Julia walked under Mirei’s lead through the hallways. This place was unbelievably big, yet there was barely anyone here. They only passed by three maids on their way to the bathroom. When they did, the maids stopped cleaning and bowed with a nervous smile, and once Julia and Mirei passed by them, they let out a relived sigh and returned to their work, Julia started to wonder why all the maids here were like that.

"Here it is, your high- ehem, your excellency."

As Julia was thinking about the maid's behavior, Mirei’s voice brought her attention to her surroundings. The bathroom they arrived at was just like the rest of the palace, enormous. Did Loriam have some sort of complex thanks to which she needed compensation in the form of this needlessly huge palace?

The floor was covered with what Julia suspected to be polished marble, while the walls of this room were decorated with a highly detailed mosaic. Its motive seems to be some vampiric legend about some of the ancient Queens subjugating a dragon. The bath itself was located on the opposite side of the door, and just like the rest of the room, it was big. If asked, Julia would compare its size to the swimming pool that her school had.

"Please excuse me, your excellency."

Mirei approached Julia, who was wondering how much did this waste of taxpayers' money cost. Julia was only brought back from her thoughts once she felt her night gown being removed.

When Mirei removed Julia’s clothes and folded them on a nearby bench, She then led Julia in to the swimming pool sized bath, all the while avoiding setting her eyes on Julia’s naked body. Not that Julia would mind.

As Julia started to soak in the pleasantly warm water, she let out a slightly relaxed sigh. Just as Loriam said, taking a bath was really helping her relax. But there was just one thing that didn’t allow Julia to relax completely. And that one thing was her own body.

For the past week, Julia refused to acknowledge the changes that happened to her body. Even if she was willing to acknowledge turning into a vampire, she wanted to believe that she was still a man. Maybe a bit feminine looking, but still a man. But that was no longer possible with her clothes removed.

The moment Julia looked down, not only would she see the pale body of a vampire but also a pair of slightly developed breasts. No matter how much she wished otherwise, these lumps of fat were part of her body now.

Her entire body frame shrank, her old muscles nowhere to be found. In place of the frame of a muscular human male, there was just the slim frame of an underdeveloped vampire girl. There could not be a better word to describe Julia’s current appearance than a loli.

"May I?"

Julia shifted her attention from her body to Mirei, who was kneeling next to Julia with a bar of soap. Based on its rosily smell it was at least by vampiric standards expensive high quality one. Julia nodded her head slightly to Mirei, who, in response, started to wash Julia’s arms with the soap.

"Wow, your skin is so soft, just like a new born child. is perfect, just as expected of the royal family."

Mirei was visibly enjoying how Julia’s skin felt under her fingers as she continued to wash Julia’s body. Julia wondered what Mirei was so excited about. but opted to say nothing and just lay back and relax with her eyes closed. Mirei’s hands moved on to Julia’s shoulders and started to massage them as Julia relaxed in the bath.

"Kya!"

To the feeling of Mirei’s touch on her shoulders, Julia let out an adorable scream of surprise. No way! Was that my voice?! Julia blushed from embarrassment at her own girly voice.

"I am sorry, your excellency. I didn’t consider that your body would be this sensitive."

Mirei smiled slightly at Julia’s reaction as she apologized. To think such a girly voice would come out of her highness's mouth and here I thought that she wasn’t girly at all... wait, am I perhaps the only one who heard this side of her? What an honor. Mirei’s smile deepened as she continued to massage Julia’s shoulder, this time more lightly than before.

Julia, on the other hand, was utterly embarrassed by this situation. The moment when she let out that girly squeak replayed in her mind, only making her desire to disappear stronger. Julia took a quick peek at Mirei’s smiling face. It irritated her that Mirei was visibly enjoying this, but she was grateful that Mirei wasn’t teasing her about it. And after some time, even Julia’s own face relaxed into a light smile.

"…I have a really nice maid."

Mirei was taken aback by Julia’s murmur, wondering whether her mistress was merely talking to herself or was her comment perhaps addressed to Mirei? She couldn’t be sure, but regardless, it meant that her mistress… her royal highness the crown princess, was satisfied with her services so far.

"Your excellency, should I start working on your hair?"

"…Yea, please do."

Once she received permission, she took some sort of shampoo and started to carefully wash Julia’s long hair, as well as massaging Julia’s scalp. Taking several minutes to do so, Julia was wondering how long this would take.

"Say, Mirei. How much longer will this take?"

"Your excellency, taking proper care for hair this beautiful in a way that they would not be damaged take time. Even more so when they are this long."

Julia started to get bored, so she asked Mirei when they would be done. However, Mirei’s answer displeased Julia.

"…then cut them so it does not take this long."

Julia voiced her wish to Mirei purely out of boredom, but the more she thought about it the more she wondered why she hadn’t made this demand sooner. She had no reason nor desire to have hip-length hair instead of her old short cut.

