Ask Away, Your Majesty - Chapter 24
“When I was young, we had a dog at home. Their name was Coco… It looks so much like him. You’re not really Coco, are you?”
Lorienne, gently patting the dog’s cheek, chuckled softly. It was a wistful laugh tinged with melancholy.
“It’s been six years already… He must have wandered around and passed away. I hope someone kind found him and took good care of him…”
Coco was already an old dog six years ago. He had been Lorienne’s companion since she was a six-year-old child confined in the mansion.
When soldiers invaded their home, killing servants left and right after forcibly taking away her parents, Elrond and Lorienne managed to sneak Marcelle and Marmo out through the secret passage known only to the family.
At that time, Coco was supposed to escape with them. However, he insisted on staying by her side even as Lorienne tried to push him away. The soldiers’ aggression that day was so intense that even an innocent creature like Coco couldn’t escape.
Fortunately, it seemed Coco had managed to escape the mansion well. Strangely, Coco appeared wherever Lorienne and Elrond went, as if drawn to them.
When the soldiers chased him, he would dart away, only to see him barking at her from a distance.
Coco followed them until the moment Elrond and Lorienne were taken away on the slave ship, whimpering with a mournful sound as they watched the departing vessel. It was as if Coco knew they would never see each other again.
That was her last memory of him.
Lorienne, momentarily overcome with longing, nuzzled the dog’s neck and rubbed his face.
Oh, no. I’m going to cry.
Lorienne swallowed her tears, thinking of Pico standing nearby. After a moment, having calmed herself a bit, she released the dog’s neck, lightly tapped its moist nose, and said, “It’s so nice to see you again. Will you come and visit often, Coco?”
The transformed Kyle, now a dog, began to circle around Lorienne, approaching closely, sniffing and nuzzling her.
She laughed, feeling like the dog understood her words, but Pico’s face was oddly frozen.
That… our Happy used to do that when she was in heat and went to the females…
No more than a few seconds had passed when Pico’s mind wandered to his dog, Happy, and suddenly Kyle was licking Lorien’s cheeks, lips, and everything in between.
“Ugh! What, what are you doing, sire?!!”
Startled, Pico quickly tried to separate Kyle from Lorienne, but it wasn’t easy due to the unexpected weight.
Lorienne simply chuckled, continuing to pet the dog’s head. She didn’t even notice that Pico had used honorifics.
“You’re quite a charmer. So adorable. Our Coco was really cute too.”
Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? This won’t do. I need to get him out of here quickly.
Pico grabbed Kyle’s scruff with both hands and lifted him up. Kyle, caught by the nape of his neck, wiggled his front paws in the air.
“Haha, this fellow is unusually lively today!”
“Is this your dog, Pico?”
“Well, not exactly mine. It’s, um, the country’s dog. The nation’s dog.”
“The nation’s dog?”
At the mention of the “nation’s dog,” Lorienne blinked in surprise.
“Oh, do you mean ‘stray dog’?”
“Exactly! That’s it! Hahaha!”
Being led by Pico, Kyle suddenly began to scratch at the door. He knew it was time for him to return to his original form.
“It looks like he wants to go out.”
Lorienne’s eyebrows drooped, revealing her disappointment.
“Yes, it seems so. I’ll let him out. And I’ll be on my way too, Miss Mage.”
“Alright. Take care.”
While Lorienne was bidding farewell to Pico and advising him to be careful, her eyes remained on the golden retriever. She waved to the dog-Kyle, who didn’t turn back, with a hint of sadness on her face.
* * *
Pico, who had come out with Kyle, bent down and pointed to the bush..
“Sire, your clothes are in that thicket!”
Kyle leaped into the tall grass, and soon he emerged, now in his original form. Unlike his initial appearance, a few buttons were undone on the top, and his hair was tousled.
He looked straightly disoriented.
“Are you okay?”
In response to Pico’s question, Kyle ran his large hands over his face twice, as if trying to wash it. Then, he gulped.
His green eyes were wide with embarrassment.
“The moment I saw that sorceress, I completely forgot about the smell.”
