~Chapter 5~
Lorienne quickly picked up her glasses and walked to the door.
She opened the small hatch first, and Pico was standing outside.
“Hello, Mage!”
When Lorienne opened the door, Pico greeted her brightly and stepped inside. Behind him, like a looming shadow, Kair ducked his head and entered as well—he was taller than the doorway.
“Is the potion ready?”
“Yes.”
Her faint smile carried a hint of mockery, as if to say, Let’s see just how much you love money.
But Kair’s eyes soon narrowed.
“…You’re bleeding.”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
He pointed at her lips. Not realizing she had bitten them hard enough to bleed, Lorienne casually drew her lower lip in and sucked the blood away.
As she turned to retrieve the prepared potions, she froze at his next words.
“Hard to believe someone bleeding like that isn’t weak.”
“Y-you heard that?”
It seemed he had heard her shouting earlier from outside.
Kair shrugged, arms crossed.
“Still, since you call yourself a great mage, I suppose I can look forward to the potion.”
There was a teasing edge to his tone.
Lorienne flushed in embarrassment. It probably sounded like she was bragging about herself.
“Great mage” was just something her older brother used to call her jokingly when they were young—a habit she fell back on when she needed courage.
He heard everything… every single word!
Afraid he’d notice her blushing, Lorienne hurried to the worktable.
Kair didn’t miss the way her pale cheeks turned red and let out a quiet chuckle.
Soon, Lorienne returned with the labeled potions and placed one bottle each in front of Kair and Pico.
“Once you drink it, you’ll immediately turn into a dog. As I said, after 30 minutes, you’ll revert to your original form—but you’ll be naked, so be careful. Also, since you’ll become a real dog, you may be influenced by canine instincts. Try your best to hold on to your reason.”
“I see. Then I’ll try it first.”
Pico nodded with determination and downed the potion in one go.
His body suddenly shrank, his clothes collapsing to the floor. Something wriggled inside them, accompanied by small whimpering sounds.
Both Kair and Lorienne looked down.
A tiny Chihuahua poked its head out from Pico’s clothes.
“Pfft.”
“Yap!”
The sharp bark made Lorienne burst into laughter.
Pico had seemed sturdy—she’d expected maybe a medium-sized dog. But instead, he’d turned into something this small.
“Hm. You really do turn into a dog. Does it change every time?”
“No. You turn into the breed most compatible with you.”
“Compatible, huh.”
Chihuahua-Pico yipped noisily, kicking his hind legs and darting around Kair, sniffing everything, exploring the shop with restless energy.
“That chaotic behavior… definitely Pico.”
“Fake Grand Duke, are you going to try it now?”
“What? Fake?”
His fresh green eyes turned cold as he glared at her.
But Lorienne remained unfazed.
“You said your name is Kair Astum.”
“And why does that make me fake?”
“Oh? Then are you saying the real Kair Astum left all the imperial court mages behind and came here?”
Kair was momentarily speechless.
No one but Pico knew the real reason—he wanted to become a dog to track a certain scent. It was something he intended to keep completely secret.
“…Ridiculous.”
He let out a dry laugh and stared at Lorienne as she returned to her worktable.
Is it because I’ve never met a woman who behaves like that in front of me? Somehow… it irritates me.
Every noble lady he’d met had been the same.
They couldn’t even meet his eyes, blushed just standing near him, and tried desperately to act proper—barely even breathing freely.
But Lorienne was completely different.
There was no romantic interest in her gaze at all. From the very first meeting, she had faced him head-on, tapping her order forms like she was challenging him.
Even now, she treated him like just another customer—without the slightest tension.
And that annoyed him the most.
How can she stay so calm when I look like this? I’ve never experienced this in my life.
The more he thought about it, the less he understood her.
His gaze unconsciously followed her as she scrubbed the table.
Lorienne, unaware of his stare, focused only on cleaning.
Ah… her eyesight must be terrible. She even wears glasses—she probably can’t see my face properly. Or maybe… she’s the type who values status over looks. Considering how much she likes money, that seems likely.
Reaching his own conclusion, a slight smile crept onto his lips.
One day, I’ll tell her. That I’m the real Kair Astum.
Just imagining her shocked face lifted his mood slightly.
“Yaaawn…”
Lorienne covered her mouth as she yawned, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion as she watched Pico still running around.
Sleep was finally catching up to her.
Then suddenly—
“Oh.”
She snapped her mouth shut and quickly turned around.
“I told you—you’d come back naked.”
Exactly 30 minutes later, Pico lay sprawled on the floor, completely naked, his back and pale round hips fully exposed.
“Ah! S-sorry! I’ll get dressed right away!”
He scrambled in panic to find his clothes.
Kair shook his head at the chaos.
“Y-you saw that, right? I really turned into a dog! Wow! What kind was I? A bulldog? A lion dog? Something fierce and majestic, right?!”
“Yes. A fierce, majestic Chihuahua.”
“…A Chihuahua…?”
Pico looked at Lorienne for confirmation.
She nodded.
“No way… why that…”
As Pico slumped in disappointment, Kair casually pushed him aside, plucked five strands of his own hair, and handed them to Lorienne.
“Make more. I’ll come back in a few days.”
“…Just in case—don’t drink multiple bottles at once.”
“Why?”
“You’re healthy, so you might endure longer than 30 minutes—but if you do that, you might still behave like a dog even after turning back. Naked, too. You’ll look completely insane.”
“I’ll handle that myself. Just prepare the potions.”
Lorienne stared at him.
Among all the nobles she’d dealt with, he was the most condescending.
“…Why do you keep talking down to me?”
“What?”
Pico looked between them nervously.
“I’m a mage who makes potions. I’m not your slave or your servant. At the very least, don’t speak down to me—if you intend to keep using my potions.”
Pico hurried forward, clasping his hands.
“M-mage, actually, my master is just—”
But from behind him came Kair’s cold voice.
“Then you can speak down to me too. I’ve spent my entire life being the one who talks down to others—I don’t know how to treat you any differently.”
Lorienne felt anger rise sharply.
Seriously… does he think a pretty face is enough for everything?
But she wasn’t the type to back down.
After six years running Loftis, she had learned something about nobles:
Those who spoke down to her from the start only got worse over time—and would even belittle her potions.
That’s why she never bothered hiding her Rixir accent. She made it clear she wasn’t part of Astum’s noble culture—just a foreign mage providing a service for fair payment.
“Fine. Then I’ll speak casually too.”
She looked straight at him and said,
“Fake. Grand. Duke.”
A vein popped visibly on Kair’s forehead.
