「Fnnhyaa...」 groggy, Percibell gets up while rubbing her eye with one hand. Looking around, she finds herself naked under a thick, red quilt.

Besides her, under the same quilt, lies Rosaria, and next to her is Xal. Both are sleeping soundly while hugging each other tightly.

「Fueeh—?」 Percibell looks at them with a confused face. 「Fueeeeehhhh—!?」

She lets out a surprised yelp with twitching ears, loud enough to wake up Rosaria.

「Nnnggh... Oh, be silent... won't you...?」 Rosaria groggily murmurs while getting up.

「Eh... Miss Melan? What's this?」 Percibell asks while looking around the room, blinking repeatedly.

Rosaria yawns with her hands stretched above her head, 「Hm, this? You passed out yesterday so I cleaned you up again and put you here,」

She turns her gaze towards the sleeping Xal and mutters, 「Hnn... Let's let him sleep for a little longer. You come with me.」

Sliding the quilt off herself, she starts pushing Percibell out of the bed.

「E... eh? What?」

Rosaria leaves her behind and, having no choice, Percibell hops off and follows her out of the room.

「W-will you explain what's going on? And why are we naked? Who's that man?」 she asks while covering her body with her hands and walking behind Rosaria with quick steps.

They enter the first door down the hallway, on the right. Inside is a small bathroom, only big enough for around five people to stand in, shoulder-to-shoulder.

A washbasin is standing on top of a tall stool. A big mirror with gold decorations is attached to the wall behind it. On the sides, walls are shelves filled with several cleaning brushes, sponges and towels.

「Here, wash your face and brush your teeth,」 commands Rosaria as she hands out a toothbrush and a small towel in one hand while filling warm water in the washbasin with the other hand.

Percibell takes the items without thinking, and soon both of them are staring in the mirror, cleaning their teeth with synchronized movements.

However, after a while, once the elf's eyes become focused and she gets out of her daze, she freezes up.

「Huh...?」 she mutters, toothbrush still in her mouth.

She leans closer to the mirror and blinks a couple of times, as if not quite understanding what she's seeing.

Taking the toothbrush out, she looks at the side of her head.

「... eh? My hair...?」

Her face gradually starts turning grim while she turns her body to the other side, eyes still focused on the mirror. Her eyes jut around anxiously and beads of sweat appear on her forehead.

「My hair... What happened to my hair...?」 she carefully asks, almost inaudibly, with a shaky voice. Afraid to hear the answer, she looks at Rosaria fearfully in the mirror.

The princess returns her gaze while still brushing her teeth.

「What? Are you- excuse me,」 the princess begins, before realizing the toothbrush is still in her mouth. She takes it out, spits out the foam, under Percibell's stare, cleans her face with the warm, wet towel.

「Are you done yet?」 Rosaria asks matter-of-factly with raised eyebrows, ignoring her question.

「M-my hair...」 Percibell stutters, disbelief on her face.

「Come with me,」 the princess commands, urging the elf to move.

Having washed up with wet towels, they leave the room, wrapped in dry ones. Percibell follows Rosaria to a different room across the hallway.

「Wait, no, stop! Can I get an explanation of what's going on!?」 the elf demands.

Rosaria turns her head and looks at her momentarily with piercing eyes, causing Percibell to hesitate and take a step back with drooping ears. Her hands instinctively reach for her long hair, failing to find it.

「That's what I'm about to do. We're here,」 Rosaria declares while opening a door. She enters a spacious room that only has a few pieces of furniture. A small table with an upholstered chair is situated in the corner, with an empty bookshelf next to it. On the opposite end, there is a simple couch with an identical pattern on the upholstery, and beside it, a french window. The walls are covered with a faded wallpaper with diamond-shaped light blue patterns, almost imperceptible against the off-white background.

「This used to be his old study room, but he outgrew it in just a month and had to move to a larger one. This is where you'll be staying.」

「Eh—?」 A dumbfounded look appears on Percibell's face and she tilts her head.

