head to the side as she considered an answer. Eventually she exhaled a breeze of minty breath laced with the pungent aroma of whiskey from earlier. “To be honest I was never really quite sure if they were playing a role. I had my suspicions as I said, but I never tested them.” She explained. “I’m not too sure there is a specific reason why I never got around to it. I just…” The giantess trailed off, but Keiko could guess the reason.

“You wanted an excuse to not have to hurt your friend anymore.” Keiko remarked. “Klein was more resilient than you thought, and you wanted to stop causing him pain without end.”

“Perhaps that’s a part of it. I do have a soft spot for him after all.”

“But you still listened to me? You took my advice to break him in order to save his relationship with Jisoo.” Keiko pressed in a somewhat accusing tone. 

At that statement Grace smiled widely. “It’s true that I have a soft spot for Eren. I still consider him to be a very dear friend. And Maeve as well has earned my genuine affection, as you once did.” She proclaimed. “However, the final decision on what to do was ultimately my own, not your doing. I knew that breaking Eren would be extremely difficult, naturally created specks are remarkably resilient. But even so, I’ve completed my objective thanks to you.”

“Have you? He’s not broken yet.” Keiko replied, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“...I believe that the past few months have demonstrated to Eren how much he needs Jisoo to be in his life. In order for him to survive, he needs her protection and love. When she returns, he will do whatever it takes to reunite them. They’ll be together again, and Eren will watch his words in the future. She’ll never have to take the actions I had to in order to keep him alive. But I digress, there’s no point in chatting about that anymore. I’m much more interested in you.” 

Keiko fell a few inches until she landed in a half-full shot glass, which to her was around the size of a jacuzzi. The whiskey clung to her hair, and a bit more went up her nose which caused her to cough. 

Grace poured a bit more on top of her just as she had recovered, then shook the glass around vigorously. “You never answered my question. Who do you work for, and why did they send you?” She asked directly. “Just tell me and I’ll let you go.”

“What makes you think my mistress won’t just kill me the very second you do?” Keiko replied after recovering from having her skull smash against the side of the glass.

“Do you think I won’t kill you?” Grace replied with an arched brow. 

Of course you will. But if you find out I’m one of Satsuki’s underlings then there is no way I’ll survive. Keiko thought as she weighed her options. She didn’t want to die like this, she was meant for greater things. The information I have is the only things keeping me alive. Once I tell Grace, I’m screwed. But if I don’t… We’ll I have seen what she’s capable of.

The titaness seemed to read her thoughts and carefully took hold of the glass. She raised it up to her plush lips with Keiko still inside. “Consider this… You are afraid of your mistress’s retribution if she finds out you squealed, right? What if she thought I killed you?” Grace suggested and tipped the glass slightly to slide Keiko towards her mouth as she spoke. Her teeth barred the entrance like pearly white gates which opened wide to accept the tiny woman inside. 

Keiko gasped as she was tossed into the moist, warm cavern which reeked of whiskey and whatever else was left of Grace’s last meal along with mouthwash. It was pungent environment and everything she touched inside her mouth was soft and wet. At first, she thought her body would be launched into the back of Grace’s throat, where she would helplessly slide down her esophagus and into her stomach where she could sizzle away into sludge.

Fortunately, the giantess seemed to have other plans, and stopped Keiko’s descent with her tongue which dexterously wrapped around her midsection and held her against the tough roof of her mouth while she swallowed the whiskey. Hundreds of gallons worth vanished immediately, and Keiko heard an intimidating ‘gulp’ as enough liquid to drown ten specks was effortlessly pulled down her throat.

She felt the tongue which enveloped her undulate slightly and rearrange her so that she was lying flat against it, face down. Keiko thought she might slip off the side or further back towards Grace’s uvula, so she held on tightly. It was almost like trying to grapple against a huge, wet mattress covered in a thick film of saliva. 

“If you tell me what you know, I’ll let you live as my toy forever. You can be pampered and have all your needs taken care of.” Grace’s voice boomed thunderously all-around Keiko as she huddled against the tongue in a futile attempt to ward off her deafening words which rattled her bone as if she was standing before a hurricane. “That’s why you serve your mistress isn’t it? You wish to serve a goddess. All I ask is that you serve a different master… That’s not so bad, right?” The xian offered.

Grace gathered up a bit of spit within her cheeks, then puckered her lips in order to spit Keiko out into her hand. The speck looked dazed and was thoroughly waterlogged with her saliva. Keiko gasped and coughed up mouthfuls off her spit, her breaths haggard and raw. 

