When she awoke, Lycoris felt oddly sore around her back, her eyes stung, and her head felt heavy. She momentarily panicked, thinking she’d somehow slipped back into drinking again…

 But when she bolted upright, heart palpitating, she was greeted by her big comfy bed and its lavender sheets, in the safety of her mother’s home.

 Though, the silk camisole she was wearing had hiked up her back for some reason…

 “Agh!”

 When she turned around in bed, Lycoris banged her wing against one of the corner posts holding up the canopy, letting out a gasp of pain as her new appendages revealed their presence once more.

 And reminded her that she’d soured the end of what should have been a perfect evening…

 Her mood plummeting, Lycoris reached for her precious locket tucked into her bedside table’s drawer, flopped back down into bed with her nightwear still awkwardly positioned, and curled her wings around herself as she cradled Mizar.

 “I wonder what you’d say, if you saw them… Would you laugh at me for having these while being so afraid of heights, or… would you call them pretty?”

＊

 Athena had been… remarkably not busy, despite it being the second day of Moonsend.

 Typically around this time, she’d be busy coordinating with the rest of the staff to clean up after the party, ensure favors were distributed to all the guests, double-check that everything was in order within the palace, and ensure that Her Majesty’s social media had properly uploaded all the content from the night before.

 If she had been given a proper military education, she probably would have been in charge of arranging the guards’ shifts as well.

 Well, she still had to manage the social media account, and it was significantly more involved this year, considering she’d been saddled with the task of posting the best photos of Her Highness Princess Lycoris. It had been a monumental undertaking, given how impossibly photogenic the girl was.

 But the rest of her normal work had all been outsourced to other members of Her Majesty’s staff, which left Athena with a vast amount of free time to spend worrying over whether they were all doing a good enough job.

 Instead, she waited patiently outside of Her Highness’ room, checking the time on her phone. Currently, it was ten till seven.

 Lycoris always woke up at almost exactly six each morning, even on the occasions when she stayed up past her bedtime the night prior, and would spend an hour in quiet meditation.

 It was a remarkable amount of discipline for a girl her age to demonstrate, and Athena felt some strange sense of second-hand pride. She wasn’t Lycoris’ mother—she’d never dare to try and step on Her Majesty’s toes—but it was a trait worth lauding all the same.

 Still, I worry she’s pushing herself too hard, even after Her Majesty had that heart-to-heart with Her Highness about taking care of herself… Maybe I should ask if she’d like to sleep in, or otherwise just take it easy for her birthday.

 The Exaltare would be busy preparing for the roundtable conference at the Spire in a few weeks, and it sounded as though the matter with the geolles had only grown more complicated…

 At exactly seven o'clock, Athena softly knocked on the door.

 “Your Highness, may I enter?”

 … … …Normally, Lycoris would have responded immediately.

 “Your Highness?”

 Athena quietly slid the door open and peered inside.

 For the first time since she became Lycoris’ personal maid, she saw the girl curled up under the sheets, rather than sitting up with her eyes closed.

 …Hehe, I bet the festivities last night really tuckered her out. I’ll come back to check on her later.

 Giggling quietly to herself, Athena closed the door and decided to busy herself with a little cleaning instead.

 ＊　＊　＊

 Lycoris woke up somehow more tired than before, but also quite relaxed. Her clothing still felt uncomfortable, and the numb tingling from one of her wings was probably what woke her up to begin with, but it seemed as though her body had decided on its own she needed the extra rest.

 When was the last time she had even considered sleeping in? She couldn’t recall if there’d ever been such a day in her life.

 “Good morning, Your Highness. Did you have a pleasant sleep?”

 Athena always announced her presence before opening the door, but for the first time since they established their routine, Lycoris wasn’t already sitting up and meditating.

 And Athena was already standing inside the room, waiting patiently near the door.

 “Mmmmh… wait, what are you doing in here already?” Lycoris grumbled, sitting up in bed and tenderly stroking her numb wing.

 “Are you alright, Your Highness? …You seem a little ruffle—oh my…”

 “It’s fine. I just… had an eventful night with Mom.”

 The princess slowly sat up and rubbed her bleary eyes, the rubbing of her wings against silky sheets causing goosebumps to break out across her skin.

 Perhaps it was because she looked so unguarded, but Athena reacted with even more skittishness than usual.

 The maid cleared her throat and averted her gaze, “M-My sincerest apologies, Princess! I didn’t realize you had… uhm. Shall we get you dressed?”

 “Why are you acting like you just walked in on me in the middle of… nevermind.”

 Lycoris stared at her for a long moment, before sliding off the bed and fumbling with her camisole. She frowned as she twirled about in place, not wanting to accidentally rip the thin piece of fabric by pulling too hard.

 “Is it really that embarrassing to see someone else’s wings? I thought Mom’s looked really pretty.”

 “No, Your Highness. It’s not your wings but… well…”

 Athena gestured toward Lycoris with a kind smile.

