Nemo bounced on the bed, the springs gave her a boost with each drop as she reached higher and higher. It still wouldn’t be enough to reach the chandeliers though.

The Count’s mansion was just too darn high! She wasn’t even being unreasonable!

Nemo understood that as a child, certain things were out of her reach normally due to her small frame. Things such as her sister’s secret candy stash, her sister’s makeups, whatever her sister wanted to hide from her. With a little bit of determination however, and a lot of scrapes and scratches, Nemo always found a way.

Not the chandeliers in the mansion though. They were hanging at the ceiling of a hallway so large she believed an entire playground could fit, so tall it was most definitely taller than her house. Was the mansion built for giants?

She initially thought of climbing the walls, the elaborate design and huge walls gave her plenty of nook and crannies to steady herself, and the many ornaments, carvings, and weird-hovering lights sticking out of the walls gave her a lot of things to hold onto. She was not afraid, the climb was easy, even the height wasn’t a problem as long as she didn’t fall.

The problem however, was she knew that no matter how hard her puny legs pushed, she would never reach the chandelier. It was just too far out. She wondered if it was faster to level up or to find the Count, who was forced away by the woman tidying the room in front of her.

The woman looked to be in her late twenties, with tanned skin and violet silky hair. When she lead Nemo to this room, her posture was straight, her steps deliberately consistent, and her expression stoic. It reminded Nemo of some of her teachers, utterly incapable of tolerating even the slightest of nonsense. Nemo already made a mental note to not act out in front of her.

When the Count escorted Nemo into the blinding light, what awaited them within the ornate halls of silver and gold was a woman dressed in a suit just like what her mother used to wear whenever there was a meeting with the teacher. When the woman walked down the shining stairways, her scowl was apparent, and Nemo recognized that expression.

Whatever amazement Nemo had was exchanged with worry. The expression was one of an angry mother about to condemn their child into hours worth of lecturing. Thankfully, Nemo knew whatever the woman had to say, it was directed at the Count, and with a silent thought of apology, Nemo tiptoed backwards, trying not to draw their attention.

The Count instantly caught on. With a feigned laugh, his hands wrapped around Nemo’s shoulder and lead Nemo forward. Traitor!

“My dearest Lady Demon, my very diligent and capable housemaster, greetings. I have returned!” the Count seemed to force a smile, but it only deepened Lady Demon’s scowl. Seeing that her mood had gotten worse, the Count quickly pushed Nemo forward and laughed nervously. “This is a dear friend of mine. Her name is Nemo and she would be staying in my mansion for awhile. Please prepare her a room and ready her for supper. I would like to introduce her to my other guests.”

Demon Lady clicked her tongue but her scowl disappeared and replaced it with something expressionless and robotic, like she had done it many times.

“Understood, master. Come now, lady Nemo, I shall lead you to your guest room,” she said, Nemo quite liking being called lady, and turned to the Count sharply. “Master, please wait for me in your room, there are matters to discuss. Important matters. Do not think of leaving until I then.”

Nemo heard the Count gulp but thought nothing of it. At least Nemo wasn’t the one Demon Lady was angry at. She followed the housemaster to an empty room, a walk that took many minutes too long and she wondered if everything about the mansion was large, and now she simply waited for the housemaster to tell her what to do.

Demon Lady didn’t exactly look like a demon, not from the back at least.

“Lady Nemo, please put these on,” Demon Lady said and turned towards her, revealing a colourful frilly dress, and her demon-like appearance. There were two small horns at the side of her forehead, and under her simple red glasses frames, were two golden iris within a sea of black. She even had cute fangs! Nemo wanted to touch them, but every attempt had been easily brushed off by Demon Lady.

Next time for sure.

She took the clothes and spread them out, a pink and white with frills like waves was before her. She then threw it on the ground. It was too gaudy, too girly, too much like what people would put on creepy dolls. Wasn’t there anything cooler?

Nemo hopped down from the bed and skipped past Demon Lady, her expressionless face suffered a slight twitch on the brow, and went to check the the drawer of clothes. She dug into the pile, the carefully folded and stacked clothes now not so neat and tidy. With every toss and every turn of the pile, she could hear knuckles cracking behind her.

After searching for some time, one particular outfit caught her attention. She quickly pulled it out and laid it on the bed. She then hopped back to the drawer and began tidying it up, folding the clothes and putting them back in place. She heard the loosening of fists and Demon Lady knelt beside her and helped her clean up.

After the two had finished cleaning up, Nemo gave the expressionless Demon Lady a thumbs up and skipped to the bed, spreading out the outfit she picked. It was a simple one-piece velvet dress made of a rough tunic shirt and a knee-length skirt. It was not glamorous, does not stand out in anyway, but it was tough and warm. Perfect for adventure.

“If that is what you wish, lady Nemo,” Demon Lady said, more or less already given up on comprehending Nemo’s choice of clothes.

With a smile, Nemo hopped down the bed and grabbed Demon Lady’s hand, tugging it forward.

Time to meet up with the Count and meet the house guests!

“You still need to change, lady Nemo.”

Oops.