Ludwin blinked his unfocused eyes for a moment as he came back to his senses. Clear golden eyes scanned his surroundings from beneath black hair that slightly covered his eyes.
‘There’s no one here.’
He slowly got up, immediately feeling uncomfortable that he wasn’t wearing any clothes.
Clearing his throat at the awkwardness, Ludwin hastily reached under the dresser feeling around.
After a moment of fumbling, his hand caught something and he pulled it out.
A white shirt, cotton pants, and underwear.
It seemed like they’d been prepared properly.
He put on the clothes his collaborator had provided, standing in front of the mirror to make sure he was dressed properly.
He looked out the window and saw a full moon.
‘It’s been a few days this time, hasn’t it?’
Calculating the date based on his last clear memory, it‘d been four days since he’d changed.
Before that, he’d changed after seven days.
Ludwin frowned slightly.
‘It’s happening faster than I thought…’
It was surprising, given his previous experience.
He lifted his head and looked around the room.
The room Tyria had given him appeared to be her parlor.
‘I didn’t mean to intrude into her personal space.’
Ludwin felt a little embarrassed at the thought of entering a lady’s private rooms.
He looked around and noticed a family portrait hanging on one wall.
There was a familiar girl in the portrait.
‘This is…’
She had silver hair that shimmered like it was made of moonlight, deep violet eyes, and a small frame that stood tall and proud.
Ludwin’s amber eyes shone with affection.
“Tia.”
The girl he’d been searching for, for so long, was right in front of him.
His precious silver fairy.
“It was you, after all.”
One day 10 years ago, a little girl appeared without warning at the tower where he was imprisoned, wearing a cute cat mask under the soft moonlight.
“Are you Ludwin?”
“I’m T… Ah. Yes, call me Tia.”
“I’ll only stay here for ten days. Is that alright?”
“There’s no need to be afraid, you’re going to be really cool! Trust me!”
“Look at that! The transformation was successful! As expected, you’re amazing.”
The girl who’d appeared out of thin air changed his life forever, and exactly as she said, ten days later, she suddenly disappeared without saying goodbye.
A year later, when he was able to control his transformation, he finally emerged from the tower.
After that, Ludwin searched relentlessly for the girl. But found no trace of her anywhere.
For a while, he wondered if the girl really was a fairy.
Then, just when he was beginning to think it’d all been a dream, she reappeared.
Ludwin thought he was hallucinating at the imperial palace banquet four years ago.
‘Tia.’
A beautiful young woman, seventeen years old then, sparkled just as she had before.
But what was wrong?
When she saw him, she turned white and ran away screaming.
The crown prince laughed, asking what he’d done to make her run away, while the blue-haired woman looked back and forth between him and Tyria.
It was Ludwin who was the most puzzled.
‘Why are you running away?’
They ran into each other several times after that, but each time she avoided him, face turning pale.
At first, he was confused, thinking he’d seen the wrong person.
But there was no way he could’ve mistaken Tyria’s scent, not when his five senses were superior to that of an average human’s.
A spicy, yet soft floral scent.
It was captivating, a scent that could easily be mistaken for that of a fairy; one he hadn’t smelled on anyone else besides her. Usually, there was always a sticky smell lingering around in the air around him.
But he could no longer carelessly approach someone who turned pale just by looking at him.
He spent years trying to figure out how to get close to her without frightening her.
What Pedro said served as a hint.
“Isn’t it popular these days to give dogs as gifts to children on their birthdays?”
He thought that maybe if he went to see her in his canine form, she might not run away.
When she was young, she loved it when he looked like a dog.
Maybe if he approached her in his animal form, her eyes would soften, and she’d smile at him like she used to.
When he learned that Tyria was going down to her estate in a few days, he became impatient and hurriedly tried to set a date for his plan.
“You’re here. I’m afraid you’ll have to take care of this matter, personally.”
The crown prince, his face uncharacteristically stern, called him to the palace and gave an order.
Although he understood why the crown prince was sending him, he wasn’t very interested in the mission.
But since he would pass through Dilucia on his way to and from the mission, it seemed like a good excuse to stop by the Dilucia estate on his way back.
So, he accepted, but a problem arose.
‘The drug…’
Ludwin narrowed his eyes.
The smoke that he accidentally inhaled during a battle in the Lascente Mountains was laced with something.
