In the evening, after the classes, in Cycelia's room…

Crrrr-rrreeeaaaaaak…

Cycelia returns to her room, and shuts the squeaky door behind herself. Straf lifts his eyes off his thick tome and glances at her.

「How was your day, Lia?」

He asks as she shambles to her bed.

「…Fine.」

Cycelia shrugs, slipping her boots off.

「Are you sure you're fine? You look a little down-」

「I'm fine, I'm just tired. I'm going to sleep early today.」

She replies, and flaps the blanket over herself, then sighs as she curls up.

「You're not going ghost-hunting?」

「Not today, I don't feel like it.」

「Figures. How many times can a ghost turn out to be a guy in a mask before it gets old?…」

Straf lets out an amused scoff, and lightly shakes his head while his eyes return to his tome.

「Goodnight, Straf…」

Cycelia abruptly says, rolling her back towards him. Straf's brows rise a little, but he shrugs.

「Yeah, goodnight, Lia.」

He nods, and flips a page in his book…

…

The next morning…

Cycelia is slipping her boots back onto her feet, and tying them. Straf is at the very last pages of another tome, nonchalantly nearing completion of at least two books as thick as a telephone book.

「…Straf, you're not coming with me today, right?」

She asks with her head lowered, and her sullen eyes on her hands in her lap.

「Can't-」

「Thought so…」

She nods before Straf can properly reply while hastily standing up, and heads for the door. Straf's eyes return to the tome, but an urge to appease Cycelia a little overcomes him.

「Hey, Lia-」

-rrrreaaak.

She leaves before Straf can get a word out, and shuts the door behind her.

「Well, maybe some other time, then…」

He shrugs, and flips another page…

…

After the morning classes, during the extended free period…

Tisha, Neela and Cycelia are walking down the hallway, weaving through the thick crowd of students. Tisha raises her arms, and begins stretching as she walks.

「Hmmmnnghmmggh!…」

She lets out a groan, and yawns suddenly.

「Are you a cat now, Tisha? You're stretching all the time all of a sudden.」

Neela comments, looking at Tisha's yawning face while she covers her mouth with her milk-toned fist.

「Because I'm sore all over for no reason. And thanks to that stupid peasant, I'm not sleeping all that well either.」

Tisha replies, fondling her shoulder while she moves it in a circle.

「You didn't really miss out on anything, Lia! We just wasted a bunch of time walking around empty hallways. Again.」

「Is that so?…」

Cycelia's lowered head briefly perks up when Tisha talks to her. It doesn't take long for her gaze to drift down again.

「How are you feeling alright, Neela? Are you some kinda monster? Do you not need sleep? Are you a vampire?」

Tisha looks at Neela, and she lets out a quick sigh in reply.

「I'm not… I am feeling a little clammy for a while now.」

「Are you sick, or somethin'?」

「I hope not. I don't want to spend half the term in a bed…」

Neela hopelessly shrugs her shoulders.

「I bet Lia wouldn't mind… If Straf was there with her! Gahahaha!」

Tisha says, and throws her head back in hyena-like laughter.

「Tisha…」

Neela looks at the northern princess with a disapproving look on her face. Cycelia only briefly turns her sullen eyes to her, before silently returning them back to the floor.

「Ah! I know! How about we throw the tomes into trash, and go take a bath together!?」

Tisha says, spreading her arms with a grin.

「Huh!? Together!?」

With her emerald eyes wide open, Cycelia finally perks up out of her listlessness.

「I don't know…」

Neela sighs out, shrugging her shoulders.

「Come on! Let's go! Warm water should get the soreness out of me!…」

Tisha insists as she grabs Neela by her hand and starts pulling.

「…And Lia can wash my back.」

The golden-haired princess adds with a sly smile.

「H- Huh!? Your back!?-」

「She's joking, Lia…」

Neela lets out a tired sigh, and looks at Tisha with her mouth aslant. She rolls her ice-blue eyes away in response.

「Ahhh, you didn't have to let her know… It'd be funnier to see how far I can take it.」

She says, throwing her hands up.

