Though calendar years are divided by each Exaltare's reign, there are still four distinct "classical eras" of Vampire society. The Lost Age, The Era of Warring Kingdoms, The Age of Gloaming, and The Modern Era.

—Algee's Introductory Text to the History of the Empire, Volume I

The rest of the week proceeded along the same general pattern. Lycoris would have nightmares, then struggle to sleep until the early morning, at which point Athena would prepare a light breakfast and get her dressed. She'd head off to class, meeting up with the other girls along the way.

Conversations were somewhat awkward, as it was clear none of Dahlia's friends wanted to step on Lycoris's toes and risk their own necks, but they otherwise treated her like an extension of Dahlia, and that was good enough for her.

Probably.

Of course at the end of each class, students would either swarm or remain cautiously aloof as they scrutinized her every single action. The persistent feeling of always being watched followed everywhere she went—even when she felt she was alone. Which meant most of the time she had to herself, she was forced to utilize her honed mindfulness to keep herself free from distractions, lest she never get anything accomplished at all.

That said, her curriculum was quite relaxed compared to the whirlwind that life in the Dauwen military had been. Classes were novel—she'd yet to have a repeat subject and wouldn't for another week or so—and since each class had its own set of homework to take care of before the next meeting, Lycoris gradually found her evenings becoming busier, and the private library inside her solitary tower saw more use than the training hall right beside it.

Its shelves remained just as empty, though. Everything Lycoris needed for her assignments, she either found already waiting on the shelves for her, or tucked conveniently into her mind as she played back the class's lecture.

Woe upon those who find themselves with attention waning, she mused to herself on more than one occasion. Not even an eidetic memory could save someone from their own attention span after all.

But as the weekend arrived, the rapidly-settling routine took a sudden turn.

Unlike Human society, the Vampires' Ancestors didn't respect any sabbath, and thus school continued throughout the entire week. Though rather than sitting around listening to a dreadfully tenured old bat give a lecture of varying dryness for several hours, the weekend was for physical exercise. Or at least, a rough approximation of it.

Rather than run laps around a track field, the entire day was sectioned off for taking of and riding around on myrh, which while certainly being sportier than sitting in an auditorium, didn't feel particularly exhilarating on its own.

Lycoris was quite grateful for that though, as thinking of physical sports and track fields only reminded her of Dahlia playing skyebollr with other students. Somehow, despite the hints in the name, she hadn't realized that the activity would involve flying around and tossing a ball. When they asked if she wanted to join in after explaining the rather simplistic rules, she nearly broke down into cowering with her hands covering her head.

Thankfully she managed to avoid utterly embarrassing herself and retained her composure as she politely declined, but she'd come alarmingly close to exposing her fear of heights.

As the group of students gathered around the outskirts of the wide-open field, upon which sat a fairly luxurious looking stable—by Lycoris's standards from life in the Kingdom at least—a thought briefly occurred to her.

Would Mira be jealous if he knew I was going to be riding other myrh? I know horses typically don't have an ego like that, but…

She put her fingers to her lips and frowned. Mira was clearly an exception, but Lycoris wasn't sure just how much of one he really was. She was a little excited to see other myrh to draw a point of comparison, and subtly rocked on the balls of her feet as dozens of students gathered around a tall and toned Vampire woman.

"Attention everyone, we are opening access to the stables. Please remember to stay away from the fences while riding, and get yourselves changed before heading out," the instructor called out.

Her mint-colored hair was tied into a thin whip-like ponytail behind her, and she wore tight-fitting riding gear that seemed tailored specifically for horse-riding—or, myrh-riding in this case. Most importantly, her build and demeanor reminded Lycoris of a drill-instructor more than someone who'd teach rich noble kids. She must've been in her late thirties, or early forties… Or whatever the Vampiric equivalent was.

Maybe her early thousands? Athena's just shy of that after all…

"That includes Your Highness, as well," she added, turning to meet Lycoris's gaze.

She realized after a moment that the rest of the kids had stepped back and were either gazing toward the field and talking to each other, heading towards a nearby building, or gawking at her. She'd been the only one assessing the instructor.

