"What the hell am I doing?" Ana wondered to herself.

Following a tall woman, Ana and the two girls were led to a room where they were requested to "please wait here; someone will come here to take charge of you," the tall woman announced before taking her leave, leaving the trio on their own in the room.

Imitating the two other girls, Ana went to take a seat, beads of sweat dripping from her face.

While earlier, Ana was outside the Rose Blanche, this time she was not behind the establishment's backyard wall but rather within the establishment itself. To make things worse, Ana was not within the establishment as some sort of customer but rather was mistaken for a girl wishing to work for the Rose Blanche Establishment.

How exactly did she arrive at this exaggerated point? Well, the answer lies within–

"I am so lucky; here, I thought I would be the only one to enroll in the establishment. To think there would be two others as well," the little girl sighed with relief, reaching for Ana's hands as if they were old friends.

–The answer obviously lay within this girl, who, a few minutes earlier, in the middle of the small confrontation between the suspicious girl and Ana, intervened, asking if the two of them were just like her, here to find a job in the Rose Blanche.

To the girl's question, the suspicious girl answered that yes, she was there for that.

Of course, this was not the case for Ana, but she was still asked if she was. While Ana was intent on clearing up the misunderstanding, before she could do so, the three of them were called out by the tall woman from earlier from the door leading to La Rose Blanche’s backyard.

The woman believed Ana to be a commoner and thought that she was here for the same purpose as the two other girls, whom she seemed to have gathered around, causing an even more complicated misunderstanding to take place, in which the three of them, altogether, were assumed to be girls wishing to work for the Rose Blanche, while in truth, Ana was here merely to investigate what happened with Mael three months prior.

Ana knew that this was a misunderstanding she could’ve easily dispelled, but being almost clutched by the other girl she bumped into and being the target of the still-vicious glare of the other girl, she chose to play along, only to then, at this point, really regret this decision.

"By the way, you two, my name is Edya. What's yours?"

At that question, both girls simultaneously sighed.

"Erm? Is there a problem?" Edya, oblivious, asked.

Under the girl’s oblivious pressure, Ana went on with, "Lyzie,... my name is Lyzie." giving a fake name, or to be exact, half of her true name.

"Lyzie? What a strange… I mean, it’s a beautiful name," the girl immediately rectified, before asking the second girl, with the same oblivious pressure, "And you?"

The girl let a "tsk" be heard by both girls, but, unlike Ana, who noticed the girl's obvious annoyance with Edya's clinginess and overly familiar demeanor, it simply went over the other girl’s head as simple wind.

"Sha… Ina… Ina, that’s my name." As she spoke these words, she stared at Ana.

For some reason, Ana was far from being convinced by her so-called name, yet the other girl, upon hearing it, rejoiced, "Ina,… What a beautiful name. I like it."

"Euh… Thanks, I guess…"

Much to Ana's utter disbelief, the girl reached for her hand, then Ina’s, pulling them close for a hug.

"Huh?"

"Wh—"

Despite having spent half her life with rather lax parents and a rather lax and forgiving upbringing, the girl's level of liberty when interacting with her made even Ana uncomfortable. For a moment, she thought maybe the girl’s interaction was normal between commoners, but a glance at the other girl's bothered expression revealed to Ana that this couldn’t be the case.

"Lyzie, Ina. I thought I would be the only one to join in. I’m glad to not be alone. I’m sure it won’t be easy, but we’re together in this, let’s be friends from now on."

As baffling and cheeky as the girl’s demeanor was, Ana understood from the relief she distinctively noticed in her voice that she was being genuine about all that she had said.

At that very moment, more prompted than she ever was, Ana thought about leaving this place before this situation got any more complicated than it already was. She was mistaken for a commoner, and not only that, but she was also mistaken for a commoner wishing to become a flower, a worker of the rose blanche.

"How could this get any worse?" Ana wondered, yet she had a vivid impression that it could. "How?" She didn’t know, but this situation was within reach of the possible.

Ana wanted to break free from Edya's embrace like Ina promptly did before, but before she could do so, she was released as a voice called out to them.

"Girls."

A tall, ash-haired woman strode into the room, followed by a black-wavy-haired young woman of undeniably stunning appearance. She appeared to be no older than the trio.

As the ash-haired woman approached, it was clear that she exuded an air of authority and strictness. Her features were sharp and defined, and her hair, tainted with a dull shade of gray, was pulled back tightly into a bun. Despite her advanced age, there was no softness to be found in her bearing or her appearance. Instead, she radiated a sense of no-nonsense determination, as if she had faced and overcome numerous challenges in her life. It was clear that this was a woman who commanded respect, and it seemed that she expected nothing less.

