Patishi woke up at the usual time, she yawned and tried to stretch but something was keeping her hand in place.

"…? Ah, right…

"

The brown-haired girl sighed and pulled off her blanket.

Just as Patishi expected – another short brown-haired girl in a copper-colored onesie was sleeping half-laying half-kneeling by the edge of her bed.

That girl was soundly asleep while tightly holding Patishi's hand close to her with both of hers.

"Hmhmhm~!

"

Patishi chuckled and glanced at the second bed on the other side of the earthy-smelling room that actually had a self-sufficient vegetable garden inside.

Veo's bed was empty and a big plush cat that the first prince bought for the older attendant, was abandoned against the wall.

|And our prince got it especially because Veo couldn't sleep alone…|

Patishi smirked and looked back at the sleeping girl holding her hand.

"Veo… It's time to get up…

"

"…nnnn…

"

Patishi poked Veo's cheek but the other girl only made a funny sound and backed her head away from the younger girl's hand without opening her eyes.

"You can sleep some more but I have to get up to start making bread, do you think that you could let me go…?

"

Patishi asked moved closer to her, extending her hand, and started patting Veo's head.

"…nnnngh…?

"

"WHOA…!

"

The older attendant shook her head and suddenly she pulled Patishi into a hug!

"…u-ugh…!

"

Her enchants were active so that actually did hurt…!

Veo hugged Patishi tightly and snuggled her face against her neck.

"Sniff…! Sniff, sniff…?

"

The earth magician girl furrowed her brows and started loudly breathing in through her nose as if confused by the smell…

"V-Veo…! Let me go…! Please…! I can't breathe…!

"

Patishi, feeling the air leaving her lungs and her ribs creaking dangerously, stated hurriedly tapping out on Veo's shoulder.

"Nnn…? Zozo…? Why are you smelling like cakes…?

"

Veo finally started waking up, she mumbled while still half-asleep.

Zozo was apparently the name she gave to the plush cat.

"Veo…! Veo…! It's me, Patishi! Not Zozo…! You're crushing me…!

"

Patishi started taping her more vigorously, the poor girl's vision was getting more and more blurry with every passing second…!

"Eh…? Patishi…?

"

The older girl finally opened her eyes and glared at the skinny girl in her arms.

"Why are you in my bed…?

"

She asked and frowned, still half-asleep.

"Veo, release me…! Please…!

"

There was no time to explain who crawled into whose bed right now – Patishi's life was literally in danger!

"Nnn…? AH! OH NO! I'm sorry!

"

Veo realized that she was squeezing the life out of her fellow attendant and quickly released her grip on her

"UH-HUAAAAAH…!

Freed Patishi gasped and took a loud breath while pulling back and massaging her ribs with a tearful expression.

"I was wondering why Zozo smelled like cakes… Patishi, don't you know it's dangerous to get into my bed even if you are lonely?!

"

Veo also backed off and also got teary-eyed while nervously holding her hands together and trembling.

"…but this is my bed…

"

"!!!

"

Patishi sniffled, lowering her head pitifully.

"Eh…? Eh…!?

"

Veo became pale as she realized that in truth she was nowhere near her own bed.

"I-it wasn't on purpose…! Patishi, I am so sorry!

"

She stiffened and backed off, even more, not wanting to inflict even more harm onto the younger girl, and started nervously twisting her fingers.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know how it happened! This time I properly went to sleep while hugging Zozo! I swear!

"

Yes, aside from being almost crushed to death, Veo waking up in Patishi's bed was a rather common occurrence.

The cat was bought by the first prince as the countermeasure for that, apparently, Veo just had to sleep together with someone – and since her younger sister moved out of the room Patishi became the only option.

"I-it's alright… I don't think that anything is broken… I will be fine.

"

Patishi raised her hand to calm the older girl – she was still holding her ribs with her other hand, but turned her face towards Veo and smiled reassuringly nonetheless – or at least she tried.

"Since we're both awake let's get ready for the day, alright?

"

The younger girl said, trying to not show up how much she was hurting – but judging by the terribly guilty face the other girl was making, she wasn't exactly a world-class actress…

"…alright…

"

Veo nodded and dragged her feet towards the closet.

With trained movement she put on the maid's uniform – even with her hands not having the full mobility, with enough practice that activity no longer posed any trouble to her, even though the uniform itself was more complicated to wear properly than one might initially think.

"…uugh…!

"

"!!!

"

Just as Veo was ready, she heard a muffled pained groan and she instantly ran away – right in time to witness the darkening bruises around Patishi's torso – right where she hugged her.

It looked painful and was undoubtedly the cause of the cry, nonetheless, the younger girl was braving through it, gritting her teeth without realizing that Veo already caught up to what was happening.

"…

"

The older girl clenched her fists and approached Patishi just as the skinny girl was done changing…

"…eh…?

"

Then, she grabbed her arm as delicately as she could and started pulling her towards the door.

"Veo…?

"

Patishi asked in confusion.

"Do you want to hold hands as we go to the kitchen? It's okay, you don't have to pull me.

"

She said as they walked out of the room and Veo locked the door.

"We aren't going to the kitchen.

"

"Eh…?!

"

Patishi gasped at Veo's decisive response – and indeed, the older girl started leading her in a different direction than they should go…!

"Veo…? What is going on, where are we going…?

"

Patishi fidgetted and asked nervously.

"To heal you.

"

"Eh?!

"

Veo simply shrugged her shoulders and stepped right in front of a normal-looking door to another room.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

She raised her hand and smacked it against the door, making an obnoxious amount of noise for such an early hour, making the younger girl flinch.

"Veo… did you lead me to the miss who healed big brother?! Noo! I don't want to bother her!

"

Patishi panicked and tried to break free, but escaping from Veo's girl was far harder than getting out of the metal snares.

"Calm down, you said yourself that you wanted to talk about her about your body – you wanted to know if she could heal you and make it how it should always be.

"

The girl in the maid uniform looked back at the younger girl and tilted her head in confusion.

"I-I did…! But I don't want to do it now…!

"

Patishi shook her head and tried to pull away again, with the same result as earlier.

"Why?

"

Veo furrowed her brows and asked, clearly at a loss for her friend's behavior.

"Because I am scared! What if it's impossible? What if I'm just crazy like everyone always said?!

"

Patishi teared up and cried out while constantly trying to break free.

"…

"

Veo flinched and looked away – but still didn't let go of Patishi's hand.

"Then… it's okay to not ask her about it, but…

"

*click*

After a few seconds, she straightened her back and opened her mouth, ready to at least explain herself, but then the lock in the door in front of her made a characteristic noise and the door itself opened a little bit, revealing one eye with a dark circle underneath it and a lot of messy blond hair.

"…what time do you think it is now…? Who are you and what do you want…?

"

The rudely woken up heroine grumbled, glaring at two girls in front of her room.