“What about this, Lyco? We’re still in the middle of winter, so it should be seasonable for at least another three or four months. And as a bonus, there’s even a couple in smaller sizes, and it has a much more ‘mature’ look!”

  Seraphine held up a gray ribbed sweater with what must have used up an entire barony’s worth of silk in its weaving.

  Currently, Lycoris was nestled in one of the changing rooms on the second floor, with her friend rushing to and fro finding various things for her to try on, while Athena watched from a distance with a hint of trepidation, and the store owner wrung her hands together further back in the store.

  There was a veritable lake of different outfits she had tried on surrounding her, or perhaps a mountain range would be more accurate.

  Not for lack of finding things that were cute or comfortable enough—though Lycoris felt a renewed sense of shame while trying on the childish and girly outfits. She’d long since grown accustomed to seeing her own body in varying states of dress, but wearing the Vampire equivalent of “normal clothes” reminded her what that meant.

  Or perhaps it was because she had to put them on and take them off herself, rather than tuning it out while Athena tended to her like with the overwrought dresses covered in frills that her mother deemed suitable.

  …Not that those weren’t cute either.

  “Hahh, what am I even thinking about?” Lycoris sighed, tugging the sweater over her head, careful not to mess up the braid or snag it on her brooch.

  “Is something the matter, Lyco?” Seraphine called out in response.

  Seraphine had gotten quite good at picking things out in Lycoris’s size after a bit of trial and error. She must’ve had a keen eye for clothing. The sweater fit near perfectly, despite Lycoris’s tiny figure. Admittedly, she wasn’t sure if there even would be anything that could be described as “adult” despite being small enough for her.

  That had been the true cause behind her suggesting this outing.

  Well, that, and she really did want to broaden her horizons in terms of clothes. That hadn’t been a lie.

  Righting the sleeves around her wrists and smoothing down the soft fabric, Lycoris meekly stepped out of the changing room curtains and looked up at Seraphine.

  “How do I look?”

  “…Like you need a skirt.”

  “I mean besides that! Hmph.”

  “You’re remarkably bold for a little forty-something year old, you know… Anyways, it looks good on you. How does it feel? Pretty sure the thread-count is higher than my entire wardrobe…”

  “Hmm…”

  Lycoris gently brushed her hands down the front of the sweater, pressed them against it, and hugged herself to feel the softness against her skin. It was definitely fuzzier than the formal clothes she’d gotten used to, and far, far more comfortable than the clothing she recalled from a metaphorical lifetime ago.

  “It’s really soft… I mean, my normal clothes are pretty soft too. But this is a different kind of soft. Kind of reminds me of my wings, honestly…”

  Sera stared down at her as though she’d just… well, sprouted a pair of wings. “You mean those are actually a part of your body?”

  “Huh? Of course, I was actually in the middle of flight practice when I learned the news about Kranes. I didn’t realize it was such a big secret… I guess I was told not to bring them out in public.”

  “Flight practice… I’ve heard stories of high nobility flying over battlefields, commanding from the skies, but I always just assumed they were using flying magic and the wings were entirely cosmetic…”

  “Do you want to see them?” Lycoris smiled innocently up at Sera.

  “HaaaAH? Am… Am I allowed to?” The woman mumbled back nervously.

  “Pff, it’s fine, we’re friends, right? Come here.”

  Lycoris beckoned Seraphine into the somewhat cramped changing room, before pulling the sweater off to avoid damaging it. Unlike her princessly attire, it wasn’t designed with the ability to sprout wings in mind.

  After carefully folding and setting the sweater down on a bench—her sincerity earning another chuckle from Sera—she turned around and closed her eyes, focusing once more on the somewhat mystifying appendages. The changing room suddenly felt quite a bit more cramped the moment she produced her wings and stretched them as far as the space would allow. She squirmed a little as the freshly sprouted appendages brushed against the walls, before mastering her control again and folding them around her waist. It really was just like stretching out her arms, only from her lower back rather than her shoulders.

