Chapter 38 – Look Me in the Eye When You Speak

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“What’s wrong? Your face is red.”

“…Nothing.”

Perhaps recalling the recent intimacy, Veronica’s face flushed red. Seeing that face, Cecile tilted her head and sniffed.

Cold sweat ran down Veronica’s back.

Cecile, who had been sniffing diligently, muttered in a puzzled voice.

“But… I don’t smell that scent.”

Veronica cleared her throat, diverting Cecile’s attention. Whatever the scent was, it didn’t feel good.

“Ahem! Ahem! By the way, assistant, have you finished cleaning the workshop?”

“Ah, yes! That’s right, Lady Veronica.”

“I see….”

The two people, or more precisely Veronica, felt an unbearable awkwardness. Unable to make eye contact with Cecile, she glanced at Asha lying down from the corner of her eye, and it seemed as if nothing had happened.

Perfect aftercare, Veronica.

As Veronica sighed in relief, she saw Cecile climbing onto the bed. She was sticking close to Asha and sniffing. Veronica’s pupils began to tremble slightly.

Cecile, continuously sniffing as if something was strange, opened her mouth.

“Lady Shaa smells strange.”

Approaching Asha more and more while sniffing, she was seen putting her nose between her thighs without hesitation and sniffing. Veronica froze, seemingly shocked by the inappropriate sight.

“W-what, what are you doing?”

“Lady Shaa’s scent has a strange smell mixed in.”

Veronica bristled, somehow feeling as if the words were implying that she was strange.

“…What do you mean strange? What’s strange?”

“It’s like… a smell similar to when I scraped off the beast smell from Lady Shaa.”

“B-beast smell!?”

Veronica looked over Asha’s body with astonished eyes. Thinking that surely it couldn’t be what she was thinking.

“Ah, Lady Shaa. told me not to call it Beast. It’s beastfolk smell.”

“Beastfolk…?”

Veronica’s voice, which had been nodding at the mention of beastfolk, became fainter toward the end. It was thanks to the questions that arose in her mind.

Does this mean there was a similar incident before… like what I just did? D-does that mean Asha already had such experiences?!

…I-it was my first time, but Asha wasn’t?

And… ‘scraped off.’ Does this mean Asha has that kind of… relationship with the assistant too? S-since when, could it be… the reason for making such deranged medicine was….

N-no, could it be that the person lying on the bed isn’t Asha? T-that would be troublesome.

Veronica had to struggle to calm her chaotic mind.

At that moment, with a murmuring sound, Asha blinked. The fluffy tail and ears were still attached.

Cecile, who noticed it first, carefully moved her hand. It was because she recalled the previous reaction.

“Lady Shaa….?”

Asha turned her head following Cecile’s voice. And then her mouth opened.

“Cecile?”

Unlike before, she had regained her reason. Recognizing this, Cecile jumped into Asha’s arms.

“Lady Shaa.!”

“Oh, yeah….”

Cecile clung to Asha’s stomach and nuzzled her face. Asha felt as if her head was floating with some kind of suggestive sensation.

Asha mentally shook her head to regain focus and began looking around. Drinking the beastfolk transformation potion for a change of mood was fine, but she had no memory after that, so she needed to assess the situation.

The scenery was familiar. While stroking Cecile’s head and looking around, Asha’s eyes saw… something unfamiliar. Or perhaps slightly familiar.

She realized that scarlet eyes filled with a sense of betrayal were looking at her. Asha unconsciously uttered that name.

“…Veronica?”

Veronica’s eyes were filled with betrayal and shock. Soon, with a grinding sound, she pointed with her white hand and exclaimed.

“Y-you… perverted bastard!”

Asha’s mind went blank at the sudden rebuke, along with the thought that she should have kept her identity hidden.

After calming down Veronica, who suddenly denounced me as a pervert, we moved to the reception room. My mind was even more frazzled thanks to the grown animal ears and the tail that kept making me self-conscious.

Especially the tail, since I wasn’t wearing pants designed for beastfolk. I even considered changing into a dress, but I didn’t want to do that after having confessed to Veronica that I was Asha.

My crotch also feels somewhat damp… but I’ll set that aside for now.

…Anyway, why is Veronica… here?

Looking around, I saw Veronica sipping tea with a face full of betrayal and Cecile munching on guest cookies.

Cecile, whose eyes met mine, smiled brightly with cookie crumbs on her mouth. As I smiled back and wiped off the crumbs, the sound of teacups clinking was heard.

And then a voice that seemed to come from hell was heard.

“…The atmosphere is quite nice.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

Veronica retorted with a voice tinged with tears.

