Opening her eyes, Natsumi was met with a familiar ceiling, and a softness that would not have been possible on the old futon that she was used to. Stretching her body, Natsumi slowly creaked awake. Waves of fatigue rolled off her back.

Turning her head she noticed a slim arm draped around her waist. Felt shivered, pressing her face further into Natsumi's arm, using it as a makeshift pillow. A small grin formed on Natsumi's face.

It seemed that a certain golden-haired girl had ended up falling asleep next to her. How cute.

She hopped out of the bed, feeling well-rested. Unlike yesterday, Natsumi had a full night of sleep. No nightmares, no chills, just a warm bed and good company. She would need to thank Felt for that.

Inspecting her attire, she noticed one particular annoying detail. Wrinkles and creases adorned the delicate fabric of her dress, and she clicked her tongue in frustration. She shouldn't have slept with the dress on.

"This will be hard to iron out…" She muttered to herself. "Do they even have those?"

Natsumi walked over to the wardrobe while holding her head in contempt. In front of it she dismissed the thought of the existence of irons and opened the wardrobe. She patted the fabric of her clothes, attempting to make some wrinkles disappear to no avail. Turning her efforts towards the towering wardrobe in her room, Natsumi began to dig through the great catalogue of clothes available.

The wardrobe was completely full of fancy dresses of various tones and colors, as well as a handful of nightgowns. Her hand waved around, unsure of what to pick. In the end she chose a green and dark dress with floral designs, long frilly sleeves and a dark blue bow.

"Carol said she had bought some clothes for me… But this is too many. I won't get to use even half of these in a hundred years," she sighed and bent her knees, opening a drawer and picking up a set of underwear.

"Everything here looks so expensive… The rooms with all the furniture, all the paintings on the walls, the food, the clothes… Don't they have something more normal?" She closed the drawer and moved back to the bed, sitting on its edge.

"Maybe I can get Carol to buy something other than dresses. I doubt they have anything like my old clothes in this world though…" She dazed off for a second as a realization came to her.

"I forgot about that. I'll have to ask about my phone, bag and about what happened to my clothes… As well as apologize to everyone." She sighed, looking at the dress lying next to her. "It's going to be a long day, so I better start now!"

She bent forward, taking her shoes away. However, as she was going to remove her leggings as well, something came to her mind.

"When I was still back on Earth, three days in the capital… Or is it just one?" She gazed upwards, deliberating, and came to a conclusion. "Well, one day at the capital for my body, as well as yesterday... I haven't taken a bath in three days."

She put her shoes back on, grabbed her clothes and headed for the door. Lightly turning the doorknob, Natsumi slowly crept outside of the room so as to not wake Felt up.

Stepping into the long hallway she made her way past the long stretches of wall on either side, skirting around the edges of the hall. She took care not to hit the various vases, statues and paintings adorning the walls.

This was her second time roaming these halls but she still could not help but marvel at the sheer size of the mansion. From the furnishing gracing the hall to the bright paintings on display that looked more like landscapes in the room.

Just how rich was Reinhard? He had to be a noble with high status, but how high was it? Could he perhaps be a friend of the king? She gulped at the implication of 'borrowing' the house of someone like him. What if she did something wrong?

There's no way she could accidentally ruin his reputation just for being here, right? And why was she allowed to live here anyways? Felt said she had made a deal… But what deal? And why did Reinhard accept in the first place?

Maybe Felt was a lost princess… She shook her head and dismissed that thought as soon as it came to her mind. It sounded too much like a predictable, boring anime cliche. She hated every time it happened. Her determination to apologize to everyone was more firm now.

However, she wouldn't budge. She wouldn't take a step inside whenever Sate- No, Emilia resided. Going anywhere near that hideous beast was impossible. The mere thought of it made her legs tremble. She traced the cuts from yesterday, where the nails had peeled her skin.

She turned her hand into a fist, tightly digging her nails against her hand, before letting go and covering the cuts with her sleeve. Thankfully, the cuts weren't deep and had already healed overnight, so no one should notice them.

After her little outburst, Natsumi remembered what she wanted to do. She was too distracted before, but now that she thought about it, where was everyone? There should be maids around… And where was the bathroom anyways?

"Good morning, Natsumi-sama." an elderly voice rang from behind.

