Meanwhile, Bernadetta comes under siege.

"Hm hm hm... hm hm hm...~"

Earlier that night, Bernadetta von Varley sat alone in her room, her favorite way to be in her favorite place. The short purple-haired heiress to one of the six noble houses of the Empire cherished the time after the curfew. A time where everyone was **** to stay in their rooms suited her perfectly well, and she was pleased to stay up late into the night by lantern light, indulging her hobbies with her hair tied up, wearing a long nightshirt and little else. Her late nights tended to come back and bite her when the morning came, leaving her burrowing into the deepest part of her bed, tightly under her sheets, behind a locked door that always got banged on.

For now, however, nothing was biting Bernadetta, despite the carnivorous plants she tended to in her room and the sewing needle she deftly worked, happily weaving in and out of the seams of a new doll. In her sanctuary, the young noble was free to sew, sing, and enjoy herself. She paused, observing the product in her pale, thin fingers, pleased with her handiwork. She sighed, rose from the chair at her desk, and plopped back onto her bed. "Aaah... This is the life! Life should be just like this, all the time! My soft bed that's always there for me... a quiet room that doesn't judge me or try to kill me... that funny little noise coming from the wall..."

Bernadetta paused, rolling over in her bed and staring at her wall. "Hold on. Bernie's wall has never done that before. Could it be... Eep! I've heard about these!" She hugged her knees to her chest, a gesture that, along with the huge stuffed bear on her bed, would have better fit a girl a few years younger than she now was. "Deathwatches! Th-there's bugs called deathwatches that hang out in your walls when you're going to be killed! A-and someone's always trying to kill me, so... Is this Bernie's last night in this world?! I have to finish my doll quick! B-b-but maybe there's no time... Oh no..."

The young woman rested her head on the wall miserably... When she did, her big, pale purple eyes perked open. Up close, she was aware the noise from her wall didn't sound anything like a clicking insect. It sounded like...

"Music!" Bernadetta exclaimed, her cheek still pressed against the wall. "Wait, Annette plays music? On the other side of my wall? W-where I can't bother her and she can't scare me, but I get to hear it and enjoy it?! Bernie's room is so awesome! Ooh, she's playing louder! I can hear it pretty well!"

Without thinking about it, Bernadetta had moved from sitting on her knees on her bed to a crouch. She planted her elbows in front of her, humming along with the music and wearing a goofy smile as she shut her eyes and waved her butt in the air.

... Before she realized it, she was less waving her butt and more quaking it, her legs shaking her hips with an effort normally reserved solely for running away. While she'd looked like a little girl just a year ago, her growth spurt had been kind to her figure, and the shut-in had an ass that turned out to be as good for shaking as it was for sitting on. Still, she didn't seem bothered by this strange form of dance she'd apparently picked up, enjoying her neighbor's new taste in music (also not bothering to think about the fact that Annette had apparently learned to play drums as well as other instruments Bernadetta had never heard before).

She'd planned to do all kinds of things that night, but she instead found herself satisfied finding her groove alone. Before she knew it, she'd lifted her nightshirt over her head, tossed it over her desk and the new doll she'd been finishing, and begun twerking her butt all around her room. As ever, there was no one around to see her pretty deep-purple bra and panty set with jet-black ribbons, clinging flatteringly to her young adult body; if there had been, she would have died on the spot, never mind the other person trying to kill her.

"Hehe... Bernie is pretty good at this, huh? I'm almost sad no one will ever, ever, ever see this! Well, like all of my hobbies, they're for me... Not for bothering anyone else with." Finally, Bernadetta calmed down, crossing her arms below her breasts and failing to realize her bottom was still wiggling by itself. "That was fun, but I still have plenty of things to do before bed. Enough dancing around: let's finish that doll!"

The bouncing noble sashayed her way to her desk. Instead of sitting down, however, she pushed the chair aside, bending over provocatively for the benefit of no one but her dolls and plants as she loomed over her sewing. She continued to hum along with the beat of the music while tracing skillful figure-eights with her round bottom through the air, managing her knitting deftly all-the while. She worked quietly for a good while, completing most of her work before she finally realized half of her was still absorbed in dance.

