A few days have passed since my sister started teag me to read and write, and I proudly say I am improving quickly.

  I've learo write and read many words, including my hose of my family and acquaintahose of Yuliana and her family, and a few others. Being diligent and having great motivation help me to learer, though I guess being a child helps improve that learning rate. I feel that the fact that Zenya is so clear with her expnations is part of why I'm progressier with each lesson.

  Lan has been apanying me every day as well. There hasn't been a single moment when I haven't taken her with me everywhere I go. Well, maybe not to the bathroom or the garden on my m walks, I don't wao get dirty after all.

  At first, it was a little embarrassing, but the more I did it, the more I got used to it and the better I felt about it. Besides, I really loved having her, more for what she represeo me than for the fact that she was the first “toy” I'd ever been given in my entire existence.

  Today, like most of my days, I was in Ki's office, finishing up the day's lesson. It seems Mom had told her about Lan, sihe day after she ha to me, Ki made a special pce for her when I arrived to receive my lessons.

  Anyway, since Zenya was busy for the rest of the afternoon, Ki told me I would have the rest of the day off. I wouldn't pin if I got more time to rest and py, but there roblem. I didn't have the slightest idea what I should do.

  Normally my day off was at the end of the week, the day I spent the afternoon with my mother, and we were only on the sed day, so I was a little lost as to what I should do . There were a few options, but only a couple caught my attention.

  After thinking about it for a while, I decided that taking a tour of pces I didn't normally veo might be a good option. I was not yet familiar with the servants' quarters, and the kits, nor did I know the inside of the library, and a walk through these pces might well be the perfect excuse to see it. Besides, it would take me a good part of the day to do that tour, and if I had time left, I could take a walk around the stables. It's been a while since I've goo visit the chicks.

  With my goal set, I headed for the library as my first destination. Now that I was learning to read, it would be a good idea to familiarize myself with that pce from now on, as I would surely spend reading a lot of books whenever I got the ce.

  Funny enough, all three of us sisters ended up in one way or another orbiting towards the library.

  When we arrived, I could see that the pce was not as I expected it to be.

  You know, it's just... That thing about ing too many fantasy stories bee a bit ditioning in the expectations you have about certain things if you ever actually end up in a fantasy world. It's partly my fault for creating those expectations, but that doesn't stop me from feeling a little disappointed.

  However, to say I was disappointed would be a bit of an uatement. Sure, if I was ho, those huge fantasy libraries where there were an almost infinite number of shelves filled with books of all kinds be... a bit exaggerated.

  This is a family library, yes, but for heaven's sake my family is a Duchy family, one of the richest and most powerful families in this empire... how the hell is it that our library is so... I don't know, so small?

  The pce was maybe the same size as the room where I had my two birthday parties.

  …

  Ok fi's not that small, but e on, it should be much bigger to be a fantasy world... or at least have a sed floor. I would feel scammed if it wasn't for the fact that the number of books on those high shelves retty impressive. Though it was still far below what I expected.

  I sighed to myself and began to s the pce with my eyes. The illumination was something that pleased me. The light was not so intense as to hurt my eyesight, but not so dim that I couldn't read well either. It was just the right iy to enjoy your stay. You could even take a nap here and not be bothered by the brightness. All thanks to those magic storuly magical and ve.

  Just at the entra the right-hand side, there was a ter with a... uh... person?

  Could that be called a person? No, stupid question, of course it was. In different worlds, with different intelligent races, you have to learn not to be racist... or rather speciesist, with every non-humanoid-looking being you meet.

  I watched it for a while, trying to clear my thoughts oter, but the only thing I had in my head was a single question. What the fuck is that thing? If you could see it, you'd think the same way I do.

  Have you ever heard of the game Half Life? Ok, stupid question #2. Of course, you have. There wasn't anyone in the world, before I died, who didn't know that game.

  The point is, remember that nasty bug that would stick to the ceiling and leave some sort of slime hanging down to catch its prey? Yeah... that... well... you bme me for doubting whether I should sider THAT a person?

  It was there, still, so still that I thought it might not be a living thing but some kind of sinister, disgusting decoration that the librarian thought would look cool. Or maybe it was a really bad prankster, I don't know. It even had something like that dangling slime that came up he height of my head, only this one looked like it was made of yarn or something white that I didn't want to know about.

  I looked up at Ameli, extremely fused about what I should do, or think. I started tugging at her skirt, begging for help. The girl, who seemed very distracted, took quite a while to notice my as, which surprised me, sidering how attentive she'd been so far.