Natsumi straightened up, dropping her change of clothes to the ground, putting her hand on her chest. She turned back and let out a long breath once she saw Carol was currently behind her, wearing the same uniform as yesterday.

"You scared me Carol… -san? How should I call you?"

"Carol is just fine, Natsumi-sama." She said, already having picked up Natsumi's clothes from the ground. "What are you doing so early in the morning, Natsumi-sama?" She handed the clothes back and put her hand on her cheek.

"Early? What hour is it, Carol?"

"Young Master is due to wake up in around two hours. It's still dark outside."

"Oh… I had a lot of things in my mind so I didn't look at the clock." Natsumi deviated her gaze away.

"Are you heading to the bath, Natsumi-sama? I shall help you then."

"How did you- Nevermind, the clothes must have given it out. There's only one place I could go with a change of clothes in hand." Both girls giggled. "Please show me the way, Carol."

"It would be my pleasure."

As they were walking through the halls, an awkward silence had slithered its way in between the two.

Natsumi had never been the most charismatic; she could admit that but even for her this was just sad. They had been walking for what seemed like ages and neither had said a word to each other. Attempting to break the silence, Natsumi made the first move.

"Carol," Natsumi said. "I…" the words she had thought of left her mind and she blabbered the first thing to come to her mind. "I'm sorry for yesterday. I… It's a long story. Sorry for ruining the clothes you gave me as well."

"You don't need to worry, Natsumi-sama." Carol warmly smiled. "Now, we have arrived." Carol put her hand on the doorknob, twisting it and waiting for Natsumi to enter.

Coming out of the bathroom, Natsumi exhaled a long breath.

"I feel so good now…" Walking behind her was Carol, dressed in an identical uniform as before. How many did she have?

"A good bath in the morning is essential to maintain a lady's skin." Carol said as Natsumi turned back to face her. "But Natsumi-sama, please refrain from waking up so early. It requires time to prepare everything up to the golden standards of the Astrea House. I am afraid that… Natsumi-sama? What are you doing?" Carol was confused as Natsumi was currently flailing her arms around while bending her knees.

"Hm? Ah, these are radio calisthenics. I do them every morning after a bath, they help me stay fit. Do you want to join?" She asked, still doing her daily exercise. Being in another world was no excuse to skip her routine.

"I'm afraid I'll have to pass, Natsumi-sama. I'm certain my dear husband must have already woken up, so I must help him in the kitchen." She bowed. "If you'll excuse me."

"Ah, wait!" Natsumi called out to Carol, who had turned back and started walking down the hallway. "Can I help?"

Carol put her hand to her cheek, before shaking her head.

"I'm extremely sorry Natsumi-sama. While I accept your gratitude, as headmaid I cannot allow an honored guest to help with the servant duties in any way. What would people think if word spread of the Astreas making their guests work as servants?" Carol affirmed, crossing her arms.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I… I didn't think things through. But what will I do now? You said Reinhard will wake up in two hours, so that leaves me with an hour and a half of nothing to do…" Natsumi said dejectedly.

"Hm… Are you interested in visiting the library, Natsumi-sama? You could pass the time reading some of the books in there." Carol asked, bringing her hands to her hips.

"Books?" Natsumi raised her head. "Yes, I'd love it!"

"If I get to read some books I should learn some things about this world." she thought.

"Then please, follow me."

The duo walked in silence for a few minutes. Or the closest thing to silence. Natsumi's shoes clacked against the ground, yet Carol's did not. She fixed a glance at Carol's footwear, they weren't flat. Why did they not make any sound?

Was Carol hiding things? She seemed to be an innocent maid. Natsumi shivered and rubbed her arm. Puck had seemed so innocent as well. She shook her head, casting that thought away. Carol was a nice girl, unlike that hideous beast. They even bathed together, so there was no way she could have any secret intention towards her.

Even if she did, Reinhard seemed to trust her. And she was completely sure Reinhard would never hurt her.

Having arrived at the library, Carol opened the door. The scent of old books filled Natsumi's nostrils.

"You're free to read anything you wish. Please be sure to return any book you pick up to its previous position, Natsumi-sama. I shall return once breakfast is ready." With those words, Carol bowed and left Natsumi all to herself.

