The floor of the room was covered with a thick red and gold carpet. Against the wall atop the carpet stood two square wooden tables, their built-in bookshelves completely empty.
Next to each table was a wardrobe, its doors hanging open, revealing nothing inside.
Two luxurious large beds were placed in the center of the room. This was the highest-class female dormitory, the Griffon Dorm for girls.
In principle, it was a shared dormitory for two, but Alice didn't seem to have a roommate; there were no traces of anyone else living here.
"Just like Charlotte's situation, living alone, huh?" Robin looked around the empty room and flew onto one of the tables.
He carefully laid the map out on the table. He'd been sent to fetch it on their way here.
With a map, things would be easier in the future, whether for magecraft or daily activities.
"How do you know everything?" Charlotte crossed her arms, looking expressionlessly at Robin.
Though she was somewhat getting used to it, it was still a little irritating.
"Hmph, don't underestimate my information network," Robin puffed his chest out proudly. "I even know that Charlotte's roommate went out because of her."
"Sigmund, bite him!"
"Hey, hey, hey! We just settled down!"
"You started this war."
Suiseiseki, holding her suitcase, stood beside Charlotte and looked at her curiously. "Did you play a prank on your roommate?"
"Of course not." Charlotte covered her face, slightly embarrassed. "She suddenly tried to enter the bathroom... my clothes were still in there at the time..."
As she spoke, her hand subtly brushed against her chest. A maiden's secrets must not be discovered by others.
"Almost discovered the breast pads?" Alice glanced at Charlotte's ample bust and asked offhandedly.
"That's right, it was a really close call..."
Halfway through her sentence, Charlotte suddenly realized what she was saying and frantically covered her chest again.
She stared at Alice, her pretty face instantly flushing bright red, her voice trembling. "H-h-h-how did you know about that, Alice?"
Alice passed by Trimmau, who was setting down the luggage, and leisurely sat in the chair by the window.
"I noticed the first time you came to the mansion."
"Eh?"
"You might not have realized it that night, but your breasts were a bit misaligned."
Charlotte froze, desperately trying to recall the memories from that evening.
Back then, she had indeed felt something was off after patting her chest, but she'd adjusted it quickly.
So she'd been discovered that early?
Her shoulders slumped in dejection as she sat down opposite Alice.
Didn't that make all her previous attempts to hide it seem ridiculous?
"It's fine. Being small is cute too."
Alice smoothed her dress and slowly leaned back into the chair.
Noticing this, Trimmau approached and stood by the table.
With a swish, she produced a tray bearing red tea from seemingly nowhere, gently placing the teacups on the table.
Then, her arms elongated, their skin tone gradually fading away.
Her mercury hands simultaneously morphed into a broom, a mop, and a cloth, and she began cleaning every corner of the room.
The perfectly warmed tea made Alice narrow her eyes slightly.
A comfortable smile touched her lips as she recalled something unexpected discovered during the recent fight.
The structure of those puppets from earlier... felt somewhat familiar.
Alice's slender fingers lightly tapped against the side of her cup.
It seemed there was a hint of Karyuusai's shadow in them.
She turned her gaze towards the cleaning Trimmau.
That's right. Those puppets bore some resemblance in structure to that 'Oborofuji' doll, the one whose corpse Alice had completely dismantled.
But the craftsmanship was nowhere near Karyuusai's level. It was probably a clumsy imitation.
If she recalled correctly, Shouko should be arriving in Britain soon. Their last communication placed her on a ship, and the time difference was getting smaller.
She could go and chat with her later.
Just then, the noisy squabbling from the dolls nearby pulled her thoughts back to the present.
Suigintou and Shinku were standing by the wardrobe, glaring at each other.
"From here... to here, is mine. Understand?"
Shinku used her cane to draw a horizontal line across the lower section of the wardrobe, marking out the space she required.
The upper section belonged to Alice.
"No, that's too much."
Suigintou immediately retorted, pushing the line Shinku had drawn further back.
Having just arrived at the dorm, the most important task was, of course, dividing the territory.
Their daily activities revolved around Alice, and they had their own boxes for sleeping.
So areas for tea or sleep didn't need distribution; the main issue was storage space.
Even though Alice said they'd frequently return to the mansion, they still planned to keep a few things here.
"Like this, your side becomes larger than mine. I cannot accept that." Shinku pushed the line back again.
"Hmph." Suigintou pushed back in opposition.
The two dolls glared at each other, their foreheads pressed together.
Staring into Suigintou's eyes, Shinku seemed to remember something.
She relaxed her pressure slightly, her gaze gradually lowering, coming to rest on Suigintou's slender neck.
Suigintou's head... it wouldn't fall off again, would it?
One such horrifying scene was more than enough.
Feeling Shinku's pressure lessen, Suigintou frowned in confusion.
Shinku shouldn't be backing down. What had she seen?
Suigintou followed Shinku's line of sight.
Then, she understood everything.
"Are you looking down on me?"
Suigintou spoke disdainfully, then shoved forcefully, tackling Shinku to the floor.
The black-and-white and gold-red dolls tumbled across the floor twice before starting to wrestle.
"What if your head falls off again?"
"None of your concern!"
"I'm afraid I'd be the one scared."
"You...!"
Ahem.
A light cough came from the window. Suigintou and Shinku immediately froze.
Turning to look, they found Alice's icy stare fixed on them.
"Be quiet."
"Yes." x2
Under the authority of the head of the household, Suigintou and Shinku temporarily became the best of friends.
Robin stood on the table, watching the scene with a gleeful smile.
But for some reason, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
The abrupt sense of dread made his spine tingle. Connecting it to the earlier scene, he immediately understood what was happening and flew out the window.
He didn't dare let any fight affect Alice.
Shinku's new 'best friend,' Suigintou, immediately spread her wings and shot after him.
If she couldn't fight Shinku, could she not fight you?
"Don't play too late."
"I know."
"Is this playing?!"
Robin's mournful wail drifted back from the sky.
Shinku, still standing in place, secretly nudged the dividing line a bit further over.
Unlike this side, the allocation process between Suiseiseki and Souseiseki was perfectly harmonious.
They were temporarily using the dorm's other wardrobe.
"Master."
Just as Alice was savoring her tea, Trimmau approached, holding a letter.
"This was found outside the door."
It was less a letter and more a note.
"Did you see who delivered it?"
"An automaton I didn't recognize, dressed in butler's attire."
Alice nodded and looked at the note.
[Alice Kuonji, you are sincerely invited to come to Restaurant Booth 114 tomorrow to discuss topics related to the Divine Machine.]
To come knocking right after her fight with Magnus.
It seemed Magnus, the academy's strongest, held significant weight in the students' minds.
Alice passed the note to the curious Charlotte sitting opposite her and picked up her teacup once more.
The fragrance of the black tea was precisely captured by the maiden, soothing the weariness of the day.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.