Ever since she had left the Duke’s household, Aurora had been living with a constant sense of unreality.
Just a few days ago, she was still serving as the young lady’s personal maid at the Duke’s estate—yet in the blink of an eye, she had become Beatrice’s familiar and her personal maid.
Everything had happened far too suddenly.
Even though nearly a month had passed since she’d settled into the academy, she still felt as if something might change again at any moment.
*****
In the courtyard.
Aurora bent over, carefully watering the vibrant, colorful flowers.
She crouched down to examine a few petals. Seeing no signs of insect bites, she nodded with satisfaction.
Each day, she had only three responsibilities: water all the flowers in the courtyard twice, clean the entire residence, and—unfortunately—satisfy Beatrice’s peculiar little hobby… the one where she bullied Aurora until she cried.
After standing back up, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. As she looked around at the dew-kissed flowers glistening in the sunlight, a smile of satisfaction spread across her face.
“As expected of me!”
Her title as Aurora, Head Maid Extraordinaire hadn’t gone to waste after all.
The entire mansion, front to back, was now well-kept under her diligent hands.
Though it still retained a faint air of age and disrepair, it was a thousand—no, ten thousand—times better than it had been when she arrived.
Of course, if she had a few more maids to order around, she could manage things even more thoroughly.
She remembered Avila mentioning that this mansion had been specially constructed by the academy just to recruit Beatrice.
As one of the rare few remaining “Grand Witches” in the world, Beatrice was a big name in magical circles.
Her mastery of magic had earned her the admiration of countless people—royalty, nobles, even knight orders from various kingdoms had all tried to recruit her to bolster their strength.
But Beatrice seemed to dislike staying in one country for too long, and she had never accepted any of those offers.
Orphea Magic Academy, however, was different. It didn’t belong to any country; the academy floated in the sky, constantly drifting, like a school that traveled the world.
Perhaps that was what appealed to her—and why she had agreed to become the academy’s special advisor on magic.
Just as Aurora was trimming some uneven patches of lawn, a red collar suddenly flickered into view around her neck.
A crimson chain extended from the collar and trailed off into the mansion—toward Beatrice’s bedroom.
Aurora sighed. She already knew what this meant.
Beatrice wanted to bully her again.
She set down the scissors, pulled off her apron (now stained with soil), and quickly ran into the mansion.
Technically, running inside the residence was prohibited by house rules—but since there was only one person and one demon living there, there was no need to worry about bumping into anyone else.
Upon reaching the second-floor bedroom, she heard the sound of running water—it seemed Beatrice was bathing inside.
“You called for me, Mistress?” Aurora asked through the door.
“Come in. Serve me.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
The moment she opened the door, a thick, fragrant scent of bath bubbles rushed into her nose.
To bathe in comfort, Beatrice had created a magical space inside her room using spatial magic, shaping it to resemble a hot spring.
For most, constructing a long-lasting spatial spell would be incredibly complex and consume massive amounts of mana.
The larger the space, the more intricate the magic circle required and the greater the mana expenditure.
But as Aurora stepped onto the magic circle and entered the space, what she saw was a breathtaking, forest-like world.
Lush greenery enveloped the hot spring, multicolored butterflies fluttered through the air, and countless silver gradient flowers bloomed around the water.
When a silver petal landed on the spring’s surface, ripples spread in concentric rings, and wherever they passed, a glowing blue light shimmered in the water.
Bathed in silver moonlight, the spring looked like a starry river, with glowing blue waves flickering through it.
Beatrice, completely naked, reclined in the hot spring, resting her back against a smooth stone while steam curled up from her forehead.
“Mistress, is there anything I can assist you with?” Aurora asked, walking through the mist toward the spring.
Her vision blurred by the steam, she couldn’t see Beatrice’s expression.
“Get in,” came the lazy voice, carried gently to her ears on a breeze.
Aurora glanced down at her frilly maid outfit with hesitation.
“I’ll go change first, and then—”
Snap!
A crisp snap of fingers cut her off. A sudden gust of wind surged behind her, sweeping up a cascade of silver flower petals and pulling her into the hot spring.
“Glug…”
Silver hair floated across the surface, as white and lovely as the petals on the water.
Aurora emerged from the spring, tied her soaked hair back, and flicked it behind her with frustration. “Mistress, that was too much!”
Her maid uniform was soaked through, and the only spare one had already been ruined by Beatrice the day before. Now she had nothing left to wear.
The gust of wind had briefly cleared the mist, allowing her to finally see Beatrice’s teasing, mischievous gaze.
“Come,” said Beatrice, “Serve me.”
Aurora understood—if she pressed her lips against Beatrice’s, she’d be able to breathe again. But that meant she’d have to take the initiative and ask for a kiss.
The suffocating feeling grew stronger. She couldn’t afford to hesitate anymore.
Slowly, she swam toward Beatrice, passing through countless silver petals. The black-and-white hem of her maid uniform floated and spread out in the water—she looked just like a drifting jellyfish.
The moment she touched Beatrice, she immediately pressed her lips to the slightly parted ones—at last, she could breathe again.