The morning of the second day

The constant rain going outside made it easy to sleep, once you finally got settled in. It was restful and natural; a bit of comfort and normalcy to offset the strangeness of the first day's events.

Who was the true culprit? Why do this for your benefit? What did they have to gain out of setting this up for you and then making you fight against the odds to defend your innocence? And finally.. what would be the ultimate fates of everyone involved in this scheme?

All of these thoughts melted away during your slumber. You wanted to keep sleeping like that for as long as you could.

This was originally supposed to be a vacation, but unfortunately, it turned out that sleeping in wasn't on the agenda. You wearily dragged yourself upright in bed, the cover falling away from your bare upper chest, as you heard a knock on the door. The sound of raindrops were still pouring outside; the sky was so dark and cloudy that no light had acted as a natural wake-up signal for you.

It was probably past time to get up... but you waited a second to see if you could get away with going back to sleep. The previous day had been awfully stressful and you weren't ready to face everyone's renewed suspicions. It was most likely that they all knew Tallula had fallen victim and that you were the last one seen with her by the butlers, in the dining hall. You rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

The fact that the knocking came a second time with the exact same even pitch clued you in to the fact that it was most likely Eric Waterbury doing the knocking. It betrayed no sense of frivolity or fun, just an impatient desire to continue with one's duties and annoyance that you were impeding that pursuit.

You got yourself dressed as far as putting back on your undershirt and slacks, then opened the door a crack to look at him with bleary eyes.

Something was off. Your eyes were bleary, but they weren't that unreliable. Were you still dreaming?

Instead of the old butler you expected, the man who greeted you on the other side of the door was dressed from head to toe in some sort of whimsical Renaissance fair costume, making him look like the announcer of the royal court. He wore a red and blue, checkered pattern hat with a big white feather,drooping down over his snooty, upturned nose. Instead of a stately butler uniform, his outfit consisted of a white surcoat over red tights with garish, puffy blue sleeves and pants. He held a bugle in his hands threateningly, as if he'd been planning to blow that next if you didn't answer the knock.

"Ahem. Guests of the mansion are required to be in costume for the remainder of the setting. Our theme for today is 'the royal court,'" he announced, now crossing both arms behind his back, jutting out his chin, and sticking out his chest.

This didn't feel like part of the itinerary for the visit. You expected the game master was pulling another trick to keep things fresh, perhaps thinking it'd whet your appetite... not that you had much interest in outfits like Eric's. You sighed, letting him know you'd left your armor and prop sword at home.

"Not to worry. Your costume is ready. They're hanging onto he door handles, but since I am greeting you in person, I will hand you yours directly," he continued, passing in a very classy looking black, zip-up clothes bag like you might get at a high-end tailor's. "Please change and join the others for breakfast post haste. Once you have eaten, we will begin the tour of the mistress's artifact collection that you were promised."

It was hard to get interested about something like that when you'd already seen real magical artifacts at work in such an intimate context. If there was something more magical, the game master would be using it already. You sighed and thanked Eric dutifully, then shut the door to take a quick shower so you could get changed.

The outfit inside was patently ridiculous, but at least it seemed like you'd be in good company for the day. Apparently, today, you were tasked with being the king at court-- the first things you pulled out from the bag were a golden crown in a ring-shape with spiked peaks and a long, purple cape, adorned with white fur trim. Besides that, you were meant to wear a puffy, billowing white shirt, a black-and-gold striped vest, and black slacks. The shoes were black, shiny, buckled, and considerably annoying to put up, with white stockings just under the knees.

Amazingly, it even came with underwear: a gaudy, purple and gold, brief-style set that you wouldn't be caught dead in, not the least of which because it was a bit tight over your cheeks.

Though, it did make you curious what the girls were wearing, whether theirs were similarly gaudy and revealing... thinking about that gave you a sneak peak of how incredibly obvious such a tight pair of underpants made your bulge once you started getting erect.

As if to hide it as a suspicious mark against yourself as a potential culprit, you quickly threw on the pants, then the shirt. You were just finished buttoning that up when you received another knock on the door. This one sounded a little different from the earlier one, making you think it wasn't Eric. Instead, the one waiting for you in the hallway was one of the other guests.

Now decent enough now to be presentable, you opened the door in your shirt and slacks. On the other side, you found a woman waiting in the hallway.