The Ascart Ways (Patreon)

In the patio of the Ascart home, there was silence. Not even the birds chirped. The world knew it was time to stop and give time for its denizens to comprehend what had just been said.

"O-Oh."

Oh indeed.

Nicol Ascart, eyes closed and a small, dazzling smile on his face, pushed the report a little bit more towards the blond menace that had, more than once, given him a black eye as he aspired to not fall behind the others in the race for Katarina's heart, metaphorically speaking. Oh, it was so satisfying to finally have one on her. She was a fellow expert in matters administrative, and in fact, he had heard laments about how her expertise would be purely and forever only at the service of Katarina Claes, knowing just how true it was.

And yet, here she was, astonished, nay, absolutely flabbergasted, at the report he put in front of her.

"I have no words," she said.

"Fifteen percent. Each. Take it or leave it," Sophia said. They'd agreed she'd do the talking. Nicol would be an awkward mess and he knew that he couldn't really say no to Katarina and Katarina would absolutely insist.

"N-No, I can't, I just-" 

She was very cute when she blushed.

"We're taking it," the demonic force in the shape of a maid spoke for her mistress.

"What, Tanyaaaa, you can't just accept this for me! What about my autonomy, my agency, my-"

"There's a hole in our budget, and I'm about to fill it with sales!" Tanya threatened. "We don't have infinite money and SOMEONE keeps telling me to put even more into charity projects even though we're capped out on the tax returns that the kingdom can offer us," she said, poking Katarina's chest with a finger. "This, if the report is accurate and the projections come even remotely close to fruition, will pay for three years of the foundation's uninterrupted work. Three years, my lady!"

"Oh, oh my, re-really?" Katarina asked, blinking.

Neither of the Ascart siblings had the slightest clue what the maid, still dressed in her work outfit, an alteration to her maid outfit to change the bow for a tie, and removing much of the decorative bits out of her Head Maid outfit. 

The Ascart siblings looked at each other. That was it. They knew how to hook the maid. She was always looking for more money, because Katarina was always spending tons of it. Sure, it lead to her having the most prosperous fief in all of Sorcier, even more than the Claes fief that was now being managed by her younger brother Keith, but it had to be paid for with hard work.

"Okay then!" Katarina said, a lot more enthusiastically, grinning shakily, "I'll do it then! I'll agree to posing for the paintings!"

Sophia's smile was much more pronounced and her cheeks colored pink. "Excellent!" she said, "we have the room prepared already!"

"W-Wha, don't we need to call for the painter first or something?" Katarina asked. "And, and- my heart isn't ready yet!"

"No need for that, I'll do it myself!" Sophia said, raising her arm and patting her bicep. "I might not look it but I've been practicing for the past few years!" she said. "I kept dreaming of this day ever since I first picked up a pencil!"

"Pencil?" Tanya asked. "Not a brush?"

"Strangely I just feel much better doing pencil lines first and then carefully inking them later," Sophia said, scratching the back of her neck. "I guess since it's new and unusual, that's part of the reason why I've seen so much success with the books we've been releasing! Isn't that right, Nicol?"

Well, there was that, and the fact that the Magical R&D department was rolling out the new machine that made copying the drawings much easier. With the Ascart family's resources, it hadn't been too hard to obtain one, and Sophia's novel style had become quite popular.

"Yes," he said, with a serious expression on his face. "I'm glad we can work together on these projects, as well. It gives me peace of mind that you're the one illustrating my works."

"Aww, you," Sophia giggled, "alright now, let's go to the drawing room, which is now actually a room to draw in!" she said, her eyes almost blazing with fire. The once sickly, timid and shy girl was a much different person, the image of her from her academy days was long gone... even if she was still quite the shortie, and she was still by far the smallest of Katarina's harem in more ways than just height, she now had a much more robust presence to her, and she no longer had to fear the world or hide behind Katarina or her brother.

Especially if the rumors of her chucking a corrupt nobleman through a window were to be believed.

