Ventorino Kingdom - Germination (12)
It was, in truth, a story that was hard to believe.
Not just any magical tool, but an illusion-type artifact—one with such frightening performance that it could even deceive the knight assigned to guard a princess. More than that, it wasn’t a tool for ordinary use, but one meant for sexual play. It was not the sort of thing Valdes, who had until recently been nothing more than a squire knight, should have had in his possession.
That was true in terms of rarity, and just as true in terms of price. Naturally, suspicion would have been the sensible response. And yet the thing’s effects were already being displayed right before their eyes.
Princess Mari and her escort knight both treated her as nothing more than a dog.
That was enough to make Clara’s overheated heart cloud her reason.
It couldn’t be helped.
Even if Clara were perfectly sane, it would have been difficult to realize that the other three were all in on it together.
So, with a courage that was itself a little embarrassing, the bitch sought to satisfy her desire and gave Mari a tiny bark.
"Woof…♡"
"Ah, it sounds like the dog answered!"
"This lowly bitch would recognize a noble princess, of course."
"Lowly…? You shouldn’t say something like that to a pet dog."
"Not at all. In fact, this one likes being called that."
"Oh? Is that so?"
When Mari glanced sidelong at Clara, her body gave a small jolt. What was she supposed to do here? The answer was already decided.
"W-Woof…♡"
"My, it really does seem that way. How fascinating..."
Mari’s tone sounded interested, but there was a faint trace of mockery in her expression. Clara, however, failed to notice it. She was too busy giddily enjoying the fact that she could indulge in such perverted behavior without exposing her true identity.
Right? she was thinking, Ethylene?
"Yes, she really does seem like... quite an amusing bitch, Princess Mari."
The same was true for Ethylene, who had come along as Mari’s bodyguard in the guise of a knight.
From Ethylene’s point of view, Princess Clara’s utterly broken state was simply fascinating. She had not seen many women panting like this. At most, there had been Mercede, whom she had once glimpsed from afar, and the senior knight Essex not long ago.
But when it had been Mercede, Ethylene had been too busy burning with hatred and fury toward Valdes to look properly. Now, by contrast, she could see the princess’s lewd expression with perfect clarity. For Ethylene, who had willingly taken up the role of Valdes’s sex slave, that was strangely delightful.
It was a pleasure born of the realization that she and Princess Clara were the same. No—perhaps she was even a little better.
"Come to think of it, dogs roll onto their backs and show their bellies as proof of submission. Does this one do that too?"
"Ah, is that so? This is my first time with a dog, so... I suppose I’ll have to make her try."
"She seems obedient."
"Of course. This one is lowly and vulgar, but she’s such a good, meek bitch."
Valdes and Mari were in perfect sync.
Considering that they had not arranged any of this in advance, they made a surprisingly natural pair. Ethylene thought as much to herself. Of course, if she said it out loud, it would surely reach Mercede or some other woman’s ears eventually, and then she would be scolded to death, so she kept the thought to herself.
After finishing his exchange with Mari, Valdes bent down toward Clara.
"Now then, our bitch. Roll over for me."
……
Pressured by her master yet again, this time for a different reason, Clara stopped moving.
Not that it would have mattered in her current state, but if she turned over, the more intimate parts of her body would naturally be exposed. No matter how much Mari thought of her as a dog, it was not easy for a person to actually flip herself over and present her sex like a real animal.
But Clara’s hesitation did not last long.
"Woof, woof…♡"
Clara closed her eyes tight and flopped onto her back at once. The movement was awkward for something that was supposed to be a dog’s, but since the three men and women watching saw her as a human, they didn’t care much.
"Waaah, what a good dog!"
"Woof, woof."
Feeling a strange, twisted mix of embarrassment, shame, excitement, and pleasure, Clara barked like a dog. She was now her master’s bitch, after all.
Perhaps that was why Mari’s praise, spoken as though she were treating Clara like a little sister, felt oddly wonderful. Clara’s values as a human—values that still restrained her behavior even while she thought of herself as her master’s bitch—were beginning to crack, piece by piece.
"Hm... cute...♡"
Mari could tell at once from Clara’s expression and eyes.
This was nothing like the haughty, dignified pose Clara usually put on. It was a sweet, melting look, full of need and craving for affection—the sort of expression she only ever showed when she was with her fiancé, Lloyd. Mari found it terribly amusing.
Unlike Mercede, who bore little hostility toward the Ventorino royal family, Mari didn’t particularly like them. It was because the family had tried to use her in a marriage alliance. At first, that had been convenient, since it meant she had been able to come here with Valdes.
But that had only lasted a moment. The pressure from their constant efforts to secure the engagement had become exhausting. Fortunately, things had gone quiet after the demon attack, but that didn’t make them any less irritating.
Somehow, each member of the family had taken turns pestering her from a different direction.
The most aggravating of all were Prince Alfonso, who was hopelessly infatuated with her, and Queen Katarina, who had been the one to push the marriage in the first place. But Clara’s behavior irritated Mari just as much.
That shamelessly sweet, clingy way she behaved with her fiancé—the same thing she had already complained to Valdes about. That was what made her the most jealous.
Because of that, Mari felt more and more mischievous impulses bubbling up whenever she looked at the bitch Clara.
Suppressing the mocking laugh that kept trying to spill from her lips, Mari reached out toward Clara’s stomach.
"I’m not exactly close with dogs either, but for some reason I feel like I could get along with this one. Isn’t it true that dogs love having their bellies rubbed?"
