Chapter 9:

Eres had never understood what it meant to have your life flash before your eyes. Even when she died in her previous life, there were no such movie-like things. She died, then woke up as the current Eres. It was a somewhat disappointing affair. 

That changed the moment she registered the warmth on her hip and the words her stupid, moronic, foolish young master said. She nearly coughed blood. 

For someone weak to social pressure, the idea that an entire room of people she’d be surrounded with until adulthood were roaring at her…

Eres’s mind went blank. How had she gotten off the stage? She couldn’t remember. One moment, she was looking over a sea of people, the next she was outside having her cheek slapped by Leo.

She stared at him blankly. “Huh?”

“I asked if you were okay.”

Eres blinked twice. Leo’s face was close to hers, wrinkles etched in his forehead from worry. He looked utterly ridiculous. 

She laughed.

“...?”

“You look so dumb.”

“Huh?!”

“You look like a bulldog.”

“What…I don’t even know why I was worried about you.”

“You were worried about me? I couldn’t tell from the way you claimed my hand in marriage in front of the entire school.”

“That was necessary.”

“It was dumb. God, Leo, how are you ever going to find a wife after this…?”

“What do you mean?” He smiled at her, putting his hand on her head. “She’s right in front of me.”

Eres slapped his hand off, disdain across her face. 

“Your wife’s going to enter a convent.”

“I didn’t take you for the religious type.”

“Maybe being a nun is fun.”

He shrugged. “If you do, I’ll burn it to the ground and take you back.”

“…That’s war.”

Leo clutched a hand to his heart. “Ah!~ The things I would do for true love…”

This guy…would he really start a holy war just to avoid talking to girls?

Eres looked at him in disbelief. “Do you really hate 3D women that much?!”

He smirked. He used a finger to tilt her chin up. “Not all of them.”

Eres’s face crinkled, and she took a step back. She wrapped her arms around her body. “I’ll scream.”

Leo raised his hands threateningly. He wiggled his eyebrows as he stepped closer. 

Eres turned around and sprinted away. 

***

The academy housed its students in a separation of male and female dormitories. Naturally, Eres and Leo didn’t share the same room. 

Eres wandered around the dorm with a paper in hand, looking for her room number. She was just thankful her luggage had been sent ahead of her. So much more accommodating than that hellhole of a dorm she’d been in her previous life. She shivered, remembering the broken showers, stinky roommates and busted plumbing. 

How was some medieval dorm nicer than her old one…? Money truly was power. 

She stopped in front of her door. This was it? She pulled the key she’d been given and unlocked it. Eres pushed the door open and stepped in.

The room was empty, but for four raised beds with desks underneath, with the luggage of the occupants neatly lain in front. The frames were a nice-looking wood, but it was startlingly similar to her previous life. Apparently, even rich young ojou-samas had to share rooms. Whatever. She just hoped her roommates weren’t annoying.

She walked to the back left bed where her luggage had been placed. Damn, that bed was way too tall. Or was she short? If she fell she’d snap her neck. She stepped on the ladder and touched the mattress. 

Soft! So soft! Nothing like the lumpy mass of her old dorm. Pleased, she opened her suitcase and started unpacking. 

Eres had just hung the last uniform jacket in her closet when the doorhandle rattled. Her head turned to the side as a girl walked in. 

She was a bit taller than Eres, with brown, mousy hair, thick glasses, and a face full of freckles. She looked up at Eres and gasped.

She pointed at her, mouth agape. “You?!”

“…Me?”

She broke into a smile and rushed into the dorm, letting the door slam behind her. She approached Eres quickly, advancing even as Eres retreated to the wall, taken aback.

The girl hovered in front of her, a smile plastered across her face. Why was such an introverted looking girl so energetic?!

“Y-you’re Eres, right? Sir Leonard’s fiancée?”

“Uhh…”

“I seriously can’t believe this! Ah~! A maid and her master! So romantic! I almost died when I heard that in the audience! I was squealing when he wrapped his arm around you!”

“…”

Realizing she was being too forward, the girl blushed furiously and stepped back. “Ehm…sorry.”

“It’s…fine.”

Eres’s introverted nature came rushing forward. How does one talk? She couldn’t remember. She opened her mouth to say something, but her wits abandoned her. Ugh…it would have been better if she could have roomed with Leo. At least then she wouldn’t feel so awkward…

“Um…I-I’m Eres.”

She extended her hand forward. When in doubt, introductions are the ultimate stopgap in awkwardness. Her specialty before being reborn was avoiding real conversations with small talk no one cared about until the other party walked away. 

The girl smiled, face still red, and grasped her hand.

“I’m Arille. Arille Frey.”

“Hmm? I feel like I’ve heard your name before.”

“I was in second place for the entrance exams. Well, third, if I count both you and Sir Leonard.”

Eres blinked. That was some coincidence. Or had they been roomed with those of similar standing? 

She smiled. “99 points was seriously impressive. That test was difficult.”

It wasn’t, but telling a twelve year old how amazing they are was a surefire way to farm friendship points.

Arille smiled brightly before drooping a bit. “I still can’t believe both of you got perfect scores…I was tearing my hair out just to get second!”

Eres shook her head. “The Duchess hired impressive tutors. They were the only reason we got the score we did.”

That was a lie. Not that she needed to know that. White lies are an adult’s salve to personal relationships. Hmm? Immoral? How? It’s not like anyone could prove she was lying. No one likes an arrogant young maid who gets perfect scores from self-study. This was a dual measure of protection! Protecting the feelings of an innocent young girl, and preventing herself from getting stabbed to death by jealous peers!

Who wanted a smug classmate? Ah, you scored so high! How much did you study?

Hmm? Study? What’s that? Can’t you just do it?

