~Chapter 13~
Kaire remained locked in his study until deep into the night after returning from Loftis.
The ink from his pen had long since begun to bleed across the paper he was trying to sign, yet his eyes were fixed somewhere in the empty air.
Even so, his mind was elsewhere.
When he had pursued the carriage in his dog form, he hadn’t been able to catch up to it. There was no way a horse-drawn carriage could be outrun by a dog.
Still, he couldn’t shake the thought that the faint scent he had been tracking might have come from someone inside that carriage.
He had even hoped to spot a crest or some distinctive mark on it, but the road had been too dark, and nothing memorable had stood out.
When he returned to Loftis without gaining anything useful, he noticed Pico’s scent lingering inside the building.
Good. I’ll go inside like this—still in my dog form.
From the moment he first drank the transformation potion, Kaire had harbored a suspicion.
Lately, the image of the mage from Loftis kept flickering through his mind without warning.
It was strange. There was no reason for him to think about that thin, unimpressive woman who spoke to him so rudely.
Which meant—there had to be something else in the potion.
Otherwise, there was no explanation.
Something had to be influencing him.
It was only suspicion for now, but it needed confirmation.
So he scratched at the door.
Pico opened it.
The moment Kaire saw Lorienne smiling brightly at him, his heart dropped violently.
It was a smile she had never once shown him when he appeared as a human.
Her small eyes curved gently behind her glasses, dimples forming in both cheeks as she smiled wide enough to show her neat teeth. The corners of her red lips lifted in a soft, endearing arc.
And that alone would have been enough to shake him.
But what truly broke his composure was Lorienne’s scent.
It was fragrant—like perfectly ripened peaches.
Soft, fragile, and warm like the milky scent of a baby’s skin.
Drawn in by it, Kaire moved toward her instinctively.
As she knelt beside him, stroking his head, hugging him, and pressing her face against him, her body scent overwhelmed him like a wave.
His breathing grew rough.
Was this because he was a dog?
Did dogs normally like scents like this?
Soon, it wasn’t just his breath that was failing him—his heart was acting strangely too. A pounding he had never experienced as a human.
And then there was Lorienne’s sadness.
The moment she held him, her emotions seemed to flow directly into him, like electricity running through his cells.
If he had been human, he would never have felt it.
Is this because I’m in a dog’s body? Everything feels sharper—smell, emotion… everything.
What happened next was instantaneous.
Even though his mind was still Kaire’s, his body reacted differently.
The moment he sensed her emotions, he lost control completely—like a real dog.
He started nuzzling her, sniffing her, and licking her without restraint.
Why am I doing this? This is wrong—this is wrong—but I want to lick her. I want to lick her like crazy!!
If Pico hadn’t screamed and pulled him away, Kaire had no idea what he might have done next.
Only then did he snap back and release the pen from his grip, pressing a hand to his forehead.
His thoughts were a mess.
The desire to comfort a grieving woman… and the strange, overwhelming urge to bury himself in her scent—those feelings had tangled together and destroyed his rationality.
It was unbelievable.
“There’s no doubt,” he muttered. “That mage added something strange to this potion.”
The next morning, Pico arrived early—with a large golden retriever puppy in his arms.
Pico, who adored dogs, gently bounced the puppy as he walked toward the study.
“Ahh, you’re so cute. Grow up well, okay? You have to grow just like His Highness when he was a dog. But don’t copy his personality.”
He laughed to himself, speaking to a puppy that couldn’t understand a word.
Inside the study, Kaire stood by the window, looking like he hadn’t slept all night.
“Your Highness! Look at him! Isn’t he promising? I carefully selected him myself.”
Kaire glanced down at the puppy sniffing the floor.
There was no emotion in his eyes.
“Do you like him? He really resembles you, Your Highness… when you were a dog.”
“…Feed him well.”
“Of course! He looks like he eats well already. Oh right—what should we name him? Dogs need cute names. Mine at home are Happy, Shushu, Pingping, Toto…”
“Karl.”
Pico paused mid-list.
“Ka… Karl? That’s a bit too close to Your Highness’s name…”
“It’s intentional.”
“Intentional?”
“If his name is similar to mine, no one will dare treat him carelessly in the palace. And if he grows properly, I will be able to walk around the palace in dog form myself.”
“…That still doesn’t sound great. Honestly, no one’s going to call a dog ‘Karl’ out loud in the palace. And you already have a reputation for being… well, temperamental. Do you want people to think you have bad taste too?”
Kaire exhaled sharply.
Pico continued, undeterred.
“I’m telling you this because I’m a loyal subject willing to risk my life! If I were a sycophant, I’d say, ‘Ah, Your Highness, what an excellent name befitting your greatness!’”
Kaire growled softly.
After a moment, Pico relented.
“Fine, fine… then ‘Karo’ it is. It’s similar but not too similar. I’ll tell everyone this is your personal dog, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to emphasize how special you are to it.”
Kaire didn’t bother arguing further and simply nodded.
The name didn’t matter anyway.
Pico would be the one taking care of it most of the time.
Once the matter was settled, Pico patted the puppy again.
“Your name is Karo now, okay?”
Kaire sat down at his desk.
He wasn’t interested in the dog at all.
“Did you bring the potion from Loftis?”
“Yes, I did. But why did you ask me to make one too?”
Kaire didn’t answer. He simply stared at Pico.
Yes… I knew it. Pico reacted the same way after taking the potion. He also started favoring that mage. He even defended her. There’s no doubt now.
“That mage is interfering,” Kaire said.
“Interfering… how?”
“She must have mixed another substance into the transformation potion.”
“Another substance? Why would she—”
Kaire cut him off.
“To make people like her.”
“…Pardon?”
Pico’s expression slowly twisted.
Kaire continued calmly, as if stating an obvious fact.
“She fell for me at first sight. My appearance, my status—everything about me. She must have wanted my attention so badly that she used magic to influence it.”
Pico’s face darkened further.
He inhaled slowly through clenched teeth.
What kind of delusion is this now? I need to stay calm. I really need to stay calm.
Finally, he forced out a response.
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
