Back to Me (Kenma x Reader)

When Mom Tricks Come Handy

--Your POV--

This was just like a job interview. You were dressed up in something nice, and you came prepared to show yourself off to your "employer". Of course, this would obviously last much longer than a job interview, but you could just think of it as an extended one. It was just about the same nervousness, the same confidence you had when you applied for a job during your third year of high school. 

The moment you entered the room where you met the Queen, most of the confidence hid away somewhere in you and humbleness stepped forward in its place, sitting on top of your feelings of nervousness's lap. You looked down at the marble freshly polished floor, the carefully painted ceiling, the intricately carved patterns on the walls...

"It's a pleasure to see you, Lady (l/n)," her majesty started off. She had entered the room without you knowing, which startled you. Oh gosh, I need to start paying more attention to my surroundings.
"Ah, yes, it's quite a pleasure to see you as well, your majesty," you greeted the empress along with a small curtsy. Her majesty always started with light greetings, promptly followed by a short and straightforward talk. You had talked to her a few times before, and she was definitely an intense person. 
"As you know, if we are on the same page, I have called you here to give you the details of the first test," she started, and you nodded. "I will have you manage the Archon Palace in the North for an entire month. I will visit you every so often, so please be prepared to greet me. You are to be assessed based on your skills in managing the palace both during events and on a daily basis. I have an informant who will inform me of the details. Your test will start when you arrive at the palace and end exactly a month after. That is all."

You quickly thanked the queen and curtsied, then was escorted out of the room by a servant, who led you to your carriage. You were going home to pack your things and get ready for the test. You hopped into the carriage and sighed, thinking about what you were going to do. 

The test was like an open notebook test, used to only assess the application of the knowledge studied. You were definitely nervous; you had never done anything on this scale and it was very new to you. Your mother managed all the household affairs for you, since you had quit studying it a long time ago. But you did manage to go over it over the last few months of cramming, and you could probably relate it to some skills you saw at night. 

The (y/n) in your dreams had at least basic skills to survive on her own. Of course, she was taught how to cook and clean and make the place all tidy and presentable. Well, you figured you would use those tips later when you managed the castle, so you wrote down a list of what you could remember and placed it with some other important documents you planned on bringing. 

You wanted to pack your things yourself. There was just something special about it; perhaps it gave you the right temporary goodbye to your home that you needed. Or maybe you just wanted to do it because that girl always did it herself, but this is what you wanted to do and you were going to do it. It was definitely weird though, in other people's eyes. Anyone of your status would just tell their servants to get the things they needed and get on their way, unless they were hiding something. Well, you guessed you were hiding something, but it wasn't even in the baggage anyways. 

You bid your parents a short goodbye as you left for the northern palace, and you slept to the bumps of the road as you made your way there. As soon as you arrived at the palace, you really knew it was really meant to be a long assessment, not some 10-minute pop quiz. The place was a mess- well, it still functioned, but it was still a mess. There was not an ounce of organization to be seen and you instantly wondered who had been in charge of the place before you arrived. 

You were escorted to your room; it was actually quite nice. After all, this was a palace. It was made for the royal family, who always lived in such luxury. It was clean enough; the place looked clean and simple, with it just being very clean. That was one thing you liked about this palace, it was clean. There was no dust laying around, no rodents running around, no random stuff sitting around. It was clean and simple, in contrast to the elaborate paintings on the walls and ceilings; you'd have to fix that.