"My apologies, Ma'am. This is my first time attending this, ah… class?" She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she glanced around.

The instructor made a strangled gasp, holding her hands up defensively and wheezing, "Please, Your Highness. Eleanor is fine. Or Coach Blythe, if you must be formal about it. But there is no need to call me 'Ma'am.'"

Ah, right.

Lycoris sighed internally. She'd forgotten herself for a moment and referred to Eleanor like a proper drill sergeant. At least she didn't flash the Kingdom's salute, that would've been a whole nightmare. "Very well, Eleanor it shall be."

"Mm. This is a more free-form sort of class, you can either ride the myrh around the track, or see to their grooming, or practice training them. All the myrh here are already fully-trained, so it's more for the students education and benefit. Have you ever ridden one before, Your Highness?"

"Oh yes, Mira is quite the comfortable ride," she nodded eagerly, "and far more obedient than a… great number of animals." Though she couldn't really say he was

trained.

"I see, well the changing area is over there," Eleanor gestured to the building the other students were walking towards. "All of the riding clothes are freshly laundered, just enter in your details and the storage silo will spit out a set for you. If you have any other questions, feel free to come find me. I'll be out on the riding field."

"Thank you, Eleanor." Lycoris politely curtseyed to her before making her way over to the indicated structure. It was refreshing that so many of the instructors here treated her normally, rather than losing their minds over her existence. They all probably had some level of inoculation due to the constant overbearing presence of all the most important noble children in the Empire.

While Saturday and Sunday were both dedicated to physical activity, Lycoris couldn't find any of her friends when the students were gathering up and milling around. Most likely they were attending fencing today and would be riding tomorrow. Glancing at the stable in the distance as she made her way to the building connected to the fences, Lycoris noted that the structure couldn't have been large enough to house a myrh for every single individual student, so it made sense that they'd split the student body into two groups. But just as her damned luck would have it, there was one person at least who she recognized in the hallway, his wavy faded red hair combed back to keep his bangs out of his face.

"Lycoris! There you are." Arnen hastened over as he caught sight of her. He hadn't changed yet, but in his arms was a set of riding clothes.

She smiled back with genuine ease, glad to see that her efforts to get the people she spoke with to refer to her as "Lycoris" rather than "Your Highness" was paying off. It just felt

wrong

, both in general and especially in this sort of environment. They were supposed to all be equals under the banner of academic pursuit, or something like that. It's what the handbook proudly declared, at least.

"Arnen, good day. I didn't realize you were in today's group. Is my schedule public information? Everyone seems to know where I am at all times…"

"You can check the class roster online, Your Highness! I think most people immediately poured over their schedules to see if they shared any classes with you the instant it was announced you'd be attending."

"Ah…" Lycoris glanced away from the exuberant young boy and looked around the hall, noticing people lining up in front of a screen and wall-mounted dispenser. "Well, good luck with class," she waved as she made her way over…

…Only for him to follow after her. "Have you ever ridden before? I can show you the ropes, if you'd like."

"No, that's quite alright. Or rather, yes I have."

As she approached the line, most of the students immediately stepped out of the way for her to cut to the front, though some were a little slow to notice who had shown up. She sighed at the frightened school of fish display, while wordlessly accepting her position at the front of the line where she waited patiently for the girl in the middle of receiving her outfit to finish up. The poor kid looked particularly nervous, like she had been caught out in the open field with a rain of fire magic sailing down toward her.

It would be nice if anyone else here had as much spine as Dahlia,

she privately lamented. Granted she hadn't met

every

person attending the academy, and it wasn't as though Dahlia was the

only

person who matched her tempo. Her friends did too—if somewhat stiffly—and there was Arnen who… had an exuberant spirit. Surely there had to be at least a handful that didn't look at her like she was the Demon Lord returned.

Well, then again, I am her daughter so that's a pretty normal reaction…

Vocalizing her sigh on accident, the girl in front bowed profusely to her and scrambled to run away the second her clothes were dispensed, mistaking Lycoris's discomfort for annoyance.

Oops… I better apologize later.