And if she had to have longer hair because of some sort of vampiric tradition, she would be willing to compromise with chin-length hair. So, after considering it for a little bit she turned her face to Mirei. Waiting to see what the maid would do. After all, she was given an order.

"Wha… But your excellency. You have such beautiful silky hair... it would be a waste to cut them."

Mirei seemed opposed to Julia’s idea. But Julia had already made up her mind, and she wasn’t going to back down.

"If you like them so much, then take them and make a wig or something. Just get to cutting."

"…. As you wish."

Mirei sighed slightly as she failed to convince her mistress to change her mind. She went out of the bathroom, only to reappear a few minutes later with a pair of scissors in her hand.

"What length would you desire?"

"Hmm, let's go with shoulder length for now since you seem to like my hair so much, but I will keep them at that length only if you will not take an eternity to wash them. I will cut them shorter if you take too long next time."

Even though Julia would rather have short hair, she decided to keep her hair slightly longer since Mirei thinks that it would be a waste to cut them. Still, it would be nice if Mirei didn’t take so much time.

"As you wish."

Mirei realized that further arguing would be pointless and would only make her mistress mad. She swallowed her words of protest and began cutting her mistress’s hair. As her hand touched Julia’s hair, her hand holding the scissors stopped moving. She was unwilling to cut such beautiful hair. In fact, she couldn’t comprehend why her mistress, a noble lady of royal lineage, would want to get rid of a symbol of her pure-blooded origin. My noble step sisters would not stop bragging about their slightly silverish black hair, they would never want their hair cut, so why…

True, maybe this is not so important for the princess as it is for regular noble ladies. After all, her mother is the queen, so there could be no doubt about her highness's being pure-blooded...

"Mirei?"

"S-Sorry."

Mirei shook slightly as her mistress spoke her name. Mirei shook her head to clear her thoughts and started to move the scissors. Just as her mistress commanded, Mirei unwillingly cut Julia’s hair to shoulder length as she was instructed.

"It is done, just like you instructed. I had… What?"

"Huh? If you really cut them, then why can I still feel them on my backs? Mirei, don’t lie to me."

Mirei was looking at Julia with a dumbfounded expression. She only came back to her senses when Julia accused her of lying.

"No, I would never dare lie to you! Please take a look. This is your hair that I cut, see?"

"It really looks that way, but then why are they still on my back?"

To Mirei’s relief, Julia seemed to believe her words once she saw the cut strand of silver hair in Mirei’s hand. As a maid of the royal family, she could not afford to have her trustworthiness questioned. And right after I was praised by her highness too...

Julia reached behind her back and grabbed her hair. and began to compare the strand of hair she took from Mirei’s hand with her own hair.

"They do have that silky feeling to them... The color also appears to be identical... Then how?"

"Well, your excellency I don’t know how to say this but…"

"But?"

Mirei talked to a perplexed Julia, worried that what she was about to say would make her sound crazy. But regardless, she voiced what happened.

"They…kinda…regrow right back."

"They regrow back immediately? Mirei, are you drunk?"

As expected, Julia looked at Mirei as if she was out of her mind.

"No, your excellency, I would never…"

"You would never what? Mirei."

As Mirei was explaining the situation to Julia, she was interrupted by a voice speaking in vampiric language coming from the door.

"Lady Liora?! Why are you here?"

Julia looked at the door when she heard an unknown voice from them. There at the door stood a young-looking maid with black hair, holding something that seemed like a change of clothes and a towel. Even though she was engaged in conversation with Mirei, when she noticed Julia looking at her, she bowed and addressed Julia in vampiric language.

"This humble maid greets your royal highness, the princess."

"Lady Liora, her highness doesn’t speak the language of the blood clan."

Liora had a slightly embarrassed expression as Mirei remined her of this unpleasant fact of a language barrier between her and the crown princess.

"I had forgotten about that…In any case, why are you taking so long? Her majesty started to worry that her highness drowned in the bath... Also, why do you have scissors in your hand?"

"…Her highness expressed her desire to cut her hair, so I was attempting to but…"

"Wait. You were trying to cut her highness's hair with... these?"

"Yes?"

Liora facepalmed herself once she heard Mirei’s words.

"So… Have you tried to cut the hair of a member of a royal family with normal scissors? Are you an idiot?"

Mirei looked confused by Liora’s words. She didn’t understand why she would be an idiot for wanting to cut the princess’s hair with these scissors. Liora, on the other hand, looked like she was experiencing the biggest headache of her life.

"How could you even hope to cut her hair with these? Did you forget how perfect the regeneration of the royal family is? Every part of their bodies gets regenerated almost immediately."

"Huh? Even the hair? I never saw anything like that with my step-sisters."

Mirei looked impressed by this and looked at Julia with eyes sparkling with admiration. Julia was completely unaware of what was going on.

"Mirei! Did you seriously compare her highness with some of the count’s daughters? I should have you whipped for such insolence."