Such responses would cause any self-respecting student to cough blood. As much as Eres wanted to pretend to be a genius, this was merely the result of a higher education from a previous life. If the wool were pulled from the eyes of others, she could only cry after being laughed to death from the realization she was a slacker through and through. 

It was only her hatred for Leo that unlocked her inner potential, like the 24-hour ritual of a dancing old man. 

Arille beamed. “Lady Eres, you’re so kind. I knew you were cute from your introduction, but now I want to squeeze you to death!”

“Huh? Cute? Me?”

She nodded, a playful smile lifting the corner of her lips. “Everyone was talking about how adorable you were when you stuttered. And the way you looked down after blushing…hehe, Lady Eres, you’re so cute~!”

Eres, who had the soul of a grown man, felt her pride shatter. She staggered, her back hitting the wall. She brought both hands to her forehead. 

Cute…

A toddler just called her cute. Ah? Was this social death? Maybe she should taste the wind from the top of the roof?

She sat in the wooden chair next to her, contemplating her existence. This! This was all that trashy master’s fault! 

…

Could she get away with it if she killed him? Eres’s teeth clenched as she considered sending her young master to the next reincarnation. 

The door opened suddenly, disturbing her thoughts. She and Arille both looked up as a blonde girl walked in. 

She glided in with elegant steps, looked at the occupants, and brought a hand to her lips in surprise. 

“Oh my…Eres, what a coincidence.”

Princess Celise smiled as their eyes met. 

She looked as elegant as ever. Age had matured her features somewhat, but she looked much the same as she did at her birthday party. Surprisingly, Eres felt a bit of relief at the familiar face.

“Princess Celise? Are you with us? I’m surprised you don’t have your own room.”

She waved a hand. “We’re of the same station at the academy. Please, just call me Celise.”

She walked to her luggage and began unpacking it. 

Arille, realizing she hadn’t done that yet, darted to her own and did the same. 

The room fell silent.

Eres scratched her head. So awkward…

“Do you…need help?”

The two of them looked at her, surprised, before nodding. 

***

It had been a few hours since they’d finished unpacking. Eres sat cross legged on her bed as she listened to Celise and Arille talk. Since she had little to say, the conversation naturally dipped into topics she had no idea about.

Her stomach rumbled.

“Celise, is the cafeteria open?”

The princess looked up. “It should be. Are you going now?”

Eres nodded. 

“Let’s go together then.”

“…Should we wait for our last roommate?”

Celise shook her head. “She’ll find her way here.”

Arille rubbed her stomach. “I’m starving. I hope the food’s as good as the chefs at home.”

Eres’s eyes glazed over as she remembered the black cuisine her previous school had offered. If it was anything like that, it might be better to starve to death. Should she prepare such a young girl for the harshness of reality?

…

“I’m sure it’s good,” Eres said.

They strolled out of the dorm, Arille and Celise in front, Eres walking a few steps behind. Hmm? Stride beside them? Absolutely not. It was part of the introvert’s creed to always walk behind the group, like the third wheel she was destined to be. How else could she have the, “wait by your friend while they tie their shoe” event? It was a necessary duty.

It wasn’t that they ignored her—far from it, they both had graceful social skills for their age. They always tried to include her in the conversation, asking for her opinions and commenting on things they might have in common. It was Eres who fell short.

Was it pathetic for a grown man to have inferior social prowess compared to children? Certainly. Could she fix that after over thirty years of being a shut-in?

“…”

Her eyes brightened when she saw Leo walking a distance away towards the cafeteria. Ah! My savior!

“Excuse me.”

With those words, Eres darted away from her roommates, leaving them bewildered as they watched her run. 

“Leo!”

He looked up, his face brightening as he saw her. She ran and hugged him, knocking him off balance for a moment.

Ah! Finally! Thank god. She nearly sobbed.

“Leo…please, I don’t wanna be here anymore…”

“Pfft...what’s with you?”

So weary from the extroverts haunting her room, she didn’t even care when he pat her head. 

“They talk so damn much…”

“Ah.”

Eres came back to her senses and stepped away. Her face was dark. “Leo. Would you be sad if I jumped?”

“Yeah, probably.” 

“Huh? Probably? Not definitely?”

“Why? You want me to cry?”

Eres scoffed. “You’d bawl.”

“Nah. You’re just my maid.”

“You’d cry after washing your socks for the first time. I did.”

He pretended to think. “Hmm, I guess you’re right.”

They waited in line and bantered. Eres struggled to shrug off the stares and whispers of those around them.

“Hah…Leo why did you have to do that?”

She tossed her tray of food on the table and slumped onto the bench. 

He sat beside her, scooting her to make more room. 

“I did what I had to. Do you really want kids bothering you for six years?”

“…”

He had a point. The image of a snot-nosed brat holding a bouquet of flowers in front of her crossed her mind. She shivered. Eres knew she was pretty for her age. It was truly only by the grace of the pervert sitting next to her that she could run free. 

“I wish we could share a room…I really don’t know how to talk to those two…”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “That would be problematic.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t wanna share a bathroom with you. You take forever to get ready. And you stink.”

“Me?!”

Leo smirked. 

This bastard. 

“Do you even know what you’re saying? The plants in your room wilt if I don’t clean it every day.”

“That’s my natural musk.”

“What musk? Should the ducal heir really go three days without washing because he was too busy lounging around?”

“It’s your job to make sure I don’t.”

“…”

Shameless…

Leo sighed, the sound exaggerated from faux concern. He rolled his head towards Eres.

“Well…I guess I can try to be more conscientious.”

“...?”

The corner of his lips raised. “I don’t wanna scare you off when we’re sharing a bed.”

The surrounding students looked over at the pop of her slapping the back of his head.