「Fine. But let's drop our books off in our rooms, not the trash, Tisha… I know you can afford another, I can't.」

With another resigned sigh, Neela yields, though she shakes her head at the previous mostly-jesting suggestion.

「Are you coming along too, Lia?」

Neela asks, turning her eyes to Cycelia.

「T- Together? But…」

Cycelia hesitates, placing her half-closed fist on her chest as her eyes dart between the two.

「Come, there's no reason to be shy.」

Neela grabs her hand, and gently begins pulling towards the dormitories.

「Yeah!… Unless you're a boy, or something.」

「How would that work, Tisha?」

「I dunno. I thought there ought to be a spell or two for something like that…」

Tisha shrugs, looking at Neela with an innocuous pouty grimace. Briefly staring at Tisha with her brows furrowed, she shakes her head, and the three make their way to the girls' dormitories…

…

Roughly half an hour later, in the girls' baths…

The neat, clean room is tiled with sleek, shiny tiles across all its surfaces. A thick and near continuous cloud of steam raises from the large, oblong pool of water off to the side, roughly waist-deep. Completely naked and with only a fluffy, folded white towel on her golden head, Tisha walks out of the changing area segregated away by a wall. Most of her body remains a dark silhouette in the steam, with only her feet and everything shoulders-up being somewhat visible. She approaches the pool of steamy water, and nonchalantly jumps in bottom-first.

SPLASH!

The hot water splashes everywhere as the impact greatly upsets and displaces the steam.

「Ahhhhh…」

She leans back with her elbows on the floor behind her and lets out a large, contented sigh, slumping further inward into the water.

「Tisha, don't jump into the water, you're splashing it everywhere…」

Neela softly chides Tisha as she also leaves the changing area naked, appearing as mostly a dark silhouette as well.

「Who cares? Not like they'll run out anytime soon.」

Tisha shrugs her hands with an incredulous smirk while Neela approaches along the wet tiles.

「You're causing a slipping hazard. Cut it out.」

「Tsk… Too late.」

Plunk.

Tisha rolls her blue eyes with her mouth scrunched while Neela cautiously lowers herself into the water.

「Hey, Lia! Don't rush to join us, the floor is wet!」

Tisha exclaims towards the changing area with her hands at her mouth, and lets out a quiet chuckle with an amused grin. Cycelia's troubled face and furrowed brows peek out of the wall with her shoulders bare.

「Come on, come here!…」

She waves her hand through the steam, inviting Cycelia to join them.

「…Unless you want to stand there naked like a pervert, instead of taking a bath with us!」

Tisha grins at her, once again placing her elbows on the floor tiles behind her.

「But… Together?」

Cycelia glances aside, before furrowing her brows further at Tisha.

「Yeah! What's the problem? Men bathe together, why can't we?」

Tisha shrugs with a pouty grimace.

「I heard they whip each other with towels…」

Neela remarks, glancing at Tisha.

「That's right! And I've heard they ride on each other naked!」

Tisha exclaims towards Cycelia with a huge grin and her index finger extended.

「What?」「…What?」

Neela and Cycelia utter out, furrowing their brows at Tisha, before glancing at each other.

「…Where have you heard that?」

Neela asks, tilting her head with eyes full of suspicion.

「…I just came up with it. But it sounds like something they'd do!」

Tisha casually admits after a brief beat with a completely straight face, then points at Neela and elaborates her statement.

「Tisha, don't just come up with fake stuff…」

Neela lets out an exasperated sigh, and turns her eyes to Cycelia.

「Are you not going to join us, Lia?」

She asks, smiling a little at her. Cycelia's troubled emerald eyes quickly glance aside again, before returning to her.

「…But what if someone steals our clothes?」

Cycelia asks with her brows furrowed. Tisha rolls her eyes.

「Oh come on!… You're just making excuses at this point! If someone tries to steal our panties, we'll kill 'im! And bathe in his blood! Nobody would bat an eye!…」

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Tisha throws her hands up in frustration, and points at Cycelia while she's mostly hidden behind the changing area wall. Her eyes escape downward as she considers actually joining the two.