"My name is Emma Blanche, but the three of you may refer to me as Lady Orchid, and this girl beside me is…"

"Uta. You can call me Uta," the girl enticingly smiled.

On the other hand, the girl accompanying Lady Orchid, appearance-wise, stood diametrically opposed to her. Her skin was a warm caramel color, and her eyes were a soft ember color. She wore her wavy black hair down, cascading over her shoulders like a curtain of ink. She wore a modest dress, but her presence and the kind smile with which she addressed the trio commanded attention effortlessly. She wasn't tall, and she wasn't particularly short either; she was just at a height that attracted a desire to protect.

"—She is, or at least will be, a fellow flower of yours. But for now, and first and foremost, welcome to the Rose Blanche."

"Thanks Lady Orchid," both girls rhytmically replied; only Ana didn't, which prompted all eyes noticing her silence to turn onto her.

For a moment, there was an urge, a reasonable urge, to use this opportunity to clear up the situation, yet upon being asked, "Girl?" by the Lady Orchid.

"Thanks, Lady Orchid," was the only thing she found herself replying to.

Another decision I would later come to regret, Ana thought.

Ana knew, yet she couldn’t bring herself to settle things here and now, not here, in front of so many people.

"Since we are now done with the presentation, I believe it is time for us to talk about the reason for your presence here," the Lady Orchid said, her eyes traveling up and down across the three young women. "I believe the three of you came here with the intent of becoming a Rose Blanche flower, knowing all the detail which this line of work of ours entails."

At these words, which Ana didn’t even realize were a question, the two girls nodded, closely followed by a mimicking Ana.

"Good, but know that though you may have stomped the soil of this establishment, I and the Matronne still allow you to have time to consider your decision, for as rewarding as this work can be, this might be a decision that you may forever regret." For a moment, Lady Orchid seemed hesitant to make mention of some subjects, but a glance at a nodding Uta seemed to have convinced her otherwise. "Under normal circumstances, each one of you should have a thorough interview with me, but that is a luxury I believe I can’t afford. We'll have it in two weeks, when you'll have made your final decision, and until then, I'll expect you to thoroughly sleep and reflect on that decision. Until then, Uta will show you everything you need to know about this establishment, which may or may not be your new home in the future, and everything you need to know about the flowers, who may or may not become your sisters."

With these words, the Lady Orchid left, seemingly done with what she came to say, entrusting the care of Ana and the other girl to the girl, Uta, who, still with an entrancing smile, asked,

"I believe I have already introduced myself, but the three of you, I think I have yet to hear your name."

Since it was to her that the girl's gaze first turned, Ana was left with no other choice but to reiterate her earlier self-introduction,

"My name is Lizzie," Ana once again lied.

"Lizzie… What a beautiful name."

"…Thanks."

"And may I know where on the continent you come from?"

The question made Ana hesitant to answer: should she double down with a lie or just tell her the truth about where she came from? Which prompted the girl, who seemed to have sensed Ana’s reticence, to immediately reassure Ana, "Don’t feel yourself forced to answer, I was just asking out of curiosity."

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Her gaze shifted to the girl next to Ana, who introduced herself as "My name is Edya, I'm 15 years old, and I come from Davillier, a town at the crossroads of the kingdom and theocracy."

The revelation of Edya's age came as a shock to Ana, who, despite her mere 17 years of existence, didn't expect the girl to be that young. Ana finally came to understand how childishly clingy the girl was to her and the other girl, she was just a child, at least by Ana's account.

If Edya’s young age was something that came across as somewhat of a shock, she was even less ready to hear the other girl's age.

"My name is Ina. I’m 15; I— What?" She inquired about the girls' surprised expressions.

Though the girl was not peculiarly old-looking, with her tall figure and the unfriendly, almost hostile, and imposing, to say the least, expression on her face, she did, if fair to say so, appear to be over 15.

"Nothing, nothing," the three girls denied.

"I see… I said, ``I am 15 and I come from, uh,... actually, that’s personal, so it should be fine if I don’t reveal that, right?"

"Of course. Besides, there's no reason to be so tense around me; I'm not as important as Lady Orchid to warrant such tense and rigid interactions. I’m just a flower, like what you, in a few weeks, will be. Follow me, and I will show you your rooms."

"This place is about to become your home, so before I take you to your room, allow me to introduce you to the room and the people you’ll have to know to remain here."

Led by Uta, the girls, including Ana, followed to be introduced by Uto to a few of the many must-be-known residents of the Rose Blanche and shown many of the must-be-known rooms, roofs, and corners of the palace-sized establishment.