The dark-haired giantess pressed her finger, bigger and thicker than the trunk of an oak tree, into Keiko’s heaving stomach and pressed down gingerly. To her it was a gentle, almost sympathetic motion. However, to the tiny speck in her palm, it was like being struck by a battering ram. Immediately Keiko turned to the side and coughed up most of the spit and whiskey that had caught in her throat. 

That… isn’t such a bad offer. Keiko thought as Grace gazed down at her with a chilling smile across her beautiful face. She was truly a goddess, to wield so much power and be able to manipulate her body in such a way. The xian were simply in a league of their own. To be able to serve a woman such as this… To make amends for underestimating her would be a blessing. 

Grace puckered her lips and planted a delicate little kiss on Keiko’s body. “Tell me everything… I‘ll get what I want from you either way. You know I will, don’t you little one?” She whispered as her long tongue snaked across Keiko’s pelvis and teased her womanhood. The giantess smiled when she tasted a rather familiar flavor. “Isn’t that what you want? To be my little secret?” She asked. “Hmm… It would be a shame to harm you. You’re so beautiful, I want to cherish you.”

“R-Really?“ Keiko asked hopefully as Grace’s eyes glossed over lustfully as she continued her ministrations on her. At first, she tried to ward away Grace’s tongue, which had taken to licking incessantly against her breasts and between her legs in equal measure until she was moaning in pleasure. 

The giantess purred and used her fingers to pry open Keiko’s legs to give herself easier access. Her taste buds at this size were pleasant little feelers that ran over Keiko’s most sensitive areas, and it did not take long before Keiko was gasping and trying to gyrate her hips in rhythm to Grace’s playful tongue.

“You’ve always been my favorite… I don’t want to hurt you. So please don’t ruin what we have. Do you really want to die for a mistress who would kill you for failing an impossible task? Or do you want to serve a mistress you will ravish you and cater to your every need?” Grace asked as she now had Keiko screaming in pleasure in her palm with just the tip of her tongue. “Say it… Say you’re mine.”

“I-I belong to you!” Keiko exclaimed as she writhed in pure ecstasy by the whim of a merciful god.

The tongue became more intense. Almost hungry in its motions to drive Keiko wild with its efforts. She was close. Very close. 

As she tasted more of Keiko’s pre-cum glazing her lips and tongue, Grace asked another question while slowing slightly to draw out the pleasure. “Who is it? Who do you serve? Who are you really?” She asked. When there was no response, she withdrew her tongue entirely. “Tell me, and I’ll finish you off.”

Desperate to reach climax, Keiko replied without even thinking. She just wanted to experience this now, the greatest pleasure she had ever felt. “N-Nishidate Satsuki! My m-mistress is Nishidate Satsuki!” She screamed. “My name is Takano Keiko!”

“Hmm… that’s very good to hear.” Grace replied with a smile; however, her tongue did not return to do as she promised and bring Keiko to orgasm. Instead, Keiko felt the uncomfortable pressure of a colossal pair of fingers squeeze tightly around her entire body until just her head was exposed from Grace’s fist. 

She opened her eyes to see that the glint in Grace’s moonlike eyes had not dissipated, however they were no longer glossed over as a lover. Now they were far darker. Sinister. Keiko heard the clink of metal as Grace picked up something from the table. “You’ve been very helpful.” She remarked and brought the bottle opener up closer towards Keiko. “Thank you.”

“W-What are you doing?!” Keiko shrieked as the narrow opening of the bottle opener loomed overhead. The metal was shaped around a hole shaped vaguely like a square. It was a little big for her, but her skull fit inside nicely. 

The giantess giggled. “I’m just doing as I promised! Finishing you off.” She cooed as she pressed the cold metal against Keiko’s throat, which earned quite a bit of thrashing from the speck. “I’ll be sure to send your regards to Satsuki… Keiko.”

“P-Please don’t I’ll do any-!!” Keiko began, but never had the chance to finish her sentence. 

Grace popped the bottle opener upwards and allowed the tremendous leverage the opener could exert over a small surface area to push directly against the speck’s chin. The top part of the metal device slammed into Keiko’s spine while the lower portion dragged her jaw upwards well past the point her neck could crank. 

Instantly her head was ripped clean from her shoulders, along with a decent chunk of viscera which Grace imagined had supported her spinal cord. Otherwise, it was a mostly clean beheading and the speck’s now headless corpse spasmed in response to the sudden movement. Keiko had died almost immediately; these were post-mortem nervous reactions.

