Taming the Protagonist

Chapter 18: She and the Dressing Room

“Is this the place?” Though Anselm wasn’t impressed, since Yura wanted to shop for clothes, he’d respect her choice.

They’d been strolling the streets for a while, and Yura decided to end her reward time with clothes shopping.

Clinging to Anselm’s arm, she whispered breathily in his ear, “Master, in that man’s manor, I heard the sisters say this shop’s dressing rooms…”

“Have excellent soundproofing~”

“…I’m not that desperate,” Anselm said, a bit helplessly, eyeing her provocative black eyes.

“Cherish your well-earned reward time, Yura.”

“But this is my reward, master… the most meaningful one.”

Her nimble fingers, so adept on piano keys, slipped under Anselm’s clothes, grazing his abdomen like a cat, her warm breath teasing his neck, stoking his flames. “I want you to lead me to ecstasy beside Miss Hitana.”

Resting her chin on Anselm’s shoulder, Miss Nanaka trembled with joy just saying it. “Please… my wicked devil, merciful lord, fulfill my desire.”

The upright Master Anselm sighed. “When you put it like that, what devil could refuse his devotee?”

“What’re you two muttering about—guh!”

Miss Hitana, arms crossed on the street, was shocked again—her twelfth shock today.

If she kept it at this number, it’d be four fewer than yesterday, a marked improvement.

“Come in with us, Hitana,” Anselm said, arm around Yura’s waist, glancing at the stomping Hitana.

“No way! I’m not interested in those skirts!”

“But you and Marina have similar figures. Don’t you think you could pick out a few for her?”

Anselm’s lips curved, playing a card Hitana couldn’t refuse.

The snow-haired wolf paused, eyeing the dresses in the shop window, picturing Marina in them.

“Well… that’s not a bad idea,” she coughed awkwardly. “I’ll owe you for it.”

“Consider it a gift for Miss Marina. I’m in a good mood today.”

Anselm glanced at Yura, now softly panting in his arms.

“A gift for Lina…” Hitana’s guard shot up. “What’re you planning?”

Her wariness amused Anselm, but he merely shrugged. “Then keep owing me, Miss Hitana. Just don’t come up short.”

“Hah, funny joke.”

Hitana tossed her head, chin high, striding into the shop first.

Though still radiating a barbarian’s aura, her meticulously designed, Bernahl-crafted clothes were clearly exceptional.

With her appearance tidied, Hitana, silent, was a perfect aloof beauty.

A clerk greeted her warmly.

Hitana, unreserved, turned to Anselm. “Hey—boss, how many can I get?”

To avoid dulling the outing, Anselm used alchemical potions for a simple disguise.

After all, all of Chishuang City and Territory knew the golden-haired, sea-blue-eyed youth as Lord Hydra.

Though instructed, Hitana had called him “Hydra” several times during the outing, with predictable results. At least now she caught herself.

“Thirty minutes,” Anselm waved. “Pick what you like within thirty minutes, and you can take them.”

Hitana rarely asked “Really?” anymore.

Despite Anselm’s many flaws in her eyes, his generosity was undeniable.

She eagerly roamed the shop, while Yura, adept at dressing herself, quickly selected several pieces and swayed toward the dressing rooms.

Meanwhile, Hitana, never told “buy whatever,” grabbed anything appealing with reckless abandon, making the clerk sweat.

If not for the noble air of the young man who entered, she’d suspect this girl was robbing the place.

“Hm… this should do. Where’s your dressing room? I wanna try these on.”

Hitana, arms piled with clothes nearly taller than her head, tilted it, asking, “Where’s the dressing room?”

“There, inside,” the clerk replied, her smile twitching, pointing the way.

“♪~♪~♪~”

Humming an odd tune, Hitana strode happily toward the dressing rooms.

She tugged the first door, finding it locked, and quickly realized, “Yura, Are you changing in there?”

“Yeah… changing,” came a faint voice, barely audible without Hitana’s keen hearing.

