Venus's POV:

I followed the stoic maid down the corridor and back into the main room where we took a turn into one of the side hallways.

As we walked past some rooms, I quickly peaked into some of the doors and found that it was mostly facilities. My assumption about them being bedrooms was mostly right since they're rooms for the servants but it was mostly restrooms and kitchens.

I decided that after I moved my stuff over, I'd take a leisurely trip around the castle grounds.

Mary walked carefully up the stairs, holding her maid dress by the hem so she wouldn't trip on it and I decided to do the same.

I wouldn't want to trip and embarrass myself.

The upstairs had a living room area with a fire place and even more hallways. Mary led me down another hall, but I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a high pitched voice.

"You!"

I turned around and to my surprise, found a girl with bright blonde curls and brown eyes. Her dress had more than a few ruffles to it and was astonishingly yellow.

She reminded me of my sister as they both had rounder faces and more of a fluffy, cute feeling to them. She appeared to be in her teens or late-teens.

I leaned down to her size and tried to muster up the sweetest voice I could, "Dear child, are you lost? Would you like me to help you find your parents?"

"What do you mean? I'm Lady Tena Delrose! I'm 19."

19? Oh, I guess I can see that. She looked to be about 5'2 in size and she wasn't lacking in the chest area.

"Then what are you doing here? Get out of my face, pipsqueak." I stood back up to my normal height and almost turned around again before she yelled, "You kissed my fiancé!"

"Fiancé? The Duke is into short, blonde girls that are way too spoiled?" My disbelief of her statement was clear in my voice and she noticed it.

"Well... He's not my fiancé... Not yet, at least." She mumbled the last part quietly to herself but I still caught it.

"So, that means you're courting him?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" At least she was honest.

I smirked down at her and leaned in closer so she could hear me whisper, "When you finally drag him into your bedroom and you have him inside you, know that I won't apologize when he starts moaning out my name instead of yours."

Lady Delrose's face turned from utter shock to embarrassment then to anger, but I was already back to following Mary to my room.

Soon, Mary opened a door and revealed a lavish room equipped with a bathroom, queen-sized bed, a vanity, a wardrobe, an empty bookshelf, and a closet all for my needs.

It was quite nice and large, but didn't have any of the items I actually needed.

"Mary, be a doll and give a message to the Duke for me. Tell him that I was very upset he didn't give me the same room that he slept in and that I expect a room change very soon."

Mary slightly nodded her head and turned to leave the room, but I had one last request from her before she was allowed to leave.

"Please bring me some chalk, preferably red but any color works."

She didn't make any motion that she was going to do as I asked before she left, but I just assumed she would be back soon.

The oddities in her behavior made me wary of her but I decided to cross that bridge when I came to it.

"Alright, time to get started." I said while placing a stool in front of the closet door.

Talking to myself became somewhat of a habit of mine while I did magic or studied.

Whilst thinking through how I wanted to create a portal to my house, a knock sounded at the door.

With a wave of my hand, the door to my new room flew open.

"Um... Excuse me, I'm here to check up on you and Mary said you'll be needing this..."

In Mary's place was Augustus and in his hand was some chalk. How lovely.

"Mmm~ Coming to a unmarried maiden's room. Do you have an ulterior motive?"

"N-No, it's just polite to see how my guest is settling." He fumbled his words until he noticed my focus was on the closet door. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I need my items. I'm going to make a portal. I could magically draw on the runes but that's only for a temporary portal. For a more permanent one, you need chalk or a carving tool." I extended my hand behind me with my palm open, waiting for the Duke to hand me the chalk.

As soon as I felt the weight of the chalk enter my hand, I got to work.

It took some time to draw the runes which started from the bottom of the closet door frame and encased it entirely.

I breathed in and spoke the words to activate the spell, "ꂦꉣꈼꋊ, ꁅꁲꋖꈼꅏꁲꐞ ꋖꂦ ꋖꍩꈼ ꐇꋊꀗꋊꂦꅏꋊ"

The runes lite up beautifully for a second and I felt the magic flow from my body and around the doorway.

Reaching out, I turned the golden door knob on the closet door to reveal the entryway to my house.

"Wow! It worked." I whistled while stepping through the door, impressed with my work.

The Duke hesitantly followed me, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, all those runes are hard to draw from memory. Ah! My door!" A spike of pain struck through my heart as I looked upon my ruined front door that now laid upon my coffee table.

"I deeply apologize for my guards." The sincerity in his voice was very apparent.

"It's fine. It's not your fault, handsome. You should know that I'm going to get revenge though."

Oh, all the evil things I could do.