Chapter 12: The Raccoon and the Roommate
The Grandfather stood up, his voice carrying a tone of finality. "So, it's decided then. Helena, child, all the best. We will talk about this more in the morning, okay?"
Aika immediately stood up out of habit and respect. "Yes, okay," she replied, bowing her head slightly.
"Goodnight," she added as he turned to leave. Beside her, Noel and Ren also stood to bid the old man goodnight. Once the Grandfather was gone, Aika offered a quick, polite "Goodnight" to the twins before turning on her heel to escape the room.
Internal Monologue: Thank goodness that's over. I felt like I was eating under a microscope. I'm actually still hungry, but hell nah, I can't afford to stay and eat with both of them. Better run away, babe. Let's see what Helena's room looks like... God, I hope it's not Barbie-themed or something childish.
She moved toward the corner where a servant was standing and leaned in, asking in a low voice for the location of her room. She didn't realize that while Ren had his back turned, Noel was watching her every move, his eyes tracking her curiosity. Following the maid's directions, Aika began the long walk through the corridors, her mind reeling at the sheer scale of the mansion.
Internal Monologue: Damn, how much money do they have? I knew they were in big business, but this house is way too much. Helena, girl, this is your own house—why didn't I wake up in here on Day One?
She started humming a song from a Ghibli movie as she passed through the endless hallways. Finally, she reached a set of massive, ornate handles.
Internal Monologue: Is the bedroom in another zip code? Okay... found it. Oh my gosh, look at the size of this door. Come on, Aika, use your biceps. You can open this.
She planted her feet, put her full strength into it, and shoved. The heavy doors groaned and swung open. Aika stepped inside and stopped dead. It was beautiful—aesthetic, modern, and far from the "Barbie" nightmare she had feared.
The room was... perfect. It smelled of expensive vanilla and fresh linen. It was "Old Money" meets "Modern Minimalist." But Aika didn't care about the aesthetic; she cared about survival.
"A king-sized bed but zero room service? Tragically beautiful," she muttered.
She began a systematic sweep. Closet? Empty. Vanity? Just expensive face creams. Finally, she dropped to all fours and yanked open a hidden drawer built into the bed frame.
Jackpot. "Chips! Crackers! Dark chocolate!" Her eyes sparkled. She sat on the floor, legs crossed, surrounded by her loot. She picked up a bag of seaweed snacks, squinting at the fine print. "Expiring in three months... acceptable. Sodium levels... a bit high for a heart patient, but perfect for a stressed soul."
She was so deep in her "expiration date audit" that she didn't hear the soft click of shoes on the floor. She dived deeper into the drawer, her voice muffled by the mattress. "Is that a manga? No way... Original Helena, were you a secret nerd too?"
A dry, sharp cough cut through the air.
Aika's head hit the top of the drawer with a sickening THWACK.
"Son of a—!" She scrambled out, clutching the back of her head, eyes watering. Standing in the doorway were the twins. Ren was leaning back, looking like he'd just found the world's funniest entertainment. Noel was standing perfectly vertical, looking like he'd just witnessed a crime.
"Are we interrupting a ritual?" Ren asked, his eyes dancing. "Or is 'The Ice Queen' actually just a snack-hoarding raccoon in disguise?"
Aika felt her face heating up. "I was just... cleaning my room!" she blurted out. "I was searching for my pajamas!" but why u are here '
Ren chuckled, tilting his head toward his brother. "I just got here. But Noel was here before me. You can ask him why he's visiting."
The Study Session
Noel stood like a statue. "I came to give you these papers," he said coldly. "At the very least, you should know what an intern's work consists of before tomorrow morning."
Aika's student brain took over the moment she saw the documents. She stood beside him, leaning in close to see the details. but she is not leaning on noel but on paper . Noel began explaining the workflow, and Aika listened with sincere focus.
"And this part? The data handling for this sector—is that a daily or weekly audit?" she asked.
Noel paused. He wasn't looking at the graph anymore. His eyes were fixed on her hand. Her finger was resting right on the data column, leaving a faint, dusty smudge on the clean white paper from her earlier scavenging under the bed.
