The Dormitory

"This is your dorm key."

"One for each person. There are no spares, so if you lose yours, you'll need to report it to the academy, and someone will be assigned to make you a new one."

"There aren't many people at the academy right now, so almost all the rooms are quite spacious. You don't need to worry about running out of room, not having space for your luggage, or being cramped."

"The rooms come fully equipped with all the usual furniture and appliances, including bedding, a private bathroom, and a kitchen."

"Anyway, if there's anything else you need, you can submit a request. If it's reasonable, the academy will provide it."

"As for the other rules, you're free to take weekends off, but you can't stay out overnight."

"Of course, if something comes up and you really can't make it back, you can just let us know in advance."

"You've lived in a college dorm before, and this place is pretty much the same."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it after a few days."

In a clean dorm room, Rose explained how the academy worked to Ashe, who followed behind her.

As she spoke, she casually took off her jacket and hung it on a coat rack.

Then she took a drink from the fridge, where she'd put it earlier, and handed a bottle to Ashe.

Leaning against the wall, she continued in a cool voice, "Generally, everyone who comes to the academy gets their own dorm room."

"But I remember you told Ajie you wanted to share a room with me."

"Take a look. This is my room. What do you think? Want to stay here?"

Rose tilted her head, motioning for Ashe to look around. She didn't seem at all opposed to living with her.

"Oh, right. As you can see, I only have one bed, so if you stay here, we'll have to share it."

She picked up the glass beside her and took a sip of water.

Rose added this nonchalantly.

Ashe didn't answer right away.

She looked around and took in Rose's room.

Simple and clean.

Those were the only two words that came to mind.

There were no unnecessary decorations or cute trinkets, and even the sheets and bedding were plain white.

Aside from the furniture the dorm came with, Rose didn't seem to have added anything else.

Rather than a place to relax and feel at ease,

Ashe got the impression that, to Rose, this was just a place to sleep.

It was minimalism taken to the extreme.

"Well? Any problems? If you want to stay, I can put in a request for bedding right now. Don't worry, they deliver it quickly."

Watching Ashe look around her room,

Rose asked casually, as if out of ordinary concern.

Unless you looked closely, you probably wouldn't notice the slight dent in the water bottle in Rose's hand.

That's right. Rose didn't want Ashe to live with her.

It wasn't that she disliked Ashe. It was just that having someone invade her personal space naturally made her uncomfortable.

That was perfectly normal. It was like having a new roommate move into your shared dorm. Even if you knew it couldn't be helped,

you'd still feel a little displeased at having someone invade your territory.

It was human nature.

Rose was no different.

You might say that if she didn't want to live with Ashe, she could just say so. She could simply refuse.

Just like in the original story, when Rose dealt with Ge Xiaolun. She could just beat him up and turn him down.

But Ashe wasn't Ge Xiaolun, and the circumstances were different.

First of all, Ge Xiaolun was a man. A man and a woman living together was inappropriate to begin with.

On top of that, Ge Xiaolun had ulterior motives.

With that lecherous look on his face, if Ge Xiaolun hadn't been a target,

just imagine how hard Rose would've hit him!

Though Ashe's intentions weren't entirely pure either.

But Ashe was beautiful!

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