After a long afternoon of introductions and showing around, Ana and the girls were ultimately led to their respective rooms, which, to Ana’s greatest surprise, were decently sized and furnished. A biased part of Ana was when they were mentioned as being brought to their room, expecting the said room to be a shared room, but it turned out it wasn’t. Side by side in the very same hallway, Ana, Edya, and the other girl, Ina, were in separate and respective rooms of their own.

As Ana sat sighing on her alleged "bed," a knock came at her door, and before she could stand to verify who the one knocking at her door was, the door opened, revealing a girl—A little girl, no older than eleven, entering Ana’s room and carrying in her little hands a large plate, atop which were dishes that Ana immediately understood were her dinner.

"I’ll take it from here on–"Ana hastily intervened, taking the plate from the little girl’s hand.

By the time Ana finished placing the plate on a nearby table, the little girl had already left, closing the door behind her and giving Ana no time to properly thank her.

Though the little girl wasn’t personally introduced to her, Ana knew from Uta’s earlier explanation that those little girls, since the previous girls weren’t the only children Ana encountered within the alleys of the Rose Blanche, were the youngest of the Rose Blanche's denizens and that they took on little tasks such as serving up food or running errands for the flowers and the other establishment’s denizens.

Thanks to Uta spending the evening explaining the inner workings of the Rose Blanche, Ana gained a deeper understanding of the organization's structure.

The woman known as the Matronne was at the top of the establishment; she is the founder and the head of the Rose Blanche, but due to her age, the task of running the establishment has been passed totally onto her daughter, Lady Orchid, the woman who had earlier greeted Ana and the girl.

Her job entailed keeping an eye on the proper functioning of the Rose Blanche as a business and on the Flowers and the Gardenerettes, the Flowers being the girls who involved themselves in the main activities the Rose Blanche is known for, and the Gardenerettes being the women and girls who are part of the staff and are in charge of things such as cooking, housework, and safekeeping.

All of which overall means that, apart from a sole exception, even guards, all denizens and workers of the Rose Blanche were girls and women. That was something new, Ana learned.

"A unique, to say the least, experience." Looking at the food served to her, it was clear that the meal, while tasty-looking on the outside, was clearly designed to help the girls consuming it keep a light weight.

Ana took in the sight of the lavishly laid out spread before her as she sat at the small table.Despite her own plate being relatively modest in size, the table was brimming with a lavish array of dishes and delicacies. Determined to fully immerse herself in the experience before departing the establishment later that night, Ana picked up her fork and knife and began to savor the meal before her.

Once done, Ana lay on her bed, waiting for the late-night opportunity she was waiting for to sneak out, and at least free herself of the awful situation she had put herself in.

The hours went on, and soon came the time that Ana believed was the right time for her to take her leave. Her room having no windows leading out, Ana was left with no choice but to sneak out of her room, tip-toe slithering across the empty alleyway leading to where she remembered seeing a way out.

It was then, just as she was about to turn left, that Ana stumbled face-to-face with someone for the second time that day.

"You!?" Both girls sulked.

Both appear to be the last people who expected to run into each other here.

"What are you doing here?" Before Ana could get a handle on the opportunity to first ask that question, the girl, Ina, did.

"What are you doing here—this late at night?"

Ana was overcome with the desire to put an end to this masquerade right now, but in the face of the other girl's intimidating presence, she found herself repeating her earlier decision: pursuing the lie, the masquerade.

"I was looking for the toilets." As both girls glanced in the direction they both knew the toilets were, Ana, wishing to divert the focus from her lie, asked, "And you were, what are you doing here?"

"I, too, was looking for— the toilet, just like you."

For reasons proper to herself, Ana could not bring herself to believe the girl’s words, but having herself lied, she took her words as though they were true.

"Did you find them?"

"I didn't, but now I have. It’s this way," she said, indicating the direction in which they both knew where the toilets were.

For reasons Ana herself couldn’t comprehend, instead of using this opportunity to run off, she silently followed the girl to the toilets.

Going along with the lie she herself had woven, Ana went on with the business she pretended to need the toilet for, and the other girl waited for her, which prompted Ana to also wait for her when she too went on with her own business.

Regardless of whether their initial quests for toilets were true or not, both girls' businesses involving toilets were finished, and now both strode in the direction of their rooms. It was then, as that alleyway came into view, that they came to notice Edya, standing in the middle of the alleyway, who was holding a sheet and a pillow in her hands.

"There you were. I was looking for both of you, but none of you were in your room," the girl announced, approaching Ana and Ina.

"You were looking for us?"

