Always take mother's advice

“Uweh!” Sylvia flopped onto the floor of her bedroom. Her calves were really starting to hurt. Why did this stupid bounty have to be such a pain in the ass?

Amelia looked down at her and clicked her tongue. She shook her head sharply.

“You’re still not spacing your steps out properly,” she chided. “Don’t allow the heel to angle. Step perpendicular to the ground.”

“I-I’m trying!” Sylvia wailed. “This is harder than it looks, you know!”

“Heel, then toe. This is not difficult,” Amelia chastised. “Your movements need to be smoother than that.”

Every word from her mouth struck like a condemnation in Sylvia’s heart.

When she finally raised her head, she saw the teacher’s outstretched hand reaching down to her.

“H-huh?” Sylvia rubbed her eyes in surprise and amazement. She didn’t expect such a kind gesture from Amelia after everything the woman had said to her. But she accepted the hand graciously and let the teacher help her to her feet.

“Let’s begin again,” Amelia said, her voice like a blade of ice. “You need to understand how to walk in those.”

“Y-yes, of course!” Sylvia nodded. Being treated harshly and like an afterthought was nothing new for her. She’d been through all this before, with Dakota.

But it’s different. I know that Amelia isn’t a bad person, Sylvia thought, biting her lip and trying to keep her balance as she took a few shaky steps forward.

So why did it feel just as painful?

“Waah! Whoa!” Sylvia’s body suddenly started to change. Her curves retracted as her chest and hips shrank, and suddenly all the focus she’d spent on keeping herself standing snapped now that her body had changed. She landed on her butt and groaned.

“You fell again?” Amelia stormed over to her, her brow furrowed in concern. “You need to do better than that.”

Sylvia fought back her tears and rose to her feet. “I’m doing my best, alright?!” She wailed. “This isn’t easy, you know! And it’s not my fault, my transformation wore off! I was getting used to having big breasts again, and I couldn’t handle the weight loss, that’s all!”

Amelia sighed and rubbed her temples. “There’s no need to shout,” she said calmly. “I’m trying to help you here.”

“Well, telling someone to try harder isn’t helpful!” Sylvia pouted, ignoring the fact that her advice to the contestants when it came to getting Nick to like them was exactly the same. “I’m obviously trying hard! Telling me ‘try harder’ is just being mean!”

Amelia winced.

“…My apologies,” she said contritely, looking down. “It wasn’t my intention to insinuate you were not trying hard. It was an attempt to express concern.”

Sylvia blinked, and stared at Amelia in confusion. Then her eyes widened.

“Your movements need to be smoother than that.”

“You need to understand how to walk in those.”

“You fell again? You need to do better than that.”

All that stuff… was that her trying to encourage me, and being concerned about me? Sylvia gazed into Amelia’s eyes, and the stern disciplinarian quickly averted her gaze. It was quickly becoming clear, looking at her, that she was a little more flustered than she seemed to show on the surface.

“Are you… are you worried about me?” Sylvia questioned, leaning in curiously.

Amelia’s eyes widened and she hastily adjusted her posture.

“What… what kind of foolish question is that!?” She snapped.

Sylvia flinched, like Amelia had slapped her across the face. Only then did the teacher realize that she hadn’t properly expressed herself again.

“What kind of foolish question is that!? Of course I’m worried about you!” Was the sentiment she’d intended to convey.

“…I’m concerned for your wellbeing,” Amelia said softly, approaching Sylvia. “Those heels are cumbersome to walk in. But your attitude is even more problematic.”

Sylvia’s heart sank. While it felt nice to hear that Amelia was concerned for her, saying she had a bad attitude didn’t exactly give her the warm fuzzies.

“What do you mean?” She mumbled glumly.

Amelia sighed. “You do not have any inkling as to how the real world works, do you?” She asked.

“Uh… I mean, I used to watch a lot of movies and TV shows with my mom…” Sylvia said, forcing a smile to her face. “…Well, she watched them, and I would kind of peek over her shoulder when she didn’t know I was there, but I learned a lot!”