Though, the mental picture of a disapproving Dahlia came to mind, the girl wagging her finger and saying,

"Lycoris, you can't smooth over every slip-up. Better to let her fear you, and be graceful and magnanimous when she willingly offers her obsequience in the future. You avoid looking ignorant, and bolster your image while cementing her servitude. It's two wyverns with one stone! This is real basic stuff, you know."

She grimaced and waved away the mental image, imagining Dahlia's elegant laughter as she exploded into a swarm of bats and flew off.

Why is it even

her

saying that and not Mama?!

I need more sleep… Though c

ome

to think of it, Sera and Emma acted normally around me after they found out the truth, I guess that makes them pretty remarkable. Or maybe they were just better at hiding their awkwardness. But would common…bloods really be that naturally relaxed around a princess? Sera worked in the military, so that makes sense, but Emma is just a nurse.

Realizing that she was spacing out in the middle of the hallway as everyone nervously waited for her, Lycoris stiffly walked up to the machine and looked at it, her already-wavering mood dropping as she realized she'd have to navigate yet another labyrinthine interface. She wasn't sure how to feel about starting to hallucinate her friend talking in her head, especially since the Idra's advice was at times—

"Would you like some help, Lycoris?" Arnen helpfully interjected as he came up right beside her, shattering her train of thought. After she stared at the persistent boy in mild disbelief, he quickly spun around. "Ah! My apologies, I'm sure you'd like to keep your sizes secret, how graceless of me to not realize. You are a lady above ladies, after all."

"…What? I… No, I don't particularly mind. We have elevators in the Palace that are— right, you would already know that. I'm unfamiliar with the interface is all, the guards or Athena handled all my requests whenever I needed to travel to another floor."

"Ah, well to begin with you just press this button, and since you're a girl you want a girl's outfit, so you press this one… Next you select your house colors from the drop-down menu here, and enter in your sizes below…"

It was a good thing that she'd gotten herself sized when she stayed in Condore, considering Lycoris would otherwise have had no idea what to enter. It wasn't that complicated of an interface, everything was rather straightforwardly labeled, but having someone familiar with the process was still a relief. At least, until she realized that there wasn't an entry on the machine for Aphtangloa.

"Oh, they must not have thought of that," she frowned while muttering to herself. Picking another house's colors seemed like it'd be sending a message, but she didn't want to go fetch the teacher or contact Rosa over something they would probably consider trivial. "Maybe I can just skip it and go out onto the field in these? I've ridden in worse."

"That's no good, Your Highness! Graceful as you are, I'm sure, you shouldn't dirty up or tear the academy uniform," exclaimed Arnen. "And polite as she is, Coach Blythe is very strict when it comes to following protocol."

"What's she going to do, complain to my mom?" Lycoris deadpanned. "Couldn't I just fix it up with magic afterward?"

Not that she knew how to do that.

"Do you know how to do that?"

"… …Well what am I supposed to do then?! I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but

somebody

will no matter what I do!"

The boy—and the crowd standing behind him—winced back as her temper frayed. "M-My apologies! Couldn't you just pick House Drimus, though? As Her Majesty's daughter, you would have the same historic ties she does."

"If that was the case, then why would she bother having a whole

tower

made for me instead of just putting me in the Drimus's dorm?"

"I don't know, I apologize," Arnen bowed his head and shoulders, squeezing his arms around his light pink vest.

Lycoris stared for a moment, then forced the tension out of herself with a sigh, "Listen, it's fine. You're just trying to help. Making a scene out of this should be beneath me, regardless. Exhaustion is no excuse for speaking out of turn."

She bit the bullet and picked Drimus, letting the machine whir and spit out some white leggings and a blue vest with the family's Blade and Laurel crest printed onto it.

It's not like the color is really any different.

If anyone asks…

She glanced back at the group of students waiting with varying levels of patience and concern,

it's not like anyone would argue against me if I explained the reason why anyways. Especially after that little display. Capitalize on mistakes rather than amend them, right?

She scooped up the change of clothes and gave Arnen a pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get changed before we run out of time."

