Author's Forward

Before we begin, there is an important note I would like to make.

The characters in this story are going to express some nonstandard and possibly offensive viewpoints. These in no way necessarily reflect my own viewpoint or beliefs, nor do I claim they are superior, right, or rational. If there are any events you find offensive, please realize I do not necessarily condone anything my characters do. Sakuya is not a nice person.

Future author's notes will be in my profile page, unless they're really important. I hope to keep author's notes out of the actual chapters as much as I can, but I'll ramble on in my profile page to my heart's content.

Fair warning, this is the first fanfic I have written. Take from that what you will, but I'm sure many mistakes will be made. But I hope this will be enjoyable all the same.

And lastly, thank you for reading. Truly.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Touhou nor Zero no Tsukaima characters, settings or events.

Chapter 1
Breaking Orthogonality

Deep in the forest, on the edges of the Misty Lake, lies a mansion. Although its existence is relatively new in Gensokyo, it has the look of having existed for ages. A Victorian-era mansion, painted dark maroon, blended into the forested landscape as if it was meant to be there from the beginning of time. And yet, its towers stretch over a hundred feet into the air, its larger halls over five stories tall, and a high wall surrounds the entire structure. And looming high above the rest is an ornate clock tower, the face and hands visible for miles around. And yet, strangely, the mansion is incredibly hard to find in the thick forest. In fact, some say that the mansion is unreachable at all, unless the residents desire it.

After the initial wonder of seeing the magnificent feat of engineering wore off, an onlooker would notice that something is not quite right. There simply are not enough windows for such a large building. There are only a small, countable number, and some halls don't have any windows at all. The windows that do exist are either stained scarlet or sealed shut. Very little sunlight can enter this mansion, which must force it to use artificial lighting. The reason for this seemingly strange construction lies with the owner of the mansion, Remilia Scarlet.

Remilia Scarlet, the Scarlet Devil. At a glance she looks to be not more than a child, but perception can be deceiving. Her shoulder-length, purple hair gently swayed from a light breeze coming through one of the few windows. Through it, the pale rays of the moon illuminated her thick, pink frock and night-cap, and glistened upon the jeweled broach at her breast. She swirled the glass of blood-red wine in her hand, and licked some off her lips. When she smiled, she revealed two long canines, dripping red with the wine. She was the mistress of the night, and as she stared at the moon, its waves of scarlet shined upon her. Remilia Scarlet, the vampire of five hundred years, stood as the master of her mansion, the sixteenth-day moon shining behind her.

And I, Izayoi Sakuya, the loyal, perfect and elegant maid, stood dutifully as her eternal servant behind her. My azure and white maid's uniform, kept pristine and ironed, radiated in the light of the moon. My light gray hair was short, braided twice down the front, with a frilled headdress running through it. Such is proper for a maid, after all. I stood tall, more than a head above my mistress, with my hands down on my lap, silently awaiting orders. I am the personal maid of Mistress Remilia Scarlet. I am the manipulator of time and space, the maid and the pocket watch of blood, the only human serving in a house of devils.

We stood in the throne room of my mistress's mansion, the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The mansion so named because of its owner, the Scarlet Devil herself. The mansion was one of the largest structures in Gensokyo, and certainly the most ornate. Red velvet tapestries lined the walls, gold insignias embroidered into it, and the carpets were much the same. Valuable pieces of art was found either hanging on the wall or atop a pedestal at regular intervals, and the number of rooms was uncountable. And my favorite structure, the clock tower, tirelessly ticking away above all of us.

"Hey Sakuya," my mistress said to me. Remilia Scarlet sat down on her throne, still swirling her glass of wine. It was five minutes after midnight, right in the middle of her day. As a vampire, Remilia tries to sleep during the sunny hours, and is awake during the night. The Scarlet Devil Mansion has become largely nocturnal to accommodate her, which makes it troubling for guests, who usually have to arrive in the early morning or evening to see the mistress. So, we rarely get visitors.

"Yes, Mistress?" I asked. I stood behind her, ever vigilant, my hands pressed down on my skirt awaiting orders. Although, the question she was going to ask was very predictable. In front of us was a strange phenomenon, that had appeared suddenly with no explanation. It was a large, blue sphere of some kind, that was silently hovering in the middle of the throne room.