  Seraphine’s eyes widened in astonishment, and she reflexively raised one of her hands forward before quickly pulling it back.

  “Ohhhh… wow, they’re so… regal. Can I… no, I shouldn’t even ask, it feels wrong.”

  “Go ahead, it's fine to touch them.” After a beat, Lycoris added in a slight mumble, “But they’re pretty ticklish, so be gentle… Hhk!”

  Lycoris stifled a giggle as Seraphine reached forward and gently stroked the fuzzy wings. Having someone else touch them felt even more ticklish than she had expected, making her wiggle about and blush. Though it was entirely innocuous, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was committing some sort of social taboo.

  No no no, what am I thinking!? Come on Lycoris, they're nothing special. Get your head screwed back on straight!

  Clearing her throat to indicate she’d had enough of being treated like a dracybara, Lycoris pulled back and withdrew her wings.

  Seraphine instead gave her head a small pat as thanks.

  “I think you have the sweater beat when it comes to softness. But what do you say, is it a keeper?”

  “Mm, I think so. There’s still a lot more I want to try on though! Honestly, I was pretty jealous of the clothes you and Emma were wearing when we first met, weird as that might sound.”

  “Oh yeah, I do recall you mentioning something about our clothing…”

  “Also, um… I’m not really sure what kind of rules there are for talking about this, but we’re both friends, and girls… technically, and… I kinda trust you with my life. And, I do not wish to cause Athena undue distress, by causing her to believe she has erred…” Lycoris hummed nervously, reflexively slipping into a formal tone and ascending a couple octaves.

  “Hm? What’s up?”

  “Well… my bra has been feeling a touch taut all day. Perhaps Athena simply fastened it on too tightly…”

  “Oh… Oh. I see.” Sera crouched down, putting a hand on Lycoris’s shoulder as her voice took on a suddenly warm tone, “Well, you are at that age. There’s no need to feel ashamed. I’ll go let Athena know, and she can get you sorted out.”

  “Huh?”

  “Somehow, I doubt she’d trust the store owner to take your measurements. Well, if she’s your personal handmaiden, she’s probably already a professional in sizing and mending garments anyway.”

  “Huh??”

  “Just sit tight right here Lyco, I’ll be right back! Or well, Athena will be. I saw some button-up skirts that would look delightful on you! I’ll go pick some out for you in the meantime.”

  “Wait—”

  Terrified at what Seraphine was attempting to worm her way out of, Lycoris’s plea fell on deaf ears as the adult stood up and rushed out of the room.

  A moment later, she heard Athena practically scream bloody murder throughout the store.

  “Maybe… I should have kept it to myself after all…?”

  ＊　＊　＊

  “Y-Your Highness, please don’t rush ahead!” Patton called out from behind, “We can’t guarantee your safety if you run off on your own!”

  Lycoris ignored him, huffing as she tensed her shoulders and continued marching down the street at the very border of the protective circle, while Athena and Seraphine desperately tried to follow, toting an unreasonable number of bags each.

  She had opted to walk out of the store in a more casual outfit, pairing the light gray sweater with a short and frilly red skirt, and had chosen to undo her half-upbraid and instead put her hair back in twintails, held in place by ribbons that were stylized to look like scarlet bat wings.

  Even though she was happy with the outfit, Lycoris was in a bad mood.

  The fact that they still had several hours to kill before the meeting would take place was beginning to wear on her patience, now that she’d accomplished the one thing she’d come up with to distract herself—and ideally Seraphine as well—from the situation in the neighboring town.

  But also, Athena had forced her to confront a truth that she’d been conveniently burying beneath all the cute and comfortable clothes. It was easy to ignore so long as she was a child, but the reminder that she would be growing up into a woman was a deeply complicated and confusing emotional affair even without the peanut gallery chiming in.

  She was torn between wanting to cling to her newfound youth as long as possible without having to face reality, and also wanting to be treated like an adult. She’d accepted that she was a girl, but not everything about what that meant.

