My head jerked upward and I looked over my room in a daze, half open eyes going from right to left. Moments later, I let my head drop down, satisfied.

I wasn’t surprised to find some of the girls sleeping on the floor, some were wearing the pajamas and nightgown that the servants brought over to us last night while others- such as Korbinian and Yhaine, - chose to take me on my offer to wear my stuff.

And my clothes fit them pretty well… except for one- in Yhaine’s case, the buttoned up I gave her only reached halfway through her belly thanks to most of it being snagged by her… breasts.

The blow to my ego still hasn't, and never will recover from such an experience.

Now I’m starting to feel a bit jealous so moving on- I scanned the rest of the girls, and to my pleasant surprise, even Zath and Laceresta found themselves sleeping here, and those two had their own rooms here in the tower.

Fafnir on the other hand went back to her room sometime after we turned off the lights. Huh, guess she wasn't lying that she felt more comfortable sleeping alone than in a group.

My concern spiked up when I thought about her, Fafnir had problems- all of my friends apparently did, Goddess, I'm basically jealous of Lucille and her friends, who I'm pretty sure didn't have an ounce of problems bothering them on a daily basis.

Or maybe that's just Lucille?

Going back to Fafnir- her problems were something that I was… trying to fix and I'm working on it but pushing it any further will just cross the line, it will definitely make her feel uncomfortable and I didn’t want that, I want Fafnir to tell me what was bothering her and to talk to me about it in her own terms the same way she did for me.

I just… needed to be patient with her, that’s all, I’m sure she’d come around and tell me about what's been bothering her eventually.

I groggily pushed myself out of bed and stretched until my limbs popped.

One of the girls stirred and I smiled at Zyra as she met my eyes, “good morning,” I waved to the blue haired… florist? Or does she belong to House Whirlia? I’m pretty sure that the hair is an indication that she’s a member of that particular house but her skin tone and muscle definition say otherwise.

“How are you?” I decided that all of my thoughts about her origin could be ignored for now and being polite should go first, she is a guest after all, “I hope that my room isn’t too cold?”

We both faced the rightmost wall of my room, opposite the door sat two box-like air conditioners the size of a fridge, keeping the place not just cold, but freezing.

“No, not really,” she pushed herself up, using one hand while rubbing her eyes with the other, “I thought it was pretty nice and also… we uhm,” she gestured to her friends, “cuddled? No- we shared body heat under the blankets last night so it felt pretty warm instead of cold,”

“Good to hear,” I scanned her group and the blanket that they shared before smiling wryly when I saw that one of them slept carelessly enough to spread their legs and arms, I mean, I'm glad that she feels safe enough to do this here but Yhaine could use a bit of shame.

My hand subconsciously went up to cover my face when I felt color rise to my cheeks, “does Yhaine always sleep like that?”

Zyra's eyes followed to where I was pointing and saw the way her friend had her leg over a sleeping Lucille, who herself was staring at the ceiling with her head lulled and mouth wide open.

“Uhm… this is our first time sleeping together,” Zyra admitted, with a frown, she grabbed the edge of their blanket and lifted it up, revealing how Yhaine was sprawled across all of them, with her hands placed outward as well as her legs, “but I guess she does that? I’ve never seen someone sleep so carelessly before,”

I chuckled, “some of my sisters are the same,” I stood up, mentioning, “and it’s always the ones with the curvy bodies too,”

I heard a chuckle come from the girl, “the curvy ones always do this?”

“Can’t relate?” I grinned.

“Can you?” She teased back.

“Eh, I try,” I cupped my breast, “they’re pretty big right?”

“Pffftt- you wish,” Zyra giggled lightly while shaking her head.

I pouted, “alright, fine, you win,” that was something I was willing to admit but also, my pride as a self conscious teenager wouldn't let me get out of this without at least one compliment, “but come on, at least say that my legs and hips are long and curvy, I exercise with them a lot you know? I never skip leg day,”

“Leg day huh?..” Zyra murmured, trailing off while getting off of the hastily prepared mattress we placed over the floor last night. I watched her stretch, waiting with the door open while silently wondering if she felt comfortable sleeping like she did last night. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing Yhaine use her belly as a pillow just now.

And also, I know that the Academy issues nice housing- and not to mention, over the top, - for its pledge bearing students and because of that, I also knew that Zyra would have been sleeping in a nice, comfortable bed if she didn’t stay the night at my suite.

And that begs the question, did she feel uncomfortable?

Well, she looks like she feels that way now so I should probably stop staring.

“Sorry,” I said while turning away, when I looked at her again, she didn’t look confused, or even angry, just neutral, which I assume isn’t natural for people to look like after they just woke up, usually they're grumpy, or tired, or something in between.

Not that starting a conversation hurt anyone, I smiled and tried again, “I was just wondering, did the mattress on the floor feel uncomfortable?”

“Not really, no,” Zyra shook her head, “why?”

