Meanwhile, at Saikai Academy. The middle school wing.
Ding-ding-ding-ding—
The crisp chime cut through the drowsy afternoon stillness, and the teacher at the front of the classroom set down her chalk and lecture notes.
"All right, that's where we'll stop for today. Please review the material on your own after class. You're dismissed..."
Hahhh~
The moment the word "dismissed" registered, the tiny Nightmare girl in the second row let her guard down completely. A massive yawn stretched her mouth wide, and she folded her arms on the desk, ready to collapse face-first into them.
It was already the second period of the afternoon, which meant the glorious daily nap window had officially arrived.
Saikai Academy's schedule rarely ran past two afternoon classes, sometimes only one, and everything after that was club activity time. For someone like Maria, who belonged to the sacred "Going Home Club" with zero extracurricular obligations, this gap was prime real estate for a midday crash.
She could teleport home and sleep in her own bed, sure. But for reasons she couldn't quite explain, there was something about napping on a hard school desk that made rest hit different. More efficient, somehow.
Zzz~
The classroom buzzed with post-class energy around her, but the little Nightmare was already checking out. Sleep was calling, and she intended to answer on the first ring.
But before she could fully drift off, a fingertip gently poked her elbow.
"Hey, Maria?"
Mm?
That voice was familiar.
Maria forced her heavy eyelids half-open and turned her head.
Akatsuki Nagisa stood beside her desk. Behind the young True Ancestor girl, Avrora, Himeragi Yukina, and Kanase Kanon had tagged along.
"Oh, Sacchan. What's up?"
Maria's voice was thick with drowsiness, the kind that suggested consciousness was a temporary state.
"Nothing major..."
Nagisa's expression was all concern.
"It's just that you've been looking really tired lately. I've seen you nearly fall asleep in class a bunch of times. Are you feeling okay? Maybe you should have Onii-chan take a look?"
"Mmm, well..."
Maria didn't answer right away.
She could hear the genuine worry in Nagisa's voice. And she appreciated it.
For all of them, school was barely about academics anymore. Grades were irrelevant. The only reason they still showed up every day was to have something to do during daylight hours, a structure to prevent the days from blurring into an endless stretch of boredom.
But looking perpetually exhausted was understandably alarming to the people around her.
"I'm... actually fine. Just a little sleepy."
Maria tilted her head with a drowsy, cute smile.
"I've been having dreams every night lately, that's all."
"Huh? Nightmares dream too...?"
Nagisa blinked in surprise.
Weren't Nightmares supposed to be the ones giving other people dreams? A Nightmare having dreams of her own every night was like a chef eating at her own restaurant. Self-service.
"Is it because you've been, um, doing it with Onii-chan too much and getting worn out?"
"Not exactly..."
At this point, even Maria couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious.
As a Nightmare, her racial trait meant she maintained full awareness even inside dreams. She could think, observe, and remember everything that happened with perfect clarity after waking.
And lately, she hadn't just been having similar dreams. She'd been having the same dream. Every. Single. Night.
Her and Mama. Together with Bokue-nii.
The dreams were so vivid, so hyperrealistic, that she woke up every morning to a disaster zone between her sheets. Without exception. Hence the daily laundry ritual.
Was this normal? Maria wasn't naive enough to believe that for a second.
She was young for a Nightmare, but she wasn't stupid.
If someone was making her have the same themed dream every night like clockwork, there was exactly one suspect. The only person with both the ability and the motive.
Her mother. The legendary Nightmare Sage: Sheila.
And as for why her mother was doing this, Maria didn't even need to think about it.
Honestly, Mama's so stubborn. She can't even be straight with her own daughter, so she resorts to hints. How roundabout can you get?
With that thought, Maria lifted her face and beamed at the circle of friends who'd come to check on her.
"It's really nothing~ You guys don't need to worry. This is just a temporary thing. It'll sort itself out soon enough."
"O-okay, if you say so..."
❁❁❁❁
Evening. Sunset painted the sky in shades of amber and coral.
Keystone Gate, top floor. The penthouse suite.
"I'm home?"
The front door swung open, and the Nightmare wife who'd spent the entire afternoon at the beach villa finally returned.
She looked like a woman fresh from a long, very satisfying happy hour with her best friends. A soft blush lingered on her cheeks, her steps were a touch floaty, and she swayed gently as she drifted into the living room, where she promptly fell backward onto the sofa with the boneless grace of a cat finding a sunbeam.
Both hands rested on her lower belly. She looked thoroughly full. Thoroughly content.
Well, for a Nightmare, that sort of activity counted as a meal.
At the other end of the sofa, a beautiful crimson-haired devil woman watched her sister's utterly "corrupted" state and let out a quiet sigh.
Lucia.
"Sheila-nee. Don't you think it's about time you removed the magic circle from Maria's room?"
"Hm? Why would I do that?"
"...Because Maria has been hanging her sheets on the balcony to dry for the past two weeks straight."
Lucia glanced involuntarily toward the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the laundry balcony outside.
Maria's signature pale lavender sheets were out there right now, flapping cheerfully in the evening breeze.
"And honestly, Nee-san, what are you even thinking? That's your daughter's boyfriend. Your daughter's. And you're... you're even..."
Lucia's words began to tangle as she approached the part she was too embarrassed to articulate clearly.
She defaulted to something simpler.
"I have no idea what that man has done to bewitch you all."
"Oh? Are you saying you haven't been bewitched, Lucia?"
Sheila cracked one eye open. A slow, knowing smile curled across her lips, and the tip of her tongue traced a deliberate line across her lower lip.
"If I'm not mistaken, the very first morning Maria hung her sheets out to dry, you were washing yours too!!"
"Th-that was only because—!"
The blood rushed to Lucia's face.
"You're the one who made the dream! Everything in it was your doing!"
"Is that so? Then how about we try the real thing tonight?"
"Wh— No. I won't. I—"
The trap snapped shut before Lucia could finish her refusal.
Sheila's dainty hand rose from the sofa. The tips of her fingers flickered with the soft violet glow of Nightmare magic, and in the space of a single pulse, the light in Lucia's eyes went glassy and vacant.
"Heh heh heh~ Look forward to tonight. Our whole family, all together..."
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