"Sakuya, what is that?" She said. Ah, I see my deduction skills are at their finest. My first instinct is that this is some sort of prank, likely by the gap youkai. She has a tendency to cause these sort of things. However, it doesn't look like something of her creation. Her gaps tended to have eyes that eerily stared at you. But this was just a continuously blue blob in front of us now.

"I can only guess mistress, although..." I hesitated for a moment. This thing wasn't really intimidating, or frightening. It was just, sort of, there. Like it was waiting for something.

"I think it's waiting for something." I said. Remilia leaned to the side and rested her head on her arm.

"I wonder what it's waiting for." She asked rhetorically. We both waited for a minute, although nothing really changed. I suppose that this thing has managed to capture my master's interest for at least a small while, but if something doesn't change then she will grow bored of it. Was this possibly one of Patchouli's creations? Strange things happen all the time whenever she tries out a new magic spell or finds a new book, although she's generally good at keeping such things contained within the mansion's library.

A few more minutes went by, and I could swear the blue gap in front of us was getting impatient. It didn't look any different, or act any different, but there was an uneasiness about it now. Was it...was it trying to give off some sort of hostile intent?

"Hah, Sakuya, I think it doesn't like us." My mistress said suddenly. Of course she would be able to sense whatever the thing's intent was much better than I would. The fact I sensed anything at all just proves that Remilia has already deduced its true motives. I was curious, but it's not proper to interrupt to ask questions, so it'll have to wait until later.

I noticed my master shift her position a little bit. She stopped leaning, and had reversed the grip on her empty wineglass. Without warning, she hurled the glass at the blue blob. When it made contact, the glass vanished into it without a sound. The blue blob shivered slightly, but did not break apart.

"Ha ha ha, it didn't like that!" Remilia said while laughing. It was painfully obvious now, actually. The blob had started to wobble a bit more and lose its form. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but before I realized it, the object shot out at me.

The whole thing took less than one second. Despite being a time-manipulator, my reaction time is still that of a human. If I can't process what is happening and activate my ability, then I am just as useless as your average person. The strange entity had launched a large number of tendrils out at me which had twisted around my arms, legs and torso. Before I could react, I was yanked towards it. I didn't even get a glance of my mistress before everything went black. How embarrassing for a maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion to be attacked in such a manner.

…

In a completely separate part of the universe an indeterminable distance away from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, a man by the name of Professor Jean Colbert scratched the back of his neck. He was standing in the largest courtyard at the Tristain Academy of Magic, looking over his eager students. They were in their second year at the academy, and would finally be able to summon their familiars. This was a very important ritual, the Familiar Summoning Ritual, that all magicians went through at some point in their lives. A familiar was a magician's most trusted companion, who would follow them to hell and back with no complaint. It was the final bastion a magician could place their faith in, even if all else fails and the world crumbles beneath their feet. The one constant a magician could count on.

Jean Colbert was very anxious to see what kinds of familiars his students would summon. His top students, Kirche and Tabitha, would surely both summon something magnificent. Although he would never say that some familiars are better than others, especially to his students, it was common knowledge that more impressive familiars would garnish more fame for its master. But, Colbert knew that all of his students would do perfectly fine. Well, almost. There was one who was quite a mystery.

One such student by the name of Louise, who was not showing to be the most competent magic user in the world. In fact, he would have doubted she had any real magical talent whatsoever, if it wasn't for the magically-induced explosions she caused every day. Aside from that, there was no real evidence to support her actually being able to use magic. Colbert hoped, he truly did, that this day would be a new leaf for the young girl, and her familiar would gleam new insight to her strengths as a magician.

"Hey, professor," one of the students said. "Can we start?"

Of course, the students were anxious. They all knew the ritual already, it being fairly trivial, so all that was needed was Colbert's permission. He brought out his class roster, where he would record the summonings, and called out the top name on the list. And from there, the summoning ritual began.

It was a very entertaining ritual to watch, almost like a lottery or game show. The students called out the incantation, and then a mysterious creature would appear out of nowhere in a vast stream of light. Some were simple creatures, such as a frog from one little lady, and others were fantastic, such as a young man's evil eye. As Colbert had predicted, of course, his top students had summoned fittingly impressive familiars. Kirche, the fire mage, had summoned a large fire salamander. And Tabitha, the wind and water hybrid mage, summoned a true dragon. And not just any dragon, a very rare species at that. The students awed in its presence, but the ritual had to continue so Colbert quickly ushered her to the side to let the other students have their turn.