She raised her hand and, like a general going to war, waved it forward. "Onward, for honor!" she shouted, starting to walk. Thankfully she still had short legs so her stride wasn't too hard to catch up to, which gave Nicol enough time ot roll up the confidential report and stick it in his pocket before he began to move alongside Katarina and Tanya, the former of which was just happy to see Sophia so animated, and the latter of which had golden coins shining in her eyes.

The Prime Minister's abode wasn't particularly immense so it didn't take long for them to arrive at the drawing room. Old habits did die hard, however, and so Tanya stepped forward and opened the door, bowing to the others as they came through, though as Katarina and Sophia went in, Nicol stopped outside and offered one of his devilishly handsome smiles to the maid.

A little bit of embarrassment coursed through Tanya. He really was almost inhumanly pretty when he smiled, but what was bothering her was that she had accidentally backstepped into the role of a maid when she was here in the role of a businesswoman and more importantly, as the Chief Administrator and Officer in Charge of all of Katarina's businesses. She should carry herself with weight and dignity, an equal to the nobility in all but name, rather than a servant.

He gestured for her to enter, and without a word, she did, following after her lady and the lady of the house, who was pointing at an already prepared couch with lots of pillows and already set up lighting fixtures, both magical and old fashioned, set up in such a way that everything was perfectly illuminated and shadows would cover only the wall and shelves behind the couch and the easel upon which a drawing board was already set.

Neither Tanya nor Katarina had ever seen a photoshoot in person during their life in Japan, and Tanya was only slightly more familiar with them because of her time as a different kingdom's poster girl... Things worked out, she would be assisting here, but certainly wouldn't need to worry about wearing an uncomfortable dress and putting on excessive makeup.

Especially since, as this was a drawing and not a picture, there'd be no need for makeup of that sort, Sophia would take care of any blemishes or imperfections while painting them.

"Alright, you guys can start taking your clothes off now," Sophia said, diving behind the drawing board, a devious smirk on her face as she adjusted the stool she was seated on, and moved the board so she could more easily look between it and the couch and its occupants.

"Uh- shouldn't we do the portraits and stuff first?" Katarina asked, blinking in confusion.

"Yes, that seems more logical," Tanya agreed.

"I can do those from memory later, especially with a reference! But I only have you guys here for limited time, and what I need you guys for is all the lewd scenes!" she said.

"B-But, but we're doing those today?" Katarina asked, turning to Nicol. "I, err-"

"Am I... making you uncomfortable? Is it because I'm here..?" Nicol asked, making big, puppy-dog like eyes at her, taking her hand with both of his and raising it, looking deep into her eyes.

"Nngnh-!!" Katarina pulled her hand back and slapped her cheeks, shaking thoroughly, trembling in place, slapping herself again. "Nnoooooo!" she cried. "But I'm afraid that if you see it, if I- if I look at it, from this way, and that way, and then there's this and there's that," she cried out, slapping her cheeks again, twice even, "I won't be able to forget it and, and I'll do something crazy!"

"Aww, come on, it's nothing new to you guys!" Sophia said. "Besides, you've had your nights with my brother, he's seen it all before, right?" she asked.

"But still! This is different! That's that and this is this and everything is different!" Katarina insisted. 

"If you get her naked right now I'll give you an extra 5%," Sophia said to Tanya.

Katarina looked towards Tanya, but by the time she did, it was too late.

Tanya moved like the wind, and much like when an unexpectedly cold breeze during an otherwise warm day, Katarina felt something change in the air and the temperature drop significantly, before it suddenly rose again, as she felt the embarrassment set in. Her maid, ever the talented money-motivated ninja, didn't waste a moment to nudify Katarina. Having dressed and undressed her so many times that only a fool would keep count, the maid was able to manhandle even an unruly and fussy lady with ease, soon depriving her of her dress.

Katarina was spun around like a tornado and before she knew what was going on, she was wearing only the fancy panty and bra set from a designer she herself had insisted on sponsoring. A blue, gold and white set with Katarina herself as the theme, mixing the sexy and eyecatching designs in lace with a modest style and cut, resulting in a wonderful combination of adult charm and youthful innocence in a single design.