Amelia winced. “Your mom… do you mean, Dakota?”

It still amazed her that Dakota Johnson, a girl she’d known since she was a child, had created life out of nothing like this. The woman’s transformation unnerved her on a primal level, but most shockingly of all…

What had become of Sylvia.

“When we return to the real world, you realize that you’ll be living among humans, yes?” Amelia questioned. “It won’t be like it is on the island. You won’t have faeries waiting on you hand and foot, and you’ll have to work to earn money. Getting a job. Are you prepared for those things?”

Sylvia’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean… I’m going to be living with you all!? Daddy, too!?”

She’d never thought of that.

“What… what did you think would happen?” Amelia asked, curious and worried at what response she might get. “You didn’t think that Nicholas would simply abandon you, did you?”

“No, of course not!” Sylvia shook her head. “I just… I don’t know, it never occurred to me before, that’s all…”

Her feet were starting to kill her, so she tottered over to a chair and sat down. Her brow furrowed in contemplation, and then she relaxed into a sigh. “I mean… this place is my home,” she muttered, waving around the room. “I’ve lived on this island ever since I was created. My entire existence has always been about Harem Hotel, about the game. I never… I never really gave any thought as to what would come after, you know?”

When she was the host, her working assumption had been that she would keep running seasons until her eventual retirement. But even when she was dethroned and reduced to human form, and conscripted into the harem, she hadn’t really considered what that would mean for her future.

“You won’t be stuck here forever,” Amelia pointed out. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but when the show eventually ends, we’ll be returned to our original lives on earth, correct?”

Sylvia nodded, and flashed a sad smile. “Yeah… those of us who have them, anyway. But me, well… I’m not so lucky. I guess, maybe I could tag along with Daddy? If he wants me…”

She sighed and slumped back in her seat, looking down at the floor.

“I’m not exactly qualified to do much of anything. I was created to run this show… and I couldn’t even do that right.”

Amelia stared quietly at the mournful girl, unsure what to say. She was the worst person to provide comfort for others. Even worse here, because she had no practical advice to give the lost girl.

“…Nicholas informed me that you used to be a therapist,” she offered. It was the best she could come up with.

Sylvia tilted back her head and burst out laughing. “Yeah… I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one,” she scoffed, shaking her head. “It’s not going to go well.”

Amelia didn’t laugh. “Is there anything you want to do?”

How could Sylvia even begin to answer that question?

“I’ve never thought about that before,” she admitted. “I just… I wanted to make Dakota happy. I wanted to make my little girl happy… and now I want to make Daddy happy. But as for me… I don’t know.”

Amelia nodded silently. “You should live for more than other people.” Her words came out far colder than she’d intended, and she could see that they stung. “That is to say…”

“Hey, Amelia?” Sylvia interrupted her, and raised her head to look the older woman in the eyes. Amelia winced when she saw Sylvia’s tears.

“…Yes? What is it?” She asked softly.

“Do you love Daddy?”

Amelia blinked, not sure where that question came from. But she knew how to answer it. “Of course I love him,” she said without hesitation.

Even if I hardly could show him that.

Sylvia let out a sigh of relief. And yet in spite of her smiling face, she looked even sadder than before. “Yeah… that’s the right answer, isn’t it? Yeah…”

Is something the matter? Why does she seem so disheartened by that? Amelia wondered. “Why did you ask?”

“Hmm? Oh! Nothing, it’s nothing, forget it,” Sylvia said quickly, shaking her head. “Just forget it…”

But Amelia wasn’t about to do that. She scowled and narrowed her eyes, and approached the chair, standing over the other girl and looking down at her as if she were a student caught cheating on a test.

“I will not. Tell me what you meant. Now.”

Sylvia couldn’t argue with such an imposing figure of authority. She shivered and swallowed her doubts, and then mumbled out a response.

“I just… I was glad… because I didn’t know. You’re always so cold to him, I was afraid… that you didn’t really love him, that’s all. Since he wasn’t really your son…”

“He is my son,” Amelia interrupted. “In every way that matters, Nicholas is my son.”

