After browsing around New Moon Palace, the duchess kindly escorted them back to her family mansion, which she inherited after her husband's death. The manor itself was stunning with intricate Persian architecture and exotic flower beds blooming everywhere. Once escorted through the door, a line of maids and butlers greeted them along with three eye-catching figures that stood in front of a staircase. "So happy to see you return back home, my grace." The first to greet the duchess was a regal and handsome looking man with shiny pale blonde hair that he tucked behind his left ear. Kneeling down on one knee, he softly kissed the back of the duchess’s hand. "I already ordered the staff to arrange a place in the Spring Pavillion for you and your guests, my grace." Speaking next was a stern but also attractive man with dark blue hair that reminded Maria of the night sky and silver eyes that glittered like the moon. 

 Hearing a voice softly call out to her, amethyst eyes slowly revealed themselves, catching sight of a blurry figure crouched down beside her. Once her vision was clear enough, the sleeping beauty arose and reached out towards the round furry object lying on her lap. "Milky, wake up," she softly called out to the furry object as Maria jolted when she saw the object reveal two large eyes. "Ah, is nap time over already?" it asked in a cute high-pitched, sleepy voice. "It talks?!" Maria was not expecting the round fur creature lying in the princess’s lap to talk. The cute creature was covered in an ombre of icy-blue, lavender, and pure-white soft and fuzzy feathers. "May I ask what you are doing here?" The melodic voice drew Maria's attention away from the bi

 The day before the camping trip, Countess Rosendrey could be seen hastily pulling out every article of clothing in Maria's dresser or closet and piling them on top of the mountain of clothes already in her suitcase. 'S-She's overdoing it!' Maria didn't know how to put a stop to her mother's madness; luckily Shirone tried to lend a hand by speaking reason to the countess. "My Lady, the ojou-sama will only be gone for a week. The number of clothes you're packing exceeds that length. I urge you to please put some back." The neko white-haired maid tried to explain calmly to the countess, who childishly refused to listen. "No way! My darling Maria will be away from her mommy for a whole week! I must make sure she has everything she'll need

 Once the group's breakfast was finished, they were to call over Ms. Riddle, who would ask about which of their materials they incorporated into their breakfast. She would then sample their meal; if it was good, the reward was smiling stickers, which she plastered to their cheeks.  "Not bad, and if I'm honest, one the best breakfasts I've sampled today~!" complimented Ms. Riddle after sampling the breakfast cooked by Maria's group, which consisted of flavorful fruit juice made from berries and oranges, crispy, well-cooked bacon, a fluffy yellow omelet divided into eight portions, and sponge pancakes drizzled with either honey or maple syrup. Now that their meal had been checked and graded, the group made their way to the Dining Hall to finally have breakfast. In the midst of breakfast, Maria noticed that a large num

 Scoffing at his sister's words, Alan turned on his heels and left with Eira trailing behind him, but not before throwing one last glare at Maria. Feeling a bit childish, Maria pulled down the lid of her left eye and blew a raspberry at their receding backs. "Let's go to the library so that we can get started on the assignment,"suggested the princess, surprising Maria when she felt the other girl reach out and grasp hands with her, taking the lead by walking them towards the library's location. Along the way, Maria felt a little flutter in her heart; staring down at their conjoined hands, a sprout of happiness bloomed in her heart. "Thank you for sticking up for me, Luna~!" Maria was grateful for the princess's courage, knowing that it was not easy on the poor girl when it came to confronting that half-brother of hers. U