Finally, there was a single student left: Louise. Louise was not feeling so energetic like the other students. In her entire life, she had not been able to cast a spell. Not once. She had tried. She had put in more effort than any other student at the entire academy, and yet, when she brandished her wand in perfect coordination, uttered the incantations in a perfect accent, and put in the perfect amount of willpower, nothing happened except an explosion and a feeling of regret. It made her feel worthless, helpless, and while she had a vague hope that this ritual would somehow be different, it was not a strong feeling. After a thousand iterations of the same occurrence, one learns not to expect differently.

"Miss Valliere," Colbert said, "Finish us off, will you?"

Louise looked at him in surprise, lost in her own thoughts. "Y-Yes, professor!" She exclaimed, and jogged into the center of the ring of students, who had all taken quite a few steps back after they realized who had yet to summon their familiar.

"Uwahh, Louise the Zero is going to try..." One commenter said.

"Do you think we'll be safe from this distance?" said another.

Louise tried to put them out of her mind, and focus on the spell. This was the ritual that would summon her one true familiar, who would stick with her through thick and thin, through desert and snow. But, more importantly, their elemental affinities were usually obvious. Louise hoped that, even if the familiar wasn't impressive, it would at least serve as a hint to how Louise could improve her magic. And, if she summoned something at all, anything, it would at least validate her existence as a magician.

Louise mustered up all of her courage, and bellowed into the air, "My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, perfect and elegant servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart, hear my guidance and appear!"

The seconds felt like hours. The students had, in mock concern, ducked for cover, but nothing was happening. Not even an explosion.

So when the seconds turned to minutes, it felt like years were passing by to poor Louise. She was sure she had failed. It had already been two minutes, and absolutely no change had occurred. She wasn't a magician, she wasn't an aristocrat, she was just a failure. A loser. She couldn't even complete the most important ritual of her life. The minutes dragged on, and the students grew bored and left. And they laughed at her while they did it. "Louise the Zero, Louise the Zero," they cried, but Louise could hardly hear them. She slumped to her knees in dejection, and stared at the ground beneath her.

But the professor did not share her despair. She had certainly given up, but he knew better. While he had never had student quite as inept as Louise, he knew she had magic. And if you have magic, you can complete this ritual. Sure, it was taking a few minutes, but many summonings did. It was an entire regular occurrence, and certain summonings in the past had taken days to complete. So, Colbert did not look down on Louise and laugh, nor did he grow worried and afraid. He just waited. Waited for was about to come.

And then it went boom.

…..

When I regained my vision, I realized that I was very high up in the air. And more than that, the wind blowing by my face told me I was rapidly decreasing that high altitude with every passing second. I was facing upwards, so I twisted my body to get a look around below. I could see vast plains and farmland that stretched as far as I could see, the rolling hills dyed deep green and punctuated by a large forest spreading across the entire landscape. Far in the distance, there were mountains, and even further seemed to be a floating landmass, although I could not make it out clearly. The sights I saw were very troubling.

It was not the fall that troubled me, no, although I would have to reconcile that situation soon. What was troubling me was I could not identify any of the landmarks that I have come to recognize. The Youkai Mountain was nowhere to be seen, nor was the Forest of Magic. There was a forest, sure, but it was not nearly as deep and thick as the Forest of Magic is. No Sanzu River, no Garden of the Sun, and certainly not the Scarlet Devil Mansion. There was absolutely nothing I recognized, despite being so high up in the air. Wherever I was, it was not Gensokyo. And that was extremely troubling.

Before I had to time to really think further, I found myself getting very close to my eventual destination with increasing speed. I turned my gaze down to see my landing zone, and found myself looking at a castle of some sort. It was in the shape of a pentagon, with a wall connecting each of the five towers on the edge. In the center was an incredibly tall and thick keep, with four hallways connecting it to four of the five outer towers. As I got even closer, I saw a thick cloud of smoke that I was going to land directly into.

Gravity prevented my thinking any more than that, and was doing its best to make me go splat onto the ground. Of course, gravity is nothing but a fickle nuisance for someone who can manipulate time and space. Patchouli, the resident magician and bookworm at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, had often come to me with discoveries in her research on my ability. When she had claimed one such book proved gravity was nothing more than a function of space and time, I immediately experimented to see if I could use that fact to fly. After more studying than I would like to admit and a lot of failed attempts, it worked. Those were my early days though. I am much more experienced now.

