If you do that…

I expected to be following Claire around, but what do you know.

All I did was sit at the desk and watch Claire approve documents. As I stared blankly, Claire’s brow furrowed, as if a headache had struck her.

Then Claire, as if accustomed to it, pressed her temples firmly, firmly, and poured out her Divine power. As a pure white light seeped out and permeated Claire’s body, her brow smoothed, as if she felt much more at ease.

…She uses Divine power like it’s a headache medicine.

I don’t know if there are any side effects. I’m not knowledgeable in that field. But… watching her, I felt a pang of pity. I rose from the chair and approached Claire from behind.

“…What is it? Are you finally showing your true colors?”

Claire’s sullen voice reached my ears. Even as she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the documents.

“No way.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder, which was revealed as she took off her veil.

…It was very stiff.

“What are you doing?”

“Massage.”

It was a little awkward with her clothes on, but there was no problem massaging her.

There could be many causes for headaches, but I heard that if the muscles from the neck upwards stiffen due to tension, it can also cause headaches.

Therefore, what I’m about to do is a Massage to loosen them. Using Divine power… would be convenient, but one shouldn’t rely on it too much, so I’ll use my bare hands.

…Though it doesn’t seem like something someone who thought of selling Breast-enlargement Potions in a way that bordered on addiction should be thinking.

Anyway.

For some reason, I couldn’t just stand by and watch Claire suffering.

Starting with Claire’s stiff neck area, I slowly began to loosen her muscles. Claire let out strange screams.

“Ah, ugh, hit! W-wait, I-I’ll do it myself, I will.”

“You can’t do this yourself.”

“Ah, no… ugh, hit!”

Claire, who had flinched a few times, eventually gave up and surrendered her body to my firm touch.

As I pressed and diligently loosened her muscles… I started to sweat. My hands also felt a little stiff. If I had my old body, this wouldn’t have happened… I thought. As I rested my hands for a moment, Claire’s voice was heard.

“…Why are you doing something you don’t usually do? Like a fake.”

“Did I do that?”

“…Yes.”

At Claire’s murmur, I recalled my Academy days once more. Come to think of it… perhaps I was like that?

Indeed, why am I doing this? I don’t know either. I’ve pondered this before, but… was it simply because I didn’t have the leisure to look around?

…I don’t know.

I wiped away the sweat trickling down with my sleeve and started the Massage again. In the end, I couldn’t answer Claire’s question.

When Claire’s neck had softened, I took my hands off, and Claire sighed, grabbing my hand.

“When you focus, you still don’t listen to others, do you?”

I felt a warm light seep in and caress my hand. Along with the feeling that the pain in my stiff hand was lessening.

“Thank you.”

“Sigh…”

Her amber eyes, filled with subtle emotions, swept over me, and then Claire pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket.

“Wipe it with this, don’t wipe it on your clothes.”

“Ah, sorry.”

I wiped it with my clothes out of habit… but this wasn’t my clothes.

As I awkwardly smiled and took the handkerchief, Claire snorted and began looking at the documents again. Her brow was smooth, indicating the Massage had been effective.

Feeling satisfied, I wiped away the sweat and put away the handkerchief.

“I’ll wash this and give it back to you.”

“What are you talking about? Just give it. You’ll be leaving the Temple tomorrow anyway, so where would you find the time for that?”

“…You’re not saying I can’t leave?”

Her amber eyes stared intently at me. Her lips parted with a playful smile.

“…It seems you want a leash and handcuffs even now, don’t you?”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”

As I mumbled my words, Claire let out a chuckle and lifted the documents, saying,

“Actually, I knew you were the real one from the start.”

“…Then why did you keep me here?”

Claire silently continued to sign and annotate the documents. Only the scratching sound echoed in the room. It seemed she had no intention of speaking, so I gave up and leaned back, hearing a faint murmur.

“…I don’t know either.”

I couldn’t hear it well.

“What did you say?”

“It’s almost done, so just wait a little!”

“Ah, alright.”

Why did she suddenly shout?

I was already feeling chilly because of the revealing clothes, and now I felt even more so. I warmed myself with the warm tea from the teapot while waiting for Claire.

Then, a sudden question popped into my mind.

“Are you usually alone like this?”

With a scratching sound, Claire replied.

“Originally, there are people who help, yes.”

…Did she not let them in after seeing how uncomfortable I was with the other Nuns’ touches on the way here? While the excessive attention was indeed burdensome, it wasn’t necessary to go that far.

Since it’s because of me… wouldn’t it be better if I helped?