Mirei shook slightly as she heard Liora’s words, but quickly recomposed herself as she glanced at the still confused Julia. I may have served her highness for mere week but… I am sure she would not mind me using this comparison... probably.

"Lady Liora, I have to remind you that I am her highness’s personal maid. Only her highness or her majesty herself can order such punishment."

And her highness wouldn’t. But Mirei decided to keep her last remark to herself as she faced Liora with confidence. Liora may be the daughter of the duke, while Mirei is the daughter of a mere count, an illegitimate daughter at that. But the difference between their social statuses meant nothing in the presence of Julia, the crown princess of the blood clan. In her presence, both of them were more like ants that could be killed on a whim.

"We will see about that... In any case, you should help Her Highness change her clothes and take her to the dining room. And forget about that hair cutting  business for now."

"But her highness…"

"I know, I will inform her majesty about it. You just hurry up before her majesty runs here."

Mirei nodded with a slight smile and took the clothes from Liora’s hand. Who bowed politely to Julia and then sprinted out of the bathroom. Mirei placed the clothes on the bench and took a towel from the pile.

It must be nice to have such caring mother... Mirei thought with a sigh as she approached Julia.

"So… What was that about?"

"Lady Liora merely brought a change of clothes for you. And also…"

Mirei gave a detailed explanation of her conversation with Liora to Julia as Mirei helped dry her hair. Julia listened silently with an occasional nod of her head while Mirei could feel her heart skip a beat each time Julia nodded with her doll-like face. Mirei slightly hesitated as she got to the part when she compared Julia with her half-sisters in abilities, but regardless of her hesitation, she said what happened.

"So, you mean I can’t get my hair cut?"

Julia sounded slightly sad as she spoke. Mirei was sure that Julia would really not punish her so harshly, but she never expected that Julia would not even comment on Mirei’s comparison.

"No, your excellency, unfortunately."

Julia, instead, was more focused on not being able to have her hair cut. Just how kind is her highness to not mind such a sin... Do I even deserve this honor of serving her?

 "By the way, Mirei. Where are these clothes exactly from?"

"Lady Liora brought them so… I guess that they were sent by her majesty."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Julia had a bitter smile on her face as she got changed with Mirei’s assistance. When Julia looked in the body length mirror in what she suspected was the changing area,All she could see in it was the reflection of a flustered red-eyed girl, wearing dresses similar to the ones that Loriam wore. Only the one that Julia was wearing had a more puffed-up skirt and was in a dark red color.

"…To think that this is me... disgusting."

What would my family, my comrades, and my fiancée think if they saw me like this… would they recognize me? Would they accept me?

"Your excellency?"

What Julia said could be considered a silent murmur to herself, but it was still loud enough for Mirei to pick it up. which made her worried about Julia.

"…Don’t worry about it, I am fine. Let’s go."

Julia just brushed Mirei’s worries away and started to leave the bathroom. Leaving a worried Mirei behind.

"As you wish."

…

It didn’t take long for Mirei to catch up with Julia, who left the bathroom and started to walk towards her room instead of the dining room as she was supposed to.

"Your excellency, I believe you are going the wrong way."

"…What do you mean?"

Mirei carefully pointed out that Julia had walked in the incorrect direction. However, Julia responded as if there was no mistake in her path. When Mirei thought about it, it made perfect sense. After all, Julia had been in the palace for merely one week and she had spent all of that time in her room. And before that, she was unconscious when she was brought here, so this was the first time that she walked through the palace on her own feets.

"The dining room is in the opposite direction from where you’re walking."

"…I am not hungry, so I will just go to my room."

Julia merely glanced at Mirei with an obviously forced smile, and her lack of positive mood was audible in her voice as well. Mirei didn’t know what to do or how to feel that Julia was pretending to be okay to not worry one maid.

"But your excellency, you should-"

"I said I am not hungry! …I am just not... I will just go to my room ...and rest."

Mirei was taken aback by Julia’s sudden yell, which died down as suddenly as it came and was replaced by a silent, almost whispering, sad tone. Mirei didn’t know what to do.

"Your excellency…"

"I am fine. Really, there is nothing wrong, see?"

Julia looked at Mirei with the most obvious forced smile in the world. She was never good at acting to begin with.

For Mirei, this situation was more complex than for anyone else. She had been tasked with helping her highness relax, but now she looked worse than before. Her face was filled with sadness and a little bit of disgust? Mirei wasn’t good at reading expressions, less so of a princess, who she barely interacted with. But even she could read this one. Her highness... looks just like me before her majesty... How am I going to explain it to her majesty….

"How am I going to explain it to her majesty…"

"!?"

When she was lost in thoughts, her thoughts often slipped out in the form of silent murmurs, just like this time.

"…lead the way."

Once Julia heard Mirei’s murmur, she changed her walking direction towards the dining room. I shouldn’t make things difficult for Mirei. She thought and, led by surprised Mirei she went down the corridor.