「Ahh... right... I didn't get to introduce you yesterday, damn that Xal,」 Rosaria shakes her head while touching her forehead.

「Alright, sit here, and I'll explain everything,」 she adds.

Percibell does as told. Still wearing a confused and shocked look on her face, she looks up at Rosaria.

「Fine then... So, my name is Rosaria. I'm the eldest Princess of the Human Kingdom. You've heard of me, right? I was with Hero when we defeated the Demon King.」

「Eh...?」

「That man you just saw earlier is Xalvari. You should know him too. He too was part of Hero's party.」

「Eh......?」 Percibell shuffles a bit while she interjects.

「You're going to become his concubine. That's why you'll be staying here. This room belongs to you now.」

「Eh—?」

「Is eh the only thing you can say?」 Rosaria sighs while supporting herself with one hand on the table, and a disapproving look on her face.

「Eh- No wait, wait, what? What?!」 Percibell shouts, clutching her temples with both hands with her eyes wide open and gaze shifted downwards onto the table.

「Well, I'll allow you some time to process it,」 Rosaria says and readjusts her towel before leaning against a wall.

A long time passes in silence, with only the birds' morning chorus coming from outside the window. Percibell occasionally feels around for her hair and peeks at Rosaria with a confused look only to be met with a smile.

「No...!」 A resolute Percibell turns her gaze upwards to meet Rosaria's eyes, 「T-that's not gonna happen. You tricked me, didn't you, miss Melan? And please stop with the lies...!」

Rosaria, as if happy to finally be relieved of the long silence, exhales and smiles.

「I wouldn't call it trickery. That's too harsh of a word. There was nothing I did that you didn't agree to. And what do you mean by lies?」

「I didn't agree to anything! And t-there is no way you're Princess Rosaria, after all, she should be living in the Human Kingdom capital with the Hero, and I don't know about any Xalvari,」 the elf says.

Rosaria sighs.

「Listen, whether you believe that part or not doesn't matter. This isn't about me. I've already decided that you're going to support Xal as a concubine.」

Percibell clenches her fists and turns her gaze down again.

「And I refuse! If... if you really are her... are you... trying to use your authority as the Princess? Y-you can't order me, you have no power over those from the Elf Kingdom!」

Rosaria crosses her arms and smirks.

「That may be so, but I'm not commanding you. I'm just telling you how it is. You have no choice in the matter.」

Percibell's eyes tear up and she bites her lips.

「But, but... why me...?」

Rosaria puts both her hands on the table and leans over.

「I simply took a liking to you. Yesterday, I spent hours searching for someone suitable until I found you. You're very pretty, even for an elf. You also had no sexual experience... You checked all the boxes, that's all,」 she explains.

Silence fills the room once more, and Percibell's tears hit the table, echoing loudly in her head, like hammers striking rocks.

「｟Hic｠ I don't want to... ｟sniffle｠, please... w-where is the kind and elegant miss Melan? Tell me this is a lie... ｟sob｠」

「Ara, right here dear Percibell. You should just be a good girl and do as you're told. Also, do please call me miss Rosaria instead, is that clear?」 Rosaria says while straightening her back gracefully and covering her mouth with her hand, hiding a fake but elegant smile on her face.

Percibell puts her head in her hands and starts bawling, 「No... no... ｟hic｠ I don't ｟sob｠ want to, please ｟sniffle｠ ｟hic｠ I just wanted to become an adventurer.... ｟sob｠」 she mumbles incoherently.

With cold eyes, Rosaria peers down at her before turning around and heading towards the door while yawning uncaringly.

「I'll allow you some more time to think. You're not allowed to leave the house, but you're fine to do whatever you want inside.」

The door closes with a dull thud, and the only sounds left in the room are Percibell's cries, which go on for a long time.

Finally, when they subside, she clears her face of tears and snot with her towel and turns her gaze towards the window. In the distance, beyond the rows of trees, she sees a dust devil's top, marking where it's formed on some unseen, flat field.

A determined look starts forming on her face.