Princess Academy

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child death and child abuse.

When Olana lets the girls go outside in the snow for a break, a girl named Esa, who is Peder’s sister, invites Miri to spend time with her. Miri happily agrees, but she goes to return Olana’s book first. However, before she manages to do this, Olana startles her, and Miri drops the book. Olana says that she would have allowed Miri to borrow the book if she had asked, but she will not tolerate her stealing. She then locks Miri in the closet as a punishment. 

The closet’s total darkness bothers Miri. Later, she hears the other girls enter the room, and she grows bored and tired. She falls asleep and wakes up hours later when she hears scratches on the floor; then, she feels a tug on her braid and a tail on her cheek. To her horror, she realizes that it is a rat. She starts silently crying, remembering an infant in the village who died following a rat bite. She tries to soothe herself by quietly singing, but she grows quiet when the rat notices her voice. Then, Olana opens the door and finds her with the rat.