  I looked at her in distress, then at the thing on the ceiling, and back at Ameli. She did the same ae, the ceiling monster, and bae. She tilted her head as if she didn't know what I was asking until finally, she seemed to realize. She coughed a couple of times and brought her hand towards the strand of slime.

  By the goddess, don't tell me yoing to pull that thing to wake her up?

  Yes... yes, she did.

  Disgusting…

  Ameli grabbed; gently I might add, the tohing and gave it a couple of firm tugs before releasing it and keeping her gaze on the ceiling. There was a sound... which I'm not able to process, but it sounded like a bination of slime kneading and a growl from a very rge dog, which holy made me flinch a little and quickly hide behind my maid. The girl for some reason seemed to be amused by my behavior, but I was uo see the humor in it.

  Suddenly, the mouth, or what I assumed was the mouth, opened wide and something started to e out from i was disgusting, oh, you don't know how disturbing that sight was! It was as if the most terrifying vagina in the world was giving birth right then and there. A vagina out of hell and it had a row of teeth on its lips.

  And here I thought nightmares would only haunt me during the night...

  The head finally came out of the thing and then... a being came out of it. At least half a being. This... well, that's a new, and not ironic, definition of a bookworm.

  The... person that came out of there was, just as I said, a huge worm, very uhat kindly Physi who treated me at the Nazzik's house. This one was simir in size to my own body... only stretched out by several feet. Of course, it had a face easily reizable as that of a humanoid, however, it did not have a single hair on its head, it had no nose and its eyes were a bit smaller and of a dark brow also had no ears, however, if you paid attention, you could see a very small pair of holes oher side of its head.

  When it finally fully emerged, it appeared to be at least about 4 meters long. Its body was quite simir to that of a shough instead of scales, it had a kind of chitinous armor much like that of a millipede, and of the same color. Limbless, except for a pair of retively short arms, whided in small 3-fingered hands.

  “Ameli?” the being asked in a femione of voice, which was surprisingly normal, even pleasant. “I don't usually see you here, do you need anything from the archives?”

  “No, no, not this time. I'm with the young dy today, she wao visit the library.” Ameli replied in a polite tone, pg her hand on my head, drawing the attention of the... thing. She smiled sweetly, something I had no idea how I was able to pick up on like that, though her look and the memory of everything I had just seen made me shrink bad hide a little more behind Ameli. I couldn't help but think about how rude I was, but it was hard not to feel that way after this whole disturbing situation.

  “Young dy, you mustn't-”

  “Oh, let her be, you know as well as I do that most kids will react the same way.” The... worm dy, abruptly interrupted Ameli, always keeping a gentle look and a kind smile.

  She lowered a little more from her position until she was almost at my eye level, but keeping her distance. I guessed she didn't want to scare me anymore. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Miss, everyone here knows me as Myridelia. I am part of a race called Myriapondantes, native to the far south of the ti.”

  Myridelia kept her smile as she introduced herself, not taking her eyes off me for an instant, while also standing at a safe distance from me, making just a few movements in a body-adapted version of a bow, g her strange hands together in front of her body and bowing her head.

  Perhaps because of her pleasant tone and good manners, I felt less fearful and fident enough to step out of my maid's skirt, though still hesitant. I looked toward Ameli for a sed, uain what should I do, but finally decided to act acc to the manners I had e to learn.

  I took a couple of unsteady steps to the side and in front of Ameli, then took the ends of my dress, and keeping my back as straight as possible bowed my head slightly and introduced myself, “I am Orinita Belian, a plesha to meet you.”

  “Oh my, what a sweet and polite Young Lady.” Myridelia smiled brightly, giving me aertained look, as if she had seen the most adorable thing in the world. For some reason that made my face feel hot, and I immediately went back to hiding behind Ameli.

  The ughter from both of them didn't help.

  “I didn't know they taught them etiquette from such a young age.”

  “They don't,” Ameli replied with a soft sigh. “Albeit, I must say I am very impressed that the Young Lady was able to perform such a graceful greeting without having received proper lessons.”

  There was a sileweewo after Ameli said that as if they were both pting some sort of realization about it. The awkwardness tinued for a while until Myridelia returo her desk and, from one of the drawers took a small round thing ed in paper.

  “Here, little ohis is one of my little treasures.” She said, pg the little ball in my hand. It was barely smaller than my hand, and if I squeezed it, it was very soft. I tilted my head as I tried to figure out what it was, uo figure it out. When I moved my gaze to her expeg some sort of expnation, she gave me a smile and nothing more.