And so, when I finally impacted the ground, it was no harder than if I had hopped into the air. Of course, there was still a thick smoke surrounding me, so I could not see anything. Using my ability on a gas was usually tricky, so I waited until it naturally dissipated.

When I regained my vision, I saw a small collection of people staring at me. There were others as well, off in the distance, who had turned their heads. Most of them wore simple white, collared shirts with either black pants or a pleated skirt, and a black cloak strapped around their shoulders. There were a few people wearing brown cloaks, a few wearing purple cloaks, and one older man who wore completely blue robes, but the scheme seemed the same. Some sort of uniform? Was I summoned by some sort of...cult?

The cult member closest to me started speaking, although it was in a language I could not understand. She was short, barely taller than my mistress, and had a small build to match. Her body was underdeveloped, but she seemed to be older than a mere child. A teenager, perhaps? Her most striking feature was long, thick, bubble-gum pink hair, and innocently large, matching pink eyes. Those eyes stared at me in what was almost certainly disgust and hatred, which is a look I am very used to. However, I don't think I've quite warranted it yet. It's been less than sixty seconds since I came here, how much hatred could I possibly have generated in that short amount of time? I didn't even say anything.

The pink one kept speaking, so I gestured to my ears and then shrugged to indicate I have no idea what she was saying. She seemed to get it, and turned over to the blue-robed man and spoke to him instead. They conversed for a bit, while I just stood here. It was funny, in Gensokyo, everyone spoke the same language. I did not think anything of it until just now, but that has to be more than coincidence. Would that be Yukari's doing?

After conversing with the blue-robed man, the little pink girl turned back to me, and slowly stepped forward towards me. I did not really understand what she was trying to do, but she seemed very nervous about something. When she finally got right in front of me, she realized just how large the height difference was. I was a solid head taller than her, and she had to stretch her neck back to look up at me. She then turned back to the man, who nodded, and turned back to me. I really had no idea what was going on.

Then she kissed me. It was just on the cheek, but it surprised me nonetheless. Whatever is happening is completely confusing, I have no clue what-

Pain. A tremendous pain shot into the back of my left hand, and I collapsed to my knees. I grasped my left hand with my right, for all the good it would do, and tried to bear through it. I had been through worse pain than this. AAARRGGG. It really hurts. It really really hurts. I feel like my hand is about to fall off, to be burned to ashes. It really hurts. But, I've been through worse.

And as quickly as it started, it stopped. I immediately checked the back of my hand, and found some strange symbols carved into it. They glowed white, and I rubbed over them with my right palm. The pain had completely subsided, and it wasn't even sore. That wasn't natural pain, that had to be some sort of magic. Offensive magic.

I shot back up to my feet, whipped a knife out from my thigh belt, and pointed it at the little pink girl's face. She froze in terror.

"What did you do?" I demanded. The words escaped my mouth before I realized they wouldn't understand them.

"Uwah~! I-It was just the binding ritual!" The little pink girl said clearly. That's funny. Did they perhaps speak English after all, or was it something to do with the magic?

"Explain yourself, what is this binding ritual?" I said. She hesitated as she stared down the pointy end of my knife.

"I-I summoned you...as my familiar..." she said.

A familiar? I am familiar with the concept, we have one in our very own mansion after all. And it's a pretty common ritual to use in Gensokyo; even our familiars have familiars. That by no means I had any desire to become one though, unless it was my mistress's desire. But, in this instance, that clearly was not the case.

"Well un-summon me, then. I have no desire to be a familiar to the likes of you."

"It doesn't work that way, you stupid plebeian!" The girl shouted in anger. Before I could respond, the blue-robed man had approached closer to us.

"Now, now, we can discuss things without resorting to violence." He said. "Can we, er, put down our weapons and go talk?"

I had no interest in exchanging pleasantries with humans, but I suppose it was necessary in this instance. I am in an unknown land with unknown people. A proper maid, when separated from her master, must do everything in her power to return as quickly as possible. Extracting information out of these people seems to be the fastest way, and so I lowered my knife. They breathed sighs of relief.