  “I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself,” she snapped back, twisting on the spot to wag a finger at him.

  “Princess, there’s no need to take your feelings out on the Captain. It’s a good thing that, even in spite of dietary concerns, your body is dev—”

  “Athena! You will be silent!”

  “M-My apologies!”

  Athena immediately set down her bags and prostrated herself in the middle of the sidewalk, while Lycoris sighed and turned away from both the maid and the surroundings to stare at the wall instead.

  Plastered up against it, tucked behind a sheet of glass, was a… painting, of some sort. It depicted a man and woman looking at each other, hands interlocked. There was a massive explosion behind them, and what looked like a horde of demons flying from it. Below the painting inside the frame was the text “Now Showing.”

  “‘Un-ever-soul Con-stant?’ Is this advertising a festival of some sort?”

  Athena raised her head from the ground. “‘Universal Constant,’ Your Highness. It’s a movie poster.”

  When Lycoris pulled herself away from the picture, she saw more lining the wall, though there didn’t seem to be any sort of coherent theme to them, aside from at least one vampire being front and center on nearly every single one. They also seemed to share a very similar color palette… perhaps they were all painted by the same artist.

  “I take it Her Highness has never been to the theater before?” Seraphine leaned over to whisper to the still-prostrated maid.

  “The Princess has lived a very shelter—”

  “I have too!” Lycoris’s ears twitched. “I simply am unaccustomed to seeing paintings used as advertisements. I’m more used to barkers calling out the latest play. Still, this is an awful lot of different performances to have in a single building. Just how many professional actors does the Empire have to think to spare dozens for a city on the outskirts?”

  “Pff…”

  Seraphine choked back a giggle as Lycoris earnestly rubbed her chin, deep in thought.

  Athena stood up and shook her head, walking over to Lycoris after picking up the clothing bags. She shot a look toward Seraphine, a rare fanged grin creeping on her face.

  “This is a movie theater, Your Highness, not an opera house. Would you perhaps like to see a movie while we’re here? It should only take a couple hours at most.”

  Lycoris frowned deeply. The idea of sitting around, watching a movie while people were in danger didn’t sit right with her. There wasn’t anything she could do about that, however, and with no means of venting that frustrated energy… perhaps attempting to distract herself wasn’t the worst course of action. Plus, it’d be another thing to keep Seraphine’s hands busy and mind occupied.

  “W-Wait a second, I’d have to clear the theater, we haven’t made any prior arrangements with the staff, and—”

  “Why not? This one looks interesting.”

  Lycoris feigned innocence while talking over Seraphine, pointing at a painting of a lone, pointy-eared and broad-shouldered man with braided blonde hair, brandishing an impractically large sword one-handed at a blazing orb of fire hurtling towards him.

  “Hmmn? Why this one, Your Highness? I didn’t think a sweet little girl like yourself would be an action movie fan.”

  “Oh, uh, well…”

  She couldn’t very well say that she only picked it out because the man reminded her of Mizar. Sort of. He definitely wasn’t that huge, and he wore actual armor.

  But he was the sort of person who’d try to cut a fireball in half. Would probably succeed too, knowing him.

  Either way, she’d never hear the end of it from the maid who already took every opportunity possible to tease her about it.

  “It just… seemed interesting, is all. I don’t know much about movies, but the dramas I enjoyed the most had plenty of soldiers and war in them.”

  Even though they were filled with inaccuracies and dramatizations. But that discrepancy was party of why she enjoyed them so. She was a former knight, after all.

  Ever Lycoris’s champion, even while clearly against the idea of taking a sudden stop at the theater, Seraphine came to her defense while Athena frowned.

  “And who says girls aren’t allowed to like explosions?”

  “I’m unsure if Her Majesty would wish for her daughter to watch something so violent.”

  “Athena, Mother literally threatened to murder the guard who came to report the situation in Kranes right in front of me.”

  “But she didn’t!”

