The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 212: Interlude - Kordia

Chapter 212: Interlude - Kordia

It had to be fate.

A house available next to the sibliary?

Kordia had the option of staying in the dorm, but she knew what she preferred. She’d gotten an offer to join the Black Eagle House within days of receiving special student status, but had thrown it away thinking it wouldn’t be conducive to her studies and a waste of money. Her resolve then had been to keep the debts to her future mother-in-law as minimal as possible, and sibliaries were notorious money-sinks, as she’d been warned.

And so, four days after going to the City Hall, it was with some anxiety that she knocked on the door of the Black Eagle House - every sibliary she’d ever read about was named after some animal - and forced a smile as she was met at the door by-

"Princess Lapins!" Kordia almost bowed, but Lapins stopped her. Behind the princess’ shoulder, Mercy adjusted her glasses with a slightly approving look.

Unlike the princess, Mercy was still wearing a normal student uniform, but Kordia expected nothing would have stopped the maid from staying near her charge.

"Kordia! Is there someone you need? Did Gary skip out on cleaning duty again?" Many special students had volunteered to help with construction, but with most lacking the specific skills to match construction mages, they’d been largely relegated to keeping the sites tidy.

"I came to join, actually... I was hoping to stay here instead of at the dorms," Kordia looked to the left of the House, where what looked to be a closed-down shop and apartment building awaited its next occupant.

Kir had immediately liked the place. He’d managed to negotiate a mortgage rate that was just under one gold per month. Having a letter signed by Lumin had greatly helped.

A sudden hug snapped Kordia back to reality.

"You won’t regret this! Let me show you around!" Lapins didn’t wait for her answer to grab her by the hand and pull her into the enormous house. "Now, I bet you’re wondering why I’m here."

"A little I guess..."

"Well, when I heard about our new accommodations, I simply had to examine all my options, and with a little sprucing up, I’ve made this place perfect for one such as myself. Everyone, really, since after all we are all equals in magic!"

She proceeded to show Kordia around, talking at length about every little thing like the study table...

"I had Mercy tell the stonemasons to grind inkwells every measure!"

...the kitchen...

"I had Mercy commission the most modern designs for all of the different spell circles in the stovetop, and look!" She pulled out a ripple-patterned knife. "Cooking knives by Enumasam himself! Mercy even helped out at the forge while she was waiting."

... and after a long walk through hallways lit by crystal lights...

"These are the bedrooms! I chose all the decorations myself, and each room is uniquely designed around a color theme! Mine is the gold room, of course, but I think you’ll be a perfect match for the silver room!" In a lower voice she whispered, "It’s right next to mine."

"Uhh..." Kordia hadn’t expected to be sorted by color. "My favorite color is purple, so if I get a choice I’d prefer that..."

"I suppose I can’t make you take a room," Lapins pouted a little. "But the purple room is on the opposite corner. You’ll be right above the street."

"That’s absolutely fine!" Kordia said. From what she could tell, the second floor hosted a total of twenty-four rooms, with girls on the east side and boys on the west. "Is something wrong?"

Lapins had started to tear up, "It’s just... I thought we were friends now... I mean, you’re a princess now and we fought together to stop the demons..."

"We are!" Kordia said. "It’s just... I don’t know anything about being a princess... And beastkin have different expectations..."

A gasp escaped Lapin’s mouth behind her hand. "Oh my dear Kordia, you couldn’t be more wrong. A queendom is a queendom, and proper etiquette is a must when being a princess." Before Kordia could respond, Lapins suddenly and rapidly started clapping her hands. "I know! I can teach you! We can invite all the girls, and maybe some of the boys and genderless... Oh, but the protocols for the latter get a bit confusing..."

"That sounds great, Lapins. I’ll see if I have time once the semester starts..."

"Of but of course you’ll have time! I had Mercy match up our classes! We’re going to be spending every day together!"

Kordia’s ears and tails twitched with annoyance. She had better things to do with her time than learn about posture and spoons and-

The look in Lapins’ eyes was desperately expectant, practically puppy-like.

So this is what it’s like being on the receiving end... Kordia thought. She’d used such looks with Kir and Rainier in the past, so she knew how hard it was to-

"Alright... fine, maybe we can have one lesson in the evenings after study..."

A high-pitched squeal of delight was the next sound Lapins made, which was high enough in frequency to briefly trigger Kordia’s instinctive sense of danger. Her claws slid out and her tails tensed. Her pupils dilated and it took a lot of willpower to resist her fight-or-flight responses.

Thankfully a moment later, Mercy placed a hand on Lapins’ shoulder, while casting a baleful gaze at Kordia. "Milady shouldn’t squeal," she said quietly. "Beastkin..."

"Please don’t do that again," Kordia said as soon as she’d straightened her stance and forced her body to relax.

Lapins embraced her a moment later. "I’m sorry! I was just so excited! You’re my first princess friend and you’re so smart and a healer and-"

"It’s fine, Lapins. You don’t need to talk me up like that."

"-and so humble!"

"I’m not all that great," Kordia muttered, mostly to herself. If she’d been stronger in front of her mother, she wouldn’t be worrying about how to spend her last three years as a student...

"Let me show you the garden!" Lapins declared, before once more taking Kordia’s hand and half-dragging her out the front door.

Kordia couldn’t help but think it was going to be a long semester...