The painful morning training and tutoring started becoming less painful. My sixth birthday approached, but I had yet to gather any friends. I had my family. I had Yumi. However, they were not really friends. I loved them dearly, but they were my family. Thankfully, Mother had a solution to my building dread—a surprise, she told me.

I kicked my feet on the white gazebo of the royal garden. The roses surrounded me—as beautiful as always. Yumi stood to the side like a proper maid and watched over me.

“Yumi?”

“Yes, Little Princess?” She smiled tenderly at me. Her orange eyes were gorgeous, even in the light of day.

“What do you think Esteemed Mother has planned?” I asked, almost in mockery of etiquette training.

Yumi giggled and covered her mouth. “I am not at liberty to say.”

“Oh?” I walked in front of her, making puppy dog eyes.

“I am sorry, Little Princess,” she said. “Her Majesty has told me not to say.” Yumi picked me up, putting me back on the gazebo bench.

“No fair!” I pouted.

However, it was then my mother showed up with a little dragon girl in tow. I quickly ran through the garden and hugged Mother.

“Fufufu,” she patted my head, “don’t forget your friend.”

I nodded, looking nervously at Janie.

“Enala!” She jumped and hugged me.

For a tiny dragon, Janie had a herculean grip. I struggled to breathe. I hadn’t expected her to be huggy after only one meeting. I returned the gesture with a grin anyway, gasping for air when she finally released me.

“Great to see you, too,” I said. “I have something for you!”

I turned to Yumi, who handed me a yellow butterfly clip. I smiled and handed it to Janie.

“For me?” She asked with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah! I didn’t forget. It’s the one you were staring—”

She took the clip and squeezed me once again. With how hard she squeezed me, I thought for sure my brain would pop out of my head. I looked to Mother for the rescue, but she giggled her usual. Yumi was no help, either! Her silly, fluffy tail waved furiously while watching. And her ears twitched happily.

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Janie released me again. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, but please don’t squeeze that hard.”

“Sorry!”

Mother clapped. “I will be tending to your father for a couple of hours, so you two play well together.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Fufufu, no need of that. Only when faced with troublesome people. Janie is not troublesome.”

Mother hugged me before leaving the garden altogether. In her place, another maid came in with a tray of cookies and tea. The maid put the treats and drinks on the pavilion’s table.

“Please enjoy, Your Highness.”

I cringed, as I still occasionally did. It was even more embarrassing in front of Janie, but the other girl didn’t seem to mind. She started stuffing her face with vigor, partaking in the cookies as if it were her last supper. At some point in my distraction, Janie had already put the clip in her vibrant Red-Orange hair. I found myself staring far too long at her curved black horns.

She looked back at me, crumbs covering her cheeks. “You going to eat cookies, too?” Janie asked, tilting her head.

I nodded fiercely and grabbed a cookie. They were crimson cookies with chocolate chips. No doubt, my portion had been laced with blood. Putting the cookie in my mouth proved that fact, but the taste was good. Actually, it was superb. The feeling of eating blood-infused cookies was odd. A part of me wanted to wretch—the previously human part, but the new me wanted to savor it.

Even the tea had blood inside. While I drank it more elegantly, my new friend had some pour down her cheeks. From the smell, I could tell hers did not have the life essence.

The tea-drinking and cookie-eating session ended with my flavor satisfaction. The other maid had the leisure of cleaning Janie’s cheeks when she finished.

However, she didn’t sit still long enough to get all the crumbs. The dragon girl jumped off her bench, running to my side and pulling my hand.

“Come on! Let’s play!”

I let her pull me off my seat. Well, that’s what I would say if her strength didn’t do it outright. Janie would be a monster in the future. That much was apparent.

“What should we play?” I asked. I had never played with anyone in either lifetime, so the experience of having a childhood friend was new. Though, a part of me wondered if she really was my friend. Was this how friendships worked?

“I hoped you would know! What does Enala play here?”

“I play ‘Run from the Demon Queen’ with Yumi, usually. Some other times, I paint.”

“What is ‘run from the Demon Queen?’”

“Have you ever played tag?” I asked.

“Yeah!”

“It’s basically the same thing, but Yumi chases me around the castle until she captures me.”

“Oh! Because you are a princess!?”

The realization of the irony hit me. So, they had stories like that here, too? I had a sudden fear that maybe a turtle man with spikes would come to kidnap me. Luckily, I was able to shake that off.

“I am not interested in janitors, anyway!”

“Janitors?” Janie asked.

“Never mind!”

“I have a suggestion,” Yumi said. “You could show Janie your paint performance!”

My cheeks heated. “No! She doesn’t need to see that!”

“Why not? They are splendid.”

“I want to see!”

I sighed when Yumi began to get out the canvas and paints. It wasn’t like I minded much, anyway. It was simply embarrassing.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Yumi said with a smile, but her waving tail betrayed her.

“I will do it,” I said, sitting in the summoned wooden chair. “I will make you something special, Janie!”

“Yay!”

I stared at the blank canvas before closing my eyes. I would draw her something perfect for this first play session!