The Prince in Danger of Castration, and the Transgender Who Makes Men's Hearts Flutter (4)
"Lord Owen! Look at this. I've only had a single dose, and already I can feel my chest growing!"
René sat on the sofa, happily kneading his own chest.
As if that weren't enough, he grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest, ostensibly so I could check how much it had grown.
All of this happened in the precious seconds while Kylian was carefully choosing his words, trying to figure out what he could say to bolster René's self-esteem.
Kylian's eyes went wide as saucers.
He couldn't tear his gaze away from my hand, kneading away at René's chest.
He blinked dumbfounded for a long moment, then abruptly shoved himself between us and pried my hand away by the wrist.
René looked up at Kylian as if to ask what the problem was.
Those pointlessly large, clear eyes blinking up at him, head tilted at an angle — such a quintessentially feminine move that Kylian couldn't bear to meet his gaze and whipped his head away.
Kylian gave a dry cough and spoke up.
"I understand the joy of seeing yourself grow, but one must take care not to offer one's body freely to others."
"If it is Lord Owen, I do not mind, but..."
"Wh-what."
Kylian looked at me, flustered. His eyes were clearly asking what the nature of my relationship with René was.
How interesting.
Not only did he take René for a woman, he now saw me as a rival to be wary of. What a delightful misunderstanding.
Explaining that René was a man would clear it right up — but I had no intention of doing that.
Why?
Where's the fun in letting something like this slide?
Keeping the misunderstanding alive as a misunderstanding is the entertaining part. I mean, you're looking forward to the moment René realizes he's been found out and dies of embarrassment, aren't you?
And so, to make sure the misunderstanding stayed unresolved, I offered this explanation:
"It's a necessary degree of contact to verify how well the medicine has taken effect. That's all I meant."
"Is that so? Yes, that does make sense. But mage, you show a lack of consideration. To not have a female attendant prepared for situations like this."
"Your point is well taken, Kylian. My consideration was lacking indeed."
Misunderstanding preserved. Success.
Kylian grumbled under his breath and leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, radiating an air of I'll be watching to see if anything untoward happens.
We'd known each other for less than a day, and already René seemed to have thoroughly captured his interest.
"It has definitely grown. Any other changes?"
"Hmm, other than that... my skin seems a touch smoother. And I believe my sweat smells slightly different as well."
"Those are normal reactions."
Keep injecting female hormones like this, and he'd become a man radiating femininity far beyond what he showed now. With a face that pretty to begin with, strangers would find it hard not to feel something was off.
Just like Kylian right now.
"You can keep using it without any problems. I did bring extra doses."
I got up to hand over the surplus I'd brought, sweeping the medicine box up out of reach.
René, whose hand had been stretching toward the box, let out a "Ah, why would you do that!" and started hopping up and down beneath it.
Not that the jumps got him anywhere close. A fellow only slightly taller than Lily could hop all he liked; that box was well beyond his reach.
"Lord Owen, why must you be so mischievous! The medicine, the medicine — give it to me, I beg you."
"First, it seems the gentleman over there has something to say to you."
René turned toward where Kylian stood.
"Something to say to me? And what would that be?"
Kylian squared his shoulders.
"I was wondering whether that medicine is truly necessary for you. To my eyes, you already seem thoroughly feminine and charming, even without it."
His voice trembled with nervousness. Noble status aside, it laid bare the hope of appealing to a woman he'd fallen for — along with the worry and the weight of it all.
How green he was.
So coddled growing up that it showed plainly — he had no experience with situations like this.
But that sincerity never reached René.
René's reply was cold.
"I cannot be satisfied with what I already am. Lord Owen's medicine can change a life that was decided at birth — a life one cannot otherwise change. That is exactly what I need."
That's right.
Cut away what's below and keep up a steady regimen of female hormones, and you could live as a woman. You could overcome the sex assigned to you at birth.
"Surely there is something you, my lord, wish to change as well? For me, this is that very thing."
At René's grave, unyielding answer, Kylian fell silent.
If there had been a medicine that could shrink what's below — before I started training, before I became addicted to working out — would I still have chosen the gym?
He seemed to be asking himself exactly that.
And the verdict came.
"You are right. I apologize. Your circumstances and mine were different."
Desperation had triumphed over side effects.
Kylian admitted that if he'd had that option, he too would have chosen to endure the side effects.
"Mage. I seem to have lost this one."
"Understood."
I handed the raised medicine box over to René.
In Kylian's bitter gaze as he watched the scene, one could read a quiet confession — that if he were in my place, he could love René even small as he was.
