Gray floor and walls, and a ceiling filled with light that almost burned her eyes from looking at it.

Looking around, she could see rows of tables and chairs perfectly aligned together. Just from looking at it, she felt all itchy. This sight instigated her inner chaos and made her feel as if she was being pierced by thousands of needles.

Suddenly, her vision shifted.

She was now sitting down and writing on a paper. Around her, children that did not look older than five were also focusing on their own things, writing furiously and seriously.

Thump—

Her heart skipped a beat as a towering figure appeared in front of her. Despite looking up, she could not see any facial characteristics, instead, it was just a blurry visage.

“Nine, what do you think you are doing?”

It was a harsh and rough voice, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

Before she could answer, everything went dark.

— - -

Awakening with a jolt, Aria grabbed the bedsheet in an unconscious movement.

Gritting her teeth, she growled for a moment as memories of times long gone resurfaced and stormed their way through her heart.

“Hm.” A low groan, however, brought her attention away.

Looking to the side, she saw the sleeping face of her dear maid. Marian was resting peacefully by her side, her fair complexion so beautiful that it was almost angelic.

Lying back on the bed, Aria shifted her position slightly so she could stare at Marian.

Feeling the maid’s warm breath ticking against her skin, Aria could not be more thankful for having asked her to spend the night over. Her presence and warmth allowed her to get in touch with reality once more.

She was no more the powerless child from back then, and there was no need to be angry with dead people.

‘They have paid their dues.’

Throwing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Aria focused on the maid by her side.

As her eyes wandered through Marian’s body, they eventually fell on her rosy lips. Aria had to swallow her saliva to avoid drooling at the thought of french kissing her beautiful attendant.

Two years in the dry were almost making her go mad.

Biting her lower lip, though, she looked away. She wasn't going to force herself upon Marian, and she knew that although Marian was conscious of her, she still saw her as a child.

“Just wait for me to get a bit older!”

Mumbling to herself for a moment, she raised her upper body and got ready to leave the bed.

Her bad dreams had awakened her earlier than usual, so there was nothing for her to do. Marian would probably wake in an hour or so since it was her routine to be up at six in the morning.

Thinking about it, Aria’s lips parted into a wide smile.

Since she was up anyway, then why don’t make good use of her free time to give the maid a nice surprise?

Marian never failed to bring her breakfast on time, and Aria more than appreciated her punctuality in bringing her nice tea and fresh pastries in the morning.

Leaving the bed cautiously as to not wake the maid, Aria changed her clothes quickly and, silently, left the room.

On a side note, she had to admit that silky and tight trousers fit her better than a dress and that the white blouse she was wearing made her look even more charming.

A nice pair of breasts, a thin waist, and a firm butt… she was growing some really great curves this time around.

While Aria was condescendingly admiring herself, she caught sight of a skittish figure at the corner of her view.

Taking a better glance, she saw the familiar figure of her half-sister, Nephrite. The girl was peeking through a corner while mumbling to herself about something.

A playful smile danced through Aria’s lips when she noticed the girl was not aware of her presence yet.

The hallway Aria was in was a vertical one, and was connected to another vertical hallway by a horizontal passageway, making this area of the mansion resemble an 'H'.

Nephrite was standing at the intersection of the horizontal corridor with the other vertical hallway - making it so her back was turned toward Aria.

Aria slithered closer without making a single noise. She couldn’t discern what exactly Nephrite was mumbling as it sounded like incoherent gibberish, but she wasn’t concerned about that.

Once she had crawled close enough, Aria did not waste any time and hugged Nephrite tightly.

"Hiya!" The other girl released a cute shriek of surprise at the sudden hug.

“Hmmm… what a cute little thing we have here~”

As Aria’s whisper sounded right next to her ear, Nephrite shuddered in her sister’s grasp - her face going completely red.

Seeing her getting all flustered, Aria chortled and let go, allowing the girl to turn to look at her.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest in a defensive stance, Nephrite glared at Aria angrily. However, with her face being red as a tomato, the anger just further enhanced her adorableness.

“What are you doing here?”

“Hm~? Should I tell you I wonder?”

Tilting her head, Aria took her sweet time observing the other girl. While she was just playing around, she did not fail to notice the bags under her sister's eyes, and how her eyes were slightly red. From what she could see, the girl had a terrible night.