"Ah, but we still have about six hours left, though only two are mandatory for class participaayy—?!"

"I said come on, you dork." She grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him towards the changing rooms.

"D-Dork?! W-Wait, Lycoris!"

"

What?

" She stopped in the doorframe, turning to frown at him. "I know we have plenty of time, I just didn't want to block the machine any longer."

"No, no it's not that, it's just…" He straightened out and cleared his throat, his cheeks flushed a dark purple. "The girl's changing room is over there."

…

"Oh." Lycoris let go of his arm, her own cheeks darkening as his embarrassment spread to her. "I did not realize it wasn't co-ed," she muttered stiffly.

Not that she would have cared who was in her presence while she changed. There was only so much space inside of Dauwen's barracks, they couldn't realistically have separate installments for men and women.

That would certainly have caused quite a… commotion. I'm not sure I'd be able to work with that one, and I'd rather not have to explain it away in the first place.

So she told herself as she scrambled back out of the doorway and scampered off past the line toward the other side of the hall, too flustered to even feel relieved at her reprieve from the "dork."

Inside the changing room, with its overpoweringly fragrant floral aroma that was clearly masking either the scent of cleaning product or something

else,

was a long wooden bench and rows of iron cupboards with lock and key hanging from open doors—save for the ones already in use—and other girls in various states of dress.

That much didn't even register on Lycoris's radar, but everyone turning to look at her as she entered made her residual embarrassment flare back up in a sudden bout of shyness. She hadn't been exactly

shameless

before, but returning to a child's body made her feel far more self-conscious about her appearance.

She'd been able to brush off the fact she looked like a little girl until now because… well, it felt surprisingly normal. Lycoris had quickly gotten used to the clothing, and the only ones who ever saw her in states of undress were her mother and private self-imposed death-pacted maid. And her embarrassment from bathing together with Lilianna was for a completely different reason. She was a fully-developed adult, for one. But that didn't alleviate any tension that came with the notion of exposing herself to a bunch of strangers she had never met…

It's… it's not because I'm a girl, is it? I mean it's still my body! I've already gotten over looking at myself in the mirror. Besides, who's going to pick on the Exaltare's daughter? Worst case scenario they start trying to talk me up again… that doesn't exactly sound any better, though…

After spending a week with Dahlia, she had grown a fair bit more confident in her position and how well she passed as a "natural born" princess, even with her occasional missteps. Forcing her body to cease its trembling, she walked into the room with a jerky nod and released her death-grip on her change of clothes. Letting them fall on the bench in front of an unoccupied locker, she neatly stepped out of her shoes and began to undress, forcing herself to clear her mind as she pursed her lips. From the bottom up, she tidily folded her clothes one piece at a time and placed them inside of the locker on top of her footwear.

"So even Her Highness does things like this?" "I half-thought she would have a separate changing area…" "And a servant to take care of it for her." "She even knows how to properly fold her own clothing?" "Well of course she would, she's a more refined lady than any of us!"

Of course, the whispering immediately began as she set to the task.

You think I wouldn't rather have my own changing area? And you should all know that our servants are busy taking care of the campus! Not that having Athena change my clothes for me in public would feel any less shameful!

It was the school's solution for staffing and keeping the campus in such a spotless state, for such an important and private aristocratic student body. It was also a convenient excuse to keep them from shadowing their masters and mistresses all day, which would have certainly made Dahlia's little group tea-parties far more crowded.

Tuning them out as best she could—and leaving her griping on the inside—Lycoris lifted up and looked at the individual parts of the outfit. The leggings and top both seemed to stretch and fit quite tightly, and the button-up riding vest was like a much shorter version of a gambeson that sported family colors.

"Isn't that Drimus's…" someone mumbled.

"Because," Lycoris loudly spoke at the room in general with her back straight, "there are none for the Aphtangloa, at present."

She knew someone would bring it up. It was inevitable.

"Oh, right. Makes sense." "Hey! Don't upset her, apologize!"

"It's fine," Lycoris benevolently smiled, quashing the sigh rising in her throat. "Curiosity is commendable. All I ask is that you not make asking such things a habit."

