Getting the Otherworlders to follow us to their bedrooms was unexpectedly simple.

Most of this was thanks to Sha Guadi, whose impulsive and testosterone-driven behavior was actually useful (for once). The Head Matron simply beckoned a few of us to approach him, and in summary, my teenage male classmate was absurdly weak to pretty women. All of the maids who had been promoted into ladies-in-waiting were all young and attractive. This was likely an intentional and strategic choice on behalf of the Kingdom. My friend, Lisa, for instance, could easily pass for a royal princess, and she was extraordinarily pretty.

Sha Guadi immediately fell to his knees as soon as Lisa touched his arm and smiled softly at him.

Incidentally, Sha Guadi thought that Lisa was a Holy Princess, and from that point on he started babbling about how he'll do everything in his power to save her beautiful kingdom. Of course, his exaggerated flattery and veneration was completely lost in translation, and Lisa had no idea what Sha Guadi was saying. She simply continued to smile obliviously (I mean, what else do you do in this situation??) while she slowly guided him to the door.

As for the rest of my classmates, all of them hesitantly followed along. Nobody wanted to be left behind, especially when nobody knew the area or could speak the language. Many of them probably thought that Sha Guadi was a fool, but currently there wasn't enough information to suggest an alternative course of action.

Perhaps it was instinctive human nature, but my classmates huddled together like a defensive bundle of sheep.

This was foreign territory for them.

In fact, when we arrived at the first set of guest rooms, it was extremely difficult to convince my classmates to split up. All of them shuffled into the first bedroom as a group, as if they all expected they would be sharing a single room. However, there was only a single king-sized bed in the Sapphire Suite, and the majordomo refused to allow all twelve of them to cram into a single bedroom.

It took a lot of coaxing, but eventually we were able to convince each of them to take their own bedroom once they figured out the gist of our basic intentions. The only issue was that many of the nicest guest rooms were scattered in different wings of the royal palace, and it was necessary for all of us to split up in pairs.

I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking, but I spent the entire room-sorting processing trying to shrink into the background. This turned out to be extremely silly and short-sighted, because there were exactly twelve attendants to match twelve guests. Even if I tried to stay invisible, I would still inevitably be paired one of my classmates at the end of the day.

By the time I realized that all of my fellow ladies-in-waiting were sneakily trying to pair themselves with their favorite hero(ine) of fancy, the scramble for partners was already well under way. The maids flew onto my classmates like figurative sharks in a feeding frenzy, although they tried to make it seem like it was pure coincidence. Obviously, my colleagues all wanted to pick a good liege. Our task was to attend to all the personal needs and necessities of our master, and this was a rare opportunity for us select our future employer.

Distraught, I realized that this was just like middle school prom all over again. 

...I'm such an idiot.

Why didn't I realize this sooner?

There was a light tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around, my face instantly paled.

It was Kang Jiesu, the class president.

"I guess it's the two of us left? (看来就留着我们两?)" He remarked informally.

Shit.

That fucking riajuu bastard.

Out of everyone, why did it have to be him?!

It took all of my self-control to keep a straight face, and I struggled to keep my eyebrows from twitching. I reminded myself that I had to act like I didn't understand Mandarin, which was already going to be a nightmarish challenge. Of course, there were many other reasons that made this pairing difficult, but I felt like this outcome was an especially nasty joke.

Was this God's twisted sense of humor? Seriously??

How did my fate end up like this??

The class president smiled ominously at me.

"Although it's sudden, my name is Kang Jiesu. It's a pleasure to meet you. Let's work together from now on."

∎