Both Sophia and Nicol clapped with bright smiles at the display of expertise and agility. 

To cap it off, Tanya then pushed Katarina back, and she landed on the couch, and as she did, her legs raised as they came into contact with the edge of the seat, giving Tanya the single solitary moment she needed to dive like a raptor, grabbing onto the lacy waistband of Katarina's panties and pulling them off with a single, smooth and fluid movement, stuffing them in her maid dress pocket.

"W-Wonderful!" Sophia said.

"Ah, miss Ascart, your nose is bleeding," Tanya pointed out, digging into her apron from the other side and taking out a handkerchief, which Sophia graciously took and wiped the blood from her nose.

"Very well. Then let me begin with the first scene," Nicol said, gesturing with his hand. "First... put both legs up... Your left should be stretched, yes just like that..."

Under his instructions, as he spoke slowly, softly but with purpose and a firm tone, Katarina began to move, raising both legs and resting one of her ankles on the cushion, her face red as a tomato as she continued with the work, thinking solely of how much good they could do if things turned out well and the book sold as well as they thought it would...

"And now, while keeping one hand to cover your crotch," Nicol spoke, gesturing with his own hand and crotch to give an example, "and the other across your chest, yes, exactly like that!" he praised, "raise your other leg up and rest your heel on the top of the backrest."

Katarina did as he said. "Uhm, I, I don't know if I'm too comfortable with this?" she asked. "It feels a little weird." she said, "oh but the cushions are amazing, you really need to tell me where you buy these!" she said, as she sank a litlte more on the cushions behind her and below her.

"If this goes well I'll buy you a bed's worth of them," Sophia gushed. 

"Now, Miss Tanya, it's your turn," Nicol said.

"Me?" Tanya asked.

"Yes," Nicol said. "This is the scene where the naughty lady is caught by her maid," Nicol said.

At that, Tanya hummed. "My lady didn't even have an active libido most of her life," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh we know," Sophia responded. "Trust me, I know," she added.

"Very painfully so," Nicol agreed, then coughed into a balled up fist. "Please hold this," Nicol said, passing Tanya a riding crop, "and position yourself holding it, as if displaying it for her to see-"

Tanya did as asked, going to the side of the couch where Katarina's legs were open, standing behind it, raising the crop and pulling its rounded tip back, bending it slightly as if to demonstrate it.

"Yes! Just like that, now could you please adopt a stern and threatening- perfect!"

For Tanya, a stern and threatening face came naturally. Ninety percent of her time was spent directing such a face towards her lady, whether it be due to her boundless, wondrous and infinite levels of naivete, or because she had just done something both stupid and dangerous to herself, like allowing herself to be kidnapped.

Sophia's pencil flew across the page as she did a ridiculously fast and efficient sketch, and they held the position for a good few minutes as the young girl drew a very barebones sketch that had very little in the way of detail- or so they thought. After what felt like an eternity of trying not to look at her lady's crotch, after trying to ignore the fact that said lady was very definitely getting excited from being exposed in front of people she liked, and trying to pretend that she didn't notice the tent in Nicol Ascart's pants, or the fact that Sophia Ascart was giggling like a lunatic as she drew...

It was Tanya who broke first, her fingers slipped and she let go of the crop, breaking the bubble so to speak.

Katarina shivered. "Are we done yet?" she asked.

"Oh? Uh, yeah, you guys can rest now, the basic sketch is done," Sophia said. "Let's move on to the next one!"

Nicol nodded. "Y-Yeah... next is-"

"How about we do the scene where the lady's fiancé walks in on the maid punishing her for her perversion?" Sophia asked with a giggle.

"I- err-" Nicol blinked. "I guess we can, if you're really excited?"

"Y-Yeah, I can work with just some sketches and then do the rest," Sophia said, "from my imagination!" 

"I'm not so sure about this anymore," Katarina whimpered.

"Think of the money, my lady, think of how many jobs you will create with this, think of how many people will eat because of this," Tanya encouraged her, "think about my retirement fund, my lady, please think about taking care of me when I'm too old and infirm to work!"