Noel's POV: She's looking at these spreadsheets like they're the most interesting thing in the world. But her hands... she was just digging under the bed like a stray cat. Does she even realize how ridiculous she looks? An heiress with dirt under her nails, asking about audit cycles.
"First," Noel said, his voice lower, "you should probably wash your hands. You're getting dust on the quarterly projections."
The 5:00 AM Warning
Aika flushed deep red and scrambled for wet wipes. Noel handed over the papers and left saying read that carefully . Ren, however, remained.
she ask looking at Ren who is still standing at door she ask" now he is done and gone already so u can tell me now why are u here"
"I came to bring you this," Ren said, holding up a high-end laptop. "Your old laptop."
Aika took it, feeling a wave of relief. "Thanks."
"So? What are you giving me in return?" Ren asked. "My service isn't free."
Aika looked at his smug face, then at the snacks on the floor. She picked up two bags of chips and shoved them into his hands. "There. Payment accepted."
Ren laughed genuinely. "yup' , he said and added "Don't stay up too late, Intern. 5:00 AM comes fast."
Aika's jaw dropped. "5:00 AM? Who wakes up at that hour?"
"We do," Ren said. He pointed to the door next to hers. "That's my room. And the one opposite? That's Noel's need anything don't knock even by mistake on these two doors Okai . Goodnight, neighbor."
Internal Monologue: Great. I'm in a 'Viper's Nest' sandwich. Noel on one side, Ren on the other.
Levitating in the Dark
Aika let out a long, exhausted sigh as she locked the door. "Okay, it's fine. This is actually interesting. It's going to be fun," she whispered to herself, trying to pump up her adrenaline. "Let's see what it's really like to work in an office."
She marched into the massive washroom and splashed her face with ice-cold water to snap herself out of her daze. When she looked up into the mirror, her eyes widened at the reflection of Helena's hair.
"Now that's the big problem," she groaned, grabbing a handful of the long, dark locks. "Who even keeps their hair this long? Really, Helena, you had taste but... who is going to handle all this? Should I just throw it in a bun without combing it? Nobody will know. But it'll be so uncomfortable."
She looked at the length—it fell way past her waist. "Man, I look like a pale ghost. Thank goodness I didn't scare myself."
In her white T-shirt and blue jeans, with her pale skin and that hauntingly long hair, she did look like something out of a Ghibli movie—beautiful but a bit eerie. She quickly swapped into her pajamas, feeling a bit more like a human being. Then, she grabbed a comb and started ripping it through her hair. She wasn't gentle; she combed roughly, not caring how much of it broke off.
"It's just hair," she muttered, staring at the comb that was quickly becoming clogged with strands. "It says it grows more, no big deal."
She tossed the loose hair into the dustbin and quickly twisted the rest into a tight, practical braid. "Now, it's done."
She wasn't ready to sleep yet. She grabbed a few wet wipes and cleaned the floor where she had been sitting earlier, wiping away the dust from the old manga and the snack crumbs. Once the "crime scene" was clean, she dragged a plush comforter onto the floor, creating a makeshift study nest.
She sat down comfortably, pulling the laptop and Noel's papers in front of her. She even found a pair of glasses on the vanity—Helena's reading specs—and slid them onto her nose.
Internal Monologue:
"Let's get to work. What does this data column even mean? 'Quarterly handling'... okay, let's search that."
She opened the laptop and started researching every term she didn't understand. Beside her lay the diary where she had written the novel's plot, but now she was using the empty pages to take frantic, detailed notes on intern tasks. She wasn't just reading; she was analyzing. She even started trying to draft a practice balance sheet, her med-student brain treating the financial data like a complex medical chart.
"If I can memorize the human anatomy, I can definitely memorize a corporate spreadsheet," she whispered, her pen flying across the paper as she lost herself in the work.
Aika worked like she was back in med school, cramming for a final exam. She ate her snacks with one hand and took notes with the other, her head occasionally dropping from exhaustion before she snapped herself awake to search for another term she didn't understand.
After hours of intense focus, she finished the last of the 500 pages Noel had given her. She let out a long, loud stretch, her joints popping.
"Huh... finally. Done. At least I understand the basics now," she whispered, rubbing her sore neck. "Damn, my neck hurts. I'm so thirsty..."
