When Monday morning came, Jennifer had to drag herself out of bed.
It was WATER WEEK at kindergarten—a whole week packed with glorious, water-inspired lessons. But right now, Jennifer felt more like a soggy blanket than an enthusiastic teacher.
She paused, trying to make sense of her grogginess. Usually, Mondays filled her with excitement. She always slept early on Sundays and bounced out of bed, ready for the new theme of the week.
Oh, right. She barely slept last night. At first because she was terrified of another alien portal opening in front of her, which led to her obsessing over whether her irresponsible webnovel writing could somehow end the world.
And then there was the second reason for her late night: her MLs getting too deep into gang violence in her story. In fiction, it was fine… but now that her webnovels were also happening in real life, Jennifer felt somewhat responsible. But now recalling how she had handled it, she was shocked by her own audacity. Threatening to marry her ML's guardians? Calling the young underlord an idiot to his face? Men had died for far less. Yet here she was, casually addressing the crown prince of their country by his first name, and bossing the Young Alpha of Darkfall around like it was nothing.
She remembered the four young men standing in a row like stubborn kindergarteners last night, refusing to admit wrongdoing. How they tolerated her, she had no idea.
She had always hoped to grow up to be like her elegant, kind, eccentric landlady. Instead, she was… a chaotic, overbearing version of her, running her apartment building like the Queen of Hearts.
Even so, the world outside seemed to recover in ridiculously perfect webnovel proportions. The alien portal had opened just the other day, yet the streets and streetlights were fixed. Her lobby had been transformed into a cozy, upscale coffee lounge, complete with chandeliers, polished banisters, tropical plants, and a daily buffet for breakfast and afternoon tea. Today, it had been upgraded again—a large screen TV now broadcasted the news.
Jennifer poured herself coffee and grabbed a couple of sandwiches. Some poor country was being overrun by giant roaches, and Pandora Corps was sending Awakener Response Teams (ART) from overseas. President Xel addressed the world, "The future of the world is on the line…"
The broadcast revealed that Ronan the Dragon and other top-ranking Awakeners weren't just online heroes—they were real-life international protectors who had been keeping invasions at bay for decades. Rolly would lead the first ART team. Heroes would be working around the clock to respond to increased alien activity.
Jennifer sighed, remembering Jessica's joke about the world ending before finding a husband. She had just found Rolly—but now he was leaving the country again. His job was dangerous. What if he never came back?
"My queen?"
Jennifer nearly spilled her coffee. Sebastien was standing before her, framed in a literal godray, gently reaching out to steady her hand. (So nothing spilled.)
"Will you be going to work today?" he asked calmly.
Jennifer nodded.
"Very good," Sebastien said. "Then I shall accompany my queen to work today."
Wait… what?
And that was how Jennifer found herself chauffeured to school in a limo. The Duke had insisted on extra precautions after the hotel incident. After Sebastien explained everything to Prince Angus, the prince had agreed: Jennifer's safety came first, and Sebastien would personally ensure it.
Jennifer wasn't prepared for a godray-lit, silver-haired former assassin in a butler outfit to escort her to school. It was Water Week, not "Super Handsome Fantasy Men Week." If that existed though, Jennifer's building was well equipped to supply one or two every day for show and tell.
"Is there any way I can talk you out of this?" she asked meekly.
Sebastien smiled tightly. "I know I am only the butler, my queen, but I assure you, I am more than qualified to protect you as you go about your day."
"Oh, I'm sure you are!" Jennifer hurried to reassure him. "In fact, you're probably overqualified."
Sebastien raised an eyebrow.
"I mean…" she stammered, "Since you are usually by His Highness' side, you must have been trained to protect him too." (So please don't think I know of your secret identity and assassinate me.)
"Yes," Sebastien agreed.
"And you know how your prince gets into trouble…" Jennifer trailed off, thinking of last night. She really should have stopped here, but she sighed, "How could you let him go with Bastien?"
"Apologies, my queen," Sebastien said, regret in his voice. "But I am his servant first. I cannot override his command."
Jennifer sighed. "Yes, you are his servant first. But you are also Angus' most trusted friend and mentor."
She placed her empty cup and plate down for the uniformed waitstaff to clear, and left for work. Sebastien bowed. "As you say, my queen," and followed her to the limo.
WTH.
At the school gate, Jennifer left Sebastien behind and sprinted inside. Thankfully, she arrived early—no one seemed to notice her fancy prom-night entrance. He hadn't followed her. Maybe she was off the hook? She dared to hope.
Minutes passed. Colleagues arrived, and Jennifer finally breathed easy. The staff room buzzed with discussions of the invasion. Someone joked about schools closing, or not letting children leave after the bell. Everyone laughed nervously, because in reality, it wouldn't be funny at all.
Just before she headed to her classroom, the principal arrived… with Sebastien at his side. Jennifer did a double take at his outfit. Sebastien was wearing a plain sweater over his shirt instead of his usual pressed vest and blazer.
"Please welcome our trainee teacher, Mr. Sebastien," the principal announced. The sunlight hit him in a perfect godray. Her colleagues collectively sighed.
Of course, Mr. Sebastien was assigned to Jennifer's class.
"You lucky thing!" one teacher teased, leaving her to deal with this new distraction.
Jennifer didn't want to be ungrateful, but she would prefer it if they just opened a portal and threw her in to be eaten by Micah.
Fortunately, the kids weren't too distracted by invasion news or their teacher's exceptionally good-looking trainee. They'd already gotten over alien bug mania, so Jennifer dove headfirst into Water Week.
Water cycle demos with ziplock bags to show condensation and evaporation. Maths lessons on measurement and volume. Life applications teaching water conservation. Paper boat races. Reading stories about a droplet reaching the sea. Handwashing and drinking water processing.
Sebastien was unexpectedly helpful, magically tidying up after every activity. The girl nicknamed "her majesty"—the one who screamed a lot—adored him and didn't melt down all day. And it was mildly hilarious that many of the kids had trouble pronouncing his name; soon, he was affectionately known as Mr. Seb. Jennifer gleefully celebrated his fall to kindergarten reality.
Kindergarten was tough reality for anyone—even a royal butler. By lunchtime, even the godrays seemed to give up.
Jennifer loved her job. Every week brought a new theme, new ideas, and new joy. That is, if the world didn't get overrun by giant alien cockroaches.
She wasn't being pessimistic—just practical. Today, they would learn about water, and wash away the bad news and internal anxieties… and maybe, just maybe, the guilt of nearly ending the world with her webnovel.