“Come in,” invited Lyse before the door swung open.
The visitor was a young man with short, black hair—one of the matchmaking hopefuls. He peered inside the small palace room, confirming its occupants on one of the sofas. Sidis beckoned him to come sit across from them.
“I heard that you are offering a counseling service today, but I hope my question isn’t out of bounds...” the young man anxiously probed.
Of course, Lyse didn’t discourage him from asking anyway. “We’re more than happy to listen to any concerns you may have regarding your relationship, and we shall help address them to the best of our abilities.”
“Thank you so much,” the man said, looking at her closely. She was a little puzzled by this.
Lyse and Sidis were offering relationship advice today, so she was expecting to field questions about people from outside the empire and their views on life. However, his inquiry was rather unexpected...
“Um, I’m wondering if Prince Sidis could help me with something,” he said.
“Shoot,” Sidis urged him.
After a brief moment of internal conflict, the young man entreated with all seriousness, “Prince Sidis, could you perhaps teach me an incantation to transform into a dog?”
“You’re asking me to teach you magic?”
Baffled by the question, Lyse stared at him blankly. She wondered how this had anything to do with the matchmaking.
The man explained, “Erm, the lady I’ve started seeing loves dogs...”
The only person that came to mind for Lyse was Goldilocks, as she’d enjoyed playing with the canine emperor and taking him on walks. Lyse also recalled that this young man had volunteered to go on one such stroll.
He continued, “And so, she asked me if it were possible to use magic to transform someone into a dog.”
“She asked if you would turn into a dog for her?” Lyse never expected Goldilocks to have such a niche interest, but the young man shook his head.
“The other way around, actually. She wants to see what it’s like to be one.”
Lyse bit her tongue. To think that Goldilocks had such wild fantasies... Just what kind of repressed childhood did she have?
But Sidis was more wary of another aspect of the situation. “Did you tell her that there’s a spell to turn into a dog?”
It wasn’t public knowledge that such transformation magic existed. During the showdown with Caldo the other day, a handful of knights and infantry had learned of it, but the empire hadn’t yet officially acknowledged that it could be used on just anyone. Opening up that dialogue ran the risk of people finding out that the abducted dog had actually been the emperor.
The young man, however, shook his head again. “No, I didn’t. Though I did hear that such a spell was under development.” Alcede must’ve thought up that excuse to explain why only a select few could use the spell. “I was hoping that you, Prince Sidis, could cast it on her.”
“I have reservations about suddenly transforming a foreigner like that,” Sidis replied. “Even healing magic often brings about side effects, so I worry that transformation magic would too.”
“So it’s potentially unsafe...” the black-haired youth acknowledged. Lyse thought he would let the matter go with that, but no. “Then, is it possible to cast the spell on me?”
“Say what?!”
Though Lyse was touched by his offer to become a dog for his love, Sidis was rather displeased. “Absolutely not. The spell has a major limitation.”
“And what is that?”
“When the spell dissipates, you return to human form stark naked.”
It was hard to remain clothed as a dog because human clothes didn’t fit. Even if you could get them on, they were most uncomfortable.
“Is there no way it can be done?” the young man adamantly pressed Sidis.
Upon giving it some thought, Lyse wondered if it might be possible to slowly transform parts of his body, like what had happened to Egbert. That way, it would be feasible to stay dressed while partially transformed. “Um, how would you feel about keeping a humanoid form while having fur all over, doggy ears, a tail, and a canine head to match? Though you might more so resemble a bear standing on its hind legs...”
“I wouldn’t mind! Could we do that, please?” the young man practically begged Sidis.
After some difficult consideration, Sidis replied, “I’m not sure if it’ll work, but let’s give it a shot.”
Sidis’s spell was successful. According to him, the young man transformed into something like a dogboy, retaining his physique à la a bipedal dog. He and Goldilocks had actually just had a fight, and they were able to make up while he was in partial dog form. Shortly thereafter, they agreed to wed and live happily ever after in the empire. Goldilocks relayed this news with rosy cheeks, undoubtedly and genuinely happy with the outcome.
Huh. So there are people out there who are okay marrying dogs, thought Lyse. There were many boats in the world, and many ways to float them.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Please, come in,” invited Lyse.
With that, Freyja—the female knight with a beauty mark under one eye—entered the room. Lyse had heard that she’d started seeing the slenderest, most delicate young man from the matchmaking event and wondered what kind of advice she was seeking today.
Freyja sat on the sofa across from the couple and got immediately to the point. “There is something I have been dying to ask you, Miss Lyse.”
“What is it? I will do whatever I can to help,” she responded.
Freyja blushed and nervously glanced over at Sidis. “I, uh, would like to inquire how I could carry a man without him objecting. I wish to go for a stroll with him in my arms.”
Lyse almost audibly gasped. She had expected questions about foreigners and their way of thinking, but this made two curveballs in a row. After collecting herself, she probed Freyja for more details. “Um, is there a reason why you came to me with that question?”
“If I’m being honest, I heard that you’ve carried Prince Sidis around before.”
“And from whom did you hear that?”
“Duke Alcede.”
Knowing Alcede, he’d spread the rumor for his own amusement. Lyse needed to get him back for that, and she plotted to replace all the sweets in his pockets with monsters. Getting back to the matter at hand, however, Lyse responded with a few ideas of her own.
“I understand, then. Well, I could only do so because Prince Sidis was happy to be carried...” That, and Lyse had sprung it on him by surprise. He never would’ve agreed otherwise.
“Did you not have any objections to it, Prince Sidis?” Freyja asked.
“I suppose that depends on who’s doing the carrying. I don’t think anyone would be fine being carried if they didn’t like or trust the carrier, no? I trusted Lyse, so I had no worries.”
“Worry? What could you have to worry about?” Lyse couldn’t think of any reason he’d be worried. At the time, Sidis had been more than happy to indulge her. He’d even said that it reminded him of his childhood with Qatora.
“So it’s all about trust, is it...?” Freyja ruminated aloud. “Thank you very much for your time.”
It seemed like something clicked for her.
A few months later, Lyse saw Freyja again and the knight thanked her. Freyja was now happily wedded to her man and they were living together in the capital. She said that she’d gradually earned his trust and was finally able to hold him.
“Whenever the chance arose, I demonstrated that I was strong enough not to drop him. Though it took some time, I was ultimately rewarded with the chance to carry him in my own arms.”
“Oh. That’s what you took from that.”
It seemed like Freyja had understood “trust” to mean getting her fiancé to place confidence in her physical capabilities. But all’s well that ends well.
“The way he was so bashful was adorable and it melted my heart,” Freyja said with a blush.
To each their own, Lyse thought.