After inhaling it, he felt compelled to stay in his animal form.
If he tried to force himself to change, his mind would turn cloudy, preventing him from thinking rationally.
Thanks to this, his memories of when he was a dog were vague. He remembered things, but it felt like a dream.
This time, he’d returned to his human form after four days but didn’t know when he’d change back to his animal form.
Even now, his body was trembling as he tried to force himself to transform.
He rubbed at his forearms, which were covered in goosebumps from the drug’s effects.
‘This is pathetic.’
For the first few days, he went back and forth between animal and human form several times within an hour.
Due to the pain caused by the forced transformations, his reason and memory were often lost, and he couldn’t remember how he’d survived in the Lascente Mountains, which were infested with strong monsters and ferocious beasts.
All he could think of was the black night sky, the red blood of his enemies, and the searing pain.
After that, his transformations became erratic, every few days, and he spent more and more time in animal form.
Then, when he suddenly came to his senses, he found himself in animal form, hovering around Tyria.
Somehow, that day, for the first time in a long time, his mind was clear.
‘Tia? Why am I here…’
Apparently, he’d followed the trail of the enemies who’d drugged him and ended up here.
There was blood all over his fur from running wild.
He was happy to see her after so long, but also worried that she might be frightened if she saw him like this.
‘I should at least wash up.’
He saw a sparsely populated water tap nearby and was about to move when he noticed something.
‘They’re…’
There were people hovering around her shop and house.
He realized at once that these were the enemies he was after.
For some reason, it gave him a bad feeling.
He bared his teeth and growled low without realizing it.
‘What on earth are they after?’
Seeing as his enemies were now circling around Tyria, he wondered if they’d used the drug on him, so they’d be able to target her.
‘I can’t leave her like this.’
Ludwin decided to stay by Tyria’s side.
Perhaps he’d just been waiting for a reason to approach her all this time.
Ludwin went to his collaborator and asked him to wrap him up as a gift and send him to Tyria.
There was no way to explain the situation and no assurance that Tyria would meet him if he randomly went to see her as a dog.
‘If possible, it’d be better to wear pink, which Tia likes.’
He picked a pretty gift box to make himself look as harmless as possible.
He even tied a pretty pink ribbon around his neck, hoping to make her feel a little less intimidated.
He smiled clumsily and cheerfully as the box was opened.
“What’s he doing here!”
As expected, Tyria freaked out upon opening the box, but when he insisted that he wasn’t going back, she sighed heavily and gave him his own room.
She must’ve known he was Ludwin.
As proof, Tyria called out to his animal form naturally.
“Lou!”
Just as Tia had called him long ago.
She could’ve sent a knight to chase him away if she wanted.
But Tyria stood by him, letting him do as he pleased.
She was still so sweet.
“Tsk.”
Ludwin shuddered and winced. A sudden chill ran down his spine, giving him goosebumps.
He could feel himself turning back into a dog.
‘I’m so sick of this.’
The blood of this beast that prevented him from living a normal life was annoying.
Still, Ludwin didn’t seem to despise his bloodline.
“What’s the big deal, Lou’s cute, so it’s okay.”
Because Tyria said so.
He thought it might be a good thing that things turned out like this.
He wouldn’t be able to stay by her side in human form.
Moreover, it was impossible to maintain his dog form this long by only sheer will alone.
‘He’s going to be quite unruly for a while.’
Perhaps because of the drugs, he was unable to control his actions when he turned into a dog.
Though it was obvious that when he was a dog, he’d just stick by Tyria’s side anyway.
As a guard, it couldn’t’ve been better.
Ludwin was engulfed in golden light and laughed.
‘It’s already come to this, so I’ll just wag my tail a little more.’
Before he knew it, he’d returned to his dog form.
***
Two days after I decided to leave Ludwin at home, I tied up my hair early in the morning preparing to go out.
It was the day before the shop officially opened and the first batch of flowers would be arriving soon. I’d be busy all day, so the simpler the outfit, the better.
‘Dellua, Mohisa, Loggia and even Liventi. The store will fill with the scent of flowers, right?’
I couldn’t help but hum at the thought of the pretty but empty shop that’d soon be transformed into a vibrant space.
I really was enjoying life as I took a break from all my business affairs and spent my days leisurely taking care of the flower shop.
“I made the right choice after all.”
This is what happiness felt like.
Outside, there was a commotion.