“Well I know that you guys had beds back in your dorms so…” I gestured in an ‘eh, eh?’ way with my hands, waving them around limply, from where I was, they looked like noodles waving about in the wind, “you get me?”

“No. I do not.” Zyra shook her head, “and speaking of that… why help Lucille? This much? I don't get why you'd go this far,”

I nudged my head to the hallway outside and she followed, we walked until we reached the living room, I turned the lights on and stared at the clock, it was only 4:43, rather early for my tastes but it’s fine, I can work with this.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Coffee?” I pointed to the kitchen and Zyra slowly nodded, “come on, I know how to make something nice,”

Cappucino, mostly, and that was because I had a whole “I wanna be a Barista!” Phase back in my first life, “I swear you’d love it,”

Zyra only nodded, a gesture that didn’t exactly help with my confidence.

I prepared our coffee silently and as the scent of caffeine wafted into my nose, I thought about what I wanted to say to Zyra, I didn't want to tell her that Lucille was the hero, not right now at least.

Walking away from the counter, I placed our cups between the two of us and we both took tiny sips awkwardly until Zyra broke the silence, “so why help Lucille?”

She really wants to know huh?..

“To be honest?” She nodded and I put down my cup.

The actual reason is that she’s The Hero and I didn’t prepare any other lie beside that so I hastily came up with one, well, no, I actually went on and decided to stick to what I told them yesterday, “it’s because I’m the president of our classroom,” I lied as easily as I breathed, “I want to help you guys out and I feel like you’re all my responsibility and seeing Lucille like that… well?”

“You wanted to help her because of your role?” Zyra placed her cup down, “well, good for you- and also, you were right that I’d love your brew but…” she narrowed her eyes at me, “your reason in helping us out reeks of horse dung.”

“I’m serious,” partially, at least, “I really want to help you all,”

“You aren’t offended by my disrespect? I spoke out of line just now didn't I?” I shook my head and smiled, what was she talking about? It's fine, “why?”

“Well, it’s not like it matters? It’s just the two of us and other people aren’t around to judge how we act around royalty other than me so who cares?” She frowned and I decided to add a bit of reassurance, “I personally feel that right now, we’re both equal.”

Zyra snorted, “you’re a Prophecy and this Kingdom’s princess,” she pointed out to my understanding nod, “and somehow, you think that we’re equal because what?” She narrowed her eyes, “we’re alone? Are you trying to make me comfortable?”

“Yeah,” what else was I doing?

“Is this how you get girls to sleep with you?” Her accusation made me blink.

Ah, she’s worried about that- understandable, and also, guess that particular bit of my reputation would’ve bitten me at some point, and thinking it through, Capscaria really fucked up by spreading that particular lie, I’m probably seen as a homewrecker now too.

I shook my head, “that… those rumors aren’t true,” I corrected and explained to her the reason why those kinds of rumors came about, “Capscaria- the girl, - wanted a divorce so she spread that particular lie around,”

“And the fact that she came back with you drunk? The night before?” She accused.

“That was the original reason, I wanted to help her out because I knew that other people would’ve taken advantage of her,” I pressed my lips against the cup and let the heat scald my mouth, the pain pushed a bit of my anger away but most was still there, brewing at the back of my mind.

I wanted to hit something so badly.

“Fine, let’s say that you did want to help her out, why encourage her to keep drinking during the ball? Why didn't you stop her?”

“You were there?” I questioned back, wait, is she really a member of Whirlia?

“No, but rumors have spread that you only watched as she got drunk in front of you and out of control,” she sounded skeptical for some reason and I couldn't pinpoint if it was because of the rumors she just mentioned- which I'm sure happened thanks to Nalera, - or something else entirely, “why? Why let her get drunk?”

“She wouldn’t stop,” I repeated.

“Then you should have stopped her-”

Zyra cut herself off when the door to the kitchen opened and in came Yhaine, and my eyes went over to the visible patch of skin on her stomach, it was big enough to show her belly button and her navel.

And it's all because of how tight my pajamas clung to her body. Did I mention before that I felt self conscious seeing her like this?

From the corner of my eye, with the way Zyra’s expression shifted into a frown, I can tell that she felt the same way.

“Good morning,” I placed my cup down and waved at the newcomer.

“G-gohod mownin~” She yawned before snapping forward and staring at us, and her eyes widened, “huh, I didn’t know that… Zyra was with you,”

She looked around, visibly confused, and I chose to believe her because the other possibility was her eavesdropping on us seconds prior.

And I'd rather not believe that line of thought if I could help it.

Yhaine stopped looking over the kitchen and focused on the two of us, “am I interrupting something?”

“No, you’re not,” her team member answered, “in fact, you came just in time, her majesty was making coffee for me, us, would you like to try it?”

I went along with Zyra’s politeness and adopted that kind of demeanor as well, “it’s pretty good,”

“Uhm… I don’t drink coffee,” she shook her head, “tea would be nice though?”