Kylian extended a hand toward René, who was hugging the box in delight.
"My name is Kylian. Might I have the honor of yours?"
René reached out one hand, took his, and introduced himself.
"I am called René."
"A lovely name. Well then — I barged in on you today quite rudely, and I would like to make amends with a meal. Would you have time sometime soon? I assure you I am no suspicious character, and I am hardly in the habit of making such offers."
"I was not particularly bothered, but... a free meal is not something a wise man refuses!"
Kylian clenched his remaining hand into a tight fist.
He looked genuinely pleased to have secured a promise to meet again.
Right. Share a few meals, hit the sauna together, and the truth would come out eventually.
Which is exactly why I didn't tell him.
About René's sex.
René was a famous student at the Knight Faculty.
In a department so overwhelmingly male that female students were found about as often as beans in a drought, here was a stunningly pretty student who even dressed like a woman — no wonder so many students had mistaken René for a girl and come flocking in the early weeks of the semester.
Countless date requests. Countless confessions. Victim after victim, fooled by René's appearance. There was even a student whose thirst for women ran so deep he'd rationalized his way to who cares if it's a man, as long as the experience is good.
After all manner of tribulations, hardly anyone at the Knight Faculty remained who didn't know what René really was.
Yes — at the Knight Faculty, that is.
Outside the Knight Faculty, plenty of people had no idea René was a man.
Kylian was one of them.
"Good heavens, this restaurant looks outrageously expensive."
Arriving at the promised meeting place, René trembled from head to toe, overwhelmed by a splendor he had never seen in his life.
He had agreed to a free meal, true. But he'd never imagined it would be at a place that looked this expensive.
He'd assumed "a meal" meant something simple at an ordinary restaurant — but this place had to cost a hundred times whatever he'd imagined.
"René. You're early."
Kylian was waiting in front of the restaurant, dressed up quite handsomely — apparently there was some occasion worth the effort.
René, by contrast, looked as though he'd thrown on whatever was nearest, like someone stepping out to run a quick errand.
But what did any of that matter? As the saying goes, love's bean-pod blinders make even a beggar look beautiful.
So it was for Kylian.
The stretched-out collar of the T-shirt, with a sliver of collarbone peeking through — clearly deliberate. The comfortable shorts could only have been chosen to show off those smooth legs and pink knees. The casually dragged-on slippers? They revealed pale white feet he'd never have seen had René worn ordinary shoes — a blessing upon blessing.
It is human nature to grow curious and excited by what is hidden.
Aside from the genitals, the one part of the human body one almost never sees on display, bare feet rank among the rarest sights of all.
...That's indecently arousing.
Kylian, beholding those bare feet, felt his heart hammering as though struck with arrhythmia.
René spotted him and asked brightly:
"Lord Kylian, this shop looks far too expensive. I did say I'd accept your treat, but I never imagined a place like this."
"It's fine. It's not that costly."
Economic sense is a relative thing. Just as what a commoner considers expensive feels like pocket change to a tycoon, to Kylian — whose sense of money had been thoroughly obliterated — a place like this counted as cheap.
"Oh, I see!"
But René, knowing none of this, took it at face value — all that glitters is just surface, apparently — and wiped his guilt away entirely.
"Let's head in. I've reserved a table."
Kylian opened the door as if he'd been waiting all day for this moment.
René followed him in, taking in the interior awash in gleaming gold — and then felt a flicker of unease.
There were no customers.
Not a single one.
How could a restaurant this grand have zero customers?
Of course, there was a perfectly good reason.
Kylian had rented out the entire establishment.
And so, from this moment on, the only customers this restaurant would hold were René and Kylian, alone together — while every waiter and cook in the vast hall worked solely for that party of two.
Everything was in place.
Perfect.
Kylian was well satisfied, glad he'd checked every last detail for anything he might have missed.
"Might I use the restroom?"
"Ah, of course. I'll show you the way."
And so the two of them headed for the restroom.
"Oh, it smells delightful in here."
Being a high-class establishment, they used costly herbs to keep the restroom air pleasant.
And then — wait.
"René?"
Kylian was slow to notice something was wrong.
René's movements had been so natural that he'd nearly let it slide.
"That's the men's room—"
René had already gone in, so there was no stopping him now.
But it would be fine, surely. The place was rented out whole; there were no other customers. Even if he'd wandered into the wrong restroom by mistake, no great harm would come of it.
...It was a mistake, right?
The image of René checking the men's sign before walking in flickered vividly before his eyes — but Kylian chose to believe his memory had played tricks on him.
"Right. It must've been a mistake..."