I get up and head to the adjoining room where the bathtub is. Before dismissing Berta —since I can take off my clothes and bathe myself, thank you very much— I mention that she will be going with Mary.

"Do you want me to help with her investigation as well, miss?" she asks, and I am left a bit confused.

Since when does a maid help with detective work?

Of course, Bianca is supposed to know Berta well, unlike me, since I only woke up in this body a few months ago.

"As you wish. I leave it up to you," I reply, trusting that it´s something the real Bianca would have said.

Yes, another reason to avoid seeing Berta too often —she's probably the only one who's noticed something off about me. Really, the only one, since at this academy only Caroline and Ashe knew the real Bianca, and I hardly even speak to them anymore.

Berta looks at me for a few seconds and finally answers.

"As you wish, miss. Shall I assist you with your bath?"

"No, thank you very much, you may go."

I don´t know if Bianca used to thank her or if she would have required her help.

I´m still hoping she chalks it up to my head injury, or that, being a servant, the counts didn´t pay her much mind despite her having served Bianca for years. Or maybe she will simply keep it to herself —after all, she has been caring for me since I was little, right?

Bianca, stop overthinking everything, I scold myself.

Focus.

The bathtub.

Getting the dirt off and relaxing for a while in the hot water.

Afterward, I return to my room and pick up the wolf cub in my arms. He´s a bit heavy, lying in his full size on the bed. Then I sit down on the sheets.

"Alright, let's see, what was that about in the dungeon? The second thing, the wall thing."

A bark is his only answer as he looks at me with an adorable expression.

"I know you understand me. And that you can't answer. Or at least you couldn't before. Let's try again. If there's a secret passage or something, bark twice."

He barks three times.

"If there was nothing behind that wall, bark twice."

He doesn´t bark.

I sigh.

I want to stay mad at him, but he´s just too adorable… He looks at me with those big dark eyes, acting all innocent and playful.

Pff…

Forget it. I set him down on the floor, crawl under the covers, and go to sleep —we are heading back to the dungeon tomorrow, after all.

I have barely closed my eyes when I feel his weight land on the mattress at my feet. He must have jumped up.

Tovan.

Tovan was the sergeant of the army in charge of checking the Blue Mountain dungeon. They found that the maze had many uncovered traps, which indicated that the academy's group of students had passed through.

Once they reached the exit, one of his privates pointed out that there were tracks in the snow. Since it was snowing, they were starting to be covered, but they could still be seen if you looked closely. There were several sets of tracks leading toward the lake and others that were returning from the forest.

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"Should we investigate, sir?"

"What? If a bunch of noble brats, who don't even know how to read a map, got confused and headed toward the lake? And when they realized, they rushed to change direction and made their way to the forest?" He scoffed with disdain before continuing much more seriously. "Do you really want to risk calling them?"

The soldier hesitated, paling a bit.

The sergeant empathized with him and understood him perfectly.

"Your father was there, right?"

"Yes, sir."

Tovan nodded.

He remembered the young soldier's father. He had been in his unit. The day the two wraiths emerged from the lake, they lost many people, including the soldier's father.

"Those students have been very lucky they didn't call them. Or maybe they didn't get close enough. Either way, I'm not going to put you all in danger over a few tracks. We'll check the dungeon, but we're not getting anywhere near the lake. We're equipped to deal with creatures from a veteran-level dungeon, not anything higher."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," the young soldier replied, looking relieved.

As did the rest of the soldiers.

The sergeant led the way toward the trees on the right.

No one in their right mind would go near the lake. Maybe some high-level noble with their whole party equipped with magical fire armor to protect them, but even then, that's no guarantee. There were much better dungeons for leveling up, and those wraiths didn't even drop loot.

They followed the tracks of the students coming back from the forest. However, the snow quickly covered them, and as was common when there was a storm in that dungeon, wolves appeared and attacked them.

"Tanks in front, grab the aggro," the sergeant began giving orders.

There were ten wolves—nothing unexpected.

New day, and our plan is to return to the dungeon. That's why we head down for breakfast early. We're the first to reach the dining hall, and we eat so quickly that by the time we leave, only a handful of students have shown up—none of them our friends.

While I am in my room finishing getting my things ready, someone knocks on the door.

"Ronan?" I ask, guessing it might be him.

Even though we agreed to meet directly in front of the portal room, I think I´m already running late.

"It´s Vincent."

Oh.

"Coming."

And here something strange happens. Instead of heading straight to the door, I stop for a moment in front of the mirror, making sure I look good, that my hair is in place, and my face looks nice. I even notice a slight blush.

But what am I doing? Since when do I care about looking good for a guy? I tell my hand to stay away from the tinted lip balm Berta packed with my things for the academy, but it doesn't listen. Instead, I dab a bit on my finger and apply it to my lips. Much better.

Part of me rolls her eyes in my mind and says sarcastically: What is next? A pinch on the cheeks?

The other part answers that there is no need because I am already blushing at the mere thought of seeing him.

It´s just that he´s handsome.

Very handsome.

And he almost kissed me.

And he´s a prince.

And then, yes, I slap myself —a real one.

Bianca, come on, you´re not some silly, innocent virgin dreaming about her prince charming, nor are you a character from this otome.

Well, virgin, yes. But neither silly nor innocent.

I open the door.

The guy stares at my right cheek. Maybe I went overboard and now he can see the marks from my fingers?

"What?" I snap at him, not very kindly.

Good. Since I´m mad at myself, I can look at him without my heart racing.

Much better.

He is a friend, Bianca. F-r-i-e-n-d. I spell it out mentally like I´m the idiot. Because, for now, that is what he is. And if I keep reacting like this, I might seriously start thinking about keeping him in the friend zone.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course, sorry. Do you want to come in?" I say, and immediately regret it.

Am I stupid or what? This is not Earth—here, you cannot just invite a guy into your room.

"Sorry," I quickly add before the poor guy snaps out of his mental shock and recovers the ability to speak. Between the painted lips, the slap mark on my face, and now this, he must have no idea what to do or how to react. "Since my roommate isn´t here, it'd be better if you just told me whatever it is from the door."

"I just came by to say hi and ask how your assignment went. I ran into Mary, and she said you are back."

"It went well. Well, no. We did not get the mission item, but it went well. I mastered the bow."

"Seriously? We have already completed our mission twice. It wasn´t a five-point one like yours, but... who knows, maybe we'll end up beating you."

"Well, I leveled up. I´m nine now."

"Nine?"

I leave him shocked again, although for a very different reason this time. I don´t remember what level he was—maybe seven?

"Yes, it was a very productive dungeon."

"You know I would be happy to join you guys anytime."

"Nah... What about your party?"

"Theodore is going off with Mary for a couple of days, and we have a new member now—Karina, the mage with a high fire affinity. She asked to join, and with Darius and Alistair, honestly, it scares me a little. Might be better to leave them to it."

I get it... Two hotheads with explosive tempers, plus a mage whose reputation for being volatile makes the other two look like total amateurs.

Wait a minute—another girl joined his group?

I don´t like that. He´s the prince and one of the eligible bachelors in the otome. And she´s one of the playable protagonists. No way. Mary is nice and I really like her, but dealing with one competitor is more than enough, thank you.

Honestly, it makes me want to just tell him to come with us, if only to keep him away from a girl who, like Mary, is literally designed to win him over.

Unlike me.

Maybe putting him in the friend zone doesn't seem like such a great idea anymore.

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