  “What about when I tried to split that stupid— when I lost my temper with the Idra Speaker?”

  “Hmm, that was a magnificent display of a pompous parasite getting what he deserved for daring to speak out against Her Majesty and the Princess.”

  Athena nodded in satisfaction, giving a rare display of condemnation for someone far above her on the social ladder, while Patton and Seraphine both looked as though they’d just sucked on a lemon.

  “So, when is the next performance? I’m not sure how long we’ll be staying here—hopefully not too long—but if it’s tomorrow perhaps we can make time.”

  “It’s out now, Princess. We could theoretically go in and watch it right now… if we conveniently ignore the fact that I would have to call in advance to clear things with security.”

  “They’re performing right now!?”

  Athena leaned in and subtly muttered into Lycoris’s ear, “Your Highness, it’s a recording. There’s no live actors in the theaters. Would you like to go see one right now?”

  “Would we still have time to get to the meeting?”

  “Of course, Your Highness. Its runtime is only eighty minutes.”

  “Wait, but—”

  “Then I’d love to!”

  Just as Seraphine was about to raise her voice in dissent, Lycoris turned to smile at her and Patton, hands pressed together just beneath her chin as she forced as much excitement into her words as possible.

  Whatever Seraphine was about to say, her objection had been successfully dismantled by the Princess’s earnest smile. Lycoris did want to see what a movie was like, admittedly. But more important than that was keeping her friend from being stuck inside her own head. Lycoris was uncomfortably familiar with how unpleasant a feeling that was.

  Lycoris gripped both Athena and Seraphine by the wrist and dragged them along, forcefully supplanting her restless irritation with curiosity. But when she walked up to the entrance, she was quickly defeated by the pair of sealed glass doors.

  Awkwardly pulling the daisy chain along with her wrist, Athena guided Lycoris (and Seraphine) over toward the display terminal to the side of the entrance, where admission to the theater was purchased… except Lycoris didn’t see anywhere she could put any sort of currency.

  In fact, so far she hadn’t seen any vampires use currency at all, though they’d talked about money a fair bit. She wasn’t even asked to pay for any of her garments—probably because they already knew that she was the Princess and who would be footing the bill. Or, more troublingly, they might’ve been too afraid to even consider asking for payment…

  It left her wondering why exactly her mother had gifted her that ring, which still sat in its little box stowed within her penthouse suite room.

  “…Oh wait that’s right, I don’t even have it on me. But, what do we do with this monitor? It’s not like a person that we could hand currency to.”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Allow me to handle it, Your Highness. Consider it… my treat, if you’d like.”

  Athena walked up to the terminal and set down her bags, navigating it and entering a sequence of numbers onto the screen with practiced precision.

  Exasperated, Seraphine leaned over to hiss into Athena’s ear.

  “Hold on a second, we can’t just go into the theater with Her Highness! I thought you were more concerned for her safety than I am!”

  “I am, that’s why I’m purchasing every single seat for the showing. Luckily, nobody else has bought any tickets for it yet.”

  “Wait what!?” Lycoris chimed in. “There’s no need to go that far, Athena.”

  “But there is! After all, if we have every ticket, we need only post guards by the entrances to the theater room. And of course, I’ll be at Her Highness’s side the entire time.”

  She puffed her chest out proudly as she tapped a button on the monitor, causing a deluge of tickets to begin snaking out of a port beside it.

  “Alright, then,” Seraphine sighed in resignation. “Patton, can you head inside and…”

  “Of course, Miss Ethlow. I’ll… take care of the arrangements.”

  Seraphine sighed and looked at Patton, who shrugged his shoulders and toggled off the device at his hip before tearing off one of the tickets from the chain and waving it before the doors to enter.

  Lycoris felt somewhat guilty, but at least the movie theater was being reimbursed… and it sounded like people would still be able to see the other showings of the movie as well, so her visit wouldn’t be that intrusive. Perhaps Athena had already considered her concerns when deciding upon this course of action. She was remarkably thoughtful of Lycoris’s wishes.