The older figure and the young girl led me to a small, outdoor cafe. There were a few simple tables and chairs set out next to a kitchen that was being run by a few maids. It was comforting to see a familiar sight, although the tea that we had been served was vastly inadequate. But there were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.

"Well, er, my name is Professor Colbert, and this is Louise de la Valliere. What is your name?"

"Izayoi Sakuya, chief maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and personal maid to Mistress Remilia Scarlet herself." I said the line I had said many times before, but if the looks of confusion on their faces were any evidence, they did not know who my mistress was.

"Izayoosakkya? What kind of name is that?" The girl named Louise said rudely.

"I-za-yo-i Sa-ku-ya." I said slower. "Izayoi is the family name, Sakuya is the given." I explained, although it was a bit of a falsehood. In reality, both of these names were given to me by Remilia. There was no Izayoi family in Gensokyo. But, it is my true name, and anyone who says differently can go die.

Louise repeated the name to herself a few times until she got it, and Colbert seemed to have internalized it easily enough. "Miss Izayoi, then, allow me to explain the circumstances. If you are not aware, magicians go through a bit of a coming-of-age ritual where they summon familiars. It is a ritual that all students go through, and the results are completely random. I assure you, we had no intent of stealing you away from your homeland, the magic is simply out of our hands."

"So, you're fine with snatching away people from their homes at random?"

Colbert looked hurt. "Well, to be honest, humans are rarely summoned. In fact, one hasn't been summoned in a very, very long time. It's usually just animals."

This caused Louise to sigh heavily. "Jeez, why did I have to be the one person in a thousand years to summon a plebeian for a familiar."

"Yes, well, I am sure that you people are completely fine with enslaving sentient creatures and all that, but I don't care for it. All I need from you is to send me back home, or at least tell me the way." I said with no lack of disgust in my voice. The residents of Gensokyo usually summoned willing familiars, that they knew previously. Our own "little devil" in the mansion was roaming around the library for years before Patchouli finally familiarized her. It wasn't some sort of universal lotto of servitude.

"Y-you dare to speak that way to a noble?" Louise shouted. "Familiars should be honored to serve us nobles!"

"You can all die for all I care. Why do you deserve my respect?" I said.

"Y-You!" She said, getting agitated. Colbert tried to calm her down.

"Now, now, let's keep it civil. Miss Izayoi, where are you from?"

"Gensokyo."

"I'm sorry, I do not know where that is."

I proceeded to describe Gensokyo to the best of my ability. The more I described it, the more interested the professor seemed to be. As I described the more spectacular areas, such as the Sanzu River and Hakugyokuro, he stared at me with disbelief. Then his expression changed to worry, then to wonder, then to one of guilt and apology before he finally began speaking.

"I...I don't think that place exists here." He said ominously. "Miss Izayoi...I think you're from another world."

Louise gasped, but I did not react in any visible way. It was not an absurd thought, there were three "worlds" that I knew of. Earth, the moon, and Gensokyo. World-hopping was not an unfamiliar concept, although it was not something I was capable of doing on my own. However, there was very little magic on Earth, certainly not enough to support a magic cabal and familiar summonings like this. And we definitely, definitely were not on the moon. And we weren't in Gensokyo either, so...

Where the hell am I?

Before I could ask, we were interrupted by a large, red-headed woman. She was very tall, taller than me even, and walked with a strong stride. Her white, collared shirt had its top two buttons undone, partially revealing her enormous bust. It was a very clear, deliberate intention to show off her assets, and although I would never admit it, it angered me greatly.

"Haha, Louise. Getting scolded for trying to pass off a commoner as your familiar?" The woman said.

"No I'm not, Kirche!" Louise protested loudly. "Who would want a stupid plebeian as a familiar anyways?"

"Sure, sure, Louise the Zero~" Kirche said, and strode off. Behind her trailed a very short, petite blue-haired girl. She stayed completely silent and did not look up at us as she shuffled past, her head buried in a book. I watched with passing interest as they left, before Colbert shook my attention back to the conversation.

"Miss Izayoi, I can do my best to help you get back, but I don't know how effective it will be."

"You have the magical power to drag me here, but not send me back? What kind of broken system is in place to allow that sort of thing?" I said.

Colbert looked embarrassed, and fumbled around a bit before deflecting the question.

"Anyways, you're my familiar now." Louise declared. "Those runes on your hand prove it, so your new home is here."

