"Hey! Wake up!"

Minhyun groggily opened his eyes to a loud voice yelling at him. Wiping them, he saw a young man with red hair standing next to the bed. With his vision still blurry, he blinked a couple of times before muttering in a listless voice.

"W-what do you want?"

Julius looked down at him and said.

"You think I wouldn't know about what you did last night."

A yawn escaped from Minhyun's lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Holding in the urge to punch someone in the face, Julius said.

"You really want to play dumb with me. I know you went to my sister's room last night."

"Like I said, I don't…"

But before Minhyun could finish his sentence, a knock echoed at the door, and a voice sounded out from the other side.

"Big bro, I had a lot of fun yesterday. Uhm, I was wondering if you wanted to take a stroll with me."

With confirmation now in his ears, Julius turned to stare at him.

"What do you have to say for yourself now?"

Minhyun blankly looked away. Sweat dripped down from his face as he weakly muttered.

"I-I'm innocent… I don't even know what she said."

Julius frowned.

"Just because you can't understand what she said doesn't mean she didn't say it."

Then he sighed.

"Look at what you did. Now she wants me to go on a stroll with her."

Wanting to change the subject, Minhyun asked.

"So… are you going?"

Julius walked over to the bookshelf. After grabbing a book from one of its layers, he flipped over to the first page and answered.

"Why should I? I've never held any sort of affection for her."

Hearing no response from the other side of the door, Emily just stared down at the ground. Her body curled up as she muttered.

"If you don't want to go, then it's okay. I'll just head out on my own."

Intuitively understanding what the voice had said, Minhyun turned to look at Julius and criticized.

"Hey, you shouldn't treat her like that."

Julius clenched his fists. Then he closed his book and yelled.

"Why! And what makes you think you can tell me what to do!"

Minhyun recoiled. He didn't know what to say. But not wanting to give up, he raised his voice and countered.

"Because... she's family."

Truthfully, it bothered him that Julius treated his sister like this. He remembered the time he had spent with her and all the loneliness he felt from her actions. It was obvious that she missed her brother a lot, and although he didn't know what happened between the two of them, he didn't want a situation like his own to come true.

So, with all that said, he spoke out from the bottom of his heart.

"Unlike you, I've already lost mine the day I came here. All the things I did wrong, the apologies I've bottled up, and the words of affection I've held onto… I'll never be able to say it to them."

Minhyun paused. He understood that this wasn't a matter for him to partake in. Therefore, he ended his words with a message and not an order.

"Now, I'm not telling you what to do, but I'll let you know. I regret it…"

Julius stopped moving. After a long moment of deliberation, he flipped the book in his hand and placed it back on the shelf. Hesitation turned into acceptance as he finally looked towards the door and opened it.

"Fine… But only once."

With the door now opened, the girl immediately stood up and hugged him. She sniffled as a weak voice escaped from her throat.

"You mean it right. You're not lying to me again, are you?"

However, instead of responding to her, Julius just heaved. A slimy and wet sensation scattered all across his shoulder. After holding it in, he tried to push her off.

"I'm not. Now get off of me, will you... You're rubbing your disgusting snot all over my body."

The girl just shook her head in disagreement.

"A girl's snot isn't disgusting."

Minhyun laughed as he watched all of this from the side. It had been a while since he'd seen something so... nostalgic. However, after thinking about it a bit more, he froze. His eyes dulled as he understood that he'd never be able to meet his family again. He had died, and nothing would ever change that fact.

Yet, while he was still thinking about that, a low voice called out to him.

"Hey! What are you waiting for? Let's go."

Looking up, he saw Julius standing at the door. He couldn't explain what he felt at that moment, but after looking at his annoyed face, he couldn't help but smile. With a great big laugh, he said.

"Yeah… Let's go."

…

"I hope you're doing well this morning, young master Julius."

Exiting the residence, the two of them found themselves in the presence of two maids. They were twins, each with white hair and a uniform of black and white. One had short hair, cut into a bob, with a slim but short figure, while the other had longer hair, tied into a ponytail, with a larger but taller figure. Their voice was calm and serene, almost robotic in tone.

However, instead of responding to them, Julius just took a step back. His shoulders trembled as he held in the urge to vomit.

Minhyun furrowed his brows. After grabbing Julius by the shoulder, he asked.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Julius responded.

"It's them… the problematic ones. But why are they here?"

Minhyun just looked at him as if he'd gone insane.

"What are you talking about? They look like normal maids to me… Wait, now that you say that, they do look a bit different."

He then gasped. He noticed that the maids in front of him had extra parts on their bodies. Namely, a tail and a set of furry ears on their heads. Drool slipped out from his mouth as he said.

"No way… they're beast maids."

Julius just stared at him.

What a pervert.

After taking a moment to rearrange his thoughts, he decided to warn him.

"You should be careful, though. Although they look harmless, they're not normal."

Minhyun, surprised to hear this, confusingly asked.

"Why? They seem normal to me."

Julius shivered before answering with a frightened voice.

