A brief explanation from the beginning, please.
After school, I was helping my darling with work at the Burton estate.
"Young Madam, your family has sent guests. What should we do?"
"My family? I wasn't expecting anyone today... Who is it?"
"It is Lord Rupert."
"Niisama? Please let him in."
"Understood."
The butler quietly bowed and left the room.
"I wonder what this is about?"
"Yeah."
I couldn’t think of any reason Niisama, who loved his research and was a bit of a recluse, would come here with something urgent. The only reason he would visit the family home was likely for some kind of reprimand.
"Sorry for dropping by unannounced."
Niisama looked somewhat troubled. What!? What happened!?
"Have you seen Pochi recently?"
"Huh? I haven’t seen him since he got lost the other day."
"... So you have nothing to do with this, huh?"
I didn’t quite understand what he meant, but I didn’t like how he seemed to blame me for everything. Still, something seemed off, so I decided to ask Niisama what was going on.
"What's going on? Did something happen to Pochi?"
"Yeah... Pochi..."
Niisama, with a pained expression, continued.
"Pochi has turned from a dog into something more like a wolf, and he’s gotten muscles like Geraldin-san."
Wait, what?
"... Niisama, that sounds like a completely different person, doesn’t it?"
"But inside, it’s still Pochi."
"Wait, did something happen to him, like... did his soul swap with someone else?"
"Apparently, that’s not the case."
“”………………””
Pochi... the plump Shiba Inu-like Pochi... has turned into a wolf and gained muscles like Geraldin-san!?
The small, slender Pochi has turned into a muscle-bound body overnight!?
I buried my head in my hands. I hadn’t seen him myself, so it was hard to imagine.
"Anyway, I’m going to see Pochi. Dirk..."
"Yeah. Go ahead. There’s no urgent work here, so leave it to me."
What a wonderful husband! So kind, considerate, handsome, cute, fluffy, always smelling nice, sexy, and surprisingly intense at night...
"Rosarin, your thoughts are spilling out. Dirk’s in pain, and this is getting suspicious, so shall we wrap it up?"
"Okay..."
With a clatter, Niisama and I got into the carriage to head to the family home.
"From what Pochi said, it seems like he felt something break inside him. Have you noticed anything about a seal placed on Pochi?"
"No... but..."
"Do you have any idea?"
"Well... I think Pochi had some kind of protective magic on him. It didn’t feel malicious… In fact, I could feel a protective intent, so I didn’t tamper with it. Maybe it’s possible that the magic has worn off..."
Niisama furrowed his brow.
"Is there any way a spell can last this long without a magic stone?"
"Well, Pochi has high magic power, and he always tries to stay close to others... It’s possible that he was the one maintaining the spell without realizing it. Maybe he was unconsciously keeping it going."
"I see. And then... Geraldin-san mentioned something that caught my attention."
Although I didn't trust anything that old man said, Niisama continued after a preface.
"He said that the muscular version of Pochi looks a lot like the royal family of wolf-beastmen from across the sea. And that Mary looks similar to the royal family of the cat-beastmen from the enemy country. They had recently been at war, and there are missing royals from that kingdom."
A bad feeling washed over me.
In fact, Mary had once received an inquiry about this, but she had strongly rejected it, and we had ended it there. But Pochi aside, Mary’s situation seemed quite suspicious.
"There’s no way, right? It’s just Geraldin-san’s imagination, right?"
"... I hope so."
Niisama didn’t agree with me and seemed to have something on his mind.
When we arrived at the atelier, there were guards at the door.
"Wahahaha! If you want to pass, you’ll have to beat me first!"
"Hihihi."
"Hehehe."
"Rosariiin."
The Fake-rin bowed. I got the sense that my siblings were apologizing for this. Well, since I was the model, they must be acting with some sense of propriety!
"... Then, I guess I’ll have to force my way through! Valkyrie, Ashura mode!!"
"Rosariiiiiin!!"
Physically, the Valkyrie, with three faces and six arms, attacked the fake Geraldin-san.
"Too weak!"
"Ah!? The Valkyrie got slapped away!"
As expected, Geraldin-san was strong, even though he was a fake! Even more so, since being a fake made him immune to the usual jokes about Jend or Lumia-san! He might just be the strongest!
On top of that... the support from our fake twin angels was well-timed and troublesome, and even Fake-rin was strong! Individually, we could handle them, but with all four working together, they were very difficult to deal with. At this rate... with just me and Valkyrie, we’d lose... I thought about Dirk, but wishing for something impossible was pointless.
If the direct approach doesn’t work, then I’ll use more underhanded tactics! The surroundings of the atelier had already changed due to our wild fighting. I could wait for reinforcements from Martha or Niisama, but I don’t like losing!
"Are you sure? I’m Pochi’s important, important older sister. If you hurt me... what do you think Pochi would say?"
"Huh!?"
"Huh!?"
"Ah!?"
"Rosa!?"
Wait, hold on. What was that? “Rosa”!? That’s why people think just the protagonist’s name is funny... no, my thoughts wandered.
"... Wouldn’t he be upset with you for hurting his sister?"
"Kyuuun."
“”Auu…”"
"Rosariiin..."
Everyone was clearly deflated. The effect was perfect!
"Right now, I could keep this a secret, but... what do you want to do?"
"””Please!”””
"Rosariiin!!"
And so, I won a completely pointless battle. The fake twins checked, but it turned out that Pochi had gone into full concentration mode and hadn’t moved or responded at all. I wanted to at least see his face, but apparently, he was busy making decorations for my wedding, so I was banned from entering. It turned out to be a completely wasted trip.
Now that I thought about it, with all the noise and commotion around the atelier, it made sense that Pochi didn’t come out. He had probably been in concentration mode long before I arrived.
I was exhausted from the pointless fighting, but in any case, the time was up.
As Rosarin Burton, my mission was to feed my beloved Dirk a hearty, delicious meal.
Reluctantly, I requested that they call me once Pochi’s concentration ended and headed home.
What do you think about this chapter?
