It was morning.
The bustle rising from the streets and the sound of someone walking in the hallway finally roused Elaina, who had been sprawled across the clean bed in the inn, wearing nothing but a thin slip. After waking, she slowly curled up and sat on her bed, then instinctively raised a hand to shield her face from the dazzling light streaming in through the window.
"Mm..."
"It's really hot here... I should've known better than to rush south..."
It had taken them several days to fly on their brooms straight from winter in the Northern Hemisphere to summer in the Southern Hemisphere. That was why it was so hot in this strange city, where dolls were everywhere—even in the inn. It was so hot that Elaina had been able to sleep through the whole night sprawled across the bed without a blanket, wearing only a light slip.
"Mmm..."
?
"Honestly!"
"With weather this hot, I guess only my teacher could sleep so soundly, huh?"
After looking out at the sun slowly rising in the sky, she turned to the other small bed beside hers. Beneath its thin blanket, a little girl lay curled up in the middle of the mattress, with only a few strands of golden hair showing. Elaina sighed and muttered.
"But..."
"After a good night's sleep, the morning breeze and sunshine really are lovely..."
Since her little teacher was still asleep, and would surely sleep until noon as usual, Elaina decided not to bother her. She simply sat on the bed, her face more intoxicating than the summer morning breeze, and continued to enjoy the rare hint of coolness drifting in through the window.
It was a little strange, really!
Just a few days ago, they'd been traveling through a city buried in snow and