The master bedroom had no shame.

That was the only thought my brain could safely produce as I stood in the doorway, staring at a bed big enough to host a family reunion and at least three terrible decisions. The room had changed completely from the plain old space it had been a few minutes ago.

Warm light filled the walls, thick blankets were layered across the mattress, and enough pillows were stacked near the headboard to make me wonder if the manor had robbed some poor nobleman’s bedroom while we were downstairs dealing with the pink smoke emitting demon lord’s crash landing.

The worst part was that the room knew exactly what it was doing. It didn’t look random, it looked prepared for more people. It looked like the manor had taken one long look at my life, judged me, then built a room based on all the thoughts I was trying very hard not to say out loud with Celeste standing beside me.

A system panel popped up before I could make the mistake of speaking first.

[ MASTER BEDROOM UNLOCKED ]

[ HOUSEHOLD CAPACITY: 3/5 ]

[ COMFORT LEVEL: DANGEROUSLY HIGH ]

I stared at the last line for a second too long. "Why the fuck does comfort have a danger level?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Reika moved before anyone answered. She slipped past my arm, crossed the room with terrifying purpose, and climbed onto the bed like she had just found buried treasure. The mattress dipped under her weight, swallowing her into the blankets until only her face, ears, and the slow sweep of her tail were visible. She grabbed one pillow, pressed it against her chest, and made a quiet satisfied sound that did something extremely unfair to my ability to act normal.

"Reika greatly approves," she said.

Celeste stepped in after her, one hand hovering near the wall as if touching the room might somehow make her responsible for it. "You cannot just claim Adrian’s bed because it is large and soft."

"Master didn’t stop me..." Reika rolled onto her side and dragged another pillow under her chin. "Master should join me in bed,."

"I’m just going to continue to enjoy the show haha..." I said, which was technically true if you ignored where my eyes kept landing.

Celeste turned her head toward me, and I immediately found an incredibly interesting section of carpet. It was soft, dark, and probably expensive if this world even measured carpet like that. I had no idea. All I knew was that looking at the carpet was safer than looking at Reika half-buried in blankets while Celeste tried to pretend she was not tempted to touch the bed too.

That lasted about five seconds.

Celeste reached down and pressed two fingers into the edge of the blanket. Her expression changed for half a heartbeat before she pulled her hand back and straightened like nothing had happened. "It is really soft...."

She plopped herself down next to Reika, kicking off her boots and snuggling into the soft fabric. Once she was perfectly comfy Valka entered the room looking around it with a puzzled look.

"Why would one require such a large bed?" Not waiting for a response she moved toward the other two girls. "You two seem to be enjoying yourselves... I could never–"

Without warning Reika grabbed Valka and ripped her into the large mattress, Valka resisted for only a moment before the softness broke through her as well. I watched as they all snugged up together, smiling and getting along.

"The bed’s great and all but... y’all want to check out the rest of the place?" Grabbing one last mental image of my companions before turning toward the door. "Come on, let’s go... wait, Valka hasn’t chosen her own room yet either."

"I get my own room... am I not allowed to leave?" Valka questioned me from the bed, mixed in what looked like a fury ball.

"You can absolutely leave, no one here is forcing you to stay... That being said the girls would be sad if you left..." I pointed to the other two in the bed, motioning for Valka to look at them. "Why don’t you decide once we find you a room if you want to leave or not?" Both Reika and Celeste backed me up.

They slowly removed themselves from the oversized bed, joining me in the hallway. Looking over the top floor layout, three distinct doors sat in a row where I was pretty damn sure there had been nothing but wall a few minutes ago. Walking up to the first one and opening the door revealed a room that almost immediately felt like Celeste, which was strange because I had no idea a room could look responsible.

It wasn’t flashy or overdone. A neatly made bed sat against the wall with blankets folded at the foot, and a small desk under the window where the morning light would probably hit first. Shelves lined one side of the room, empty for now, but waiting like the manor expected her to fill them with books, notes, supplies, or whatever else Celeste pretended she didn’t need while secretly organizing everyone’s lives.

Celeste stepped in behind me, quieter than usual. She ran her fingers over the edge of the desk, then quickly pulled her hand back like I had caught her doing something embarrassing. "This is... nice," she said.

"Yeah," I said, glancing around the room again. "And it kind of screams you."

Leaving her room and heading for the next one, I stopped at the floormat outside the door. In big bold embroidered letters, it read: wipe your paws.

"Reika... I’d say this one is yours haha."

Reika slipped past me before I could open it all the way, her tail already swaying with interest. The room inside was cozy as hell, with a circular bed buried under thick blankets, soft cushions piled near the wall, and a window facing the trees outside. It looked less like a bedroom and more like the manor had built her a nest.

We headed to the last door, and for the first time since she crashed into my life, Valka moved ahead of us. Not quickly, but with enough purpose that I stepped aside and let her reach the handle first. She glanced at me once, almost like she wanted to make sure I wasn’t about to stop her, then pulled the door open with one smooth motion.

For a second, I thought the manor had made a mistake. The warm hallway light spilled across stone flooring, iron chains, a wooden table with leather straps, and enough sharp-looking metal tools hanging on the wall to make my balls try to crawl back into my body. A brazier sat cold in one corner, a drain had been carved into the center of the floor, and the whole place looked less like a bedroom and more like a dungeon someone had cleaned really well for company.

Celeste froze beside me. Reika tilted her head, ears twitching as she took in the room. I stared into the chamber, then slowly looked up at the ceiling like the manor might have written an apology somewhere.

"The house gave Reika a nest, Celeste a study, and Valka a torture room," I said, forcing the words out slowly. "That feels like something we should maybe talk about."

Valka stepped inside before anyone could stop her. Her eyes moved over the chains, the table, the shelves, and the stonework with more interest than she had shown the giant bed in my room. She ran one hand over the edge of the strapped table, tested one of the cuffs with a firm tug, and nodded like she had just inspected a very respectable piece of furniture.

"This is... acceptable," she said quietly as she looked around the room. "Very acceptable,"

Celeste turned toward her so fast her hair shifted over one shoulder. "Acceptable?"

I looked at the straps again, then at the drain, then at the wall full of things I had no intention of naming. "Valka, I’m gonna be honest. I am both happy you like your room and deeply concerned about what that says about literally everything."

She touched one of the hanging chains again, her demeanor calming once again. It wasn’t much, just a small shift, but it was there. The room was horrifying, sure, but apparently the manor had still managed to give her something she understood.

A panel flickered into view near the doorway.

[ HOUSEHOLD MEMBER: VALKA ]

[ PERSONAL ROOM GENERATED ]

[ COMFORT RESPONSE: HIGH ]

[ RECOMMENDED APPROACH: DO NOT ASK FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS ]

I read the last line twice, looked at Valka smiling faintly at a wall of torture equipment, and decided the system had finally given me advice worth listening to.

Before I could say anything else, Valka turned toward me with the faintest smile I had seen from her yet.

"This room will do," she said, running her hand along the nearest chain. "But I will need someone to test the restraints."

Every eye in the hallway slowly turned toward me.