17 Home Life

"So how was school?" My mother sat across from me with her own dinner, finally asking the infamous question. It helped me snap out of the slump I found myself in, as now I needed to figure out how honest I wanted to be.

There is no way I am talking about the bullying, but I could probably talk about Lyra. It would be a good test to see how well-known nobles are since there seems to be too many to keep track of.'

"It was alright; I didn't struggle with anything, and I made a friend."

"Oh? What's their name? I know you mentioned you were hanging out with them when you got home." My mother raised an eyebrow and maintained eye contact, fully interested in who this person is.

"Yes, her name is Lyra." I looked at Mother, waiting for any kind of reaction to Lyra's name, but luckily she didn't show any sign of recognising her.

"I see. I think I have heard the name somewhere before, but that doesn't matter as long as you two get along. Just be careful, dear, since you are going to a noble school, some may be trying to get close in order to take advantage of you." My mother smiled, glad that I had managed to make a friend, but she still clearly had her worries and doubts.

'It looks like she is well aware of the risks.' It was reassuring to know that my mother has the expectation of something going wrong, which made me think.

'Maybe it isn't a bad idea to tell her the full truth.' It wouldn't be something I do today, but if things start to really take a turn for the worse, then coming to Mother for help would be a good idea.

"Mhm, I understand."

"Now, tell me, what did you two get up to?" Smirking upon asking the question, it was apparent she was hoping for some spicy details.

"We just hung out at the arcade, that's all." I wasn't shameless enough to admit that I indirectly confessed my feelings, and it amazed me that she even thought something of the sort happened.

"Did you have fun?" There was a slight bit of disappointment on my Mother's face, but seriously, it's only been a day. It's beginning to sound normal to enter a relationship at such high speeds.

"Yes, we did; we will probably be going again if that isn't a problem." However, despite the clear undertone, it was nice being able to talk about my day with Mother.

"It isn't a problem at all, and if it's alright, see if you can invite Lyra over; I would love to meet her."

"Sure, I'll ask her." 'I shouldn't invite her; Mother definitely is scheming something.'

"Good, well, finish up eating; I am sure you are itching to get some rest." Giving me a wink, I couldn't help but blush a little, especially after the kind of interaction I had just before this.

"Y-yes."

*

After finishing up my food, I said goodnight to Mother as I would most likely not come out of my room for the rest of the night.

As I lay down on my bed, it occurred to me that I had nothing to do. No longer did I have a phone to scroll mindlessly or even a computer to play the night away.

'This kind of sucks.' My usual forms of entertainment were gone, and I suddenly started hating life again.

'Urgh, I can only hope that there is something of the sort. Seeing that the arcade exists, surely home devices or something resembling the internet will be created soon.' It might not be now, but seeing how modern things are, phones did not seem far off, or at least something that only nobles had.

'I'm going to need to explore the city more when I have some time, and if phones do truly exist, then I pray it isn't too expensive.' It was a wishful prayer, but right now I was bored out of my mind. The only saving grace I had was the fact that I'm actually tired.

However, despite feeling tired, the bed was way less comfortable than I'm used to, making it hard to sleep. I tossed and turned, causing me to also realise another problem.

'How the hell do I sleep with these? I'm glad I'm blessed with a wonderful chest, but they are kind of inconvenient.' Putting my hands on my chest, I couldn't help but feel conscious of them. It wasn't uncomfortable per se, but damn, it felt extremely weird no matter what position I chose.

Eventually, I would fall asleep, finding that lying on my back was the best option.

***

<Owlvil household>

Lyra's POV

"First you go desecrate your ears with metal, sneak out of home, refuse to listen to us, never dress properly, and NOW YOU GET SUSPENDED ON YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL HOOOT!!!" My father's voice echoed through the dining hall with some feathers flying up in the air. He resembled an owl a lot more than I did, having feathers for hair as well as some parts of his body covered in feathers.

Luckily, I inherited most of the human traits from my mother and not a huge amount of feathers like my father. However, at this rate, he will lose them all, as when he gets angry, like right now, feathers tend to go everywhere.

"Are you even listening to me hoot?" Slamming his fist onto the table, I give him a side-eye, hoping to show how little I care. It may not seem like it, but I am much stronger than my father nowadays making discipline almost impossible. The only way he can really punish me is by taking my allowance, but I've already made a personal account, adding small amounts over the years.

He could kick me out of the house, which would be nice as now I can just live with Saki, but that would damage the reputation of our nobility.

"You're lucky that they won't report this suspension on your record because of the reason behind it, but if you get another one, I will-"

"You will do what? All I did was uphold the academy's values, and there won't be a next time if we treat people nicely." Accidentally letting myself slip as I was sick of the same old threats, I had left my father speechless.

"Dear, I think you need to let it go. It's admirable what she did, so I think you should be focusing that energy on convincing the other nobles that it was a good thing." My mother finally spoke up, being the voice of reason for this whole ordeal. It may seem like a nice gesture what she is doing, but under that is a snake that would strangle me in a second if I fell into her word traps.

She tries to be the good cop, but the last time that I listened to her suggestion, she tried to use magic to manipulate me. It makes me believe I am also part snake, but there is no way to truly tell.

*Grumble, hoot~* Sitting down in his chair, annoyed, it seemed I got away from his verbal abuse for the time being.

"Thank you. Now, Lyra, please refrain from such drastic measures and be more civil about it. I'm proud of you for sticking up for that peasant, but again, you still have an image to uphold." My mother stared at me with an innocent look, but it oozed manipulation and ill intent.

I rolled my eyes as her phrasing was disdainful to Saki, and in the end, they only cared about their image.

"Yeah, whatever, can I go now?" Seeing as the main topic was over, I was hoping I could go back to my room, as sitting at a table that is half the size of the room is still a situation that I find awkward. You have to almost yell to talk to each other, which is extremely inconvenient. Like, who the hell designed this and made it normal for nobles?

"You may hoot." My father mumbled defeatedly, which was nice for a change, but knowing Mother, she will come to my room, trying to be all understanding.

Nonetheless, I got up from my seat and quickly headed towards my room. I had three days to kill, and seeing as I wasn't grounded, I could move freely.

Entering my room, the place was organised almost exactly like my old room, making this the only place that felt truly like home. Almost everything was black, and anything that even resembled colour was blue.

I loved the dark atmosphere, so I gothified my room with a couple of cute things here and there.

'Now, I should probably meet Saki after school just to check on her. I can imagine the students having a field day of bullying since I'm no longer there.' I sat down at my desk, and as soon as I did, my leg began to bob up and down nervously, thinking about what could happen to Saki.

It would be peace of mind to see her, but I had no control over whether she would be okay during school.

'Please be safe.'