"W-Wah," Katarina nearly fell off the couch, and Tanya caught her, moving rapidly. 

"Right, now turn her around, and raise her butt in the air, yes! Exactly like that, that's just how I envisioned it!" Nicol praised.

Tanya had done exactly as he said and intended, putting her lady's butt high in the air.

"This is so embarrassing!!" Katarina whimpered.

"Can you hit her with the crop a couple of times? Just leaving a few marks on her butt would work! It's for realism!" Sophia said.

"Eh? You don't really need to, you can add them later, right?" Nicol asked, a little taken aback.

"Well, yes, but if I can see them now, then I can see what they'd look like on her, how the red welts would have to be drawn and lit so as to show off better on her pale skin... lady Katarina's soft, supple skin, turned red and rough from repeated hits..."

"I, uh, I guess?" Nicol replied, wincing a little, bending over slightly.

"Oh! And you too, go over there!" Sophia said, "I only have so much room, you need to be closer!" she said, pointing at her brother and gesturing with her pencil for him to move closer to the maid and lady, "I'll use some art tricks for the perspective!"

Nicol's calm and placid expression was broken as his cheeks turned red, and despite himself, he approached Katarina, his erection visible. He struck a pose as if he was taken aback.

The drawing time for that was lightning fast, and it was followed by more and more racy scenes.

"Why am I the only one nakeeed!?" Katarina cried out, as more and more images of her were drawn, at some point, her bra was also taken off, leaving her as naked as the day she was born, and increasingly redder as she was struck a couple times with the riding crop.

"Well I don't exactly want to see my brother naked you know!" Sophia said. "I'm willing to draw some stuff I'm not used to but I'm drawing the line at that!"

"Why is that your line in the sand!?" Katarina whined as she was held by the backs of her knees over Nicol's lap, while Tanya got between both of their legs, participating eagerly for a further 2%...

Sophia giggled.

"Because it's funnier this way," she said, "now make an ahegao face for me!"

"Why's that word sound familiar, and what does it meaaan!?" 

Sophia sent a thumbs up at her. "I have absolutely no clue, now just do it!"

And she did, especially as her embarrasment, and pleasure, continued to mount as she got touched, rubbing against Nicol's still covered penis, and all the stimulation from being seen and touched all over...

It would be a very erotic, and very frustrating, couple of hours there, and by the end... well...

Sophia locked her brother's bedroom and pocketed the key. "Thank you for all your services," she said, bowing to Tanya. "Your payment will be in the mail. It's a pleasure doing business with you," she spoke, offering her hand.

Tanya took her hand and shook it firmly. "Likewise," she said. Then she paused. "Will they be okay?"

"Oh, yeah, they're both shy and timid and always awkward when it comes to sex, it takes forever to get them to engage but once they do, they know what to do!" she said. "Go get her, bro!" she cheered, pumping her fist at the locked door.

There was a moment's pause, and then the white haired lady Ascart cleared her throat.

"Sooo, uhm... wanna get some snacks and read some romance novels with me?"

"I'll make you some snacks and tea, how about we discuss royalties instead?"

"You are a very shrewd woman," Sophia said, nodding. "Alright, I'd much rather do it over tea and biscuits anyway!"

And they did, and it was good, and tons of money were made.

Meanwhile, in Nicol's room...

Katarina put a hand over Nicol's mouth as she rode him with an almost crazed smile. "You kept teasing me all day! I won't let you use that devilishly charming smile of yours now! I'm on top today!" she called out, cackling so loud it could be heard across the entire manor, followed shortly by the creaks and groans of not just the bed, but the entire room, as Katarina released the accumulated sexual tension.

Nicol let out a response that might've been a garbled and muffled "yes mistress", and then surrendered himself to his beloved sorta-wife's might.

He knew which battles to fight, and this was not one of those, no, this was a time to just lie back and enjoy himself.

Sophia and Tanya bumped their fists. Turns out you really can mix business and pleasure, if you do it right.