The pleasant sound of bells roused Vanna from her deep slumber. At first, she was disoriented – she had no recollection of where she was or what had happened. She took a few moments to gather her scattered thoughts and blink the sleep from her eyes, then the memories started to piece themselves back together in her mind.
However, remembering what happened the day before didn't silence the tinkling of bells. She looked around, puzzled, for a moment before realizing that it was likely the doorbell. Vanna, still wearing the towel from the day before, leapt out of the bed and made her way to the front door. She couldn't put her dirtied clothes back on, so she very apprehensively decided to proceed, despite the way she was dressed.
Fortunately, there was a plush robe hanging in the bedroom for her to cover up with that she grabbed on her way. The girl took a deep breath before pulling it open and sighed in relief when she saw that it was only Shizuka. She had been a little worried that it would have been one of the guys instead.
"Good morning," Vanna greeted, somewhat awkwardly. "Uh… would you like to come in?"
"Good morning," Shizuka responded in kind. There were hints of dark circles beneath her eyes, but she wore a more… approachable expression on her face than she had the day before. "I apologize for waking you at such an early hour. I only came to supply you this change of clothes and inform you that we will be leaving shortly – so there's no need for me to come inside."
With her explanation, the black-haired woman grabbed a tote bag that had been sitting on the ground beside her. Shizuka held the bag out for Vanna to take, which the latter obliged.
"Oh," Vanna said, bowing her head slightly in gratitude, "thank you very much! I was just getting worried about that…"
Shizuka served a slight, polite smile. "Of course. We will have more clothes arranged for you while we are away, but these will have to do for now. It's only going to be a day trip, so don't fret too much. Ready yourself as well as you can, I will return to collect you in around twenty minutes."
"Ah… of course." Vanna laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry to be such a burden… I would have preferred just to use my clothes from back home, but I am guessing my luggage got lost in the accident?"
"You are not a burden at all. The CEO is more than willing to provide these things for you." The attendant nodded once. "My apologies. We tried to salvage what we could, but there was essentially nothing left in the wreckage."
Vanna bit her lip awkwardly. She still didn't understand why Mr. Lê was willing to go to such lengths for her, even if she really were a magical beast like he claimed. Wasn't it a bit too much? Whatever the situation was, it was really putting her in a tough spot. When would they send her back to school, where she was supposed to be? Her mother would most definitely be disappointed if her daughter got into the most prestigious academy in the world only to skip attending it entirely.
"Ah, that reminds me," Vanna said, "is there any way that I can contact my family? I lost my phone in the river, and I'm sure my mother is concerned, since I didn't call her when I arrived safely."
"We've contacted her already," Shizuka responded simply. "She is happy knowing that you are in our safe and capable hands."
Vanna blinked a few times. "Uh… what exactly did you tell her? She's usually such a worrier. It's a bit hard to believe that she acquiesced so easily."
"I informed her that you captivated Mr. Lê's attention with your unmatched intelligence, and that he has decided to personally fund your accommodations, along with your education that was already free," the woman answered. After a brief pause, she added, "And we paid her handsomely in recompense for her distress."
"You… you gave her money?!" Vanna's hand rose to cover her mouth in shock. "Seriously…?"
Shizuka simply nodded again, and didn't bother to elaborate further before she turned her back to Vanna to make her departure. "See you soon."
Vanna was completely speechless. Did her mom just… sell her off? It sort of felt that way… but, in the end, Vanna had dedicated nearly her entire life to her education in order to take care of her mother financially. So, in a roundabout way, she had sort of achieved her goal.
She found herself becoming lost in thought, but the girl still managed to bring the bag of clothing inside with her and shut the door. Vanna moved to the needlessly large couch and placed it down before reaching inside of it to inspect her outfit for the day. When she pulled it out, she was surprised by what she found.
It was something she likely would have chosen to wear on her own. A muted brown dress with a fur jacket and fleece leggings to wear underneath it. As a finishing touch, there was a pair of nice leather boots. Vanna surmised they were likely going somewhere that was rather cold based on the ensemble, and she couldn't help but wonder who had picked these clothes out for her?
"Likely Shizuka, or one of her subordinates," she said aloud, in response to her own thoughts.
Vanna gingerly disrobed herself of the nightwear and towel, then proceeded to put on the clothes. Even the material they were made from felt expensive. She felt a little wrong wearing things that were so nice, but after all of the pampering she had been receiving, she had started to adjust her mentality a little.
She wandered back to the bedroom to ensure that her hair was neat enough to go into public with. Fortunately, it only needed a few comb-throughs with her fingers to achieve its natural state, with a little additional volume from sleeping with it wet. Vanna looked at herself in the standing mirror with a scrutinizing stare.
How could she possibly be anything more than a normal girl? There was nothing extraordinary about her at all. Vanna had pretty good self-esteem, and had no qualms with her appearance, but she would never have described herself as exceptionally beautiful. She had medium-length brown hair and gentle brown eyes; her body was, in every sense of the word, normal. Not big, or small, nor tall or short. Just… normal.
'A divine beast, huh?" Vanna laughed to herself. "How absurd. Even though I've seen enough evidence of their existence, there's no way that I could be one of them.'