  I shifted my attention to Ameli, and she just nodded once, as if she thought that was what I was looking for. I rolled my eyes internally and removed the paper er, revealing something very simir to mochi. I had tried it o an anime event bae. It was delicious. I assumed this would be some kind of simir sweet. I looked towards the 2, looking for some sort of rea, and they both gave me an approving look. So, I took a bite of the soft ball and... HMMM!

  It tasted so delicious, indeed, just enough to make me smile with happiness. It was like a coffee dy with a slight hint of amon and caramel. I fi in a couple of bites, which elicited a wry smile from both of them. I couldn't bme them, nor did I expect to eat the dy so quickly.

  After that Myridelia said goodbye to us, warning us to be careful with the shelves and books, immediately returning to her... uh... whatever that thing on the ceiling was. I didn't want to think about it anymore, so I just waved goodbye to her and started walking around the library.

  The pce was divided into differeions, ranging from history, which tained not only books on the history of the family, but also the empire, other families, and the races, and surprisingly there was a book on the history of the Nazzik. I guessed it was from the times whewo families used to get along, publicly of course.

  A few books Ameli mentioned here caught my eye, Biography of Cassian Aric Roitnd the First, written by Sern Gambode, Imperial scribe. “Brief History of the Empire” in 2 parts, written by Bokjón Meldas, historian.

  There were even two that had nothing to do with the empire. “Tales of a Jouro the East”, written by Ehokerante Bolses, the adventurer of der. It is a story about a young Magar's jouro the nds of the Miranis and his experiehere. Then there was “The Bcksmith of Merondar”, written by Anario Goez, on his apprenticeship jouro the Altamira kingdom in Muntanyes Ferro Bnc.

  Now, you may wonder why those books caught my attention. Well, for two simple reasons, the first one because it mentiohe Miranis, who are the elves of this world, and the sed one because of the words “Altamira” and “Muntanyes Ferro Bnc”. Altamira es from the old Spanish and transtes as “high view” or “high gnce” and Muntanyes sounds too familiar to me. I remember once, in one of my jobs having heard that word, but I am not pletely sure if it uese, Italian, or some uage. But I was sure it was some Western European nguage. The important thing is, why then did those words exist here? It 't just be a ce, it?

  I decided to leave those thoughts for when I learo read properly, then I could ahose questions... or even gee new ones.

  We tinued walking through the library, going from ses of something called “Essentia”, which was also divided into Prima, Physiatura, Anima, and Divina. No idea what it all meant, and Ameli didn't want to expin it to me.

  The rest of the ses were about more mundane books, such as short stories, legends, romanovels, etd right at the end of the pce was a sturdy door, with two locks that seemed to be made for a clearly magical purpose, as they were quite intricate and, like the door, sturdy.

  I asked Ameli about that pce, and she replied, “On no at should you go in there, young dy. That room is the archive, where there are many important books and dots. Only his Grace, Duke Halfred, her Grace, Duchess Irna, or Madam Fiana may grant permission to ehat pce.”

  I must admit it left me curious, but giveern look Ameli was giving me, I decided to nod obediently. Anyway, those kinds of pces are almost always trouble in novels for sure, so I would stay as far away from that pce as possible.

  After a while and having familiarized myself a bit with its structure, we decided to leave. It turned out to be quite an iing trip, as I now had a new reason to learn to read as soon as possible.

  Our destination was the servants' quarters. It was a somewhat secluded wing on the west side of the mansion. There were about 200 rooms for the more perma employees of the mansion, excluding, of course, the guards and knights of the family order, who lived in a different location. I would like to talk about them another day.

  We wahrough the various corridors, entering different employees who gave curious g my presen their rooms. While most were curious looks, there was one party that I easily reized. Losward's s. They didn't approach me, thankfully Ameli seemed to be enough to dissuade them, but that didn't stop them from looking at me with a glint of pt in their eyes.

  The strahing about this situation is that usually, Ameli will say something. Sometimes she simply asks me to take another route or directly talks to them, sg them enough to make them retreat themselves, but this time Ameli was so silent that I had to look behind me several times to make sure she was really still with me.

  Is she that tired? I think I should really talk to Ki to give her some days off...

  Feeling too unfortable because of the stant stares of those s, I decided to ge dire aowards the kits, this being one of the pces I was looking forward to visiting the most. No, it's not because I'm a glutton... or even less because I want to steal dy... It's definitely not that! The reason I want to go is because I always wao learn how to cook properly, though I don't mean fancy foods, I always wao learn how to prepare sweets, desserts, and cakes. That artly because of Nadia. We didn't always have the moo indulge in such luxuries, but at least a few times a year, especially on her birthday, I used to buy a prood-sized cake. I guess thanks to that we both got a taste for sweets.

