Cosmos Academy had its roots in a vast and expansive duchy, but it didn’t fill the entire land with educational buildings, dormitories, or clubhouses. There were still areas where the natural energy remained, and streets like “Dragon Tail Street” were filled with famous craftsmen and merchants from the empire or kingdom, selling everything from weapons and armor to potions and school supplies needed for the academy’s classes.
While places like “New Pandemonium” were dark alleys where ordinary students would never set foot, “Starlight Alley” was a spot bustling with students from both the elementary and high school sections, as well as faculty members, all looking for fun and entertainment.
In Starlight Alley, no student was unaware of the cuteness of “Milky Way,” and there was a valid reason why Murmur absolutely refused to go in.
“This… isn’t it super cute, Esme?”
“Oh my!! I guess cute and squishy things are in fashion in the capital these days!”
Nicasia, who could easily be mistaken for a middle schooler due to her mature figure, and Esme, with her brown hair cutely braided into two pigtails, were enjoying some shopping, their eyes sparkling like the elementary school fifth-graders they were.
“Ugh…”
On the other hand, Murmur was miserable. Being in a place filled with things she had zero interest in, and the fact that her friends might make her try on clothes or accessories, was terrifying!
“Princess Nicasia! Look at this doll! Doesn’t it look exactly like the spirit Murmur summoned?”
“Huh… it does? How is it so squishy and soft, like chocolate? The little leaf on its head is such a cute touch.”
“That thing’s name is Talorin. It’s not chocolate; it’s mud.”
Murmur desperately tried to explain, but her words fell on deaf ears.
“If Murmur wants it, we can buy the doll for her.”
“Murmur doesn’t need it.”
“But you said you have your own room now, right? Having lots of dolls would make sleeping so much better! Hehe!”
“Murmur sleeps fine alone.”
“Don’t be shy~”
Nicasia picked up another doll, this one covered in white foam, and brought it over to Murmur for inspection before putting it down.
“This one seems too big…”
“You’re right. It looks like it would hug Murmur instead of her hugging it.”
“Nicasia? Esme? Didn’t we come here to buy pajamas?”
“Just wait a bit. Milky Way has so many cute things… Ah! Ah! What about this?”
Excited, Nicasia escaped the doll graveyard and ran over to a section filled with adorable accessories.
Murmur covered her face with both hands.
“How do they even make these hairpins? They’ve attached tiny gems so beautifully.”
“Should I get one too? Riola! Riola! Do you have any hairpins that would work for braided hair?”
It wasn’t just Nicasia and Esme who were excited. The maids who had followed them were also sneaking around, touching cute items and debating whether to spend their salaries.
“Yes, Your Highness… Hmm, what about this butterfly one?”
“The pink one is quite… Ah, but isn’t it too cute?”
“I think it suits you perfectly! Or what about this blue butterfly? It has a nice vibe.”
Decorating hair, doing makeup, adding cute brooches to clothes…
All this “girl talk” was of zero interest to Murmur. So, she kept her mouth shut and prayed for this ordeal to end quickly.
“Esme, if it’s okay, could you put this hairpin in my hair?”
“Really? Can I? It would be an honor!”
Esme bounced around, attaching various hairpins and ribbons to Nicasia’s hair as requested, and they both looked in the mirror.
“Ugh…”
Murmur, on the other hand, glanced at them briefly before scanning the corners of Milky Way with disinterest.
“Princess Nicasia.”
Riola, who had been observing the situation, subtly poked Nicasia’s backside with her finger and whispered in her ear.
“Miss Murmur doesn’t seem interested in this kind of thing.”
“Huh? That can’t be. There are so many cute and pretty things here…”
Nicasia stopped mid-sentence and looked down at Murmur.
“Uh… I guess you’re right?”
Esme finally caught on.
“Murmur hasn’t done any styling at all, has she?”
It was a statement of the obvious. Murmur had no interest in braiding or tying up her long, beautiful hair, nor did she care for hairpins or ribbons.
So, she always wore the academy uniform and nothing more.
“My goodness, is she really not interested?”
“Hmm, maybe she hasn’t been in an environment where she could develop an interest?”
“Ah! That’s it! Murmur lives alone in the dorm, right?”
“Wait, really? All by herself? Without even a maid? I’ve heard of commoners living like that, but…”
“In such cases, the dormitory usually assigns a maid to provide some level of care.”
Hearing Riola’s words, Esme and Nicasia’s eyes sparkled.
“Now that I think about it, she said she just sleeps, rests, and studies on weekends…”
“And she said she couldn’t hang out in Starlight Alley because she didn’t have money? Maybe she wanted to but couldn’t because of her situation!”
“Oh my! Then we were being so insensitive, gushing over how cute this is, how pretty that is…”
“I feel a bit embarrassed. Murmur must be experiencing all this for the first time! And we just kept asking her what she wanted, not realizing how pressured she must have felt!”
It was a ridiculous assumption, but it had some basis.
“Ahem! Murmur, come over here. We were inconsiderate, weren’t we?”
“No. I’ve seen enough. Let’s just buy the pajamas and leave…”
Contrary to Murmur’s expectations, Nicasia and Esme grabbed her by the shoulders, sandwiched her between them, and sat her down in front of a mirror.
“I don’t want to.”
“It’s okay. Don’t feel pressured, Murmur! Hehe! We can buy you some accessories!”
“Murmur doesn’t need this. It’s fine.”
“Don’t say that. We’re friends, right? If you keep refusing, we’ll feel bad too.”
Nicasia smiled brightly and waved a pink ribbon.
