Chapter 4
“My lady really bathed by herself…?”
“From now on, I’ll bathe by myself.”
“Gasp…!”
Belver said to the maid, who had covered her mouth in shock at seeing him emerge from his bath alone.
She seemed surprised that he hadn’t accepted help, since he always had assistance with his baths.
He had no choice.
After Bellatrix left, some time passed before the maid came to see Belver.
She had come to help him bathe, since it was bath time.
She had definitely said that he would be helped with his bath, too.
At the time, both he and the maid had thought it would be fine since his body was female.
They’d thought he could just keep his eyes shut and get through it without seeing anything.
But when the time actually came, there was no way he could accept being helped.
Even if his body had become a woman’s, his mind was still a man’s.
He simply couldn’t accept being washed naked by a woman his own age.
He’d been bathed plenty of times, but always by someone of the same sex.
“I’ll be going now. It seems she’s waiting for me.”
“Yes! Have a good day!”
Belver put on a pair of neat leather shoes and headed out of the dormitory.
He felt like an animal being led to the slaughter, but he couldn’t stay behind.
He wasn’t the one in charge; Bellatrix was.
If she told him to come out, he had to go.
Before opening the door and stepping out, Belver touched the corners of his mouth one last time.
He tapped around them and, thankfully, his face was blank rather than smiling.
He couldn’t say how much trouble he’d had last night trying to break his habit of always smiling.
Unless he consciously tried to keep a blank expression, his face always returned to a smile.
He could only hope he wouldn’t do that outside, too.
“You’re here? You were taking so long that I thought you were making me stand here as a spectacle.”
“It took me a while to wash….”
“Oh. You washed? How was my body? Wait, when you say it took a while, did you wash by yourself?”
“Yes…. Please don’t make me say any more….”
Pshhh. Bellatrix grinned as she teased him, and fancied she could hear steam hissing out of Belver.
He was so embarrassed that he bowed his head, his ears turning bright red.
Thinking this was getting troublesome, she took his hand and led him away.
She desperately held back the urge to tease him even more, because he was ridiculously cute.
It wasn’t good to stay somewhere with so many eyes on them.
Ever since the very first day, Belver, with Bellatrix inside him, had come to visit, drawing an enormous amount of attention.
In that situation, the person waiting for him was Bellatrix, with Belver inside her.
To make matters worse, that notorious bitch Bellatrix had looked flustered and embarrassed.
Her plan to preserve her image in case they ever switched back had already taken a hit.
“Who is that man?”
“I don’t know, but he’s pretty handsome. So that’s the kind of face Lady Bellatrix likes.”
“My goodness. What in the world is going on?”
“Oh my!”
Belver was having the worst time as he was practically dragged along by Bellatrix.
It was because people around them kept talking as if he’d fallen for her.
The one leading him away was Bellatrix on the inside, but on the outside she looked like a man—and was wearing his body, at that—so there was no way he could be in love with her.
He thought he was going to die of injustice.
It was frustrating that he couldn’t even explain himself.
He wished this embarrassing, humiliating moment would hurry up and pass.
At the same time, he realized he’d keep getting these looks whenever he went around with Bellatrix, and his mind went blank.
He wanted to talk it over with her again right now and shut himself away in his room.
The embarrassment had overwhelmed him so completely that he couldn’t even manage a blank expression.
“This should be far enough. You can look up now.”
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know either. Some kind of plaza? Don’t you know where this is, commoner?”
“Ah, I know. This is First Plaza.”
“Oh, you do? Let’s rest over there.”
Fortunately, Belver recognized the place.
It was the same background as First Plaza in the game.
First Plaza was straight ahead from the dormitory, so the location made sense, too.
Bellatrix took Belver over to a bench.
Fortunately, it was still early, before the first period began, so there weren’t many people around.
At the dormitory, the fact that a man had visited on the very first day had become the hottest topic among the young female students.
Belver, sitting beside her, looked perfectly suited to the word “dazed.”
It was obvious he was completely out of it, glancing around aimlessly.
She found it amazing that the same body could look so different.
Whenever she looked in the mirror, she saw herself as coolheaded and stiff, as if she might cut anyone who touched her.
But Belver looked as though he’d go soft and squishy if someone poked him.
The coldness and stiffness were gone, replaced by an elegant, lively air.
What kind of life had he lived for such an innocent girl to be inside a strapping man’s body?
“Come to your senses. Now let’s talk about my body, which you touched all over like a pervert.”
“Eek!”
Belver trembled when he heard her whisper right next to his ear.