"... Wow, I really AM good at this! I can do it without even thinking about it, huh... I can't believe Annette can play this well! And this late at night! I'd go over and congratulate her if she wasn't still a little scary... A-after all, she's always trying to get me to do things outside my room, and she's way too energetic for me. Besides, it's late, I'm in my underwear, and I can't stop dancing... Gee, the dancing sure is fun, though!"

Bernadetta rose from her work, looking down at her still jerking lower body with a funny smile. "Uh... Wow! It's so much fun, I lost track of time. I can't believe it's already time for bed." With a big, performative yawn, she went around her room, wishing her dolls and carnivorous plants goodnight with an unusually sensual strut and a couple of long, passionate kisses she'd never done before. Finally, she put out her lantern, hopped into bed, and prepared to drift off, wearing a peaceful smile. "Staying up is great, but sleep is nice, too. Night night..."

...

......

"... Um, Bernie... Dancing is a lot of fun, but... This is a little ridiculous, isn't it?!" In the dark, Bernadetta had shifted from lying flat on her back, an appropriate position for someone trying to sleep, to lying on top of the giant stuffed bear she'd made for herself. "Um! Uh...! Bernie would like to go to sleep now, please!" Instead of that, the increasingly concerned noble began bucking her hips suggestively on top of her doll, a movement too out of place for her to explain away any longer. "W-what is Bernie doing to her bedtime buddy?! Gaaah! Am I being controlled by a ghost? Is a poltergeist attacking me? I-I'm sorry for using your awesome room without your permission, little ghost girl! Please, have mercy... Don't kill me!!"

Bernadetta didn't die, but neither did she stop. Instead, she began skillfully undoing the ribbon tied around her doll's neck in the dark, continuing to move her hips suggestively as her uncontrollable half-naked body nuzzled against the soft fabric. "If I'm not dead... it must not be a ghost trying to kill me. I-is it Annette doing this? Is she so tired of having me as a neighbor that she's trying to **** me to move out with... with awesome music I can't help but dance to?! I'm so confused! I should go and-"

She rose, thinking she was going to skip over to Annette's room and beg her to let her sleep (and to forgive her, and not to kill her, of course). She stopped herself at the door, although her ass continued shaking on its own. "Gaaahaa!! Am I nuts?! I'm gonna leave my room? Late at night? And confront someone? In my underwear, shaking my butt?! Someone really is trying to kill me! And they're doing it in the most humiliating way possible! Why...?! Why do I..."

The noble gulped, her hand moving to her doorknob as her eyes grew wide and fearful. "Why do I wanna go out in the hallway so bad? Dancing is one thing, but I... n-never wanna leave my room, no matter what. I'm gonna die... like this?!?"

Bernadetta grabbed the knob.

"I'm gonna die..."

Bernadetta turned the knob.

"I'm gonna die...!"

Bernadetta slowly opened her door, unable to tell if her horrified face was white as a sheet or red as a beet at her circumstances.

"Noooooooooo!!!"

Before she knew it, Bernadetta was lying flat on her back on her floor, having slammed the door shut and rescued herself from humiliation. It seemed the music next door had finally stopped. "Oh... Ohoh... Deep breaths, deep breaths. The party's over. My butt's finally gone to sleep. I... gotta get to sleep too, before Annette starts playing again..."

The young woman crawled her way over to her bed, apologized to her doll, hugged it tightly, and bundled up under her covers, not bothering to put her nightshirt back on. "I can't believe it, but... I'm gonna have to confront Annette about this, aren't I? About Annette's attempt to **** me by making me dance naked in front of the whole school... But maybe I can get someone else to do it! And maybe I can do it tomorrow... I've had a rough night..."

Although she'd been sure she wouldn't be able to sleep, so worked up from the circumstances, drowsiness came to her surprisingly quickly. The dancing was more exercise than she'd ever gotten living her shut-in life.

"A fun way to exercise in my room... might not be too bad though. As long as..." Bernadetta muttered, a last half-aware, half-formed thought before she drifted off.