Overpowered

Mary was on the-

"Wow even in my head that pun was terrible," Mary said to herself, frowning as she moved through the vast expanse of Katarina's personal estate. The Claes properties were numerous and quite large, and it wasn't surprising that the family had given Katarina one of those properties as a gift, a simultaneous reward for succesfully keeping her job for a fully ear, and also a birthday gift. 

More than a hunt, she was on a delivery. A basket was swung over her left elbow, filled with important goodies.

The household staff was mostly newly hired, but almost all of them were either family or acquaintances of the staff of the Claes family. Unsurprising, good and trustworthy people were worth their weight in gold.

One doesn't marry into the royal family without knowing the worth of good, disciplined and most important of all, tight lipped servants. 

Even better, it seemed like the staff was on the ball and supporting her as well, they had guided her directly to the object of her affections and even told her about how to approach the training grounds without being detected. As large as the estate was, she really needed the directions. 

It really wasn't suited at all for permanent habitation, and it seemed like its current owner was intent on keeping it that way. Though there was a mansion, it was currently almost entirely inhabited by the people who worked the lands and their families.

The Claes family had never found an use for the needlessly large property, and when Katarina and her maid took it over, they clearly had no use for it either, because the mansion was converted into housing, and many of its gaudy and lavish features were removed, sold or gifted away. Mary's own family had been gifted a fountain that had once been in the hedge maze!

Speaking about it, after making her way through an inexplicably large hedge maze and using the provided shortcut to skip the second half of it, she made it through to the relatively small building that Katarina was in, themed after the architecture of the far east. It looked quaint and quite picturesque, with a strange garden made around a pond. It even had cute orange and white striped fish that she liked to feed occasionally.

This building was a training hall.

And because it was a training hall for Katarina, it was built to be sturdy. All the latest techniques, magical or otherwise, as well as the most advanced materials went into its construction. Wood harder than steel. Glass that could withstand explosions. Magical reinforcements everywhere. 

And yet... A crack on that pane of glass over there, warped and dented planks over yonder, scuff marks, burns...

The most dangerous people in the country trained in this place, and it showed.

Mary hummed. Her own fiancé was a frequent user of this dojo, though Alan was hardly the strongest person here. His brother, Geordo, also visited rather often. As did Nicol, the future Prime Minister.

But all three of them together couldn't put a scratch on this place's protections.

No, really, the most dangerous person here was its owner.

Mary approached, and stealthily crept up and into the training hall, making sure to stick to the sturdier and stronger walls as she passed the foyer and the storage room, and finally reached the once infamous monkey girl and her teacher...

Just about in time to watch said monkey girl's fist hit the wall just behind her maid, as the maid herself dodged out of the way in a slick, fluid motion that made Mary's spine hurt just looking at it. Even though she was reaping the benefits of fitness training, she still couldn't even imagine taking part in this sort of rough, violent training...

Then again... Mary looked at the two women, their faces shiny and slick with sweat, as they moved around each other. The two of them had squeezed into ridiculously tight looking clothes, clearly using and abusing elastic fabric. White shirts, and those workout pants that Katarina seemed so fond of in bright red. The difference between them was stark now. Katarina was, strictly speaking, a rather average woman, but in that averageness she struck a perfect balance of every feature that was attractive on a woman.

Over time... Mary had started to think that Katarina was secretly a dirty girl.

Her workout pants were very very tight, and they showed off damn near everything. She worked out in private, and those pants were a good explanation why, nobody would be able to concentrate if they were looking at Katarina's perfect ass stretching the red fabric so thin that her underwear was visible below it...

Mary found her breath coming in short pants.

The incarnated demonic force that was Tanya was no slouch either. Though she was the second smallest among Katarina's female entourage, her breasts were still being nicely framed by the tight white shirt, and her tightly trimmed body was a treat in itself.

Even worse, the two of them were wrestling each other, their fists missing only by inches, getting ever sweatier, dampening their clothes, grabbing onto each other, rubbing against each other, their chests, their legs, their arms, their faces, coming close to each other time and again...

Katarina's monstrous strength asserting itself, again and again and-

Mary resisted the urge to whistle. Katarina had always been physically strong, a decade of hard work and nearly as much time of physical training had wound up giving Katarina dividends, but to see her true strength on display was a rare treat. Almost nobody could push Katarina to the point where she actually needed to actually apply herself in a fight, after all - mostly because it was really, really hard to get Katarina to ever fight anyone in the first place.

The hardened ironwood planks shattered into splinters under Katarina's fist.

"That's enough!"

And then a stop was called. 

Mary smirked. This was what she was prepared for! She came bearing a towel and refreshments! 

"My lady, it's imperative that you learn to restrain yourself properly, your strength continues growing, but your control does not grow alongside it," the maid said, her hands going to her front for a moment before she realized she wasn't wearing her dress, much less her apron, and so she let them rest on her hips, balled into fists, striking a commanding pose instead. "If you lost control and showed this power to your friends, surely you'd get a new nickname."

Katarina let out an almost pained laugh with no humor behind it. "Sorry, I just got really into it," she admitted. "Especially since you said I'd lose to Geordo still, I need to be strong enough just in case you know!"

Mary stepped into the hall, ignoring the cracks. She could probably stomp down on them and they wouldn't give at all, even broken they were still super strong. "Greetings, Lady Katarina, Miss Tanya!" she said, raising her basket and showing it off to the lady and the maid. "I come bearing gifts!"

"Aahh! Mary! Finally a friendly face!" Katarina cried. "I've been stuck with nobody but Tanya for three days! I haven't had a single sweet thing since we came here!"