Natsumi walked in, closing the door as she stepped inside the library. Bookcases adorned every wall of the room, except for one space directly in front of the door where a window was located. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with some paper, quills and some coloured rocks. After seeing them all over the mansion, she made a mental note to investigate what they were.

She walked around, dragging her fingers across the leather tapes covering every spot on the shelves. In the end she picked up a random book and carried it back to the table in the middle. Sitting down, she opened the book.

She then looked at the ceiling, dragging her palm along her face with a sigh. In her excitement, she had forgotten about one simple, crucial detail.

"Oh right. I can't read a thing." She rested her head on the table and groaned, "what's the point of going to a library if you can't read? I should have done something else. Maybe just stay in my room."

She sighed, "I want to read manga. And I forgot to ask about my clothes and stuff too." After what seemed like an eternity, she straightened up, stood from her seat and returned the book back where it was.

"Even if I look I won't find anything I can read, right?" Despite her words, she chose some more books at random. She dropped them on top of the table and then did the same on the other selves until she ended with a pile of around twenty books. Some were small, short books while others were thick.

All of them had one thing in common, they were all unreadable. The glyphs inside held no meaning to her. All of them, except for one.

Nothing in particular about it called Natsumi's attention. It was a simple old book, if it could be called that. The pages had a yellow tint to them and seemed like they would crumble into dust if she accidentally exerted too much force. Some had been torn off, as evidenced by small parts of paper between some pages.

Each page had some text and numbers below. The text was the same gibberish she had seen in every other book… except for some parts. Below each paragraph she could read… something. It wasn't perfect, but Japanese characters were written there, and she knew the meaning of them.

"By the amount indicated below…" She squinted her eyes trying to read, not daring to touch the sheet in case it broke off. "Hoshin of the Wasteland sells… stars?" Was she reading it right? Did time erode the ink away making some words lose meaning?

"Sells stars to…" She clicked her tongue. Whoever bought something had his name written in the language she couldn't understand.

To further spite, the details of what had been sold were only on the characters she couldn't understand. All she knew was that he paid a lot for it as evidenced by the amount of zeroes. Or perhaps money had a far inferior value in the past. This bill was old, maybe a hundred years old or more. It's impossible for money to hold the same value for so long.

Carefully, she moved onto the next page. It strongly resembled the previous one. And so did the next one, and the one after that, until she gave up midway through since all of them looked the same. The same guy, Hoshin, selling 'stars' for what seemed like ludicrous amounts of money.

Natsumi laid back on the chair, deliberating about what this could possibly mean.

"Why could Japanese possibly be here? Just a lucky coincidence? No, that can't be it. Did someone else come to this world before me then? If they came, does that mean they managed to escape this world?" She had too many questions and no way to solve them. Thankfully, a gentle knock on the door distracted Natsumi from her thoughts.

"Natsumi-sama." Carol's voice rang from behind the door.

"Carol? Ah, is breakfast ready?" Natsumi stood up, walking to the door and opening it. "I got distracted and time flew…"

"Did you find a book of your liking?" Carol asked. Natsumi nodded in answer.

"It made me feel a little nostalgic," Natsumi said.

Carol raised her eyebrow, "Nostalgic? What was the book about?"

"It was about a guy called Hoshin selling a lot of stars," she replied.

"Ah, Hoshin of the Wilderness!" Carol clapped her hands together. "Are you from Kararagi, Natsumi-sama?"

"Ah? Uhm, sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about…" Natsumi deviated her gaze while fidgeting.

"Hm?" Carol's eyes opened in confusion. "You don't know where Kararagi is?" Natsumi looked at the ground, her cheeks now red of embarrassment.

"I don't even know where I am…" She covered her flushed face with her hands.

"We're in the Astrea residence in the Royal Capital of Lugunica."

"That's now that I meant… I don't know what Lugunica is…" She drifted off, too embarrased to keep speaking. Carol's eyes widened for a split second.

"I'm sorry, Natsumi-sama. Someone like me does not have the status to inquire about personal details," she said as she bowed. "I should have never asked."

Natsumi removed her hands from her face and waved them in front of it. "You don't need to, Carol! It's nothing serious, trust me."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. It's not something you need to worry or apologize about. Also, can we go eat breakfast? I'm starving," Natsumi said.