After that, the peanut gallery fell silent as she finished buttoning up the vest and sliding the boots and gloves on. It certainly left her feeling odd, like she were wearing a set of winter skivvies underneath a tunic and nothing else.

Turning around to close the locker, her eyes fell upon the locket sitting atop her tidily folded clothing. Logically, she knew that it was a bad idea to have jewelry on while she was horse—myrh riding. Or performing any sort of physical activity, for that matter. But the thought of leaving Mizar behind was anathema to her.

Deciding against leaving him behind, she slid the locket underneath the vest, but over the skivvies.

Maybe it'd be a bad idea otherwise, but Mizar's here to protect me, right? She smiled to herself before realizing that, while they had fallen silent, the girls in the changing room were still gawking at her, and hurried out the opposite side.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The building was structured with a front and back hall that each connected to one exit to the building, with the changing area split evenly on the right and left, with the doors leading out of the back exit leading to the interior of the large fenced-off field, purposefully split into several different courses with a wide variety of environments for them to practice riding myrh on. Although given the lax nature of all the other students, it seemed more like recreation rather than training. She couldn't imagine the obstacle courses ever got much use.

There were flat grassy plains and dirt tracks, sparsely placed trees in what amounted to a "foresty" section, and a shallow lake and river wrapping around the opposite end. Some had natural hazards purposefully left and maintained on them, and others had low fences meant for jumping or weaving between. The stables were situated off to one side of the expansive field, in the center of a donut-shaped track clearly meant for short-distance races.

The moment Lycoris stepped out and started looking around, Arnen trotted up to her on the back of a gray-white feathered myrh, its beak and head covered by a leather bridle and a proper saddle set upon its back.

"There you are, Lycoris! Look at this creature's pristine plumage, does it not remind you of your own lovely locks?"

…It sounded like a cheesy one-liner, but his tone was so earnest that Lycoris couldn't help but chuckle at it anyways, replying in a slightly snarky tone, "Ahaha, perhaps if I were a Sylph, Arnen. I don't have feathers."

"Your Highness is familiar with the birdfolk?"

"I've even seen one of their villages before! …I-In a picture, I mean." A sudden chill gripped her as she realized she nearly revealed that she'd been on the other side of the world. Rapidly changing the subject, she looked from him to the fields where other students were already sauntering around on their own myrh. "What are you sitting around here for? I figure you'd be riding it around. You seem pretty confident on top of… What's his name?"

"Hamlet. And is it not obvious? I'm here to offer you a seat," he confidently replied while patting Hamlet's back.

"I can find my own myrh to ride, Arnen," she deadpanned back at him. "You don't need to give me yours."

"Aha~ I meant

together

with me, Your Highness."

"I appreciate the offer—even if it would send a very pointed message I'd rather avoid—but I'd like to take the opportunity to limber up and jog over to the stables."

He frowned, but politely relented as she waved him off and started jogging away, though she picked up the sound of a couple of other students snickering and teasing him with things like

"better luck next time." and "maybe try for a smaller fish."

Not that it was her problem, but it still bothered her. She didn't like the idea of being the instrument they used to pick on someone who was more or less one of the nicest Vampires she had ever met.

Maybe if I take him to a dance or something they'll get off his case? You'd better not laugh at me, Mizar.

The thought bothered her all the way to the stables, whereupon she was distracted by the display of roughly a hundred stalls lined up across two floors, a smooth ramp with coarse grip tape connecting them. Each stall had its own feeding trough and water spigot, which seemed to be motion-activated. The stalls were obviously far smaller than the open-floor concept Mira had at the Transfixion of Heaven, but it'd be hard to beat the sort of decadence that Lilianna considered standard.

Most of the stalls were still occupied, the myrh inside either raising their heads to look at her as she passed or poking out past the gate to lick the hands of the students looking around for their favorite steeds.

I wonder if these are all owned by the school, or if they're brought from home… I should have asked Arnen.

Lycoris paused in front of a particular occupied stall, where a rust-red myrh was standing proudly at attention, looking directly at her as she stared back.

