Chapter 60: A Dog

“If it were you, Master, I bet you’d have made your lover submit completely—body and soul.”

“...Heh.”

Faced with Ailuka’s awestruck praise, Anne couldn’t stop the slight twitch at the corner of her lips.

Thank goodness she hadn’t admitted she’d come all this way just to catch her beloved runaway. That would’ve completely shattered her dignity as a teacher.

It’s all your fault, Young Master.

Why did you have to run away?

Clearly, she really did need to use more intense methods next time.

Just look at Ailuka. It had only been two days, and yet her lover already seemed to have handed over both body and mind completely.

“Come on, shake.”

“Woof.”

“Lie down.”

“Woof.”

“Now wag your tail.”

“Woof?”

“Ah, right—you don’t have a tail. Then shake your butt.”

“Woof.”

“Good boy, good boy. A’de is such a good boy. I’ll give you some meat in a bit, okay?”

“Woof woof!”

He really was like a dog.

Anne pulled her gaze away.

Could she really make the Young Master reach this level too?

“Ah, right! The tea!”

Just after showing off the results of her hard work, Ailuka suddenly smacked her forehead as she remembered the kettle still boiling on the stove.

She dashed out of the room.

“Master, I’m going to make tea! Feel free to look around!”

Halfway out the door, she poked her head back in, putting on a serious face.

“Don’t do anything naughty while I’m gone~”

“As if. I already have someone I love.”

“Hehe, just kidding. Like I’d ever doubt you, Master~”

With a playful grin, Ailuka disappeared outside.

Once she was gone, the room instantly fell quiet. The man on the floor slowly crawled into a corner and curled up in the “dog bed” Ailuka had prepared just for him—utterly unbothered by how pitifully inhuman he looked to any outsider.

“She's already trained him to this extent? Ailuka’s... even more skilled than I thought.”

Anne muttered under her breath, then let her gaze wander elsewhere.

This room had probably been the master bedroom before. Faint marks remained on the floor from where a bed had once stood for years. Now it had been cleared out and repurposed. The bed was gone, leaving behind only a vanity and wardrobe. The space felt strangely empty.

“What’s this...”

Anne gently picked up a photo frame from the vanity.

Inside was a hand-drawn picture.

A family of three.

In this world, common households couldn’t afford the expensive “magical photographs.” Most had to settle for hiring street artists to capture special moments, later framing the drawings like keepsake portraits.

They weren’t the most precise, but Anne could still tell right away—the cute little girl between the middle-aged couple was a young Ailuka.

“Those must be her parents. She really does look just like them.”

“Now that I think of it, there were similar portraits on the living room wall. So this house... must’ve belonged to her parents too. Then, where are they now?”

“...Weird. Why am I even thinking about that?”

They were probably just out for something. Nothing strange about that.

I must be more exhausted than I thought. Two days of chasing after the Young Master has worn me down.

Anne gave a self-deprecating chuckle and put the frame back in place. Her eyes then drifted to something beside it.

It looked like a decorative figurine—of a girl embracing a heart, as if trying to press it deep into her chest.

Anne didn’t think much of it.

Then, out of habit... she opened the vanity drawer.

Her lips froze mid-smile.

“...What... is this...”

Her mouth parted slightly as she stared at the array of items inside. A dazzling variety of “toys” she’d only ever read about in certain books—but never seen in real life.

Sugar-mama’s Happy Balls...

Sugar-mama’s Happy Whip...

Sugar-mama’s Happy... whatever—it was the full deluxe Sugar Mama Playset, an overwhelming arsenal of depravity in all shapes and sizes.

“...Are these things even safe to use on a human body?”

Even Anne—who had taken the time to study human anatomy specifically to avoid accidentally killing Muen with a single stab—felt a chill run down her spine.

Some of these items... “toys” or not, looked way more like torture tools.

If she ever used these on the Young Master...

Nope. No. Bad thought. Stop it.

She slammed the drawer shut.

Pressing her palms to her face, she tried to force away the heat that had somehow reached her cheeks.

You’re a maid. This is shameful.

At least wait until you’ve caught the Young Master before you start getting excited.

. . .

After wandering the room for a while, she inevitably circled back to the man.

“You—”

Anne knelt down in front of him, intending to ask something.

But before the words could even come out, she froze.

The man’s beard had been shaved clean. His face, clearly groomed with care.

But—

His eyes were dead. His expression blank.

He seemed to be looking at something, but there was nothing there. Not even Anne’s reflection showed in his pupils.

When she touched his chin, he raised his head reflexively.

And then—

“Woof.”

His eyes were filled with despair. The kind of despair that could drown everything.

Yet his bark... sounded delighted.

Like an automaton.

Flip the switch, and it moved.

Dancing with a painted-on smile in a pre-programmed routine—while the soul inside had long since withered.

“...Are you... are you okay?”

Anne’s voice trembled slightly.

She had a sudden thought.

If her beloved Muen were to end up like this...

Would she still be happy?

Even though she had sworn she’d be satisfied with just his body—would she truly be?

Would she?

“...Woof...”

A flicker of confusion passed through the man’s eyes.

He seemed to finally realize that the person in front of him wasn’t the demon who had broken him.

“Grk... grrk...”

He suddenly grabbed Anne’s arm, making strange, guttural sounds—like he was trying to speak but couldn’t form words.

Like a castaway who had gone twenty years without human contact, struggling to recall how language even worked.

But... according to the timeline, he’d only been “trained” for two days.

It took an immense effort, but finally, Anne could just barely {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} make out what the man was desperately trying to say:

“...Don’t... don’t go near that room...”

“Room?”

Anne followed his gaze and saw it.

At the end of the hallway: a tightly shut door.

“Why not? What’s in there?”

The man didn’t respond.

He only started shaking—violently. His large hand clenched around Anne’s so hard it hurt.

Anne knew this man had once been strong enough to stare down apex-tier magic beasts. But now, he trembled like a newborn baby.

“Don’t... don’t go near it... uuuu... that place...”

“What’s there? Why are you crying?”

Anne’s brows knit together. She reached out, trying to calm him, to get more information—

But suddenly, the man threw her hand off and curled up again in his bed.

“Woof.”

Head bowed, he returned to being a dog.

. . .

I love you.