 “You’re exposing your backside.”

 “Hgk!”

 Lycoris hopped around on the spot and covered her butt with her hands.

 A beat later,

 “Wait, but you change my clothes all the time. Ah, right you already… Athena, be honest; do I seem out of sorts today?”

 “Hmm… Well, pardon my honesty but you do seem a little more absentminded than usual, but also brimming with vim and vigor! Perhaps the extra sleep was just what you needed. And your wings do look adorable and magnificent. Not that I’d expect anything less of the Exaltare’s daughter! What’s it like to fly around?”

 “Oh, uhm… I… don’t know.”

 Her arms fell to her sides as she hung her head, staring down at the carpeted floor. It was hard to bear the guilt stabbing at her. It technically wasn’t even the first present her mother gave her, but it felt terrible to let her down.

 Perhaps it was Lilianna’s loving acceptance of her flaw, instead of resentment or rejection, that left Lycoris feeling so much worse about it herself.

 “You don’t know?”

 “I was too scared to try flying at all.”

 “Ahhh. Well that makes a lot of sense, really!”

 “…It, it does?”

 Lycoris looked up at Athena, blinking away the tears that’d nearly started flowing.

 “Well, yeah! I’ve never flown before, the idea alone sounds absolutely terrifying! It’s bad enough having to climb those tall ladders to dust the ceilings, I can scarcely imagine flying. What if I messed up and broke an arm? I’d be worthless to Her Majesty and Your Highness, completely unfit for labor! You’d have to fi…fuh…f…fire… me,” she choked out, clearing her throat after. “*ahem* Not that I even have wings. But still, the hypothetical of it is scary enough! There’s no need to get so down over such a natural reaction, Princess.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

 Athena took a knee before Lycoris, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling softly, her warm gold eyes and gentle encouragement reminding the little princess an awful lot of a certain other princess…

 “Now, before you catch cold, let’s get you dressed for the day. It’ll be noon before you know it, and I’m sure you don’t want to spend the entire day in your pajamas. …Impudent as it is of me to say, but, perhaps you should put your wings away? It’d make it easier to get dressed, and I’ve heard it’s not good manners to walk around with them stretched out like that!”

 “I know that already. Mom made sure to tell me, but… I ended up passing out before she could tell me how to… put them away.”

 “…Hm. That is an issue. She’s in the middle of a meeting with the leaders of the Geolle investigation task force, it might be a while before we can ask for assistance.”

 Lycoris contemplated for a long moment while Athena set about making the bed for her.

 “… …Actually, I might have an idea.”

 Over the course of her “intensive” training to prepare for her formal debut into society, Lycoris had learned that not all vampires could perform magic the way she and her mother could. In fact, the specific art she was practicing—storing things within her own blood—was something that only particularly pure-blooded vampires could even attempt.

 Given that only said pure-blooded vampires possessed proper wings, Lycoris presumed that these abilities stemmed from the same root. She realized this had to have been what Lilianna meant about teaching her “backwards”.

 Lycoris wryly smiled as she recalled the previous night.

 It would be nice if she could manage similar feats, twirling and spiraling through the sky, unconstrained by the rules governing everyone else.

 But of course, that’d also mean being dozens, if not hundreds of feet up in the air…

 Lycoris shook off the hair-raising thought and instead focused on the disappointingly useless appendages, opting for the same metaphor that her mother had described, visualizing herself pulling her arms into her sleeves while simultaneously “inserting” them back inside of herself like the knife she had practiced with before.

 There was a remarkably uncomfortable sensation, like she was sucking in her gut while someone was pressing their hands against her back. After the unpleasant sensation passed, there was a lingering sense of pressure—or perhaps soreness—on her lower back, along with the sensation of her nightwear sliding down.

 “I wonder if I’m finally starting to feel my age,” she mumbled, doing some light hip stretches.

 “Does Your Highness have anything in mind for today’s schedule? As I said, Her Majesty has already left for her first meeting of the day. She was in such a rush that she didn’t get the chance to… tell me what she intended for you today.”

 “Now that you mention it, isn’t it bizarre for her to be meeting with someone so early? Is it that big of an emergency?”

 “Early— Your Highness, it’s almost noon.”

 “Wh…What!?”

 Lycoris turned to look at the clock—an analog one, at her request—set on her bedside table. Sure enough, it was a quarter ‘til noon bell.

 She’d actually slept in for far longer than she realized. Perhaps that was why she felt so stiff…

 It was alarming to think that her diligence could slip so far quite literally overnight. But maybe that wasn’t the worst thing…

 How often did I tell my troops that proper rest is important for staying in top form? And yet, I never allowed myself the same luxury… Not that I really ever had much opportunity.

 Lycoris fell into thought as she held out her arms, wordlessly signalling Athena to assist in changing her into a surprisingly reserved one-piece dress. They’d gone through the same morning routine so often that the maid had internalized her body language; as she sat down, back straight, in front of the vanity, Athena already had a brush in hand to tame her bedhead.