“I’ve always thought… what if we decorated your horns a bit?”
“Ah! That’s a great idea! Especially since we’re going to wear cute woolen pajamas later.”
“Is that confirmed?”
“But… what kind of animal’s horns are Murmur’s?”
Nicasia muttered as she attached a cute ribbon to Murmur’s red horns.
“Maybe a goat?”
“What about a unicorn?”
“Those are more conical and pointy, aren’t they? Maybe a deer?”
“Either way, they have a cool vibe.”
Like decorating a Christmas tree, Nicasia and Esme enthusiastically adorned Murmur’s horns with various accessories.
In less than 10 minutes, Murmur’s horns were decked out with pink butterflies, glitter, star-shaped stickers, and large gems.
“Murmur doesn’t like this.”
Murmur fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke, and Riola Ashborne, covering her mouth, coughed lightly.
“Your Highness? Miss Esme? Playing around with a demon’s horns like this… is highly disrespectful. At the very least, you should have asked for Murmur’s permission.”
“Right. Murmur doesn’t like this. It’s bad behavior.”
Finally finding a savior, Murmur grabbed Riola’s skirt and shouted.
“However… that said, it would look quite fitting for the pajama party at Miss Esme’s mansion.”
“Ugh.”
“Especially since we’ll be wearing fluffy, cute pajamas.”
Realizing she was grasping at a rotten rope, Murmur quickly let go of the skirt.
* * *
“Try a hairpin sometime, Murmur.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it.”
Murmur’s face was shadowed as she finally escaped the accessory hell on the first floor.
Meanwhile, the maids behind her held paper bags filled with the cute accessories Esme and Nicasia had bought. Even the bags had Milky Way’s adorable mascot printed on them, making Murmur’s heart ache just looking at them.
“Let’s take it slow from here.”
“Let’s buy this. Murmur likes this.”
Murmur quickly grabbed a pajama set in front of her. After observing Nicasia and Esme’s behavior, she made a swift judgment.
If she left the pajama shopping to these two, she’d be shopping forever. She had to pick quickly and escape, or she’d be subjected to endless cuteness torture!
“Murmur, you were looking forward to buying pajamas, weren’t you?”
“Aha, so that’s why you weren’t interested in hairpins or accessories earlier?”
“Now that I think about it, you mentioned pajamas first when we were fighting Nightmare, right?”
“No, no… Murmur just wants to buy pajamas and get out of Milky Way—”
“Don’t worry! Murmur! We’re going to eat something delicious later!”
Murmur’s fingers trembled, but Nicasia effortlessly lifted her with one hand and grabbed the pajamas Murmur had picked with the other.
“This isn’t wool, but since Murmur chose it, let’s try it on. Come on.”
“Even without trying it on, it looks… cute and like it would suit her.”
“Don’t be shy, Murmur. There are plenty of fitting rooms. That’s why the second floor is so spacious.”
“No. Murmur really likes this pajama.”
“Should I help you put it on?”
As Esme joined in, Murmur quickly shook her head.
“Murmur will change by herself.”
“Should we help you?”
“Murmur will change by herself!”
Desperately escaping Nicasia’s embrace, Murmur rushed into the fitting room.
Five minutes later, Murmur reluctantly opened the door, wearing the pajamas she had chosen.
“Wow… I thought the design was plain, but it looks so cute on Murmur.”
“Look, it has the spirits from earlier drawn on it. Murmur must really like spirits, huh?”
The pink pajamas had cute, squishy drawings of earth, fire, water, and wind spirits tangled together on the chest.
Even the pants had cute drawings on the thighs, making it unmistakably look like children’s pajamas.
“Let’s just go with this…”
Murmur gave up. She had already put it on, so she might as well go with it. And she vowed never to take it out of her closet again.
“But it’s a shame to settle for just one!”
“We picked out some more. Try this one on too, Murmur!”
Nicasia waved a green “dinosaur” pajama set.
“Why does this even exist? Murmur can’t understand.”
“It’s cute!”
“We’ll help you put it on, Miss Murmur!”
“No, Murmur will do it herself.”
As the maids approached, Murmur hurried back into the fitting room. She came out wearing the dinosaur pajamas, and Nicasia’s eyes sparkled.
“Ah… so cute. So incredibly cute that my heart is racing.”
“You should wear the hood on the back too, right?”
“No, Murmur will never wear it.”
Murmur grabbed her horns and shook them vigorously. Seeing this, Esme finally held up the fluffy white woolen pajama she had been holding.
“Ugh…”
“Try it on, Murmur! I’m going to wear it, and Princess Nicasia will too!”
“Ah, okay… fine.”
This woolen pajama would be the end of it. Murmur went into the fitting room and slowly walked out.
“Wow…”
“Murmur’s horns really are like a sheep’s, huh?”
“So cute! So incredibly cute! Oh my~!”
The outburst of cheers made Murmur give up entirely.
“It looks… so good on you. How can something suit you so well?”
“Murmur’s horns and the outfit match perfectly!!!”
Esme bent her knees slightly and rubbed her cheek against Murmur’s.
“We’ll look so pretty and cute wearing these on the weekend! I’ll take pictures too!”
“Is… is this it?”
“We were thinking of buying woolen pajamas, but… Murmur! Want to try this black one?”
“There’s a pink one too! Oh! There’s a rainbow one! Want to try it? I’m going with brown!”
Nicasia and Esme held up slightly different designs and colors of woolen pajamas for Murmur to see.
“Murmur… hates cute things!”
Trying to escape the wave of cuteness, Murmur crouched down pitifully, clutching her horns!