…Pristine plumage indeed. Are you his brother maybe? 'Your plumage is a perfect match,' and all that.

Turnabout was fair play, after all, even though she knew of Arnen's immediate family. She hadn't met his siblings personally, but she had heard quite a bit about both Douglas and Rosalina, given they were the two other Manos closest to Arnen in age.

Smirking at her own private joke, Lycoris looked at the placard beside the stable and hummed,

"Augusto, male, age one hundred twenty-two, Pelagian breed… Why does that sound familiar?"

After a moment, she realized she'd heard the name when geography had come up during her courses. The Pelagoi Mountains, or Pelagian Range, was apparently the name Vampires had given to the mountains that acted as a natural barrier to the edge of the known world as far as Lycoris was concerned.

Apparently everything north of there was just an inhospitable waste, even worse than the wasteland of trash that the Whispers called home.

But the mountains themselves were unassuming if treacherously snowy peaks, and the ones inside of Tenebreimen's territory were the Idras' homeland. It was no wonder they all gave off the impression of being fussy and grumpy, Lycoris probably would feel the same if she had to live on a snow-covered mountain all year round.

"Gwark?

" Drawing her out of her musings, the myrh—Augusto—had stepped to the edge of his little pen and gently nipped at her twintails to get Lycoris's attention.

"Oh, right. You're a friendly one, aren't you?" Not that she had met a myrh that

wasn't

friendly. "…I hope Mira won't be jealous. Would you care to be my companion for today, Augusto?

Let's see, it says here your original owner was named… Minerva Tamisrah."

In reply, he ruffled his tailfeathers and raised his head with a prideful, "

Kwah.

"

I'll take that as a yes, she chuckled. It seemed it wasn't just Mira that was gifted with the capacity to understand human speech.

Briefly glancing around to make sure there wasn't anything she had to fill out or sign to rent out the myrh, Lycoris stepped over and unlocked the gate, stepping back to let Augusto out. Only for the animal to tilt his head and lightly bonk into her.

"What's the matter?" She looked at Augusto in confusion.

"Oh, Your Highness, you're supposed to bridle the myrh

before

letting them out. Otherwise they might sprint off on their own and run wild. …I suppose it's a good thing you chose Augusto, he's old enough to stay fairly calm and obedient regardless of the situation."

Nearly startling her out of her skin at how close to her ear he spoke, a young man not too dissimilar to Arnen in build answered her question. Turning around and looking up, she saw an unfamiliar pair of twinkling amethyst eyes framed by slightly longer green hair as the boy stood back up and gracefully tilted his head. He looked a fair bit more mature than Arnen, and was at least a full head taller than the redhead, who already felt tall compared to Lycoris. The number of students who were as short as her was irritatingly low. There were maybe two that she encountered who stood at eye level with her—most had a few centimeters over her.

Considering the green jacket he wore, the teenage-ish boy must have belonged to the Sefer Family.

"Oh, I see… Mira never has that problem. Then again, he clings to me more than Arnen seems to," sighed Lycoris. "Thank you Augusto, for being so well behaved as I unwittingly erred."

"…who talks to myrh like that?"

"What was that?"

"

*Ahem*

We should find you some riding gear, Your Highness," the young man deftly managed to change the subject, even though she clearly heard what he already said. "I can fetch it for you, or would you like to accompany me?"

"May I ask for a name, first?" she replied with as polite of a smile as she could muster.

The older boy stared at her blankly for a long moment, before turning his head bashfully and scratching his cheek, "Ah, eurh…"

"'Eur…?'"

"S-Sileas Sefer! Your Highness!" stammered Sileas.

"Right… then, shall we get that riding gear?" Lycoris asked, as she vaguely recalled a warning given to her months ago.

A dangerous smile, huh… I think I'm starting to see what she meant by having to be careful with my looks…

The thought of an entire entourage of Arnens all head-over-heels for her only served to remind Lycoris of just how exhausted and sleep-deprived she felt. Holding her hand over the concealed Mizar beneath her vest, Lycoris followed behind Sileas, while Augusto waited patiently in his stable.

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