"Because they have no morals. Threaten their lives in any sort of way, even if you didn't mean to, and they'll get on their knees and start licking away at you like a dog."

He then froze, remembering the events that had happened to him two days ago.

"You couldn't even imagine the torment I went through that day."

Unsurprisingly, Minhyun immediately walked towards them, speeding as fast as he could. But before he could reach them, a hand suddenly pulled him back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Minhyun paused and blankly responded.

"Uhm… I think I forgot something next to them."

Julius retorted.

"We haven't even been here before!"

With his back now against the wall, Minhyun spoke with tears in his eyes.

"I've dreamed of this moment for my entire life, and you're stopping me now!"

He then continued to monologue with glory written all over his face.

"No, I'm not backing down. And I won't stop with them just licking me. NO, NEVER! I'm going to lick them back."

After saying that, he licked his lips and wriggled his fingers like a creep.

In response, Julius just backed away in disgust. He wanted to vomit, but vomiting was gross, so he tried his best to look away and clear his mind. There was nothing he could do to stop this madman.

Walking up to the twins, Minhyun was about to speak when he just... didn't. He was so focused on the fact that beast maids exist that he forgot about the issue that had been plaguing him since his time here.

Fk… My dreams.

Julius facepalmed when he saw this. He regretted not stopping him sooner. Kicking Minhyun out of his body, he covered his mouth, gagged, and asked the twins a question.

"Where are we going today?"

Emily stepped up from behind him and answered.

"Oh, that. I've got this whole thing planned out. First we'll go to Yerim, do some shopping at Times Square, and ultimately end the day by watching a play."

She then smiled and showed off her notepad.

"Just like the old times."

Julius watched as his sister happily skipped away towards the family gate. His mind blanked as nostalgia overwhelmed him. But while he was in his thoughts, a voice huffed out from beside him.

"So, what did she say?"

Julius sighed.

"We're going to the city."

A couple hours passed as a carriage flew down from the Mondeau family's residence. A logo of a phoenix was engraved on both sides of the door, and a color pattern of red and black outlined it, with red being the primary color. The unique thing about it, however, was the animal pulling it. Instead of a typical draft horse, the one in charge of this carriage seemed mechanical, with gears and cogs making up a majority of its body.

Please let me out.

Julius held his head as the repulsive sound of chattering entered his ears. It was enough for one yapper to be with him. But two… Two was too much for him. His sister would say something in one ear, and the bug in the other would keep asking him to translate it for him. And in the end, he had to keep translating. Else, the bug would keep whining, saying that it wasn't good for him to keep secrets.

But just as he was about to lose all hope, the carriage stopped, and a cold mechanical voice resounded from outside.

"Young master, we're here."

Finally…

Stumbling out of the carriage, Julius heard an enthusiastic voice sound out from beside him.

"Wow… So this is what the city is like. I expected nothing less from something in another world."

In return, Julius just gave him a deathly glare.

Minhyun looked back and whispered.

"What are you so mad about?"

I'm going to kill him.

While slowly recovering his sanity, Julius walked over to his sister. It had been a while since he'd been to Yerim, and he wanted to ask about some things.

"Did anything change while I was gone?"

Emily turned around and thought for a bit before answering.

"Not really. Although, I did hear that the lower quarters been in chaos with a new leader of the mad dogs taking control."

She then paused for a moment. A smile formed on her lips as she said.

"Actually, the Canto family aired a new play a couple weeks ago at Dianus Theatre. I know how much you enjoy their stuff, so I already reserved the best seats in the house."

After saying that, she then placed her hands on her hips, as if saying, "No need to thank me."

"Come on, we still have a couple of hours before it starts."

Grabbing him by the hand, Emily laughed before dashing into Time's Square.

..

The streets of Yerim were clean, with people of nobility and large merchant groups making up its population. Slabs of rock filled the floors of the roads, and small magic circles hid beneath them, preventing the degradation of its material. Buildings lined up the sides, and a large clock tower sat in the center. This was the city of Yerim. A city of hopes and dreams where merit and time can transcend the borders of race.

As the group of five kept walking, they eventually reached a tall building built in the shape of a large baguette. A crooked oak wood sign hung on the front door with the words "Pain du Pâtissier" written on it. A woman with dark heavy bags sat at the counter, lazily counting the coin she made from today's sales. But after hearing the jingling of her chimes, she looked up to see a familiar but unfamiliar face.

"Oh, it's been a while since the Little Emperor's shown up to my shop."

Julius' eyes twitched, and ultimately, the bad feeling he had when walking in had come true. They really were going to her shop. A frown appeared on his face as he snarkily rebuked the old witch's words.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that, you old hag."

In an instant, the temperature of the room dropped, and with the tension in the air rapidly rising, Emily hurriedly dragged the woman towards the back before leaving through the kitchen door.

Her lips quivered as she said.

"We can do reunions later. How about we discuss the things I mentioned before?"

Then, with a loud click, silence engulfed the room.

A brief pause occurred before a voice spoke out.

"Uh… Who was that?"

Julius sat down. His teeth crunched as he said.

"An old hag who loves money more than her life."