“Didn’t see you earlier. Why’s it taking so long?”

She opened the next dressing room door and walked in, asking loudly.

“Because the clothes I picked are… heh… tricky to put on.”

“Tricky? What’s tricky about clothes… achoo!” Hitana griped, sneezing involuntarily.

She rubbed her nose, complaining, “Such strong perfume. What’s wrong with this shop? My nose is wrecked.”

“Tricky because… they’re too… tight…”

“…Tight?” Hitana, fumbling to put on a dress, paused. “You’re not fat.”

“Maybe I was… hm… too confident in myself.”

Yura’s voice wavered, rising and falling.

Hitana thought women’s obsession with beauty was odd. If it didn’t fit, why force it?

Just torturing yourself.

“Then keep at it. I won’t bother you.”

“…No, Miss Hitana, let’s keep chatting.”

Hitana, eyeing herself in a dress in the mirror, pictured Marina in it, replying, “Sure, whatever. What do you wanna talk about?”

“Miss Hitana, you were brought to Chishuang City by Count Chishuang, right?”

“Tch, can we not mention that fat pig?” Hitana clicked her tongue, annoyed.

“Yeah, some guy claiming to be the count’s lackey came to our village to take my sister. I didn’t trust them, so I went with her—not like I was captured. I could’ve flattened them, but I didn’t want trouble for the village.”

“Then sent to the master?”

“…I don’t really know what happened that day.”

Hitana dodged the topic.

No way she’d mention how she and her sister were stripped bare and tossed onto Anselm’s bed.

“I’m like you, Miss Hitana. I was taken by him long ago… about two years back.”

Yura, struggling with her clothes next door, panted, then continued, “Imprisoned, trained to be a tool to curry favor with nobles.”

“…Hmph! That beast. Blasting his pig head was too good for him!”

Hitana punched the wall angrily.

Yura quickly soothed, “I was lucky… maybe because I’m… ah… high quality. Precious tools like mine were meant for big figures, so I didn’t suffer too badly.”

“Big figures… Wait!” Hitana realized, incredulous. “You mean Hydra? Count Chishuang sent me, my sister, and you to him?”

“Is that guy some kind of lust-crazed fiend?!”

“Hehe… Miss Hitana,” Yura giggled. “If the master were like that, what do you think you and your sister would be now?”

Hitana, slipping into another dress, paused, then muttered, “Guess you’re right. He’s pretty proper in that way. Never looked at me or my sister with those sleazy eyes.”

Even when she was bare, his gaze wasn’t particularly lecherous—words she’d never say aloud.

After speaking, she thought she heard Yura’s amused chuckle.

“Yes, the master is very proper, mmh.”

“You’ve got it rough too, Yura,” Hitana said, striking girlish poses in the mirror, then wanting to smash it in frustration. “That guy’s such a pain. Why do you seem to like him so much?”

“Because the master saved me, Miss Hitana. He gave me a new life, showed me—mmh!!”

The sudden spike in Yura’s voice startled Hitana. “You okay? Why’s changing clothes such a struggle?”

“…Finally… got it on.”

“Was it really worth that much effort?”

Yura sighed softly. “It’s a lady’s necessary path, Miss Hitana.”

Hitana grinned. “Then it’s got nothing to do with me. I’m not becoming a lady.”

“I think you’ll want to be one someday, Miss Hitana,” Yura said mysteriously, laughing. “When you taste that joy.”

“???” Poor Miss Hitana was utterly baffled, clueless about Yura’s meaning.

Anyway, these clothes were killing her, all thanks to Hydra!

“Tricking me into trying on clothes. He’s not just having fun, waiting to mock me once I’m in a dress, is he?” she muttered suspiciously.

The next second, a shock from her collar weakened her, forcing her to brace both hands on the wall.

“Hy… dra!” Hitana, arched and gripping the wall, gritted her teeth. “You pervert, are you spying on me?!”

“Miss Hitana? What’s wrong?”