"That's what it means to have a focused retreat," Tanya spoke, linking her hands behind her back. "Lady Hunt," she acknowledged with a nod. "Alright, you've worked hard, my lady, you have earned yourself a break," she said.

"YAAAAAY!" Katarina shouted. "Mary, my savior!" she said, going down on her knees before the voluptuous lady, "may the heavens smile upon you for your mercy and kindness!"

Mary giggled, opened her basket, and showed off its contents. A pair of fluffy, clean towels, three waterskins, many packets of tea leaves both dried and fresh, and of course... tightly and very carefully packed sweets bought from the best patisserie in the closest town. 

Katarina promptly took the basket from Mary and tore into it, passing one of the towels to Tanya, and then immediately running off with the basket.

"Where is she going?" Mary asked, blinking.

Tanya sighed. "My lady knows me too well. Undoubtedly, she knows I've prepared the gazebo already," she said. "We will find her out back, enjoying the treats."

"You- prepared for my arrival?" Mary asked, blinking. "You knew I was coming?"

"Ah, yes," Tanya spoke, nodding. "You would arrive early in the morning, Prince Geordo and Prince Alan have the same impeccable sense of timing so they will arrive at our tea break at four, Maria works until the last moment so her confections are as perfect as possible, so she will come at five fifteen because she will leave at the last possible moment, Sophia will arrive late in the evening so that she may use it as an excuse to stay the night," she explained, "and then Nicol will come to pick her up in the morning and he knows Katarina will ask him to stay for breakfast and a chat. Keith will then come to pick Katarina up to take her into town at lunchtime," she said, "with a suitable excuse for her to take a break undoubtedly."

"O-Oh... you have us pegged huh?" Mary asked, surprised and a little bit intimidated. 

"Managing my lady's love life is part of my work," Tanya said, bowing slightly. 

Mary let out a slightly nervous laugh. "I-" 

Then she stopped.

Right! It was an opportunity!

"I think we could-"

"With all due respect, Lady Hunt, there is nothing in this world that you could possibly bribe me with to betray my lady's confidence or trust," Tanya said, "which includes manipulating her to aid you in the pursuit of her heart," she added. "If you would-"

Mary grabbed her wrist.

There was one way that she could go ahead with that didn't necessarily mean she was forcing the maid to betray her mistress in any way. She understood this was an impossibility. It was one of the reasons she admired Tanya. There were many, really. Over time she had grown quite respectful of the maid. If Katarina was a perfect angel, an entity of nothing but endless kindness, sweetness and sugar (mostly sugar because of how much she ate), then the demon maid was probably what Mary strived to be.

A perfect partner and supporter, who was trusted deeply and completely, and who would never betray nor deceive.

Mary looked her in the eye. "I want you to teach me how to... pleasure Katarina."

"You- Lady Hunt, you might have a mistaken impression of my relationship with my lady," the maid spoke, looking her in the eye. "I- I do not perform those sorts of services," she said.

Mary pulled her determination together. "Nobody knows Lady Katarina like you do, nobody knows her as deeply as you do - if anybody would know what she likes, it'd be you," she said. "I'm, I'm not asking for any unfair advantage or anything," she said, "I just want you to... guide me, and tell me if I'm doing well," she said.

"I- Lady Hunt, you are an engaged woman, I- I can't-"

"My engagement is political fiction," Mary said, "and both of us love the same woman..." she said, closing her eyes, raising both hands to her chest. "So please - teach me what I need to know to please Katarina! I want to give her the greatest dating experience of her life! I'll prove that even if we are both women, we can love as deeply and have just as satisfying a date as a man and a woman!"

Tanya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Y-You want to go on a date, with my lady, yes?"

"Yes," Mary said. "I want you to help me give her the greatest experience she could possibly have," she said.

"Oh, thank goodness," Tanya sighed. "I thought- No, nevermind."

"What?" Mary asked, blinking. "What did you think I was asking about?"

"I- I cannot say, Lady Hunt, I would- my apologies, truly, sincerely-"

"It sounds like you thought I came here with lewd intentions," Mary said, staring accusingly at the maid.

"I- no, I could never-"

"Well you're right. I've read the Garden of Lilies series of novels over and over again- I'm going to put all that research into practice!"

"I-"

Tanya froze.

Katarina poked her head into the room. "Heeeey, are you guys coming? It feels selfish eating all these delicious sweets all alone!"

"Yes, as a matter of fact- I'll go make your tea," the flustered maid said, dashing off.

"Huh. What's gotten into her?" Katarina asked, looking at Mary.

"If I have my way it'll be me," Mary muttered.

"What was that?" Katarina asked, not quite having heard that.

"Nothing!" Mary said with a smile. "How's the sweets?"

"Ah! They're amazing, you should really come share them with me, it'll make them taste even better!" Katarina said.

"Oh I know what I want to taste alright," Mary muttered. 

"What?" Katarina asked again.

"Nothing!" Mary said with a big, bright smile. "Lady Katarina, could we practice kissing again? I feel like I'm getting the hang of it."

"Uhm, sure, I guess? Alan's going to be really surprised with all the practice we've been doing!" Katarina said with a smile. "You're getting really really good!"

Mary licked her lips.

Maybe some time ago she had thought that the maid was competition. These days, she just saw Tanya as a very pleasant bonus. A bitter drink went quite well with the soft, fluffy and sweet cake that was Katarina...

Her greatest competition thought that the way to Katarina's heart was through her stomach, but Mary knew better.

The way to Katarina's heart was through her other half, and Mary would have both halves wrapped around her fingers before they knew it!