36 The North is a Cold Place

After twelve miserable hours with only a few breaks, we finally arrived at our destination. Much to the dismay of everyone in the carriage, I did in fact puke several times along the way. But hey, at least I did a good job not getting any vomit on the carriage. Now, it may have accidentally hit an innocent bystander on the road, but I'm sure they are alright. All they need is a bath and they'll be right as rain.

As everyone got out of the carriage, I still hung out the window looking very gaunt. I'm pretty sure I lost all of the weight I had gained from eating sweets over these past months. I don't think I can even walk at this point.

Dante noticed my inability to move and tossed me over his shoulders like a bag of potatoes. Without any difficulty, he carried me outside and dropped me on the ground.

"Oof. Dante, couldn't you have at least put me down gently?"

"I did."

"Evil child."

"What was that?"

I smiled, "I said thank you."

"I thought so."

I sat on the snowy ground rubbing my back. I'm glad to have arrived, but d*mn is it cold. I won't complain about Lona's choice of clothes anymore. Even with this heavy wool cloak, I am still shivering.

I quickly pulled out the matching set that Lona had given me and put it on. With the scarf wrapped around my neck and my hat pulled down as much as possible, only my eyes were visible. Ack I'm still cold.

William chuckled, "You look like a snowman bundled up like that."

William wore a fashionable light blue jacket and a stripped scarf. His blonde hair poked out from under his hat.

I glared at him, "No matter how bundled I am, I'm still very cold."

Dante wore a lightweight dark blue jacket with a black scarf. He didn't even seem bothered by the cold. "It's not that bad."

"How can you even be dressed so lightly? Aren't you freezing?"

"I have trained my body to regulate my body temperature. I won't get cold by something like this."

I frowned, "Such a thing seems impossible."

"It's not. Maybe if you had more discipline you could achieve this as well."

I mumbled, "I don't think it's an issue with discipline."

How could I accomplish such a feat? Surely it's because the author gave him inhuman abilities. An author would never waste such resources on me.

A teacher spoke, "Please find your teacher so they can give you your Cabin number."

Me and Millie waved goodbye to William and Dante. We walked towards our teacher who held out a sack, "Alright, Children. Come and grab a number from the hat. There are two beds for each cabin."

One of the girls looked at another, "Two beds?! We have to share a room?!"

The other crossed her arms, "This is so barbaric."

I stared at them with a blank expression. I looked over to Millie, "Why does everyone seem so upset?"

"I think it's because noble children are used to having their own giant room. Last year, we each got our own huge room in a lavish hotel."

I rolled my eyes, "It's not that bad. Spoiled brats."

"You don't mind?"

"It's only for five days, right? It's not like forever."

She smiled, "Then I hope we will get a room together."

We stood in line and awaited our turns pulling out numbers. The boys and girls were separated from each other and pulled from different sacks.

I finally reached the front and went to pull out a number. The teacher quickly raised the hat out of my reach. I stared at him blankly.

He looked at Millie behind me with a nervous expression, "Uhm. Millie. Do you think you could room with Seri? I'm afraid you would be the only one who could control her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

My mouth dropped. I feel so insulted.

Millie smiled, "Yes. I will make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

He nodded excitedly, "Good. I'm counting on you."

He gave us our cabin assignment and we were shooed away. I looked at Millie, "Why does everyone think I am going to cause trouble?"

She looked at me with that innocent smile of hers, "That's because you always seem to cause trouble. There's a reason why everyone calls you the delinquent of the school."

"Delinquent?! Since when?"

"For a very long time. You didn't know?"

I looked at her blankly, "No I didn't."

"Oh." She said with a smile.

"Millie. You do know that your face and your words don't seem to match?"

"How interesting. I'm glad Seri has been watching me so carefully."

I can never tell if she's just being naive or insulting me.

I sighed, "What cabin number are we in?"

She looked at the paper, "Cabin 13."

"13?"

"Yes."

"How ominous."

"Why is it ominous?"

"13 is an unlucky number. That's why Friday the 13th is such an auspicious day."

"Why is Friday the 13th bad?"

"You don't know about it?"

She shook her head, "I haven't. Did something bad happen that day?"

I tapped my chin thinking hard, "Hmm. I guess they don't have this kind of thing here. Well, on Friday the 13th if you see a black cat, walk under a ladder, or break a mirror you will have bad luck."

