As soon as she finished tidying up, she must’ve fallen asleep right away.

I must’ve been too tired, since I didn’t feel it.

“Then should I do some spring cleaning to commemorate my moving out?”

Enthusiastically getting out of her bed barefooted, she looked around at her surroundings thoroughly. A pretty but unfamiliar house. It was unfamiliar, but it will become a comfortable home soon.

I’m confident I’ll get used to the new surroundings right away.

And get used to loneliness as well.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“Here’s coffee. It’s still hot, so drink it carefully.”

“Ok, thanks.”

Kathia was sipping the coffee in her hands before stopping and choking all of a sudden. W-What is this? This natural flow?

“Are you alright?”

As she almost coughed up blood, someone softly patted her back. When Kathia calmed down a bit, she called out the name of the intruder like a scream.

“Deon!”

“Yes.”

“No, it’s not ‘yes’… Right now… Why in the world…”

Why are you here?!

***

4:10 PM.

It was so unbelievable that she couldn’t even speak properly.

Ah, is this perhaps a dream? Am I dreaming? Did I not wake up from my sleep yet?

Pondering how he is dream-worthy yet appearing in reality, Kathia looked up at him and pinched her cheek.

Before having a chance to cry out in pain, her hand left her cheek.

“Does it not hurt?”

“It sure does. It hurts. So, why is it hurting?”

Kathia mumbled dazedly and this time reached towards Deon’s face.

Poke. The sensation of touch and warmth on her fingertip was an undeniable reality.

The feeling of the point of contact was becoming warmer…

Ding dong!

The doorbell rang. Snapping back to her senses, Kathia glanced between Deon and downstairs before darting to the first floor for the time being.

It feels like some insult was coming from behind me. Am I mistaken?

While Kathia tilted her head, she opened the door.

“Who is…”

Confirming the shadow of a figure, Kathia unintentionally looked towards Deon upstairs.

What in the world? What is this? Is this for real?

“Nice to meet you for the first time. I am your neighbor who just moved in next door.”

Unusually putting more emphasis on the ‘nice to meet you for the first time,’ was none other than Madam Murphy.

Kathia was trying to process this mentally while frozen like stone, gawking at the situation.

So then, after she opened her eyes, Deon was in her home; it isn’t a dream; the visitor is Madam Murphy AND she moved in next door. H-Huh?

“Madam Murphy.”

“Oh my. It’s rather interesting how you know me even though this is the first time we’ve met.”

“…Still upset?”

“Now, you’re saying such strange words. Do you know me?”

So she is upset. Very upset. Kathia was trying to avoid Madam Murphy’s tumultuous glare.

“B-By the way, what do you mean by moving in next door?”

“It’s exactly as I said.”

No way. 

Kathia peeked her head outside the door. Among the sparsely-located neighboring homes, there was a commotion at the so-called “neighbor’s” vicinity.

“Did you really move here…? How?”

One corner of Madam Murphy’s lips slanted up.

“Someone told me that having a lot of money was always the right answer.”

Was Madam Murphy always like this…?

While the flustered Kathia could only manage to twitch her lips, the person who told Madam Murphy such a thing popped out from the house next door.

“Greetings, Princess. Ah— that’s right. How should I address you from now on?”

“Huh? Well, you can just address me by name…”

“Understood, Miss Kathia.”

No, no. Right now, figuring out how to address me isn’t the important thing.

Kathia covered her face with both of her hands. She didn’t even know where in the world to begin speaking.

In the midst of all this chaos, the icing on the cake was Jean just swaggering in the Adolphe Knighthood’s uniform.

“Ooh, are you finally awake? Being self-employed sure seems nice. Should I ditch the Knighthood and open up a shop myself too?”

“Well…”

Kathia finally broke out in laughter. Even in this chaotic situation, at least one thing was certain.

However she thought her life would go, it definitely won’t pan out as anticipated.

* * *

“Gary, Harper.”

With his arms crossed and leaning against the stair landing was Deon, muttering to himself as he looked downstairs, especially at Kathia, who was caught up in the chaos amidst the crowd.