"I refuse." I said immediately, and crossed my arms.

"What?" Louise said, startled. "You can't refuse."

"Yes I can. I refuse to serve you."

"But you're a maid! It's your job to serve, and now that you are my familiar, it's your job to serve me. You stupid plebeian, can't you even understand that much?"

I am really getting tired of this "stupid plebeian" nonsense. Humans hate me, I get that. I even understand why they hate me, it's not terribly hard to grasp the reasons. But I know those reasons are not present right now. So, is this girl just angry in general, or just a complete idiot?

"I have no such purpose to serve you. My master is Remilia Scarlet. I am hers, until the end of my days, and to serve any other is a breach of my loyalty. If you want me as your familiar, you will have to talk to her about it. I do not have the power to make that sort of decision, even if I actually wanted to."

"Eh?" Louise said, confused. "But..."

"I hate to bring this up, Miss Izayoi," Colbert said, "but the ritual has already taken place. This is not a discussion on whether or not to become her familiar. You are her familiar, the runes on your hand prove it."

That's...troublesome. I looked down at my hand. The runes were indeed there. The truth is inescapable, I have been turned into a familiar. What am I supposed to do in this type of situation? Remilia never discussed anything like this with me. A proper maid must always serve her master, but if she's magically bound to another, then...arg, I really should have listened to Patchouli's ramblings more.

I looked over at the courtyard, at the unfamiliar buildings and walls, and the strange sky above. This place was not my home, and was not anywhere near my home. I could walk for a thousand miles and I bet I wouldn't reach Gensokyo. Ten thousand, even. There was nothing I could do to get back, even with my ability. I may be able to manipulate time and space, but if I don't know where I am supposed to manipulate, I can't exactly use it as some sort of all-purpose teleport tool. I was stuck. Stranded. I really had no choice but to...to just...wait. Remilia would come looking for me, right? She has to.

She's selfish, after all. How could she not get angry when one of her belongings gets stolen?

"...very well." I resigned. Louise looked much too smug for my tastes, but Colbert just looked relieved.

"But, I would caution you to be careful." I said slowly.

"And why is that, plebeian?"Louise said, putting a heavy emphasis on that last word. I smiled to myself.

"Because my mistress will not take kindly to having her maid so openly stolen from her. She's not the kind of person to forgive that sort of thing. Heads have rolled because of it, in the past."

"Hmph." Louise said, unaffected. "What would you know about the politics of us aristocrats?"

I didn't respond, but that viewpoint will not work kindly in this girl's favor, when she meets the Scarlet Devil. I don't think she quite understands who she is going to deal with, but I won't spoil the surprise.

…..

Evening had come, and I stared out at the horizon as the sun set below, and the sunset faded into a black, starry sky. I was in Miss Louise's dormitory at the academy, which was located in one of the towers on the edge of the wall. The purpose of the wall seemed useless to me, if the students slept outside of it anyways, but Miss Louise had explained that it wasn't a fortress and the walls were simply a stylistic choice. As such, I stared out the window as the moon rose while my new master cleansed herself in her private bathroom. The moon was large, very large, and gave off a vibrant blue hue. It was captivating. I had never seen the moon look quite like this.

Then the other moon rose. I could not believe my eyes as a smaller, red moon rose above the horizon, shortly after the first. It was not as bright or brilliant as the blue one, but it was making its presence known all the same in a different, subtler way. If there was any doubt in my mind I wasn't in Gensokyo, this had squashed it.

Miss Louise emerged from her bath, wearing a towel around her hip and another draped over her shoulders. I approached her, and began to dry her off. I had no choice but to accept this fake master for the time being, and if I was going to serve, I would never disgrace the position of maid by doing it halfheartedly. So I knelt down, and dried her entire body. Then I retrieved her pajamas from her closet, and dressed her. She seemed used to this sort of treatment, so there was no awkwardness.

"Sakuya, I will be going to bed now."

"Of course, Miss Louise."

"You may sleep over there, on the floor."

"Of course, Miss Louise."

"You may go get food from the servant's quarters if you get hungry."

"Of course, Miss Louise."

And with that, Miss Louise climbed into her queen-sized bed, threw the drapes around it, and went to sleep. I snuffed out the candle on the wall, and the room went dark. And so ended my first day on this strange new world.