Chapter 39: Vanishing Carpet
The next morning dawned with the deceptive serenity only a Saturday could offer. Birds chirped. The sun peeked lazily through gauzy curtains. And Yeri was yanked from sleep by the one force more powerful than an alarm clock: her mother.
"Princess! Wake up! Today is your debut party—do you plan to sleep through your own coming of age?!"
Yeri groaned, her face still buried in her pillow. "Mother, it's not until tonight..."
"Yes, but you must prepare all day! We are transforming you into a radiant princess."
That analogy made no sense, but Yeri knew better than to argue with her mother in the morning.
Dragging herself out of bed like a limp noodle, she muttered under her breath, "And here I thought turning eighteen gave me more freedom."
Apparently not. Within minutes, she was seated in her dressing room, swaddled in a fluffy robe while a family doctor took her blood pressure and asked her overly health questions.
"Any headaches? Dizziness? Feeling of vomiting?" the doctor asked routinely.
"...Excuse me? Vomiting?"
"Yes. Madam Zhi mentioned your delicate stomach."
Yeri blinked. "Right. But no, no stomach aches recently."