She didn't even check the time. She just felt her throat parched from the salty snacks and the hours of talking to herself. She looked around the room—no water pitcher.
Internal Monologue:
"Seriously? A room this big and not a single bottle of water? I have to go down to the kitchen. Do I really have to? It's a long walk, and this house is way too quiet at night. It's a little scary... but come on, Aika, you're an adult. You've worked night shifts in hospitals. You can't be afraid of a dark hallway. Just go, girl. I need water or may be a coffee, otherwise, I'm going to pass out before the alarm even goes off."
She slowly pushed open the heavy bedroom doors. The corridor was silent, the air thick with that "old house" chill. It was still pitch black outside, and the only sound was the steady, rhythmic ticking of a grandfather clock somewhere in the distance.
She poked her head out first, looking left and right like a cautious rabbit.
Internal Monologue:
"Damn, still no servants? Maybe they're actually sleeping too. Okay, fine. Ghosts don't exist. It's just physics and shadows. Let's go."
Summoning all her courage, she stepped out into the dark hallway, her small figure shadowed by the high ceilings as she began the long trek toward the kitchen.
Internal Monologue: Ghosts don't exist. It's just physics and shadows.
She began to hum
"🎶 I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight... 🎶"
Aika reached the kitchen, the air cool and smelling of expensive cleaning products. The room was a void of shadows. Moving carefully, she reached out and flicked on a single, small accent light under the cabinets. The dim, warm glow was just enough to see by without being blindingly bright.
Humming:
"🎶 I'm levitating... 🎶"
The silence of the house was heavy, but the tune in her head kept the "ghosts" at bay. She grabbed a tall glass from the rack, the crystal cold against her palm. She filled it to the brim at the tap and gulped the entire thing down in one go, her throat parched from the hours of studying and salty snacks.
When she finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve—a quick, un-ladylike motion that felt much more like her real self than the "Ice Queen" ever was.
Internal Monologue:
"One more. I'm not walking all the way back here in twenty minutes."
She looked left and right, checking the shadows one last time. Still no one. She filled the glass a second time, holding it carefully. With a quick click, she turned the light back off, plunging the kitchen into darkness once more.
Holding the water like a precious prize, she began her trek back toward the grand staircase.
Humming:
"🎶 You can fly away with me tonight... 🎶"
She moved faster now, her eyes adjusting to the dark. She just wanted to get back to her "bunker," finish her notes, and change into her suit. She was halfway up the stairs when she felt a prickle on the back of her neck—that weird sensation of being watched from above.
Aika gripped the glass with both hands, her focus entirely narrowed down to the surface of the water. She walked with a stiff, careful gait, making sure not even a single drop spilled onto the polished marble stairs.
Internal Monologue:
"Don't spill. Don't spill. If I slip on this water in the dark and die, the headline will be 'Heiress dies in freak hydration accident.' That is not how I'm going out."
The air around her felt cold and thin. Every tiny creak of the house sounded like a footstep, and every draft of air felt like a ghostly hand. Her heart was thumping against her ribs, but she kept her eyes glued to the glass, refusing to look up at the dark landing ahead.
Humming (Fast and nervous):
"🎶 I-I-I'm levitating... 🎶"
She reached the top of the stairs, her breath coming in short, shallow bursts. She was almost there. Just a few more meters to the safety of her room. She was so preoccupied with the water and the shadows behind her that she didn't realize she was about to walk straight into something—or someone—standing perfectly still at the top of the flight.
She was only a foot away when she finally looked up from the glass.
Standing right in her path, dressed in a dark silk robe and looking like a literal shadow, was Noel. He was standing perfectly still, his arms crossed, watching her struggle with a glass of water like it was a high-stakes science experiment.
Aika gasped, the water in the glass sloshing dangerously close to the rim. She froze mid-step, her eyes wide as she stared at him in the dim light of the hallway.
Internal Monologue:
"Holy—! Does he just spawn out of thin air?! How long has he been standing there watching me hum to a glass of water?"
Noel didn't move. He just looked down at her, his gaze landing on her messy braid, her pajamas, and the way she was clutching the water like her life depended on it.