「…I heard that's good for your skin.」

Tisha casually adds, looking at Neela with a completely straight face again.

「…From who!?」

She asks, outraged by the audacity of her claim.

「I dunno. I just heard it is.」

Tisha nonchalantly shrugs in response, and looks up at the ceiling with a little pout while she thinks.

「…But it has to be a virgin's blood. I guess whoever would try that would have to be a virgin. And a pervert at that… So we could find out if it really works or not.」

She remarks, and glances at Neela. Cycelia is right beside them, covering herself with a towel.

「…I don't know if I'd want to bathe in blood.」

Cycelia says, cautiously descending into the water while trying to cover up as much as possible.

「Ah! Finally!…」

Tisha exclaims with a smile, and turns around to lie slouched on the tile floor while resting her head on her forearms.

「…Want to wash my back?」

She casually asks with a smug, narrow-eyed grin directed at Cycelia.

「H- Huh!? Now!?」

Cycelia's shocked green eyes look at Tisha's mist-blurred back. Despite the mist, it is very obviously muscular, even if not excessively so. Her shoulders are toned, and the little of her arms that Cycelia can see appears to look very strong as well. Her arm muscles seamlessly merge into her armpit, inviting the eye to follow the line further toward the outline of her large breasts, although they are squashed against the side of the tiled pool right now.

With nowhere else to look, the prominent muscles on her ribs draw attention. Tisha retains her girly frame by being mostly bottom-heavy, her narrow waist reveals only a glimpse of her toned stomach from the side, before sinking underwater and concealing everything else.

「…Well?」

Tisha asks in an almost seductive tone, tilting her head further as she smiles at Cycelia. Neela sighs.

「Lia, she's joking…」

Splash!

「Tsk. Stop ruining it, Neela! Good grief!… I just wanted to have a little laugh.」

Tisha pushes herself up off the tiles, and turns back around, angrily crossing her arms at the same time.

「Your teasing wasn't funny.」

Neela bluntly declares, staring ahead and refusing to look at her.

「Oh come on, it's funny when you look at it now.」

Tisha rolls her blue eyes with her mouth scrunched, grumbling.

「But it wasn't funny then, and I still think it's not funny now. I want to spare Lia the teasing. Cut it out.」

Neela insistently chides her, side-glancing at Tisha with a frustrated look.

「Tsk… Fine. You're no fun.」

Tisha continues her grumbling, keeping her arms crossed. Neela's eyes briefly glance at Cycelia's breasts just below the water.

「Tsk…」

「Huh?」

Cycelia blinks in disbelief as Neela snaps her eyes the other way.

《She clicked her tongue? Why?…》

Cycelia thinks, and looks down.

「Ah…」

She then lets out a little troubled groan, furrowing her brows when she realizes it. Neela is the least bountiful of the three…

…

Another half hour later, in the changing area…

「Ahhh!… That really fixed me right up!」

Tisha stretches out with her arms high, and her white towel wrapped around her body.

「Yes… I feel better now too.」

Neela nods in agreement, approaching her neatly folded pile of clothes.

「So… When is Straf going to join you again, Lia?」

Tisha asks while she puts her uniform back on behind a shelf, with only her muscular shoulders visible.

「I don't know…」

Cycelia quietly replies, buttoning her shirt up while turned away from the two.

「Lia, if you like him, you need to be more aggressive!」

「I actually agree with Tisha this time… 」「This time?…」

Neela nods, concurring with Tisha's encouragement.

「…He's your bodyguard, isn't he? Stomp your foot! Order him to come with you, or else he can wave his job bye-bye!」「That's right!」

She adds with an authoritative tone, pointing at Cycelia while half-naked.

「But I don't want to-」

「It doesn't matter if you don't actually want to fire him! Threaten him with it! Make him come!」

Cycelia protests, but Neela doesn't allow her to properly get a word in, immediately cutting her off. She points her finger at Cycelia for the emphasis, gesturing heavily.

「Yeah! Make him come!」

Tisha agrees, nodding her golden head powerfully with a smug grin.