Reaching for Ana, Edya explained, "Yes, I had a hard time sleeping so I thought it might—"

When the girl, Ina, realized where the girl, Edya, was coming from, she dashed for her room, but before she could close the door, the girl was already wedged in between, dragging her pillow, her sheet, and Ana with her. "I said, I was having trouble sleeping, so I assumed you were as well—And since we're all in this together, why wouldn't we sleep together? What do you think?" Edya asked more insistently than ever.

"Sigh,... do whatever you want, but I only have one bed; I'm not going to share it."

"It’s all fine by me, we’ll sleep on the ground," the girl boldly announced on her and Ana’s behalf before proceeding in.

Edya quickly arranged a mildly comfortable-looking mat on the ground, onto which she and Ana found themselves lying and draping, using sheets she had retrieved from both her and Ana's rooms.

It was then, when the lights were out, that Edya ventured, "Say you two, why did you two join the Rose Blanche? I did it for money, and... from what I’ve seen today, it seems like there might be a lot for us to get, don’t you two think?"

"I guess so," Ana ventured out of obligation.

"Ina?"

"Dunno," she replied curtly.

"Look at the size of the room they gave us; it's almost as big as the place I used to rent and bigger than the room I shared with the others in the orphanage."

"Orphanage?" Ana asked, curious.

"Ah, I didn’t tell you, but some years before coming here, I formerly lived in an orphanage."

"I see."

"—A run-down and miserable place to live in, truly," Edya bitterly monologued, "A shithole compared to this place."

Ana didn’t know what exactly Edya went through in that orphanage, but from the sound of it, there weren’t many pleasant memories she had of it.

"I guess… I'm glad you like this place." Holding onto a certain noble and ladily prejudice against this place, Ana asked Edya, "But you do understand what remaining "here" entails, right?"

"I know… Sure, there's that, but—I mean, it's far better than having to work for some farm or serve as a servant in some random noble's estate, because here, at the very least, I might hit the jackpot with some young lord or even some young prince." She smiled debauchedly. "Either way, I will come back to my hometown and erect the biggest house in that stupid town."

Hearing how she spoke of her town, Ana understood that it was apparently not only the orphanage that she had something against but the whole town as well.

"That’s my dream. And you, Lizzie, what’s yours? You must have one, right?"

Thinking of all that happened today that led her to share this fortune on the floor, Ana couldn’t help but vent out a small chuckle at that particular question.

"I have one, but that’s a secret."

"Eh, but I told you mine."

"Nobody asked you to."

"That’s mean. And you, Ina, do you have one? — A dream." The girl, Ina, remained silent to Edya's call, but both of them were well aware that it was not because she was asleep, but because she was purposefully ignoring Edya's call, but the girl insisted on her answer, "Ina?"

After several attempts, the girl certainly responded, but not in the way Edya most likely had been expecting.

"Girl, trust me; whatever your dream is, if you shut your mouth and sleep, I will beat you to a pulp then get you out of this room that should be mine and mine alone."

Whatever the intention behind these words, they had the desired effect of keeping Edya's mouth shut and the room quiet.

"That would be all for me, I hope, tonight, so good night."

"Good night, Ina."

"Good night," Ana agreed.

***

Arte, who for once in a while was at home to share dinner with the people who shared the mansion he lived in, asked, looking at the empty seat at the table, "This is unusual; do you two know where she is?"

"I don’t know; I don’t think I’ve seen her today," answered Uriel to his brother.

"She isn’t in her room." Xavier retorted, slightly surprised.

"Miss Ana is not," Martha, the governess, confirmed. "She went out earlier this morning, and I don’t think I’ve seen her since."

"Eh, that’s certainly curious..." mumbled Xavier.

Already worried, Arte proposed, "It’s already very late at night, shouldn’t we—"

"Hold on, Buddy," Xavier interrupted, "I do agree it’s already late in the night, but I don’t think it’s anything worth worrying so much about. Sure this is not in her habits, but she’s a big girl; she can do whatever she wants with her time."

"But—"

"There is no "but," buddy. She needs to vent out and change her mind, especially with "him" being released from detention. She owes none of us an explanation for what she does, just as none of us owe each other an explanation for our respective nightly activities."

Arte finally decided not to comment further on the matter after realizing how inappropriate it was of him to speak of being home late. Yet Xavier still went on.

"Come on, you two." I wasn't meant to come across as mean or anything. Beside, I’m sure she would’ve appreciated your concern, but come on, guys, it’s Ana we’re talking about, and with how overfocused and obstinate she tend to be, surely she’s holed up somewhere doing "investigation" or whatever she calls it on some dragon-related subject. She’ll be fine, I’m sure she’ll be home in a couple of hours."

—She did not.