How could he not be startled when she whispered in his ear in that familiar voice, breath warm and sultry?
Her voice was enough to raise goosebumps all the way to his toes.
He’d been completely out of it, but Bellatrix’s words instantly brought him to his senses.
It was a subject he absolutely didn’t want to hear about or discuss.
“How was it? A woman’s body is soft, even if it’s a little small, right?”
“W-what are you saying…! No dirty talk! Don’t say things like that about my body!”
“It’s my body now, though? And dirty talk? I’m just suggesting we exchange information properly. Oh, should I go first?”
“Don’t! Gah! Why are you so weak?”
Flail, flail! Belver frantically tried to clap his small hands over Bellatrix’s mouth.
It was obvious she’d say something lewd and inappropriate about his body.
She’d tease him about his body and his mind with her words.
Even knowing it was teasing, to someone as innocent as him, with no resistance to such talk, it was like deadly poison.
That’s why he tried to stop her.
Of course, he stood no chance in Bellatrix’s frail body.
“It was really big. And hard.”
“Kyaaaah!!”
“I’m kidding. Don’t threaten me like I’m some kind of menace.”
“You’re really kidding, right?”
“I am kidding, but what I said was true. It really was big.”
“Y-you…!”
“Hm?”
“That’s sexual harassment!!!”
In the end, Belver exploded with a pop!
It was a blessing that few people were passing by and nobody was nearby.
To anyone else, it would look like Bellatrix had shouted “That’s sexual harassment!!!” at some strange man.
Bellatrix saw Belver huffing angrily, tears welling in his eyes again, and decided to stop teasing him for now.
If she made him cry again here, there’d be no undoing it.
After that, he would never return to his original body.
Even if they found a way.
Never.
“That’s enough teasing. Let’s talk about what comes next. I’ve been thinking, commoner: until my double-major application is approved, don’t attend any classes except the ones we take together.”
“Why?”
“You wouldn’t understand them anyway. I’ll teach you in the meantime.”
“Aha. But I can understand, you know?”
Belver tilted his head.
He was good at studying.
He knew that about himself.
Judging from the difficulty of the games and novels he’d seen, he could reliably pass the academy’s exams all the way through the graduation exam.
His knowledge of magic was also far greater than Bellatrix expected.
At the very least, he knew how to use every spell and miracle that had appeared in the game.
She offered to teach him because she didn’t know any of this.
“Let’s say that’s true. It’s just that I’m so worried about leaving you alone I could go crazy. You’ll ruin the image I’ve built up. Even if you’re a commoner, we’re the same age, and yet you’re so childish.”
“I’m an adult, you know?!”
“You’re much more suited to being a girl. Anyway, you’ll be with me for a while. Let’s go to my first-period class now. Guide me to Training Ground No. 5.”
Bellatrix stood up and headed for a place she didn’t know, called Training Ground No. 5.
She’d always thought sweating and exerting herself was beneath her, so there was no way she knew about the required general-education course for the knight department.
She left the wayfinding to Belver and went wherever he led her.
All the while, she lightly ignored Belver’s chirping protests that she shouldn’t call him a girl.
No matter how you looked at him, he was a proper young lady, and it was cute how he kept insisting he was an adult man.
She didn’t point it out just to tease him, but even when sitting on the bench, he had demurely pressed his legs together so his skirt wouldn’t show anything, then placed both hands neatly on his thighs.
Who in the world would think that until yesterday, he’d been a man?
“That’s not the way!”
“Really? Thanks for showing me.”
“Just you wait!”
***
After safely getting Bellatrix to Training Ground No. 5, Belver took a walk nearby to regain his peace of mind.
After slowly enjoying the cool morning breeze for about thirty minutes, he gradually began to calm down.
A deep breath in, then out—the clean, cool air alone was enough to calm him.
Being teased by Bellatrix had been so exhausting.
The feeling that she doted on him wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but he couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.
She kept teasing him in strange ways, too.
“She keeps calling me a girl. I’m so manly.”
Belver had no doubt that he was manly.
It was a belief born of inexperience and a lack of worldly knowledge, since he hadn’t interacted with many different kinds of people.
“Why are there so many people over there?”
While walking, Belver noticed a crowd gathering at Training Ground No. 5, where Bellatrix was.
Why were so many people gathered in a place that should only have students taking the class?
Curious, Belver approached to take a look, too.
Upon reaching a spot with a clear view of Training Ground No. 5, Belver walked straight toward the center of the commotion.
His face set in a hard frown.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”