“Tea, huh?..” do I know how to make tea? The answer is no, I do not, “sorry but I don’t know how to make something like that,”

“It’s fine, I can make some for myself, is there any?..” she stared at me and I gestured to one of the cupboards, “ah, thank you,” she bowed in a way that… showed her- admittedly, - wide cleavage and I’m not jealous about that or- or anything. Nope.

I'm only fifteen?.. Ish? I'm sure that my chest will grow one day.

“So, where were we?” Zyra asked me suddenly and I shrugged, I didn't really have anything in mind, “ah, I remember, we were just talking about you training us and Lucille,”

Yhaine perked up, “that’s what you two were talking about?”

“Yeah,” I smiled, good for Zyra for just casually changing topics like this, “and I was just getting started so I’ll repeat what I said before you came, which is about what I'm going to be teaching you three,” I took a sip from my cup, “I wanted to help you guys learn how to recognize monster attack patterns and the marks that they make to make tracking them in a hunt easier,”

Both looked focused, even Zyra which is… good, yeah, it is, we'll continue what we were talking about earlier in the future, definitely, but for now- “and also teach you different Techniques and how to use them,”

“Oooohh, that sounds interesting,” Yhaine commented as she tiptoed to reach the tea, I stood up but Zyra shook her head and Yhaine herself shot me a confident grin, “I’m fine! I swear I’m not going to cause a mess and make things fall!”

“I know you won’t,” her words weren’t really that reassuring though. I faced Zyra again, “I’m going to teach you guys how to kite as well as how to utilize the environment in a fight,”

“Kite? Like the toy?” Zyra asked.

“No, the method- uh, basically I’m going to tell you when to move away from a monster right before it attacks,” I explained simply, “have you fought one before?”

“No,” Zyra replied, “but Lucille has, right Yhaine?”

“Right!” The girl nodded.

“If I remember correctly, it was a Grisly Spider right?” Which were level 9, back in the game, “pretty decent for a start,” I admitted.

Honestly though, you can easily cheese those guys with how small their area of attack is compared to the width of their body.

“It's nothing compared to wiping out an entire monster horde,” Zyra drawled in a slow, bored tone.

“Right! You… were the one who exterminated the monster horde forming outside her village!” Yhaine stopped trying to reach for the tea leaves and just stared at me, eyes wide, “wait, how powerful- of course you could do it, you can kill a Duke!”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Zyra nodded.

“I thought she’d tell you about it honestly,” I smiled, “I wonder what stopped her?”

“She said that she wanted it to be a surprise,” Yhaine shook her head, “kinda odd, all things considered, and also, I agree, with how much she likes to talk about you, I’d assume that she’d spout about how she met you for the first time,”

“That… shouldn’t have been our first meeting,” I denied, there's a good chance that Lucille and I met during the times I went down to the territories for aid, “she’s one of the girls I helped back then so I should have met her,”

I just don’t remember… hm. Odd. I chuckled, “and well, I guess I’m not really supposed to remember every single kid but it’s the thought that counts,”

“You helped me out as well,” Zyra said, “and since I’m fine with you not remembering me, I’m sure that Lucille isn’t holding anything out against you,”

Now I'm just confused, since when did I help Zyra?

I smiled at her attempt at consoling me, and I'll take it as a sign that she didn’t mean anything earlier and just wanted to protect Lucille.

“Thank you,” I replied, “I feel that you guys care about Lucille, a lot,”

“Oh yeah, we do,” Yhaine nodded, “not in… that way but we do care about her,”

“What she said,” Zyra hummed.

“Anyways, a Grisly Spider huh?” I grinned, “I’m guessing that Lucille told you about how she fought it and the monster’s different modes of attack?”

“Pretty much- and look! SEE?! I GOT IT!” Yhaine waved the bag of tea leaves around while I smiled wryly.

“You shouldn’t scream like that,” Zyra scolded.

“Sorry- but look! Tea leaves!”

“And… don’t jump around like that either,” Zyra added.

“She's right you know,” I wasn’t looking at Yhaine on purpose, and it was not because of jealousy either, I was just scared that she’d think I was ogling her or something. Yep.

I cleared my throat, “anyways, so the Grisly Spider has various forms of attacks and from the top of my head, they have a Stun in the form of their screech, a Trap in the form of their webbing, which they shoot out in short bursts if their life is not in danger but will rapid fire if they get damaged enough,”

“That seems accurate yes,” Zyra confirmed, “and you’re saying that you know when the monsters will shift their attacks?”

I nodded, “yeah, I mentioned a bit of my knowhow with the webbing just now,”

“Oh yeah,” Yhaine snapped her fingers, “so Grisly Spiders just start shooting out webs when they feel threatened?”

“You can say that,” I nodded, guess they’re thinking of it as an actual creature- which it is, in this context. I guess.

Well, it is alive and an actual animal…

“Okay, I wanna see what you teach us later down the line,” Zyra's acceptance got me to smile.

“I’m excited too actually! I mean- it’s you who’s teaching us!”

“It’s nothing really,” I directed my smile at Yhaine.