“That lunatic’s shocking me again! Nngh—!”

“Hehe… the master’s sensitive to malice. Even outside, he can sense you badmouthing him.”

“I wasn’t—argh!”

Hitana realized Hydra had hidden details about the collar.

He could control not just the intensity but the direction of the current, sparing her organs, letting it flow through her muscles… and sometimes, it went to odd places!

This time, it was a very odd place.

Hitana clapped a hand over her mouth, the other steadying her against the wall, her torso bending nearly ninety degrees from the frequent shocks, her lithe back taut and arched.

Unbeknownst to her, on the other side of the wall, the gentle, friendly Miss Yura was in the same pose.

Only a wall separated them.

“Huff… huff…”

As the numbness and tremors faded, Hitana panted heavily, her cheeks burning—part anger, part shame, only she knew the mix.

“Bastard… Hydra… just you wait.”

Slumped on the floor, Hitana knocked on the wall. “Yura, you done? Can you help me? That jerk’s shocks numbed me. Check which clothes suit my sister, okay?”

“Mmh… mmh… almost… done…”

“Oh, taking it off? Don’t force yourself into clothes that don’t fit.”

But the other side had no strength to reply, only faint, suppressed pants.

Five minutes later, a flushed Yura slipped into Hitana’s dressing room, exclaiming, “So… many clothes.”

“He said take what I want, so why spare him?” Hitana pouted, grabbing Yura’s hand to stand.

“Hm… then take off your clothes, Hitana.”

Hitana glanced at Yura, thought nothing of it, and stripped bare.

“Miss Marina’s figure is… similar to yours, right?”

“Close enough, but she’s a bit chubbier. A little soft around the waist and belly—don’t tell her I said that, she’ll whack me!”

Yura enviously traced Hitana’s defined abs. “No girl compares to you, Miss Hitana. That’s not Miss Marina’s fault.”

“Heh, I’m pretty confident about that!”

Yura smiled silently, picking clothes for Hitana—or rather, Marina. Her keen eye swiftly selected flawless dresses from Hitana’s pile, each lending Hitana a serene, sweet charm when tried on.

“…So beautiful.”

Gazing at the delighted, twirling girl in the mirror, the lightless-eyed woman murmured, “Truly beautiful, Miss Hitana.”

“Ehehe, really? Then I’ll thank you for Lina! You’ve got a good eye, Yu… Yura?”

Before Hitana finished, the woman behind her suddenly hugged her.

“W-What are you doing?” Hitana floundered, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you reject the master, Miss Hitana?”

Yura whispered softly, “How I wish I could be like you, receiving his unconditional gaze and grace.”

Utterly baffled, Hitana frowned. “What are you talking about? What gaze, what grace? Did Hydra bully you?”

“…No, nothing. Please take it as my delusional ramblings.”

Yura quickly let go, smiling faintly. “Time’s almost up, Miss Hitana. These dresses should suffice. Too many, and Miss Marina might not accept them, right?”

Still clueless, Hitana’s nature and limited wits meant she wouldn’t dwell on things her intuition didn’t flag. Scratching her head, she nodded, grabbed the dresses, and left.

Outside, Anselm smiled at the swaggering Hitana. “Your ‘I’ll take the whole shop’ attitude scared the clerk, Miss Hitana.”

“Don’t make me sound like a bandit! I haven’t settled—!”

“Hm?” Anselm touched his neck. “Settle what? Scores?”

Hitana’s body jolted, reflexively twitching even without a shock.

“You!”

The anguished young wolf swallowed her grievances, planning to vent to her sister later.

Yura watched Anselm and Hitana’s natural banter, her lightless eyes betraying no emotion.

“My musician,” Anselm’s captivating voice sounded in her ear, “are you happy today?”

He gazed at her gently.

“Yes.” The woman reborn from the abyss curtsied, beaming sweetly at her devil. “As long as I’m by your side, my hope for tomorrow always surpasses today.”

Her lightless eyes spoke of fervent adoration and obsession.