So here's the thing: I love my double life.
But sometimes? I want to do absolutely nothing.
No shopkeeping.
No divine blessings.
No pancake diplomacy.
Just me, some snacks, a cozy bed, and a whole day of glorious non-responsibility.
So I decided to go on vacation.
In Atheria.
Yes, you read that right. I have time-stopping powers and can teleport between realities, but I chose to take a break in the fantasy world I already live part-time in.
Why?
Because Earth is stressful. Parents. Exams. Trains. Algebra.
At least in Atheria, people say "thank you" when you hand them hot soup. And there are no surprise pop quizzes.
Anyway, I made a plan.
I picked a sleepy little town a few valleys away from Menelvia. No magic schools. No knights. No people who've seen my face plastered on bakery coupons. Just farmers, rivers, and wildflowers.
I packed light:
A comfy robe
Earth-brand instant tea
A bag of mochi
A very squishy pillow
And a hat to hide my very recognizable hair
To blend in, I checked in under a fake name: Rei of the West.
Nice, right? Sounds mysterious and vague. No one would suspect.
The inn was adorable. Thatched roof. Wooden baths. The pillow was, unfortunately, made of rice husks and felt like sleeping on crunchy sand.
So I swapped it out for my Earth pillow and slept like a queen.
That should've been it.
But no.
The next morning, the innkeeper knocked on my door, looking dazed.
"Excuse me, miss," she said. "Did you—did you bless your pillow last night?"
My brain was still in sleep mode.
"...What?"
"The young man in the next room heard you snoring peacefully," she whispered, clearly scandalized. "And now he claims your bed is cursed with... restful energies."
I blinked. "That's just a good pillow."
"I see," she said, nodding gravely. "A sacred object from the West."
Welp.
Next thing I knew, three more guests asked to "see the artifact." One tried to touch my pillow while I was at breakfast. Another offered to buy it for three chickens and a goose.
Things escalated quickly.
By noon, someone left a letter under my door begging me to "gently look at their straw mattress to soften it." I politely declined. They wept in the hallway.
So I left the pillow behind in my room and went for a walk by the river. Simple. Quiet. Nature.
Until I overheard a group of women whispering in the reeds.
"She's definitely a spirit."
"No, a wandering priestess."
"I heard she can calm babies with just a stare."
Nope.
I turned around and walked the other way.
Then someone tripped in front of me and said, "Lady Rei! Please glance at my lumbar region!"
At that point, I strongly considered jumping into the river.
Back at the inn, the pillow was gone.
Instead, there was a shrine.
A literal shrine. Someone had stacked rocks and placed my pillow in the center, surrounded by flower petals and a note that read:
"Bless us with sleep, O Pillow Maiden."
I stood there for a full thirty seconds in stunned silence.
Then I very calmly picked up the pillow, took my bag, paid for my stay, and left.
I teleported back to my bathhouse in Menelvia, dropped onto the floor, and let out the loudest, most exhausted sigh I've made in both worlds.
Marius poked his head in.
"Lady Rika? You look... rested."
"I tried to take a break and ended up founding a pillow cult."
He blinked. "Again?"
"Not on purpose!"
He offered me tea. I took it, muttering something about "next time, I'm vacationing in a cave."