  Although,

  “Are you sure about this, Athena? …At least allow me to reimburse you later, though I’m not sure how exactly I would. Perhaps I could ask Mother for the aurelles.”

  “The Empire’s standard currency is argenta, Your Highness,” Athena whispered back once the other two were inside the building and out of earshot. “And it’s no trouble at all! I have little to spend my paychecks on anyway, so it’s no burden on my budget.”

  “What about your retirement, though?”

  “Wh-What!? Your Highness, I’ll serve you until the day my bones turn to dust! …Or until you see no more use for me and—”

  “Okay okay, stop. I get it… Thank you.”

  Lycoris sighed wearily while Athena rolled up the chain of tickets and stowed it inside of one of the shopping bags, but not before tearing two off for Lycoris and herself.

  Following what Patton and Seraphine did before, Lycoris walked up to the door and held the little ticket stub above her to hail whatever device or creature commanded the entrance. Whatever it was, her gesture worked as the doors parted for her, and she and Athena entered the somewhat stuffy building.

  The interior smelled of salt and butter; the floor was covered by a stained and bizarrely patterned rug that somehow felt rigid beneath Lycoris’s shoes; there were potted plants arranged around stairs leading upward, and at the top was a foyer that branched out into several halls leading to different double-doored rooms, all with small panels over them showing the movies in each theater.

  Lycoris wandered her way up, feeling oddly tense despite the relative emptiness of the place. At least its immodest cheapness was a comfort, like a run-down but familiar tavern.

  Athena was less than enthused, however. She tutted and shook her head as she slid one of her feet along the carpet, frowned at the stains and grimaced at the chipped and discolored paint on the walls.

  “Perhaps I should have ensured that the interiors would be up to snuff before allowing Her Highness to enter. This place is in no state to receive the Princess’s attention! …But forcing her to wait outside wouldn’t do either, hmm…”

  “Ooh, is that a snack bar? Excuse me, miss?”

  Drawn toward the concession stand by the bright colors and alluring savory scents, Lycoris ignored the maid’s grumblings and wandered up to the counter, where a tired employee was leaning over the counter, propping her chin up on a palm as she yawned.

  As Lycoris approached, she slowly raised her head and perked up her ears, blearily blinking herself awake as the little girl stared up at her in slight awe.

  “Hmm? What’ll it be?”

  “…”

  Lycoris didn’t immediately respond, but not because of the flippant attitude that the service worker was displaying. She heard Athena rattling something about disrespect behind her, but her attention was drawn entirely to the woman’s ears.

  Atop her head, a pair of fluffy dark brown triangles twitched.

  It wasn’t the first time Lycoris had ever encountered features like that, but looking at the woman up close… she looked so… human. If it wasn’t for the ears—and tail—Lycoris would’ve mistook her for a regular Dauwenian. Well, maybe if she changed her outfit too.

  “You’re… a Fangchaser, right?”

  “Huh? Uhh, duh. Are you gonna order something, kid?”

  “K-Kid!? KID!? How… How DARE you disrespect Her Highness Princess Lycoris in such a manner! Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to!?”

  “Huh…”

  The woman blinked the rest of her fatigue away, looking down properly at Lycoris, then toward Athena, quirking an eyebrow. After a moment, realization seemed to sink in as she looked back down at Lycoris again, and her body tensed up.

  “O-O-Oh, fuck. Uh, shit, I mean, er… Uh. Hi.”

  “Watch your tongue! I should cut you down where you stand for your—”

  “Athena.” Lycoris glowered up at her maid, silencing her. “My apologies for my maid’s outburst. She can be… overprotective at the best of times. I must say though, I’ve never met a Fangchaser with such… human features.”

  “I’m more impressed you’ve met any at all, honestly. Ahh shit shit, watch your stupid tongue, Helena.”

  The woman turned away and cursed at herself under her breath. Lycoris wryly smiled and squinted her brows, keeping a hand on Athena’s arm to remind the maid to stay under control.

