After a short period of silence, the red demon lady spoke. “Number one, please come up to the desk.”

I kept my eyes glued to Janie—hoping she didn’t cause another scene. She crossed her arms and pouted, looking down at the floor from Yumi’s lap.

The conversation at the desk was quiet enough, so none of us could hear it. More like, their lips were moving, but no sound seemed to travel. The demon smiled at the group before handing them a card.

“Number two!”

The second group jumped up and bounded to the receptionist. Again, their conversation wasn’t audible. I mused at whatever magic made this possible. I tried to remember if Mother used any sound magic, but nothing came up.

“Number five!”

The numbers kept going faster. My leg bounced, and I tried to breathe. It’s just a room! It’s just a room! I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder, and Adelisa smiled at me.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness, I can protect you,” She said.

“Her highness?” The hushed voices started behind us.

I narrowed my eyes at Adelisa. “You’ve done it now!”

“Number eight!”

Janie jumped off her seat and began running towards the desk with Yumi trailing her.

I sighed and followed after them, tuning out Adelisa’s apologies. It was not really her fault, but the idea of school began to make me feel queasy. I tried remembering encouraging words of Mother, and it worked to steady my heart.

The demon smiled down at us. “Janie and Enala, hmm?”

Janie smirked at her. “That’s princess to you. Enala is a princess!”

The receptionist laughed. “Is it now? Well, let me tell you something, little one. At this school there is no prejudice based on social status. There are no princesses under Messa Magic Academy.” She reached under her desk and grabbed four metal cards. “For the two attending, you are in 217. That’s second floor, seventeenth room, and for the servants, you get room 218. You will find another elevator down the hall. Good luck.”

She didn’t wait for us to answer before she shouted. “Number nine!”

Janie pulled my arm. “Come on! Let’s go to the room already! Then we can play!”

I gave her a wry smile and relented. There were numerous rooms inside the hallway, but I could see the elevator at the end. This one was much smaller than the other, but the maid looked the same.

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She bowed to us as we arrived. Her voice was noticeably higher when she said, “which floor?”

Yumi answered for us. “Floor two.”

The process for going to floor one repeated, and we entered another hallway. I was awed. The hallway looked closer to modern hotels with room numbers attached to the front. Yumi took one of our cards in case we lost it, and she opened our room door for us.

Inside the rooms was different than hotels. First of all, modern hotels didn’t have a floating book shelf. There were small desks beside each of our beds and our very own trunks and dressers. A golem floated above each dresser, and there was a small rope attached at the bottom.

Janie ran over and pulled it right away. A light flicked on from the golem’s head, illuminating half of the room.

I ran over to mine and did the same, and the room lit up completely. The beds were smaller than I was used to, but it was more reminiscent of my previous life. There was one closet with two sections, and a door led into the small bathroom.

Yumi checked around the room. “This is not good. Not good at all. Little Princess, you cannot stay in a place like this.”

“It’s fine, really. I don’t mind the size,” I said.

She shook her head. “It’s not that. This room will need to be cleaned thoroughly. I do not permit you to use these worn bed sheets either. No-no-no, good thing I brought some supplies. No one is permitted on any of the furniture until I have cleared them.”

image [https://i.imgur.com/egXC7OT.png]

It took hours for her to finish detailing everything, and by then, the sun had already set. But, I had to admit the room looked better, and it seemed to sparkle—not unlike some other vampire story I dreaded to think about. I shook my head rapidly.

“What’s wrong, Enala?” Janie asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I am sorry we didn’t get to play, since someone was so insistent.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m happy! We get a room all to ourselves!”

Yumi grabbed her by the shoulders and looked sternly into her eyes. “No sneaking out of your room under any circumstances.”

“Who’s sneaking out?” A sweet voice asked.

I ran to the source and hugged her. “Mommy!”

“Fufu, how’s my sweet little En?” She asked.

“I am doing well. I’m glad you kept your promise.” I looked around her for a bit. “By the way, how did you even get here?”

Mother smirked. “Well, let’s just say the butler will be out of commission for a few hours.”

“Roland?”

“The very same, but don’t worry, he’ll be fine. I’m told your introduction will start tomorrow, so I can’t miss that. I think for tonight, I will sleep here.”

“Your Majesty!” Adelisa shouted.

“No, it’s quite alright. Night will ensure things go smoothly with our trade deals.” Mother looked at me and started petting my head again. “Anyway, this is the only important thing, right now. Adelisa, Yumi…”

““Yes, Your Majesty?””

“You’re both dismissed until dawn. I imagine Yumi will want to make that room spotless as well.”

“I am not surprised you notice, Your Majesty.”

“You can drop the formalities here. These are private rooms, and they’ve all been enchanted with silence,” Mother said. “The only way to be heard by the instructors is pressing that button over there.” I followed her hand to the red button on the wall. “Seems they really didn’t tell you anything. This place is the same as ever.”

Mother grabbed my shoulders and looked seriously into my eyes. “Given my previous status here, I am under a strict contract. Even as a queen, I cannot say anything, but as a mother, I need to tell you this. Please, be careful. This place is no regular school.”