Alex

The light of dawn oozed into Ellia's room through the multiple windows.

Ellia's eyes twitched as she slowly opened them. Then, rising from her bed, Ellia stretched her body.

"Did you sleep well, Ian?" Ruth's voice resonated inside Ellia's head.

Ellia looked around and smiled. 'Yea, I did,' Ellia thought, not realizing she only spoke in her head, but noticing something different, Ellia raised her eyebrows. "Wait... did you just read my mind?"

"Yes, it isn't that hard," Ruth replied pridefully.

"Well then, I do hope you respect my privacy."

"Of course."

As Ellia smiled as she nodded, then a sudden foul stench entered her nose.

She sniffed her shirt and immediately scrunched her face. "I should take a shower. But where is the bathroom...?"

Right then, Ruth answered. "The door to your right."

Ellia then looked over, and there was indeed a door there, but she never expected it to be in her room.

Just as she was about to walk toward the shower, a knock came from outside of Ellia's room.

Ellia opened the door and glanced outside. There she saw the same butler in the hallway with serval clear plastic bags.

"These are your uniform, mistress." The butler spoke as he passed the bags to Ellia. "This is the formal Imperial uniform and an extra pair of the winter assault uniform. The mistress would have to wear the formal uniform today."

"Thank you," Ellia expressed as she received the clothes.

As the butler came in contact with Ellia, he scrunched his nose. "Errr... Mistress."

"Yes, yes, I know." Ellia sighed as she closed the door. Then walked into the bathroom. Inside she expected to see dozens of different shampoos and conditioners but was surprised by the lack of such items.

"I guess my granddaughter doesn't focus on such things." Ellia chucked as she started to strip without much thought.

As she stripped all of her clothes, she only then realized that she was looking at a bare body of a girl. Yet, despite that, she had a nonchalant expression.

"Although she is charming, I won't go so low as to lust over my own granddaughter's body." Ellia sighed as she entered the shower.

As Ellia finished cleansing herself, Ruth spoke. "I don't think that's enough."

"What's not enough?" Ellia asked.

"Well, the previous Ellia would wash her hair longer, and she would-"

"Ah, I don't care about that." Ellia interrupted as she dried her body. "As long as I don't smell, that's all I care about."

"Well, if you say so," Ruth mumbled.

Ellia then removed the formal uniform from the plastic bag and examined it. "T-this is..."

The uniform consisted of black thigh-highs, a short skirt, and a double-breasted suit with long sleeves. Occasionally red streaks would fly across the attires.

As Ellia stared at the uniform, a blue overlay started to work its way across the uniform. And within a second, the blue overlay disappeared, leaving behind a small interference screen in the corner of Ellia's vision.

_____

Empire's formal military attire.

Quality: Grey

Basic stats:

Defense: 3

Durability: 15/15

_____

"Huh, what is this?" Ellia asked as she stared at the screen.

"Looks like a stats report of some sort on the uniform," Ruth spoke, just as confused as Ellia. "I think it's your skill scan…."

"Yea, I think so too, but what does grey mean?" Ellia mumbled as she scratched her chin. "Is that good or bad?"

"I think it's bad..." Ruth replied.

After a while, Ellia forced herself to stop thinking about it. After all, it was just a uniform. Instead, she focused back on the design, but the moment she laid her eyes on the black thigh-highs and short skirt, she almost stopped breathing.

"The uniform regulations had changed over time," Ruth spoke as if she knew what Ellia was going to ask.

"But for the Empire to make female soldiers wear these kinds of things..." Ellia mumbled as her hand trembled. "Is there-"

"No, there is not. This is the only style the Empire has."

"G-god daman it..."

Afterward...

Although Ellia had the mind of a man, she couldn't help but blush a bit. She had forced herself to make such a disgrace out of herself.

"Hey, it doesn't look that bad." Ruth giggled playfully.

"Don't fuck with me..." Ellia muttered with a raged face as a murderous aura steeped out.

Ellia gritted her teeth and left her room with a downward gaze. She then reached the living room, where Avery was sipping her tea on the couch.

When Avery saw her granddaughter in such an outfit, mixed emotions grew inside of her.

She felt somewhat prideful of her granddaughter but also sad. To think she would have to see another in the Imperial military uniform.

