Before Ivy could address it, the other girl spoke up, "Your bath is ready, Luna Aya. Will you require any assistance?"
"Assistance to bathe myself?" Ivy's eyes narrowed. "No."
Another flicker of amusement swept past their faces. "Of course, Luna. How... capable of you."
They turned away and were about to leave when Ivy stopped them.
"Hold on."
"Hmm?" They stopped and looked back at Luna, one of them looked surprised, while the other one who had smirked earlier did not bother to hide the irritation from her face.
"I did not give you permission to leave, did I?" Ivy turned around to face them, planting a hand on her hip.
They exchanged glances.
Ivy took a step forward. "You walked in here without waiting for me to even let you in. You barely acknowledged me. And now you're standing here talking to me like I am an inconvenience."
The servants' faces twisted with a puzzled look of confusion. One of them let out a nervous laugh. "Come now, Luna. Don't be silly."
Ivy's eyes widened at just how casually she was being spoken to, but the servant girl continued with that same placating tone.
But now there was something else underneath it. Calculation. "We meant no disrespect. You have always preferred we enter quickly to prepare your morning routine." She waved her hand absentmindedly, rolling her eyes just as the other girl was nodding with a gloating smile. "We were simply following your established preferences."
Ivy was dumbfounded. Why were they talking to her as if she was stupid and literally couldn't see how they were behaving in front of her?
If they were even acting and pretending to respect her, they were terrible actors.
The other one looked at Ivy with wide eyes that were just a little too innocent.
"Is everything alright, Luna?" she asked, her voice dripping with false concern. "Should we leave you to rest? You seem so confused this morning."
Confused. Disoriented. Not right in the head.
They were setting a narrative, Ivy realized with growing anger. They were making her look like the problem.
"I am not confused," Ivy said firmly. "And I don't appreciate being patronized by servants who can't even show basic respect—"
"Servant?!" One of them looked shocked, her face already twisting in a displeased frown.
The other one nudged her by her shoulder and just smiled at Ivy. "We would never dream of being disrespectful, Luna. Perhaps you are just tired."
The girls both watched her, waiting. There was a challenge in their eyes, carefully hidden beneath layers of false deference.
Ivy's hand flew out and connected with one of the girl's cheek with a sharp crack that echoed through the room.
The servant's head whipped to the side, her hand flying to her reddening cheek. But instead of fear or anger, her eyes went wide with shock, and there was genuine, bewildered confusion on her face, as if she couldn't quite understand why the Luna had just slapped her.
The second girl gasped, stumbling back a step.
Ivy folded her arms across her chest. "Let me make something very clear," she said, her voice cold despite her racing heart. "I am your Luna. You will address me with respect, not whatever passive aggressive bullshit that was. Do you understand?"
The first girl touched her cheek, still looking baffled rather than intimidated. Her brows furrowed as if trying to solve a puzzle. "Yes... Luna Aya," she said slowly, uncertain.
Ivy eyed the other girl and she flinched, taking a step back.
Ivy sighed. "Both of you. Get out."
They didn't need to be told twice. However, they exchanged a confused glance before curtsying, properly this time, and fleeing from the room. The door clicked shut behind them, and Ivy could hear their hushed, confused whispers retreating down the hallway.
[Interesting approach, Host! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
[Your subjects have no respect for you]
[Achievement Unlocked: First Act of Violence!]
[Impressive! Host lasted longer than expected before assaulting someone]
Ivy was dumbfounded. "Eh?"
[Former Luna's record: 4 minutes after waking]
Ivy blinked, unable to believe what she was seeing.
[RESPECT LEVEL: -1,000% → -1,050%]
[Congratulations! You have made things worse!]
"What?!" Ivy stared at the screen in horror. "How did I make it worse? I was only asserting my authority after they were being so rude!"
[Luna Aya frequently used physical violence and threw tantrums to compensate for her lack of intelligence]
[Subjects associate violence with her incompetence]
[Host has just reinforced their belief that nothing has changed]
Ivy gasped. "You've got to be kidding me."
[This system never kids!]
[This system only observes Host's poor decision-making with great interest ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪]
[Also, servants are now confused because previous Luna never articulated demands clearly]
Ivy stared at the screen, still perplexed by the negative number of her respect level. How was that even possible?
"Why?" she asked the screen. "This makes no sense. What did this Luna do exactly, and what kind of body did you even put me in?"
[Previous Luna was not well-liked]
[Reasons include…]
[Spectacular stupidity]
[Wasteful spending]
[Abuse of power]
[General incompetence]
[Last but not least, a curse she placed on her five mates that has made them hate her for nearly a decade]
The brief flicker of excitement about her new royal status and life immediately vanished.
It did not have to take even more realisation for her to realise just how much trouble she was in.
'I am so fucked…'
She then gave the screen a second look and flinched. "A curse? What kind of curse? Werewolves can cast curses?!"
[Details will be revealed when relevant]
[This system enjoys maintaining narrative tension]
[٩(◕‿◕.)۶]
"That's not helpful!" Ivy snapped.
[This system is not here to be helpful]
[This system is here to ensure Host survives long enough to complete quests and unlock abilities]
[Speaking of which...]
The screen shifted, and new text appeared in bold:
[System Notification:]
[Host has inherited this body and all associated grudges]
[All of Host's Luna abilities are currently LOCKED]
[Previous host was too stupid to use them properly]
[New host must prove worthiness through quest completion]