Carol giggled. "As you wish, Natsumi-sama. Allow me to guide you." She turned back and the duo started walking towards the dining room.

Arriving at the dining room, Natsumi and Carol were welcomed by an exotic sight. Felt, still wearing the same colorful dress as yesterday, had one foot on a chair and the other on top of the table with her arms crossed. Reinhard was at her side, sitting on his knees for a reason neither understood.

"This is this and that is that! I'm hungry so I'll eat, then I'll go do something else! That's how I live!"

"But Felt-sama…" Reinhard weakly objected.

"No buts!" Felt slammed her left fist into the chair. Noticing Natsumi and Carol stepping through the door, Felt jumped out of the chair and dashed next to Natsumi.

"Big Sis!" She smiled in front of Natsumi, her fang peeking through.

"Felt," Natsumi stared with disappointment at the golden-haired girl, "did you not change your clothes?"

"It was his fault!" Felt pointed her right finger at Reinhard while shaking her other fist. "Grimm woke up and left without saying a word so I assumed breakfast was ready, but then I came inside and that bastard tried to take me away! Saying some bullshit like 'it's not ladylike to sleep with a dress on' she said, mocking his speech.

"Ya should have just given me my normal clothes instead of this shitty dress!" She grabbed the hem of her skirt, lifting it to prove her point. "I can't walk with this, I feel like I'm going to trip with every step!"

Natsumi stared down at Felt and then at Reinhard, who had stood up and turned back.

"Felt, stop throwing a tantrum. Just eat breakfast, change clothes and remember to sleep in pajamas and not in a dress," Natsumi gently scolded Felt.

"Yes," She gave up, puffing her cheeks while her eyes remained downcast, looking like a cute little hamster.

"And you Reinhard," Natsumi deviated her gaze, toying with a strand of her hair. "I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. About going to Roswaal's mansion…" her words stuck on her throat, unable to come out.

She let go of her hair, tightly hugging her knuckles until they went pale. The image of a frozen landscape plagued her mind. Puck's colossal form rose in the horizon, and she was slowly turned into a broken ice statue. Her breathing sped up.

Frost slowly advanced along her arm and she felt the need to scrape it away. Natsumi tried to shove the thoughts down.

She wasn't being frozen over by Puck.

She was in the Astrea mansion, talking to Reinhard after lightly scolding Felt.

Somehow, it worked. The illusion in her mind faded away and she managed to calm herself. She took a deep breath, exhaled and repeated a few times.

"I won't go to Roswaal's mansion." A mental battle that seemed to go for minutes had taken place in less than a few seconds.

"Understood, Natsumi-sama. I apologize for bringing up the subject in the first place."

"So?" Felt interrupted. "Can we eat now? I'm hungry."

"Sure." Natsumi attempted to pat the little girl's head, but she noticed and moved out of the way. "Let's go take a seat."

As if he had been waiting, Grimm entered through the kitchen door as soon as everyone took their seats, carrying a silver tray in each hand. Carol disappeared behind the door, soon returning with a platter of various delicacies.

The wafting smell traveled through the air and made Felt's mouth water. Tapping her feet in anticipation Felt howled, "Come on come on bring the grub already!"

Grimm laid the plates down and Felt rushed to eat. However, as she was about to pick some food with her bare hands, she looked at the front and saw Carol locking eyes with her. She forced a smile on her and grabbed a fork and a knife.

Having finished eating breakfast, Natsumi put her plate aside.

"Now, Reinhard, can we keep discussing what we were yesterday?" Natsumi asked. Reinhard put his dishes to a side so that Grimm could pick them up, and talked,

"Understood, Natsumi-sama. While you were asleep, Felt-sama and I struck a deal. Since I had accidentally destroyed the loothouse," his eyes held a hint of regret and remorse. "You, Rom-sama and Felt-sama could stay here for as long as it takes for it to be repaired."

"Has Old Man Rom still not healed yet?" Felt asked, rhythmically tapping the table.

"I'm afraid Rom-sama still needs to recover for two more days," Carol said.

In response, Felt let out a sigh of disappointment. Then, Carol handed a sheet of paper to both Felt and Natsumi.

"Since you'll be staying at a noble's house for the next month, grandmother decided to educate both of you," Reinhard said.