 “Hmm… I suppose now that the secret is out, I can wander the palace at my leisure, right?”

 She glanced at Athena’s reflection in the mirror, careful to not suddenly jerk her head around and cause any unpleasant tugging.

 “I wouldn’t dare put words in Her Majesty’s mouth. Doubtless she would still not want you to leave the premises, even in my company. But… just walking about the palace doesn’t really sound out of the question. However, if we’re to present you in public, we’ll have to fancy you up a little first!”

 It did also mean that she’d have to be on her best behavior, and not do anything that would seem inappropriate for a princess, however…

 Lycoris sighed and plopped her chin onto her palm, drumming the desk with her fingers.

 “There is something I’ve been itching to do since the moment I accepted my role here, but parade grounds would technically be outside of the palace huh…”

 “Parade grounds? What do you mean, Princess?”

 “Like a castle courtyard. You know, like where soldiers go to… train? Now that I think about it, this building isn’t laid out to accommodate something like that. I guess the training grounds must be located elsewhere.”

 “Oh! You mean a military base? I believe the closest one is to the northwest, in the Drimus’ duchy. I definitely don’t think Her Majesty would allow you to take a week-long trip up there.”

 She finished tending to Lycoris’ hair, tying it up into her usual bouncy twintails and setting her favorite chrysanthemum hairpins in. Moving on to having her face powdered, the girl was forced to fall silent for a while to avoid a coughing fit.

 They’d definitely gone through that song and dance enough times for one lifetime… or… two?

 So they do their training outside of the capital? That seems like a pretty big safety hazard, what if they were cut off from deploying to Ljosdeyja, what if something happened… to… Mama. I guess she’d be the last person to require protection from Human infiltrators. Though if her knights weren’t present and Mizar had been able to fight her like he was supposed to, then… I wouldn’t…

 Wait wait, why am I even thinking about that? Besides, with how many guards she has in her employ, there has to be some sort of facility inside the palace to at least house them, if not also keeping them sharp…

 Lycoris reached for the locket around her neck, only to realize that she’d left it under her sheets… which Athena had already tended to.

 She whipped her face around to look for it in a panic, and Athena let out a yelp of terror as she violently wrenched her hands away.

 “Your Highness! I nearly stabbed your eye with the mascara brush. What’s wrong!?”

 “Ah, oops… Sorry, I got distracted thinking about Mizar…”

 Her shoulders sagged as shame set upon her. She turned back around and fidgeted with her hands in her lap, feeling somewhat silly. She could just pick it up after. There was no reason to be so anxious about forgetting a small thing like that.

 “Hmmn, that human again, huh? Pardon my prodding, Princess, but did you happen to encounter them during the recent incursion? I’m not really sure how that would work, considering where your room is situated, but… Perhaps… they spared your life, plying you with romantic lies and gestures?”

 “Hudgschbwat!?” Lycoris choked, her blush-covered cheeks darkening a deep purple beneath the thin layer of makeup.

 “Oh dear… Is that why Your Highness was so obsessed with calling yourself Human? A forbidden first crush… I won’t say anything to Her Majesty, don’t worry.” Athena winked, apparently getting completely the wrong message. “I’m sure it goes without saying, but while a human might look cute—”

 “No! He’s not… I’m… He was my…”

 Lycoris floundered, realizing it would be pointless to try and explain that Mizar had been her student, and a miraculous figure besides, a veritable warrior-saint chosen by the Goddess Herself to bring judgment to the vampires. Or at least, he was supposed to have done that…

 Lycoris knew that Athena had long since decided “Lycoris is Lilianna’s daughter, a naturally-born vampire,” and no amount of explanation or circumstantial evidence would convince her otherwise.

 Instead, she fell quiet as her thoughts lingered on her companions. Normally, she would have spent her morning revisiting their long journey, ensuring that she hadn’t forgotten anything.

 But after spending the morning sleeping, she wondered if her daily ritual wasn’t just an overreaction to forgetting her own name—something she hadn’t felt particularly attached to anyways.

 Perhaps it was better to spend that time on something more productive. There’d been no signs of her memories degrading any further after all, and… as she thought about Mizar, a strange ticklish warmth prickled on her skin.

 Why did she have to make such a ridiculous assumption!? Honestly, this maid…

 Once Athena finished with her makeup, Lycoris pressed her lips together and examined her own radiant face in the mirror.

 It’d taken an extra laborious amount of time, as she’d forgotten to wipe off the cosmetics from last night. Thankfully Athena didn’t give her an earful for it, maybe because she’d been so tired that she actually slept in for once.

 After begrudgingly allowing Athena to clip sapphire earrings to her ears and cover her plain dress with a light blue vest and a shawl, Lycoris’ preparations for the day were finished.

 At last, she could get some proper bearings in the palace that’d become her home.