She suddenly looked frightened, "Really?"

"Yes. It's a superstition."

"I see. I'm surprised. I didn't take you for someone who believed in such things."

She walked away as I held out my arm to her, "Wait! I didn't say I actually believed it!"

She spoke in her sing-songy voice, "I can't wait to tell Dante and William."

"Please don't... Millie!"

I rushed after her but she ignored me. We grabbed our suitcases and started walking towards the cabins as instructed by our teacher. I dragged my two large suitcases behind me with much difficulty. What the hell did Lona pack in this?!

We reached a small wooden cabin with smoke bellowing out of the chimney. We opened the door and noticed it was awfully simple. There were two uncomfortable looking beds on either side, a firepit dug into the middle, and a small dresser with a mirror and washbowl on the wall across from us.

We walked in and each put our suitcases at the foot of the beds.

Millie looked at me, "It sure is simple, isn't it?"

I smiled, "Yes, but in a way it's awfully cozy. I'm surprised it's so warm in here. I could just stay in here all day."

She giggled, "I thought you would be complaining about it."

"Of course not! It kind of feels like we are camping. Well, camping in a cabin. It's relaxing to get away from society occasionally."

I plopped down on the bed. The bed was a bit rougher than the one I had at home, but this wasn't a problem for me. Before I became a successful car salesperson in my other world, I slept on much rougher beds and surfaces. This sort of thing didn't bug me a bit.

*Groooooowl*

I grabbed my stomach. God d*mnit. How come my stomach is only ever loud when someone's around?

Millie sat down on the bed gracefully and looked at me, "Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving. I had puked up everything in my stomach."

Her face tightened, "Don't remind me. I can still smell it."

"Well, it's probably still on my breath. I haven't had the opportunity to brush my teeth yet."

She started to dig in her suitcases, "I have some nuts for snacks if you want some. I didn't have the opportunity to eat them on the ride over here. I was too busy gagging from watching you."

I pulled an apologetic face, "Sorry about that. I should have warned you."

She shrugged, "It's alright. You can't help it anyway."

I jumped out of bed and sat next to her. She happily started to pull out the snacks while humming.

"Can you sing, Millie?"

She blushed, "No. I can't sing very well."

"What do you mean? Your humming sounded so smooth and pleasant."

I grabbed a handful of nuts and tossed them into my mouth.

She looked down, "Oh, I don't know about that."

I smiled at her and nudged her encouragingly, "Go on. Sing."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded with my mouth full of nuts, "Mmhm."

"Okay. Here it goes."

She started singing and immediately I felt as if angels were coming down from heaven to whisk me away. The only thing it was missing was some harps to accompany it. I started crying.

She immediately stopped, "What?! Is it that bad?!"

"No." I sniffed, "It sounds so angelic I thought I had died and went to heaven."

She blushed deeply, "It wasn't that good."

I nodded enthusiastically, "You're right, it was even better than that. A mere mortal couldn't even begin to describe how beautiful it was."

She chuckled, "You are quite imaginative."

I grabbed her shoulders and gazed at her seriously. "Millie. You must never sell yourself short. Your vocal cords are a gift from God."

She looked down in embarrassment, "Alright."

"Good. Also, promise me that you'll sing me to sleep every night."

"Every night? I don't think I'm capable of that."

"Well then sing to me occasionally."

She giggled, "Alright. But what about you? Can you sing?"

I tapped my chin, "Hmm. I've never tried."

"Well go on. Try for me."

I shrugged, "Alright. I will sing you one of my favorites."

I started to sing a folk song from my other world. This one was my favorite because I found it so hilarious. It was about an old man trying to find a lover but he was unfortunately too ugly. In short, it was a vulgar song. But that's what made it so good.

Millie crinkled her nose and furrowed her brow as if my voice was causing her much pain.

I finished, "Well? How was it?"

"It's a good thing you're so smart."

My face twitched, "It can't be that bad."

"You're right. It's much much worse."

I frowned, "You could at least lie and tell me it was okay."

She spoke in an angelic voice, "But then you would think you could sing. It would be rude of me to allow you to think that."

A knock sounded on the door and we opened it. A female teacher looked at us, "Dinner is ready. Please meet up with everyone by the gate."

We quickly put our cloaks back on and headed out the door.