「Tisha!…」

Neela exclaims in outrage, angrily furrowing her brows at her. The two stare at each other.

「What?」

She calmly asks, genuinely confused as to why Neela is angry.

「Just… Be quiet! You're ruining it!」

「Huh? How?-」

「Shush!」

Instead of explaining, Neela angrily points her finger at Tisha, silencing her. She then shakes her head, and continues dressing up…

…

A few days later, between the morning classes, in the hallway…

「So, did you tell Straf how you feel, Lia?」

Neela asks with a bright smile. Cycelia briefly looks at her, and silently turns her sad emerald eyes away.

「Don't tell me… It didn't go so good?」

Tisha asks, leaning in by Cycelia's other shoulder. She shakes her chestnut head in reply.

「…I just didn't try.」

She says, and lets out a sullen sigh.

「Lia!」「Lia!」

The two girls exclaim in a disappointed unison, and sigh as well, albeit in frustration. They both cross their arms and look aside, almost like mirror reflections of one another.

「So… Lia… If you are not interested, it's fine if I try, right?」

Tisha asks, looking at her from the side with a serious face.

「Huh? Try… What?」

「Going for Straf. You're not in a relationship after all, right? You don't mind?」

Neela replies for Tisha, also looking at her with a dead-serious expression.

「H- Huh!? B- B- Bu- But Straf is married!」

Cycelia exclaims, looking left to right with panicked, wide-eyed gaze as her friends become almost like sharks circling her.

「So?」「So?」

They both reply at the same time, tilting their heads like mirror reflections again. Cycelia is briefly stunned, taken aback and at a loss for words.

「H- He- He's married to an evil queen! She's really, really evil!」

Cycelia blurts out as her eyes dart between the two, and anxiously bites her lower lip as her heart begins to thump rapidly. Tisha and Neela look at each other, then shrug.

「Meh, I think I'll take my chances-」

Tisha dismissively replies with a smug smirk, casually holding her arms behind her head.

Tap-tap!

「Eh?」「Hm?」

Tisha and Neela utter out as Cycelia powerfully grabs onto their shoulders, and pulls them to an abrupt stop, forcing them to face her.

「Tisha… Neela… I don't think you understand…」

She quietly says with her chestnut head lowered.

「…I don't have a lot of friends. There's a lot of people I can call my subjects, or my associates, but there are very people I can call my friends…」

Cycelia says, keeping her face lowered and hidden behind her hair. The two glance at each other with serious faces, and continue silently listening.

「…Tisha, Neela… You are the first people I've met that I can treat as equals, and not have to keep my distance to. You are my friends…」

The girls smile at her sudden confession of friendship, and Tisha proudly places her fists on her hips.

「…Straf's wife is a very evil, ruthless, brutal queen. If you attempt to seduce him, she will know. She has her ways. She will not stop at anything until you are dead…」

Cycelia grips at the two harder, painfully digging her fingers into them while sounding almost on the verge of tears. She goes silent for a few seconds, and looks at them.

「Tisha. Neela. You are my precious friends. Please, I beg you… Do not do anything that will get you killed. I don't want to lose my precious friends!」

Cycelia lets go of Neela to clench her fist, boldly exclaiming her wish with a voice full of conviction, staring at the two girls with a cold glare full of murder in a complete contrast to her warm tone.

「Uh. Lia… You are creeping me the fuck out…」

Tisha leans away a little with a nervous grin on her face while shielding herself from Cycelia with her arm.

「We were just trying to get a reaction out of you, we weren't actually serious…」

Neela says and glances at Tisha with troubled eyes.

「Is that so? Ahhh… That's a relief…」

Her cold glare and murderous expression suddenly disappears, and Cycelia lets out a large, relieved sigh while smiling warmly at them.

「You'll live.」

She makes an ominous declaration in a completely normal tone of voice, smiling. Tisha and Neela look at each other again.

《What is with this girl!?》《What is with this girl!?》

They think, seemingly establishing a telepathic link to each other as they stare at Cycelia's innocent, happily smiling face…