"It's 4:52 AM," he said, his voice a low, dry rasp in the silence. "I thought I told you to be ready by five. Why are you wandering the halls in your nightclothes?"
Aika's heart didn't just skip a beat; it felt like it had flatlined for a second. She gasped, her hand instinctively flying to her chest while she precariously balanced the water glass in the other.
"D-damn!" she snapped, her voice coming out in a sharp, breathless hiss. "Do you... do you have any idea what you just did? Who even stands like that in the dark?!"
Noel didn't flinch. He just stood there like a stone statue, his cold eyes tracking her panicked movements.
"My legs are literally giving up right now," she muttered, her knees feeling like jelly. She leaned slightly against the banister to steady herself, her medical-student brain noting the adrenaline surge that was making her fingers tremble. "Man... you seriously just took the soul out of me. I thought I was meeting a ghost."
She took a few deep, ragged breaths, trying to force her heart rate back down to a normal rhythm. She glared up at him, her usual bluntness overriding any "polite heiress" act she was supposed to maintain.
"I was getting water so I don't pass out during your 'serious' internship," she said, finally regaining her voice. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have exactly eight minutes to go from 'scared-to-death pjs' to 'professional employee.'"
She didn't wait for his permission. She carefully but quickly maneuvered around him, making sure not to splash water on his expensive silk robe, and headed for her door.
Internal Monologue:
"Seriously, what is his problem? Does he enjoy haunting the hallways? I have seven minutes left. Cold shower, suit on, hair back. Let's go, Aika. Don't give him the satisfaction of being late."
The First Day
Aika moved Fastly. She set the water glass on her side table and immediately began clearing her "study nest." She snapped the laptop shut, stacked Noel's papers neatly with her diary on top, and rested Helena's reading glasses right on the pile.
"Everything in its place," she whispered, shoving the snack stash back into the under-bed drawer. "Now I know exactly where the emergency fuel is."
She tossed the comforter back onto the bed and smoothed it out before sprinting to the massive walk-in wardrobe. She yanked the doors open, and her face immediately dropped.
Internal Monologue: "Are you kidding me? Who even wears this stuff in this weather? It's freezing outside and half of these look like they're made for a garden party, not a boardroom."
She looked back at the clothes she had worn yesterday, biting her lip in confusion.
Internal Monologue:
"Yesterday's outfit was comfortable, but I can't wear the same thing twice. This family is obsessed with reputation and status. They already tested me so much yesterday; I can't give them a reason to be suspicious or call me 'sloppy.' I have to look like a D'Arven, even if I feel like a tired med student."
She began frantically flipping through the hangers, looking for something that screamed "Professional Heiress" but wouldn't make her freeze to deathAika quickly pulled on the white graphic tee and paired it with the wide-leg black trousers, throwing the burnt-orange cardigan over her shoulders to fight off the morning chill. She kept her hair in the practical braid she'd made earlier, securing it with a simple white bow that made her look both youthful and surprisingly put-together.
Internal Monologue: "It's not a three-piece suit, but it's clean, it's stylish, and most importantly, I can actually breathe and move in it. If they want an intern, they're getting a functional one."
She shoved her notebook, the laptop, and her reading glasses into a white tote bag. She took one last look in the mirror, checked her watch—4:58 AM—and bolted for the door.
She moved silently down the grand staircase, her heart thumping. As she reached the final few steps, she saw them. Noel and Ren were already standing near the massive front entrance, looking like they had been there for hours. Noel was checking his watch, his face a mask of cold expectation, while Ren was leaning against a pillar, looking surprisingly awake.
Aika stepped into the foyer right as the grandfather clock began its first chime for 5:02 AM.
"I'm here," she said, her voice slightly breathless but firm. She stood straight, clutching her bag, and met Noel's gaze head-on. "just Two minutes late. Shall we go?"
Ren whistled lowly, his eyes scanning her outfit. "Nice look, Helena. Very... 'approachable.' A far cry from the silk gowns, isn't it?"
Noel didn't comment on the clothes. He just gave her a curt nod and turned toward the door where the car was waiting. "The files I gave you," he said over his shoulder. "I hope you didn't just use them as a pillow. We have a briefing the moment we hit the office."
Just as they were preparing to leave...