  With everyone so indisposed, she turned her attention instead to the large menu hanging on the back wall. Unfortunately the text was rather small, and while Lycoris could read now, that didn’t mean she understood what exactly a “popcorn” or “corndog” was, or why there were little blood droplets next to some items and not others.

  Though, she could hazard a guess, at least.

  “Do you have any recommendations, Athena? …Stuff that would be safe for me to consume.”

  Lycoris put extra emphasis on the word, hoping her maid would pick up on her meaning. Setting aside the issue of blood-consumption, Lycoris thought back to her mother’s words and realized it wouldn’t do to accept anything that wasn’t sealed up.

  The maid nodded, putting a hand to her chin as she looked at the menu.

  “True, we can’t get something that could be easily drugged.”

  “Being a princess sure sounds tough…” The Fangchaser mumbled, having moved off to the side.

  “There are ups and downs, as come with any position or lifestyle really. I wouldn’t trade my mother for any other, however.”

  “Ack, shit you heard that!? I mean, h…heheh, yeah. So, uh, what brings you to the theater, of all things? Y-Your Highness.”

  “I wished to experience the novelty of a movie theater at least once. I have arrangements, but not until later in the day.”

  “Well I, I hope you enjoy the movie, then.”

  “My thanks. Also… I realize I might have sounded a touch rude, but I truly meant my surprise upon seeing you. The only Fangchasers I have ever encountered were more… animalistic.”

  Lycoris shuffled down the side of the counter toward Helena, peering up at her with genuine curiosity.

  At the same time, Seraphine finally returned with a look of exhaustion that matched the Fangchaser’s before she’d been abruptly woken up. She gave Athena a tap on the shoulder and took the bags from her, mumbling something while Lycoris was distracted with her own conversation.

  “Haha, you’ve probably just seen videos of the ones still living on the other side of the deadlands, I’ll bet. We uh, well, lotta us kinda learned to shapeshift, or something like that, to fit your societal beauty standards better. Shaving’s still a bitch though.”

  “Ohhh… I wonder if the principle is the same as my wings.”

  “Sure, yeah! Probably.” Helena shrugged. “Anyway, did you actually want something, or did you just come over to kill time before the movie starts?”

  “Oh, right. Athena?”

  She tagged in her maid once more, whose death glare at the clerk grew more severe with every curse that slipped between her lips, to navigate the “complicated” process of picking out some boxed candies that would suit Lycoris’s taste. She also purchased a rather large bag of popcorn with a viscous, suspiciously reddish, liquid drizzled over it.

  After politely bidding thanks and farewell to the clerk, the two of them joined the others inside the proper theater, where Lycoris noted the four corners of the room filled with folding seats were guarded by theater security.

  Deciding not to comment, she took her seat in one of the slightly gummy but still softly cushioned seats, while Athena and Seraphine wordlessly flanked her on either side.

  The film proved to be interesting enough, reminding Lycoris of the stories Princess Fawaris sometimes shared of knights and heroes, though adapted into a performance and recorded. The props and backdrops used were far more elaborate than any performance she had ever been to, and the score playing was far more loud and bombastic than anything she had heard before then.

  Disappointingly, the protagonist was not actually all that much like Mizar. He was something of an annoying blowhard, rather than a quiet but earnest young man, and was constantly being reeled in by his companions rather than elevated by them. But admittedly, there wasn’t much to it other than the heroic party of vampires—a baffling concept—fighting against an otherworldly horde of demonic invaders, finding themselves in tight spots constantly as they scurried about trying to douse every fire they could on their quest to save the world.

  And more unfortunately, Lycoris found it somewhat difficult to actually focus on the film, as her two guardians passed the troubling bag of popcorn back and forth around her to share it, and her thoughts continually wandered to the city in distress that they were supposed to be rescuing from demonic invaders…

  At least the crunchy candy Athena picked out was sweet and savory.