Avery stood up and walked toward Ellia. "You've grown so much..." Avery spoke as she wrapped her arms around Ellia.

"So have you..." Ellia mumbled softly enough for Avery not to hear. Ellia had a sorrowful face when she was reminded of the fact that she left Avery for so many years.

Avery smiled and kissed Ellia on the cheek. "I'll be missing you, my dear. Take care of yourself."

"Don't worry. I'll keep my promise this time." Ellia said as she also kissed Avery back on the cheek.

"Well, the butler is waiting outside. You better get going." Avery smiled at Ellia as she rubbed her cheek. 'That kiss felt different.' So she thought to herself while watching Ellia leave.

Ellia walked outside and noticed a young man struggling to get past the butler.

"The Mistress does not want to see you." The butler said as he blocked the young man's way.

"That doesn't matter. I want to see her!" The young man said as he forced his way, though. The young man's handsome face was covered with worry, which only worsened by the second. His black hair swayed right and left as he struggled with the butler.

"Who is that?" Ellia asked as she darted at the man.

"That is Alex. He was the boyfriend of Ellia but was dumped by her. It happened not too long ago, so he might still be upset." Ruth spoke with a sigh.

'My granddaughter's boyfriend?' Ellia thought.

"Ellia?!" Alex yelled as he pushed the butler aside and ran towards Ellia. "Ellia, what's going on?!"

'He sure is tall...' Ellia thought as she looked up at Alex.

"What do you mean?" Ellia then asked.

"Why are you wearing a military uniform?!" Alex said as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm going to serve my country. What else do you think?"

"Ellia! What's gotten into you?! Where did this sense of patriotism come from?!" Alex yelled.

"Stop screaming in my face, boy," Ellia said as he pushed Alex away.

Alex looked at Ellia for a second before calming down. "Sorry... but why are you suddenly joining the military?"

'Well, I don't know why my granddaughter joined...' Ellia thought. 'Why did she join?'

"Ellia's mother passed away a few months ago..." Ruth replied with a bit of sadness.

'Ah... so it happened too long ago..." The corners of Ellia's eyebrows lowered, biting her lower lip to prevent herself from crying; she had a stern face.

But despite that, to Alex, Ellia looked like a soft young lady tiring her best not to ball her eyes out. On the contrary, it looked like she was sniveling.

"Mother... passed away..." Ellia muttered after some time.

"Ah...!" Alex looked at Ellia as if he had made the biggest mistake of his life. "I'm sorry!" He spoke as he opened his arms and wrapped them around Ellia.

Ellia widened her eyes in surprise. 'I'm sorry, but Ellia isn't here...' Ellia thought with disappointment. It indeed seemed that Alex cared about Ellia's wellbeing.

"It's okay..." Ellia spoke as she patted his back.

"But Ellia... why did you suddenly break up with me?" Alex asked as he let Ellia go.

"I didn't want you to worry. If I suddenly left you on bad terms, I thought you wouldn't worry about me anymore." Ellia said to Alex as she listened to Ruth's explanations.

"That doesn't make any sense," Alex spoke puzzledly.

'It doesn't make sense to me too.' Ellia thought with a trembling smile. 'What were you thinking, my granddaughter.'

"Mistress, we would be late if we didn't leave now." The butler called out from behind.

"Yes, I'll be right there," Ellia said as she walked away from Alex but was soon stopped.

Alex grabbed Ellia's arm and looked at her uniform's insignia. "Did you get into Everwhite?"

"Yea, I did," Ellia responded with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Ah... if that's the case, let me join together with you," Alex said with a smile.

Ellia stared at Alex with a weird face. 'What is this kid saying...'

"No, that's not possible. Don't you dare come together with me." Ellia said firmly. The last thing Ellia wanted was some guy following her around wherever she went.

"It's my choice," Alex replied.

"I swear if you come together with me, I'll really kill you. I'll never talk to you again." Ellia grabbed Alex's collar and gave him a murderous gaze. "I'm doing this so you don't have to die in war, boy."

Ellia then finally released her grip on his collar and walked away.

'She changed so much.' Alex thought as he watched Ellia's back. 'Where did my cute Ellia go?'

At that moment, Ellia felt a slight chill coming from her back.