Hotel del Luna

Chapter 9:Venetian Blue

"Hi, Y/N!" called Dahyun from inside the house. "Geez. You’re late again."

Y/N removed her shoes. "I'm not," she shot back, walking into the living room where Dahyun was sat at their dining table peeling oranges. "If I can beat Tzuyu, then I am not late, right?"

"Actually," came Tzuyu's voice, surprising Y/N, "You didn't beat me this time." The tall girl came out from the kitchen carrying a plate of burned food. She took a seat beside her cousin Dahyun at the table. "Here — I made dinner."

Y/N's nose scrunched at the sight. "Uh, sorry Tzuyu. I already ate."

Tzuyu glared at her, "Yah, you would tell me if you were seeing somebody, weren’t you?"

Dahyun choked on an orange slice. "What?"

Y/N groaned. "Tzuyu—"

"But you are, aren't you?" Tzuyu pressed. "Lately, you come home having already eaten dinner, and you’ve been staying out late more and more often..."

"My new boss bought me food tonight," Y/N assured Tzuyu. "As she should have. The stupid sadist said I had to fill out an employment contract before going home, but then she ran off to do something that took almost an hour—"

"Hold on," Dahyun interrupted with wide eyes. "Your new boss?"

"You have a new job?" Tzuyu questioned.

Y/N realised she had made a mistake. "Uh," she said, backtracking, "No. I mean, I have started doing odd jobs. It pays a lot."

"What kind of odd jobs?" Dahyun asked suspiciously, but determined not to answer further, Y/N made a show of yawning hugely.

"Later," Y/N managed to say, effectively halting the interrogation. "I need my beauty sleep."

Tzuyu frowned at this, but saw that there was no sense in pressing. "Alright. But you’ll tell us tomorrow, won’t you?"

"Yup," said Y/N, waving a hand. "Goodnight guys."

Y/N went to her room, and after a long, hot shower, made up her bed and sank into the plush fabric with a sigh. She felt as if she had lived through three entire weeks in the three days since she'd met the elusive owner of the Hotel del Luna and was eager for her well-deserved rest.

In the safety of her room, there was no sadist to bother her, and Y/N allowed herself to finally slowly drift to sleep...

"There you are."

Y/N's eyes shot open. She leapt backwards out of her bed into a defensive position, instinctively unsheathing a katana from the scabbard at her hip and crossing it before her in protection.

She was no longer in her room, but instead a derelict barn, low ceilinged and crowded with stacks of hay.

Above her, hot rays of sun shone past the badly thatched roof of the building and through the rafters, casting the woman standing before her in gentle golden light. She wore green plated armour, simple in practicality but gilded at the edges — the garb of a high standing soldier.