  The point is that I always wao learn how to do it, and if there was any way in this life I could try, even if I couldn't see my little sister enjoy my creations, I could at least feel the satisfa of having tried. Who knows, maybe sharing my creations with my new family would make them happy too.

  Finally, after walking around for a while, we arrived at the door to the kits, just as they seemed to be on break. Fortunately, there was no problem with letting us in to watch, which I had not the slightest hesitation in doing.

  There were several people i least 15, who watched me with smiles as I went through every nook and y of the kit. In its ey, it was se and spacious that it could house aire family. The ceiling was very high, perhaps 6 or 7 meters high (19-22 ft), and in the ter of the pce, there was what looked like a rge firepce very simir to a sink at ground level, something that surprised and fasated me when I saw it. I am going to expin this a little bit to give you a better idea.

  As I said, it is simir to a ground-level sink, about 4 or 5 meters long (13-16 ft), pced in the ter of the kit. On the floor, there was a kind of pit underh, in which there was a fire burning, fed by a rge amount of firewood. Given its shape, several cauldrons, pots and even frying pans and something like a wok were pced along and on both sides of this tral firepce, where various types of food were cooked simultaneously. There were some holes iain parts, from what I imagined were vents to allow air to flow aer fuel the fire. This brick structure was, as far as I could tell, hollow, allowing smoke to colleside and rise through the ey in the middle, which rose to the ceiling and outward.

  SpoilerI don't know how good it will look, or if you guys will be able to see it just as I see it in my head, but it's the best I do with my artistic paint skills xd

  [colpse]Seeing this blew my mind. It was an incredibly cool and effit idea, something I had never seen in my previous world. It even had individual wooden ptes, held on hitached to the brick structure, which you could lower, serving as tables, to prepare the ingredients while the pots and pans were heating, and raise again so that they would not get in the way when moving the tents of the tainers.

  I kept admiring this incredible iion for a long time, until I noticed the rest of the things, somewhat more normal, but no less fasating. There was the bread oven, which seemed to be made of cy, giving a very rustic touch to the kit. There were also some tables where most of the utensils such as ptes, dles, a variety of krays, etc. were pced. Specific tables for prepari and a rge number of barrels and jars filled with different types of fruits, vegetables, grains, and other things. There was a huge sink where dishes and utensils seemed to be washed, and it even seemed to have some sort of drain leading to the outside! I noticed it because one of the cooks helped me see it by lifting me in his arms. He was a very kind guy.

  Aside from all that, there were also those cssic rolls of pnts, like seasonings and such, hanging from different pces throughout the kit. Garlic-like stuff, parsley, coriander, etc.

  On one of the farthest walls from where I was, there was a metal door, from whiething simir to steam seemed to be ing out, but it wasn't steam. I was sure it was some kind of cold chamber, but I wouldn't go near it to check it out no matter how much I wao. As soon as I noticed it, out of the er of my eye I saw some worried and tense expressions among the cooks. I sehat they didn't wao go there, so, in order not to give them any trouble, I decided not to give in to my curiosity. If I wahem to teach me iure, I had to be obedient and earrust, and this kind of thing does wonders for that goal.

  Thanks to that decision, I could see them smile in relief, which also earned me some “rewards” for being a good girl. What were they? More dy. Ameli didn't say anything, so I wasn't going to say her.

  After enjoying those delicious snacks, we decided that we should tih our walk, plus it was time for the kit staff to start preparing lunch. The two head cooks promised me a delicious but light lunch, taking into at that I had eaten several sweets, they didn't want my stomach to hurt.

  They were certainly a very nice couple, something that has earhem 100 points on my good people scale.

  As I mentioned, lunch came quickly. We lingered in some of the nearby rooms, t them and admiring various paintings and other art around until we were told we could go to eat. As promised, a light lunch was served, a delicious soup, with a mild but very appetizing fvor. It was very easy to eat a me pleasantly satisfied. I told one of the maids who served us the meal to give my thanks to the chefs, as well as to herself. The girl smiled happily and walked with that expression to the kit where I mao hear ter that my words were the joy of the cooks.

  For some reason that put me in a much better mood.

  After resting for a bit, we went out into the garden, on our way to the guards' training grounds. The knights of our order were training elsewhere, it seemed.

  Normally I'm not that ied in ing here, especially at this time iernoon, as it's not usually very iing, but I heard about something iing. The Ekus stable was very close to the training camp. I didn't notice it the first time I visited, but sidering Ameli seemed to be distracted... maybe I could sneak away to py with the chicks.

  I'm a good girl, but, even good girls be tempted to get into certain mischief.

  Mwahahahaha!

  FivesZeta