  ＊　＊　＊

  After conquering the movie without incident, Lycoris’s eclectic group still had another couple of hours left before the appointed conference. It was an awkward amount of time, not enough to bring their things back to the hotel and rest, but too much to head straight to the meeting location.

  I suppose some things will always be the same, no matter where or what I am…

  To fill the time, Seraphine had guided them toward a nearby zoo, presumably because Lycoris had enjoyed the dracybara so much before.

  Tragically, the cuddly rodents didn’t live this far north, and apparently they were all presently hibernating for the winter anyway. It was the first Lycoris heard of dracybara hibernating, but she didn’t doubt it.

  In front of her was a walk-in petting area filled with the Vampire equivalent of a horse, called a myrh. They were like a feathered combination of horse and raptor, with necks that were slightly elongated like a horse’s, but tapered into a feathered bird-head instead. Instead of hooves, they had slightly chubby cat-pawed feet at the bottom of their four scaly, vestigial wing-covered legs, meaning they stood closer to the ground than a horse would, and the entire body of each beast milling about before her was covered in downy feathers.

  As herbivores, their rather reptilian-looking eyes were side-facing rather than forward, and their feather colors were mostly rusty hues of reds, browns, and oranges from the mana-infused resin in the bark they gnawed on.

  Honestly, they barely even resembled horses, so Lycoris wasn’t sure why Athena drew the comparison for her sake… All that had done was intimidate her out of the idea of getting up close with them, though it didn’t seem like any of the myrh were afraid of her the way horses always were.

  Lycoris rested her arms on the railings, engaging in a staring contest with one of the critters in the pen. It was the most striking one in the pack, with lavender-colored feathers instead of the same earthy tones its kin possessed. Perhaps that was why it’d drawn her attention as she spaced out. Something about the color seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place why. Or maybe it was just that she felt a kinship with it, feeling like the odd one out.

  “Do you want to go in and pet one, Your Highness? Normally I would advise against it, but we do have plenty of clothes on hand to change you into something clean afterwards in case you end up dirty.”

  “N-N-No, I’m… I am fine observing them from a distance, I think.”

  Seraphine leaned over, mumbling teasingly, “You know, there’s also a breed that are much smaller, called pixie myrh. They’re a pretty popular pet around the Empire~”

  “Any household pets would have to be approved by Her Majesty beforehand.”

  “I think a tiny horse wandering around the Elysian Sanctum sounds like a living nightmare…” Lycoris grumbled.

  “I had no idea that comparison would cause such an intense reaction, Your Highness. I apologize for putting the thought into your head. They simply fill a similar role as beasts of burden. Myrh are much cleaner and calmer creatures than horses.”

  Seraphine blinked. “Why are we talking about horses? Aren’t those what humans ride around on?”

  “Ah.” “Er…”

  Maid and Mistress froze in unison, the squawks of myrhs and bleats of other nearby zoo animals filling in the silence in their conversation. The two of them looked to each other in perfect unison, at which point the maid regained her composure and put her hands on Lycoris’s shoulders, spinning her around and scooting her toward the pen.

  “Since we’re already here, give it a try Your Highness, it would be a waste not to!”

  “W-Wait, but—”

  “They’re nothing like horses at all, there’s nothing to fear!” Athena turned around to shoot a glare at Seraphine, “She’s terrified of the beast. Reminds her of humans, you see.”

  “Is… that so.”

  After stuffing Lycoris unceremoniously into the fenced enclosure, Athena took Seraphine aside to spin a yarn on the Princess’s behalf. The group of myrh raised their heads and followed the new intruder’s movements attentively. They didn’t react with immediate terror, or urgently try to flee from her, which was… definitely different from most of her interactions with horses.

  Nobody in Dauwen could explain why she had an aura of horse-fear, but it had been a source of constant frustration for her and her fellow knights. She didn’t actually have any sort of phobia of them, it was simply such a hassle to deal with them that she grew avoidant of the creatures as an instinct.