"The opportunity of learning in a noble's environment is highly valued, and I'm certain both of you will appreciate it," Carol said as she eyed Felt, her gentle eyes turning into dangerously narrow slits. Felt trembled slightly as she locked eyes with the menacing maid, and obediently agreed, nodding her head like a downtrodden pup.

As Natsumi watched this display, she gulped as a singular thought ran through her head, "Don't mess with Carol."

"The schedule for each class is described in the sheet I gave you. However, today we'll make an exception and start in half an hour. Are there any doubts?" Carol asked. Felt shook her head while Natsumi was still squinting her eyes trying to understand the weird symbols scrawled on the parchment. She opened her mouth as if wanting to say something. After a quick look at Reinhard, sitting in front of her, she shut it close.

"No doubts then. I'll meet you all in the library in fifteen minutes," Carol said.

Natsumi and Felt stood up from their seats. Natsumi approached Felt, taking her hand while waving at Carol with her free hand.

"We'll go there then. See you later Reinhard," Natsumi waved to him as well. Leading Felt by the hand, they both left the room.

Carol turned to Reinhard.

"The carriage has been prepared, Young Master. You're leaving to meet Commander Marcos, right?"

"Yes. I need to inform him that I'll be taking a momentary leave from my duties," he answered.

"Is it due to Felt-sama? Won't you inform her of her status?" Carol said, holding a tint of disappointment in her eyes.

"I cannot. Felt-sama would refuse to participate in the Royal Selection if she knew."

"Is that why you're keeping it a secret?" Carol put her hands on her hips, as she did back when scolding Reinhard when he was a child. "Maybe Natsumi-sama can convince her."

"I'm afraid I can't take that risk." His voice held a melancholic tone. "I cannot fail the kingdom twice. I am it's sword."

As Reinhard had no intention of giving up, Carol dropped the conversation and looked at Grimm, who was standing in silence behind Reinhard.

"Dear, please drive the Young Master to the castle. I'll take care of Felt-sama and Natsumi-sama's lessons. If you'll excuse me." She bowed and headed for the door.

Leaving the room, Carol thought about Felt's future lessons. A child from the slums running for the throne… She would need to work hard.

Politics, geography, history, mathematics… Felt would need to learn all of that and more, and she needed to make sure Felt didn't realize why she was being taught. Being a teacher for a Royal Candidate without the Royal Candidate knowing… Her hardest task so far by a long shot.

As if Felt wasn't enough, she needed to teach Natsumi as well. Did she truly have no idea of where Lugunica was? That sounded impossible, but then again, she'd once thought humans rising from the dead was impossible as well.

Turning a corner, she was surprised to hear no sounds. She expected Felt to complain about classes. Perhaps her little warning had been too effective? Opening the door, she was welcomed by the sight of Felt and Natsumi whispering between them. Once they noticed her, they both shut up and straightened up in their seats.

"Before we start, am I wrong to assume you both know how to read and write?" she asked.

Felt shook her head. "No! Old Man Rom taught me the I-glyphs so I could read prices, notes and some other stuff to not get scammed."

"And you Natsumi-sama?" She noticed Natsumi deviating her gaze. "It's something wrong?" she asked.

"Ah, it's just that you'll be our teacher, right?" Natsumi started toying with her hair. "It was too embarrassing to admit so I didn't mention it but…" As she spoke, her figure seemed to become smaller and smaller, as if the earth was swallowing her for talking about the subject. "I… I can't read or write." Her face was fully red and she didn't have the courage to look at either Carol or Felt.

"You don't know, Big Sis?" Felt asked with her eyes wide open. "Even if I don't know the Ro and Ha glyphs I still know the I-glyphs!"

"Please don't say anything…" She buried her head in her hands.

"Do not worry, Natsumi-sama," her voice held a motherly tone. "I'll make sure to turn you into a refined lady. By the end of your stay here you'll know anything you might possibly need." Her lips curved into a smug smile.

Despite her enthusiasm, her lessons turned out to be far more difficult than she had predicted.

Technically this is Monday where I live so I already fucked up the schedule. Blame Dyn. Anyways enjoy the chapter and please leave as many reviews as you can! It's always a great help for us to hear your guy's thoughts. Also massive thank you to GIGACHADS Bob Doorman and Pidgie, for helping out with this chapter!