She sighed and removed her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. “But with that said… it is true that I have not been the best at showing him that I love him.”

Amelia knew that better than anyone.

“I’ve always been an awkward person,” she muttered, pacing back and forth. “When it comes to showing affection for other people, I’ve always had considerable struggles.”

“I know,” Sylvia said, trying to smile a little to reassure her. “Even before, when you were helping me walk… you weren’t saying those things because you were upset or frustrated, you were actually worried, right?”

“Correct,” Amelia said. Even her reassurance there sounded cold and aloof, much to her chagrin.

“Yeah… even if you don’t always show it… you still care about Daddy… yeah, that’s… that’s something, alright…” Sylvia hugged her legs to her chest and fought back her tears.

Amelia looked at her in alarm. It seemed like she was watching the girl fall apart before her eyes.

“Sylvia…”

“Do you think my mom’s like that too?” Sylvia’s voice cracked as she tried not to cry. “Maybe… maybe she really does love me, but she just can’t show it well? That’s possible too, right?”

Amelia’s voice caught in her throat. She had no idea what to say in a situation like this. It was clear that Sylvia bore a heavy scar on her heart, but Amelia couldn’t salve her wounds. Her brain crashed as she tried to think of something to comfort the poor girl with, but in the end she was just reminded of how bad she was at things like this.

She reached out and placed a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder, and squeezed her tight. It was all she could manage.

As Sylvia sniffled and gasped and clawed at her eyes, hanging on for all she could, she finally managed to push it down. Amelia’s tender touch soothed her enough to bring her smile back, even if it stung.

“I know that’s not true,” she admitted finally. “I know she doesn’t think of me like that… she wouldn’t care… she never… she couldn’t… she…”

Sylvia just couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. No matter how hard she tried, completing that thought felt like her heart was going to rip in two.

All she wanted was for it to be a lie.

But she couldn’t keep running from reality no matter how hard she tried.

So she **** herself not to think about it.

“I wish I didn’t feel this way,” she muttered, burying her teary eyes in her knees. “I wish I had just been created correctly.”

Amelia blinked. “What… do you mean by that?” She asked, sensing a lot of darkness in the other girl’s words.

“If I’d been created properly, I wouldn’t be able to feel this pain,” Sylvia said, her voice aching with bitterness. “I would have been perfect… I wouldn’t have felt the sting of rejection so severely. These feelings, these regrets… they’re proof that I’m flawed.”

If only Dakota had created her to not care about any of this. Then maybe… maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with this.

Amelia could see right away that this wasn’t good.

“Don’t allow your pain to overwhelm you,” she ordered. “That’s proof that you’re a human being. You shouldn’t resent it. You should be proud.”

Sylvia didn’t feel proud. She felt miserable.

This wasn’t working. Why did I have to be the one in this situation? Amelia questioned. Of all the people that could be here for this girl’s breakdown, why did it have to be me?

She couldn’t think of one time she’d tried to comfort someone emotionally that had turned out for the better.

“This isn’t working,” she said bluntly.

Sylvia was so taken aback that she actually stopped bemoaning herself, and raised her head to look questioningly up at the other woman.

“…Huh?”

“I’m not equipped for this,” Amelia stated. “Comforting you. I have no ability to do so. I would like you to stop crying, but I can’t do anything about it.”

“Is… is that supposed to be an apology?” Sylvia wiped away her tears and looked incredulously up at her. “Because it’s not a good one. And you shouldn’t have to apologize anyway! It’s not like I expect you to make me feel better or anything.”

“I’m not very good at apologies,” Amelia admitted. But failing to comfort the poor girl made her feel awful. “I’m still sorry.”

Sylvia just laughed and shook her head. “Yeah… whatever…”

“Perhaps if you changed the subject, then you could talk about something more pleasant.” Amelia knew that was just running away. But if she couldn’t assuage Sylvia’s concerns, then the only thing left to do was ignore the issue and move on.