“Should I help you a bit?”

“No. They don’t really help with the work anyway. So there’s no big difference. And there’s no way I’d show you internal Temple documents, right?”

“I see.”

As I scratched my head in embarrassment, Claire said,

“…Even though it was just a little, the Massage you just gave me helped.”

“That’s good then.”

I unknowingly fell asleep to the scratching sound echoing in the quiet room, and then startled awake, my eyes snapping open at the hand shaking my shoulder.

“Ah, damn it, you scared me.”

“…It seems I fell asleep.”

“You were sleeping soundly, right in front of someone working.”

“…Sorry.”

Claire, who had plopped down opposite me, said in a low voice,

“Um… could you close your legs a bit first? It looks a bit… off. Even if you think it’s not visible.”

At Claire’s chiding, I quickly closed my widely spread thighs. I reined in my thighs, which had stretched out freely, unaware they were exposed due to the side slit. My face somehow flushed hot.

“Are you a bit more awake?”

“…Yes.”

Looking around, all the documents that had been piled on the desk were gone. The yellow sunlight coming in from outside the window was now tinged with an amber hue, similar to Claire’s eyes, as if the sunset was approaching.

…I slept for a long time.

As I averted my gaze in embarrassment, Claire let out a groan and placed something on the desk. My eyes were drawn to it involuntarily, and what I saw was….

It was a box that somehow felt familiar. When Claire opened the box, a Potion that looked very familiar popped out. Without a doubt… it was that thing, presumed to be solidified essence from Cecil.

…To think I’d see it here too. As I looked at the Potion with lukewarm eyes, Claire spoke.

“Do you know what this is?”

“…Yeah. I heard it’s popular in the Capital these days.”

Her Highness the Princess is worried about it too… What exactly are the Noble Ladies of the Capital doing with that?

“To say it’s popular in the Capital… well, it’s secretly popular among Noble Ladies, so I suppose you could say that.”

Claire, picking up the Potion, made a displeased face.

“They pretend to be refined on the outside, but their debauched behavior among themselves isn’t new, so I’m not particularly moved.”

Claire, rolling the Potion in her palm, murmured in a low voice.

“A Potion that makes *that* grow on women… doesn’t that sound absurd? What do you think? Do you think it’s possible?”

“…”

In the past, I would have thought the same as Claire… but not anymore.

The words ‘My body changed too, so what’s so surprising about that?’ almost slipped out, but I swallowed them back. I anticipated Claire’s reaction. And I chose words that wouldn’t upset her as much as possible.

“Wouldn’t it be possible…? I heard it actually has that effect.”

“Have you ever used this?”

“Ah, no? No way. Why would I use something like that?”

It wasn’t a lie, since *I* hadn’t used it. Then Claire said with a dissatisfied expression,

“But how can you be so sure? It might just be a rumor, and in reality, it only makes you feel good, right?”

It seemed Claire didn’t believe it.

“Maybe so…?”

“Right? You think so too, don’t you?”

Well… it *does*… make you feel… good, doesn’t it?

What am I thinking….

I shook my head internally and looked back at Claire.

“Actually, one of the reasons I held onto you… seems to be this. I’m not very close with Alchemists. So, the only people I could ask were you or… at least Veronica, but neither of you were around.”

“Ah.”

Indeed, if she went around nagging other Alchemists like she did during her Academy days… of course, they wouldn’t get along.

As she said that, I saw Claire bring the Potion to her mouth.

“Hey, w-wait, why are you trying to eat that?”

“To prove that this Potion is a lie, right in front of an Alchemist, using my own body?”

“…Wouldn’t it be better to stop?”

I had a bad feeling, but.

“It’s fine. Anyway, all that stuff is just baseless rumors, right? Even if it does make you feel good, I can just immediately detoxify it with Divine power. And… if push comes to shove, you can just detoxify me, can’t you?”

“…”

Somehow, I was tempted. In a situation where no breakthrough was visible… it was a new direction I could try. The thought that perhaps what had grown wouldn’t disappear with the power of Divine power.

If I had thought a little more deeply, I would have realized it wouldn’t be like that.

At Claire’s confident attitude and the feeling that a tiny ray of light was shining upon the research results that had shown no hope, I inadvertently nodded my head.

I watched Claire, who smiled contentedly, swallow the Potion with the cold tea.

It was expected that Claire’s face would turn pale after swallowing it. Though I felt sorry for Claire.

Claire, flustered, tried to hide her distorted face and reached a hand towards her lower body.

I watched her with a pounding heart.

Hoping it would work, please.