“You go down to some rural corner saying you’re setting up a workshop, then suddenly spread weird medicine, and when I come looking, you’ve turned into a woman and l-live p-promiscuously, who do you think you are!”

“P-promiscuous?”

What’s this all about suddenly? Frowning at the incomprehensible words, Veronica pointed with a reddened face.

“You! Y-you do t-that kind of thing with b-beastfolk! A-and even with the assistant next to you… t-that kind of relationship…”

Recalling something, Veronica dropped her head with a face like a ripe tomato and began to mutter. The longer she spoke, the more moisture appeared.

“T-the beastfolk’s essence smell being full there means… y-you d-did it with a beastfolk… and since the assistant scraped it off, you have that kind of relationship with her too…? Y-you were a man but you fool around with men and w-women too… I n-never d-dreamed you were this kind of p-person….”

“Wait a moment.”

I raised my hand to cut off Veronica’s words, as the false accusations made me dizzy just from listening. Next, I sent Cecile, who was tilting her head and munching on cookies, to the workshop. I let her take plenty of leftover cookies in both hands.

As Cecile left, a cold silence descended on the reception room. Veronica’s face still looked hot.

…Now that I’m trying to explain to clear up the misunderstanding… except for the part about fooling around with men… is there actually anything to excuse? Such thoughts crossed my mind.

No, that’s not right. I don’t have that kind of relationship with Claudia and Cecile. It was purely business transactions and… unavoidable medical treatments. Yes.

I tried to clear up Veronica’s misunderstanding.

…Anyway, most of it was close to accidents. By my own will… I’ve NEVER! NOT ONCE! desired it!

For some reason, my mouth felt bitter. No, I actually felt something a bit stale. Wondering if it was a side effect of the potion, I continued talking with Veronica for now.

After a long conversation… Veronica seemed to understand, her face returning to a more relaxed expression than before.

“I get it roughly, but then that homunculus… isn’t she too dangerous for you?”

Concern was evident in Veronica’s voice.

“Cecile has no malice. I just need to be careful.”

“…I thought you’d say that.”

“Really?”

Veronica, who had bitterly gulped down the tea, smiled and said:

“Your appearance has changed a lot, but… your core remains the same. Just as I knew you.”

“…You… haven’t changed at all either.”

“R-really?”

“Your height is still the same.”

At those words, Veronica, whose face had reddened, glared. But soon she chuckled. Originally, she would have flared up and gotten angry… is it because she’s grown mentally?

“You’ve become shorter than me, haven’t you?”

Apparently not.

“…I think we’re similar.”

“…Shall we measure?”

Veronica and I stood up to check each other’s height. It was difficult to determine superiority. However, thanks to the ears perking up on top of my head, I could insist that I was taller.

“Hey, that should be excluded!”

“This is part of my body too, isn’t it?”

“You’re shameless.”

Exchanging idle jokes with Veronica… we reminisced about our academy memories.

It was… enjoyable in its own way. The feeling was different from when we met at the academy. Back then, I felt somewhat pressured, and it was difficult to get close because I was the opposite gender… maybe it’s become a bit more comfortable now.

At that time, I thought it was annoying that she came looking for me every time… but thinking about it now, it was something to be grateful for. Because except for Veronica and… the lecturing nun, there was no one who approached me because of the family name written in front of me. Now I know there’s nothing to worry about so I do business, but I felt that thanks to the two of them, I didn’t have to spend my academy life lonely.

That’s why I thanked her belatedly.

“Thank you.”

“W-what’s this suddenly?”

“Just for the academy days and now….”

Come to think of it, why did Veronica say she came to visit?

“Veronica.”

“U-um?”

“What did you say you came for?”

At those words, Veronica’s face reddened. Her mouth opened carefully.

“That… because of the growing medicine.”

“Growing medicine?”

“T-that! T-the medicine that makes a p-penis grow on a w-woman!”

…What on earth is my master doing? I just sent a letter recently… Will I know soon? In the worst-case scenario, I might have to go see for myself.

But thinking calmly, one question arose.

Why does Veronica know about the incident of scraping off the beastfolk… that is, the smell that came from when I had forc– transactions with Claudia?

When I asked Veronica out of curiosity, her face turned bright red. It looked as if steam was rising from the top of her head.

“…Veronica.”

Veronica couldn’t answer and couldn’t meet my eyes. A tap! tap! sound was heard. My tail was hitting the sofa, reflecting my mood. At that sound, Veronica’s body flinched.

…I had an intuition that something had happened while I was unconscious.

Grabbing Veronica’s face, which still couldn’t meet my eyes, I said to tell the truth.