Sylvia sighed. “Yeah… back to practicing, then? Sure, why not…”

She swung her legs down onto the floor.

Amelia shook her head. “It does not necessarily have to be that,” she replied. “Would it be better for you… to have a talk?”

“We are talking.”

“About something else, I meant.”

“Oh. Uh… like what?” Sylvia tilted her head to the side. She wasn’t exactly good at making small talk.

Neither was Amelia. She adjusted her glasses awkwardly and cleared her throat. “Perhaps… about something that brings you joy in life?” She suggested. “There must be something that makes you happy.”

Even if their discussion about future goals had been derailed, Amelia was sure that there had to be something for Sylvia to latch onto.

Sylvia frowned.

Then she smiled.

“Oh! I know! What about transformations? I really love that!”

Amelia blinked, taken aback once more. “…Transformations.”

“Yeah! You have three of them, right? Which one’s your favorite?” Sylvia leaned in excitedly, her eyes shining.

Amelia was at a loss for words.

“Favorite… I do not think that anything fits that definition,” she coldly rebuffed the premise of the conversation. Was this really what brought the other girl joy? Talking about transformations and how the host would alter their bodies and minds?

When she saw the glum expression on Sylvia’s face, she was once again reminded of how different the girl was.

Amelia sighed.

“…If I had to choose one, out of these three… it would be the one that makes me express my concern for others through physical gestures,” she relented, willing to humor the strange girl if for no other reason than to pick up her mood.

“Ooh! Let’s Get Physical! Yeah, I really liked that one!” Sylvia nodded.

“…Yes, that. The first is irrelevant since I have no intention of engaging in intercourse, and the one that makes me perceive the women who have slept with Nicholas as my own daughters…” She cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks heat up. “…That tells me far more than I ever wished to know about his sexual experiences.”

Sylvia nodded. She could understand that logic. But still.

“What about you?” Amelia turned the question back on the other girl, in an effort to distract herself from having to think about it further.

“Huh? Me?”

“Do you have a favorite transformation?” Amelia pressed. She didn’t really want to know the answer to the question, but this topic had brought the smile back to Sylvia’s face against all understanding, so it was worth it for that reason alone.

“Me… a favorite… hmm…” Sylvia tapped her chin. Like Amelia, she’d never thought of that before, although for an entirely different reason. She loved all her transformations far too much! “If I had to pick, I’d say I really like Slip into Something Less Comfortable!” She decided, hopping to her feet. “That’s the one that makes all my clothes really cute, like this!”

Amelia glanced at the sparse garments that barely covered Sylvia’s figure. They fit her a lot better now that her body had returned to its original proportions, but they still revealed a lot of skin.

“…I see.”

“You don’t like it?!” Sylvia groaned.

“That is not what I said,” Amelia answered in a way that avoided having to reveal her feelings on the matter.

“To be fair, I might like Tantric Sex, too, but I’ve never had the chance to try that one out with Daddy,” Sylvia admitted. “It could be very fun, but-”

“I don’t want to hear any more of that,” Amelia sharply cut her off. The last thing she needed was to have a long discussion about her stepson having sex with a girl who referred to him as ‘Daddy’. Or a discussion about him with any girl, really.

Unfortunately, that harsh rejection brought the frown back to Sylvia’s face. She sighed and slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

Amelia quickly realized that she might have to resort to a different means of discussion.

“…What about that other transformation of yours?” She inquired. “The one that you used to alter your body in the first place?”

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah, that’s not one of mine,” Sylvia said, shaking her head. “I borrowed Dani’s Soft as Silk transformation using Rose’s Method Acting transformation!”

Amelia blinked. “You used the transformations of other girls? How is that possible?” She questioned.

“Eh? You mean, you don’t know?!” Sylvia gasped. “Oh, well, I guess you wouldn’t, Daddy probably didn’t tell you about that part… Okay, so, I’ve got this transformation called Fuck the Voters, right? And I can use it to steal a transformation for a round…”

Sylvia began to describe her transformation in detail as Amelia listened patiently. As she did, the gears in her head started to turn.