Saying that, she began to stroke Clara’s belly as though she were petting a real dog.
"M-mngh, mmngh...♡"
Clara shuddered faintly at the sensation of Mari’s hand rubbing over her pure white stomach. It was a treatment that handled her like a dog, but in a different way from Valdes.
The night air outside was cold enough to feel almost icy, but Clara’s body, thoroughly heated, was warm to the touch. Mari understood perfectly well that it wasn’t because dogs had high body temperatures—it was because Clara was aroused.
After teasingly rubbing her soft belly for a few moments, Mari’s hand slowly traveled upward.
"W-woof? Woof!"
Startled, Clara turned her head in a panic and looked toward her master, barking as if to ask for help. But he only answered with a smile.
"My, do you not like being touched there? Still, you’d better stay still."
"Mmngh, mmngh..."
Clara shrank in on herself at the words, letting out a stream of pained little sounds.
She didn’t hate it. On the contrary, she liked it. The sensation of a woman’s soft, smooth hand was fresh and delightful in a way that was completely different from Valdes’s rough, firm touch.
Her only worry was this: women, especially adult women, had clear curves and contours that differed from a dog’s body. An illusion artifact might be able to deceive the eye, but if someone touched her all over with their hands, wouldn’t they notice?
And yet, despite that concern, Mari remained utterly calm even as her hand moved around Clara’s chest without a hint of hesitation. That should have been obvious, and Clara felt some relief from it.
But she couldn’t help growing a little suspicious.
She knew her breasts weren’t especially large, but she didn’t think they were small either. And yet Mari was acting so casually while touching and fondling her chest. That wasn’t something ordinary illusion magic could do. And she didn’t think a magic tool for that sort of thing would be enchanted with illusion magic in the first place.
Only one thought could naturally come from that.
No way... no, it can’t be...
But only for a moment.
The dizzying pleasure that flared dead center in her breasts cut her thought cleanly in half.
"H-Hihhngh?! ...W-wuff!"
Clara, who had cried out like a human in shock, belatedly forced out an awkward dog sound. She wasn’t actually well-versed in dogs either, so she had no idea what kind of sound she should make in a situation like this and simply barked whatever came to mind.
At that clumsy display, the three people surrounding Clara struggled not to laugh.
"My, I’m sorry. I accidentally brushed your nipple."
By the time Mari finished speaking, her expression had already turned sly.
"But that sound just now was... unusual. Almost like you were enjoying it."
"W-woof...?"
Taking Clara’s place as she flustered, Valdes stepped in again to defend his bitch.
"Ah, this one received a somewhat incorrect education, you see."
Of course, it wasn’t much of a defense, and Mari didn’t truly take it as one.
"Heeey, now that I think about it, you said she was a female, didn’t you? Hm, what a perverted little dog. Feeling things like a human—hehe, that’s funny."
Clara, who still didn’t know the full shape of what was happening, was torn between relief and alarm. But soon enough she realized it was clearly the latter.
"May I pet her a little more, Sir Valdes?"
"Of course, Princess Mari. As you wish... you may torment her to your heart’s content."
Torment her to her heart’s content. Clara’s eyes went wide as saucers, as if she wanted to look up at her master in protest. But Mari’s hand was faster.
"Hehe, then... there!"
Mari’s hand began to toy with Clara mercilessly.
It was a technique she had sharpened on her sister and mother. The same skillful hands that could make women feel and tremble as easily as any man now worked over Clara’s body.
"M-mngh! Hah, h-hah, hnnngh... ah, haaah, m-mmng...♥"
It was her first time ever feeling such caresses.
So skillful that it was hard to believe they were coming from another woman, Clara could barely keep her mind together. Then again, being a woman herself meant Mari knew even better than men where women liked to be touched and how they liked it. And on that point, Mari had a particularly mischievous streak compared to the rest of her family.
As a result, Clara could no longer even bark properly like a dog.
"Kya-ha-ha!"
Laughing with a venomous glee, Mari tormented Clara with all her might.
It felt as though she were releasing, at last, all the things she had not been able to do to her sister and mother. Those two were higher than her in the family hierarchy, after all; there were limits to how brazenly she could act around them. The fact that their mother, Beatris, had raised them with both warmth and strictness also played a part.
In other words, even if they might all become women of Valdes’s in the future, for now they were no different from strangers. And so Mari’s personality—one that still bore a resemblance to Beatris—came pouring out exactly as it was.
"Haaah, hahh...! Ngh, hnnngh...♥"
Before long, Clara had completely given up on barking like a dog.
She could do nothing but lie on the floor, panting while drinking in the pleasure Mari was giving her.
Valdes and Ethylene, watching her, even felt a little sorry for Clara. But while Ethylene simply followed her master’s lead and stayed still, Valdes allowed Mari’s actions to continue as she worked on training Clara properly.
"Hnnngh, ngh, uht, haaah... h, ah, ahng, ahng, uht, hht, kyaaaah—♥♥"
In the end, Mari only stopped toying with her once Clara had climaxed and spilled her juices onto the ground.
"Hah, hah, haaah...♥"
"Hm. She’s still woefully undertrained."
"Yes, so... I’m planning to take her out for a bit more walking and training."
"I see. Then I’ll be going now. If I stay too late, the others might start worrying."
"Haha, then I’ll see you next time, Princess Mari."
"Yes, Sir Valdes...♡"