“If you don’t want, then don’t tell me.” Harrumphing, Nephrite turned away.

Grumble—

Before Aria could say anything, a loud growl reached her ears, making her even more amused.

“So you are hungry, huh~” She spoke playfully, making the girl blush harder.

“It has noth—”

“Well, then why don’t we go together?” Aria interrupted her.

Nephrite did not immediately answer, and it was only after a long moment of hesitation that she managed to squeeze the words out.

“Alright.”

“Great!”

While laughing, Aria wrapped her arm around the other girl’s shoulder and, giving her no time to protest, started to walk toward the kitchen - which was at the end of the vertical hallway that Nephrite was peeking at.

As they walked toward the kitchen, Aria could feel Nephrite’s body tremble slightly.

Fear and anxiety seemed to mix in her lemon-colored eyes, making Aria curious about it. It wasn’t like she couldn’t imagine how Nephrite felt, but it made Aria wonder why she had decided to come anyway.

In the end, Aria sighed. She was getting soft since her arrival.

“Alright, just wait here.” While she spoke, she took her arm away from the black-haired girl’s shoulders.

Nephrite was confused by her words, but before she could complain or question, Aria opened the door to the kitchen and walked inside - leaving her doubtful sister behind.

Shortly after going inside the kitchen, Aria smelled a nice and tantalizing aroma.

Chefs and their auxiliaries had to wake up earlier than other servants to prepare breakfast. After all, for nobles, the standard was just-out-of-the-oven bread, recently baked pastries and pies, and things of the sort.

When Aria stepped inside the kitchen, everyone looked in her direction.

The initial annoyance at having their job suddenly interrupted changed into astonishment and fear in the blink of an eye.

After hearing what had happened at the last dinner, all servants were scared of the mad lady of the house. The last thing they wanted was to get hurt and take on the risk of losing their jobs.

“You.”

After scanning the crowd of servants, Aria motioned for a servant girl to move closer - the one she vainly judged as the most beautiful among the kitchen’s staff.

The young servant froze the moment she was called out. Shortly after, she tried to look around, her eyes begging for help from her coworkers, yet, no one dared to meet her eyes.

In the end, she had to give up and walk closer, clearly shivering as she did so.

Aria watched everything with entertainment, thinking that the girl looked like a squirrel - skittish and scared of its own shadow. On that note, even her color scheme seemed to match with the usual brown rodents that most people on Earth knew.

While the girl moved closer, Aria admired her for an instant. Short brown hair, freckles that crossed through her nose, and honey-colored eyes. To be honest, she wasn't a great beauty - unlike Marian - but was fairly charming.

“How may I serve you, my lady?” Looking toward the floor, she spoke in a low and quiet tone.

Forgetting why she had come here for a moment, Aria stepped closer - slightly leaning forward as she did and entering the girl’s line of sight.

“Hm…” Humming, Aria tilted her head from side to side while admiring the girl’s profile, making her tense even more.

It was only after a short while that the blond smiled. Lifting a hand, she ignored the flinching girl and held her chin with her fingers, lifting her head and staring her in the eyes.

"Why don't you serve me in bed?"

“What?”

The words were so shocking that the maid blurted out her surprise in an instant, without any of the previous decorum and respect.

Letting her go of the girl's chin, Aria leaned forward and started to whisper in her ears while glaring at the servants in the background.

“I am always open to teaching cute girls such as you some interesting tricks~” Her tone was low and seductive, leaving no room to misinterpret her real interests.

Finishing her sentence, Aria blew softly on the servant girl’s ears…

“Hiya!”

…And then watched with a mischievous smile as she jumped back in a startle, both her neck and face - all the way to the ears - becoming completely red because of Aria’s words.

“For now, though, you can bring me enough to fed three to four people.”

Aria held back a chortle seeing the girl touching her ear with one hand and cowering away abashed while picking trays and plates that had been lying around.

While the girl was moving around, Aria did not even try to hide her craving and acted like a complete lecher. Ignoring the other servants, her eyes stared straightly at the maid's buttocks, accompanying all of her movements.

She didn’t know why, but Chrysalis had far more beauties than Earth had, and she loved that!