  “Easy now… good horsey…”

  Lycoris cautiously approached the myrh she’d been engaged in a staring contest with before, which ceased preening its lavender-colored feathers to eye her curiously.

  Carefully, she reached her hand forward. The creature tilted its head in response, pressing its neck against her hand and cooing. It was soft, and warm. It didn’t try to bite or peck at her hand, it didn’t whinny or try to kick Lycoris away, or buck her off… not that she was trying to ride it.

  Almost miraculously, nothing went wrong as she stroked and scratched its neck.

  “See? I’m not scary, you’re not scared… why do I feel like I recognize you though? Have we met before, maybe?”

  “Bwok.”

  “…I’m not sure what I was expecting.”

  While patting the not-so-wicked monster, Lycoris tugged the enchanted silk scarf around her neck and shivered. Her new outfit was certainly chic and comfortable, but it didn’t do enough on its own to chase away the cold breezes that blew by.

  Perhaps understanding her feelings, the myrh pushed itself against her to share its body warmth.

  “Meeeehhhh!”

  Just as Lycoris relaxed her guard and stopped fretting, a loud bleating sound reverberated through the zoo.

  While she still had her hand against the myrh, there was a sudden commotion as a horde of silky fluff-balls suddenly vaulted over the fence and charged her position on spindly legs. They looked like bizarre balls of yarn, with eight shiny pitch-black limbs apiece, their faces buried beneath the strange fur.

  “Look out Lyco, there’s been a jailbreak!”

  “H-Huh!?”

  The myrh already beside Lycoris remained laying against her, but the rest all backed away into the corner of the pen as the weird pillow-sized monsters swarmed around Lycoris and her new conversation partner.

  Her immediate response was to protectively hug the myrh, cradling its head against her chest as the mysterious invaders piled onto her, rubbing against and clinging to her like lint on a coat.

  “W-Wait, stop! That… tickles…?”

  Her panic subsided when they didn’t… do anything to her, other than swarm around and rub against her. But she was still left with several questions.

  Lycoris had considered herself to be fairly well versed in monster lore after journeying across the continent, but today had admittedly been a day of firsts, in far too many ways.

  “What even are these things!?”

  “Your Highness, are you alright!?”

  “I’m fine! They’re just… very clingy. *achoo!* …and a little ticklish.”

  It didn’t take long for the petting zoo staff to arrive and begin prying them off of her, though the critters were quite persistent. Some even wriggled their way out of the staff’s grasp and rushed back over to press themselves into Lycoris again.

  Athena and Seraphine watched on from just outside the pen, the former fidgeting back and forth rather agitatedly at the sight of Lycoris half-buried by fluff. The latter was checking her phone, looking somewhat nonplussed by the entire situation.

  “Athena, you are an Ochros, right? Says here that bolles are naturally attracted to high concentrations of magic. Maybe you should offer some help to the staff…”

  “Oh! Hang on, Your Highness, I’m coming!”

  “No I’m… I’m fine really. Take your time… well, don’t take too much time…”

  “We’re terribly sorry about this, Princess Lycoris. One of the zookeepers left the hatch open while getting their food. Please, find it in your heart to forgive us,” an attendant prying one of the bolles off of Lycoris implored.

  “No… trouble at all. I was merely startled. Though I suppose I will have to change my clothes, now…”

  Why is it that now I’m little miss popular with every beast under the sun? This would have been a lot more useful when I actually had to ride a horse around…

  Lycoris sighed to herself as the creatures’ numbers continued to be slowly whittled away, Athena doing her best to attract them towards herself instead. In her excitement, she made quite a showing by launching a bolt of magic up like a signal flare, drawing even more attention from the other parkgoers.

  The little princess shook her head at the commotion, finding new ways to regret her decision to allow Seraphine to bring them here with every passing moment. Perhaps the meeting could’ve been started early instead, or something…

  Once more sensing her vexation, the myrh gently brushed its head against her cheek.