I was being gently rocked.

“Wake up! Wake up!” a sweet voice whispered in my ear.

I groaned, rolling onto my side and burrowing deeper under the blanket.

“Mmhh... just five more minutes,” I begged.

“Wake up! We need to go!” the voice insisted.

“I’ll skip the first hour, Lola. Just let me sleep,” I mumbled, still half-asleep.

Silence. Then—

“Who's Lola?” The voice now carried a note of confusion.

That jolted me awake. I sat up, blinking at my surroundings. No, this wasn’t my room. I was in a luxurious, sprawling bed, buried under an abundance of soft pillows. A svelte blonde elf girl, dressed in satin pajamas, stood barefoot beside the bed, watching me with a puzzled expression.

I yawned and stretched, offering Julietta a sheepish smile.

“Uh… Lola was my schoolmate. She used to wake me up for school,” I explained.

Ju raised a brow. “Are you missing her?”

I snorted. “Hardly. She was a backstabbing bitch who double-crossed me.” I shrugged. “Forget her.”

“Then why did you say her name?” Ju asked, smirking—just before smacking me with a pillow.

It hit my left horn and burst open, sending a flurry of fluffy feathers into the air.

The surprise made me lurch backward. She giggled, clearly proud of her handiwork.

The attack had been unexpected and required immediate retaliation. I grabbed a pillow of my own and swung at her, but she dodged easily. Instead, I got clobbered again, feathers exploding in all directions.

“And why do you think I’m Lola?” she teased, jumping onto the bed and grabbing a fresh pillow.

“Hey!”

After a furious pillow fight—one that I lost with flying colors—I lay sprawled in bed, dazed and buried in a sea of feathers.

“Go take a shower. We need to leave for Fiona’s party!” Ju declared, victorious.

“But that’s tomorrow,” I protested.

I could fly fast. There was no need to leave an entire day early.

“No, it’s today.”

“What?” I sat up, utterly confused.

“You slept through all of yesterday,” she informed me, crossing her arms.

“That’s impossible! There’s no way I stayed in bed that long!”

“Well, except for a couple of hours in the night.” Her voice remained playful, but there was a slight tension beneath it. “Where were you?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, genuinely bewildered.

“You lie!” she accused—and smacked me with another pillow.

“No! I swear, I have no idea!” I yelped, dodging and making a break for the bathroom.

I stepped into the shower, still wondering if Ju was trying to prank me. But no—even the maids who came to wash my hair confirmed that an entire day had passed.

It felt strange to have someone else wash me, but not unpleasant. I let the girls work with practiced efficiency, scrubbing my back, feet, and armpits—going even further without hesitation—before wrapping me in warm towels. As they tended to my pedicure and manicure, drying my hair with a magic heater, I had to admit… I could get used to this.

Still, I couldn’t exactly ask them if they knew where I’d been last night. That would be awkward.

Could I be developing somnambulism? Or had I just been so exhausted that I got up to use the toilet and completely forgot about it?

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Either way, at least that heavy, bloated feeling in my stomach was gone. I’d half expected to wake up with indigestion—who knew I could eat that much, even as a dragon? Then again, it had probably been a nervous reaction.

The real question was: how had all that food translated into my human stomach? Maybe that’s why I’d slept for so long. Magic transformations were a fascinating and completely baffling set of spells.

When I arrived for breakfast, I found Julietta sitting with Alice, Hew, and Tina. The others, I learned, had already eaten.

“Morning! Hi! Where’s Michael?” I asked Tina as I slid into my seat at their table.

A maid appeared instantly, pouring me a cup of coffee without even asking. I grinned happily, wrapping my hands around the warm cup while another maid presented the breakfast selection. After a quick glance, I decided to keep it light.

“No ham and eggs?” Ju teased.

Tina answered my earlier question instead. “He’s been training with the orcs since early morning.”

I nodded approvingly. “Oh, great!” Then I turned back to Ju. “I’ve had enough protein with that horse meat to last me a few days.” I tried to keep my tone casual, hoping to move past the subject quickly.

“How much did you eat?” Tina asked, raising a brow.

“…Six,” I admitted, feeling a bit ashamed.

“Six portions?” she repeated, incredulous. “That’s… a lot.”

“Six horses,” Ju corrected—then smirked as Tina choked on her breakfast. “Plus… additional spices.” she added with a mischievous smile.

Hew, unfazed, cleared his throat. “May I ask you something?”

I was grateful to Hew for the change of subject—but I still eyed him with suspicion. Lately, every time he asked me something, it ended up meaning more work for me.

He took my silence as approval and continued.

“I heard there will be a lot of merchants at Fiona’s party. Could you check if any dwarves are selling harvesters? We might need some to bring in the full harvest.”

I considered it. “That’s a good idea. Are we short on labor?”

Alice nodded. “Ever since you allowed them to leave, there’s been a steady stream of peasants moving out. But we also need to expand the arable land if we want to increase our yields. This year’s and next year’s harvest will be the last ones before the long winter.”

I frowned. “Are our reserves that bad?”

Hew nodded grimly. “Taking into account all our reserves—including what the peasants have stored and estimating what they might be hiding—I’d say we have about thirty percent of the absolute minimum we’ll need.”

“What?” I gaped. “That low? Can we buy food from our neighbors?”

Alice shook her head. “Prices are skyrocketing. Everyone is stockpiling.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “And we were selling until recently! Why did Drackar allow that?”

Alice sighed as well, though hers was more patient. “The domain wasn’t under his administration.”

“Oh. Right,” I muttered, nodding.

“And the Xsoha’s priority was keeping a balanced budget,” she continued. “If they hadn’t, the domain would have collapsed.”

I rubbed my temples. “Still, the neighbors might be able to help us in an emergency, right?”

Alice shook her head again, this time more firmly. “Most likely not. It’s said that during the long winter, anywhere from thirty to sixty percent of the humanoid population dies. Sometimes more, sometimes less.”

I sighed. “Ugh. Talking to you is depressing.”

Ju rolled her eyes, but I ignored her and turned to Hew. “I’ll check for the machines, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough money to buy them. And who knows if they even work as advertised?”

“I’ll give you a list of confirmed workshops,” Hew said. “Try buying from one of them first. If that fails, go straight to a dwarf—they have a reputation for honesty, so it’s less risky. I can spare an extra forty gold, but that’s all we have in the treasury right now. Be careful with it.”

I nodded. “And if it’s not enough?”

“It probably won’t be,” Hew admitted. “But you can make a first payment. Just don’t promise the second one too soon—give me at least a couple of months to gather the funds, okay?”

“Got it.”

I turned to Ju. “I’m done. Shall we leave?”

Just as I pushed back my chair, Tina grabbed my right hand, the one resting on the table.

“Lores?” Her voice was urgent, and as I turned to look at her, she blurted out in a single breath, “Could you buy me a new staff, please? Mine’s too low-level, and with a better one, I could do double damage! You know, for my birthday? It’s next quarter, and I’ll be fourteen! And I’ve reached level ten!”

She barely stopped to breathe before quickly adding, “Erm… and maybe a new sword for Michael?”

My eyes widened, but I managed to keep my surprise in check.

“Okay,” I said evasively. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I chuckled — I wouldn’t disappoint her. She had changed so much for the better lately, and that deserved some encouragement.

Across the table, I caught Alice smiling.