The girl was up, even though it was three in the morning. The sky still carried a pink-red hue as the sun slowly rose in the horizon. She slowly floated to the windowsill - using air magic - while rubbing her tired eyes.
"Finally over..." On the desk, she looked back to see the LED screen still bright and glowing. After two months of hard work, she finally finished her thesis and was almost done with her dissertation. I've been holed up in this room so much... If there was another otaku with me, maybe they could have helped me write fancy sounding magic stuff on my essay.
Grabbing the computer, she floated to the door, out the hall, and towards her parent's bedroom. Two years old... I'll get my brother when I am five, and engaged when I am six. I have time.
She sighed. Her messy silver hair still gleamed despite being in such a state. The girl knocked on the ornately carved doors.
"Mother. Father. I finally finished." Her voice was deadpan, despite the excitement of being free from her living hell. It was as if all of her energy was gone and all that was left of her was the dark circles and saggy shoulders she still carried. Father is definitely a demon, making a beautiful and cute two year old me do this... She sighed sadly.
----
I could feel something observing me for a minute before the door finally opened.
"Ali? What are you doing here so early in the morning? And you look so haggard! Come." My tired looking mother invited me into their room. She saw me hugging the MacBook, or as she called it, the 'long metal object', and immediately gave me a disapproving look. Before she could lecture me again, I ran towards my father, who was still asleep on their king-sized bed.
"Father. I finished my thesis and dissertation." A short, stubby, two year old girl saying that her thesis was finally finished. How wonderful. Anyone who looked at her would just think she was just mimicking an adult, but her father took her very seriously.
He looked at her, then at the computer, then said, "Oh? Give me the papers." I sent him a disapproving look, that seemed to say, 'You expect a two year old to write 1000 pages worth of stuff? Cruel bastard.'. I moved towards the bed and snuggled in with him, ushering Mother to come into the covers as well.
I then opened the computer and revealed a touchbar and the keyboard. The LED screen immediately lit up. "What kind of magic is this, daughter?" Asked my father curiously. I shot him a warning glance. Is he trying to make me write another book on modern programming or hardware? No. No, I'm not doing that again. Plus, they don't even have enough background knowledge to know what an LED screen even is. They won't be able to understand anything I write anyway.
Hence, I answered bluntly, "None of your business." Father seemed really hurt, but I was so grumpy and weary from lack of sleep that I didn't care in the slightest. I pressed my finger on the small button to the right and used fingerprint recognition to unlock my computer. My computer revealed the digital pages I've been working so hard on. Even looking at the essay makes me want to barf.
I glanced at the reaction of my two parents before stating, "Here's my essay. Are you happy?" Their faces revealed shock, confusion, awe, and happiness. They seemed to marvel at how I got my letters to be so perfect. I smirked. It took so long to program a new language on this. Well, at least I can use the computer for work in the future.
"Well? Are you going to read it? Or are you just going to just look at the screen?" I felt very sour. I didn't bother to put up a cutesy act or snuggle with my father to gain favor. I just wanted to get this over with.
"H-how does your father access the next paper?" He seemed to be prodding the computer keys in hope of getting some sort of reaction. Of course, he didn't recognize the characters on the keys because they were all printed in English. I glared at him. He seems like one of those grandfathers who call their daughters to troubleshoot for them since they can never understand how electronics work.
"I'll do it myself." I used the trackpad to scroll down, and my father gasped once more. Shut the fuck up. Mother, on the other hand, just kept smiling. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
And so, through the morning, I slowly scrolled down and allowed them to read my essay. By midday, they were finished. Wow. They really can read fast. I sighed and got out of bed. I just wanted to escape and sleep for three days. I didn't want to deal with etiquette lessons, or the prodding of my curious father, or the threat of having to write another essay on a MacBook Pro. I just. Wanted. To sleep.
"I'm leaving for three days. Don't try to find me. You won't be able to." I announced. Before Father or Mother could inquire further, I murmured [OPEN SPACE (0,-10)] and climbed in (while hugging my dear computer with one arm), shutting the portal afterward.
Because of my focus in drafting and revising my essay, I wasn't able to use my mana for quite a long time and it was fully restored. So instead of reappearing in Mother and Father's bedroom and asking them for a bed, I used creation magic to make one instead. [ମୋର ଆବଶ୍ୟକତା ଏବଂ ଇଚ୍ଛାକୁ ଡାକ, ଏବଂ ମୁଁ ତୁମକୁ ମୋର ମନ ସହିତ ପୁରସ୍କୃତ କରିବି] then I mumbled [ଛଅଟି ତକିଆ ଏବଂ ତିନୋଟି କମ୍ବଳ ସହିତ ଏକ ଧଳା ସାଟିନ୍ କାନପି ବେଡ୍ ତିଆରି କରନ୍ତୁ]. I instantly felt that again, half of my mana had been drained.
A white satin canopy bed appeared before me instantaneously, and I climbed onto it (while still holding onto my computer) and covered myself up. After swinging the blackout curtains down, I fell into a deep slumber.
I didn't realize the commotion I had made when I entered my dimension. Nor did I think about the fact that I was a duke's daughter and what might happen if I disappeared in the midst of my peeved actions. Instead, what I thought was, No one can bother me in my space here... I'm going to sleep.
(Author's Note: Hey guys! I know this might seem quite out of character for dear Alice, but this is what happens when people take away her precious sleep (she is NOT a morning person). It makes her more honest and grumpy! (PS. What do you guys think will happen when she finally crawls out of that dimension of hers?) Read more to find out!)