Blood oozed from the cavity all over Grace’s fingers, which made her pout as her hands were dirtied. She stood up and strolled across the kitchen to toss the worthless remains into the rubbish bin, then washed her hands thoroughly with soap and water. “So messy…”

I can’t believe I fell for it. Satsuki’s plan this entire time… It all makes sense now. Grace thought as she cleaned her hands and considered the implications of what this all could mean. First, she schemed to separate Eren and Jisoo by telling Eren what she had done in the past while they were in Norwich, she wanted them to break-up which caused her to go into another self-imposed exile and damage her reputation even further with the Amrita Corporation. Then when she didn’t kill him, she saw an opportunity and used Keiko to have me destroy my relationship with Eren, and by doing so, destroy my relationship with Jisoo. 

She’s been trying to isolate Jisoo. First, she tried to take away her love which she did, and then she manipulated me into doing something drastic which would ruin me in Jisoo’s eyes. Me and Eren are the two people she’s closest to.

Beyond that, Grace knew that Satsuki’s actions had directly attributed to Jisoo’s tarnished reputation within their family. Lihua saw her as a surrogate daughter, but since her second departure months previously, the matriarch had mostly given up on Jisoo and saw her as untrustworthy. A rogue variable. 

That same sentiment was echoed by many, as the weeks passed by and no news about her whereabouts came to light. Many thought that she had sided with her mother and biological sister.

When she returns to us, if she ever does, then she’ll be greeted by a family who believes her to be a traitor, an ex-boyfriend who thinks she’s a monster, and me who hurt the person she loves most in the world. She’ll be completely alone… 

Grace dried off her hands and exhaled deeply. She had been so focused on making sure that Eren wouldn’t be killed for his sacrilege and trying to force him to understand his place in the world, that she had not thought of the ramifications of failure. Grace had been prepared for Jisoo to hate her for a while, but she imagined that at some point in the future she would understand why she did it. Not only to save Eren’s life, but to fix the man she loved and demonstrate that ultimately his thoughts on the matter were completely irrelevant. 

His true purpose was to satiate. In the grand scheme of things, that was all a person like Eren was. The same was true for Maeve. And all other humans. To save them from their own imperfect nature it was a necessity that they learn their place in the world to prevent them from suffering. Alas in her effort to teach him, Grace realized she had overestimated her own abilities. 

In a way this was a worse outcome than if she had successfully broken Eren’s mind. At least if she had managed that, then when Jisoo returned she would have been greeted by his loving gaze. She would have had somebody who cherished her, and that person would have understood his role in the universe. 

I’ve fucked up… I played right into Satsuki’s hand. I still don’t know what she really wanted to get out of this, to go to such great lengths in order to hurt Jisoo. I doubt it was just because of their past grudge. Something else is going on, I can feel it. Grace considered and returned to the table. There was not much of the whiskey left, but the beers were still there that they could have used as chasers. She began to drink one and contemplated her next actions. If only I could reset this… Make it so that Eren never remembered what I did so I could just focus on Satsuki…

A thought occurred to Grace as she was in the middle of guzzling down her beer. She brought it away from her lips and considered her idea, bold as it was but very much a plausible solution to all of this. 

She could undo the damage done that Satsuki had inflicted, if Eren forgot what had happened here but she had still achieved her original goal of making him subservient. 

…I never wanted to do this to him, but in a situation as dire as this I’m willing to make an exception. It’s the only way out of this. Grace thought. It was a horribly unethical solution in her eyes, but it would fix every problem she had.

Her phone was still on the table next to her. Grace picked it up and dialed a number. The person she was trying to reach had been extremely busy for several months now, traveling all across China without a single day off. Hopefully she could spare a weekend to help out an old friend who understood her better than most. 

The phone rang for a while. Grace held her breath nervously, not sure whether or not her secretary would pick up. Just as it was about to go to voicemail, there was a click followed by the voice of a young woman. “Good evening Miss Grace, I am terribly sorry, but Lady Nang Yai is quite busy at the moment.” The interpreter said apologetically. “If you would like to leave her a message, I would be happy to~”

“It’s very urgent.”

“I understand that it most likely is, but she is currently preoccupied with a task from Aunt Min-”

“I would like to call in the favor that she owes me. From our time in London together.” Grace cut in, speaking in Thai. Immediately the interpreter went quiet, but Grace could tell she was still listening. “It won’t take long. I only need her skills for a day or two, and then she can return to work.” She said reassuringly.

There was a very long pause. Grace crossed her fingers and prayed that the interpreter would not simply hang up the phone, but mercifully there was an exasperated sigh of defeat on the other side. “Where shall we meet?” She asked.

“My residence in Beijing as soon as possible. Please be discreet.”