"What happens when I cross the limit?"
"Curious?"
A hot breath escaped as if about to touch, his lips drew closer.
"Sincerely?"
"No, I'm not curious."
"Be curious for me."
"I want to sleep."
"Really?"
With just a sheet of paper's space between our lips, he whispered.
His captivating golden eyes held me spellbound, shining brilliantly. The citrus aroma and the warmth in proximity made my head spin. Undeterred, he persisted.
"Aren't you curious?"
In this dream-like reality, my heart raced. I knew his actions hinged on my response. Smiling softly, I let Reynos kiss me once more.
"I'll ask you one last time. Aren't you curious?"
I wanted to tease him more, but since it was the last one, I didn't want to disappoint him.
I answered in a whisper.
"I am curio- mmpp!"
The trailing words were swallowed by his lips.
He kissed me with newfound intensity, as if the earlier restraint had been momentarily abandoned.
Our breaths intertwined, our warmth blending together.
For a brief moment, I abandoned all thought and followed my instincts.
The night seemed unusually prolonged.
***
After several long and intense nights, the time had come to depart from the tower and return to the Empire.
Apple, who had been overshadowed by the elder wizards and denied the chance to converse with me, approached.
"Thanks to you, Duke, my magic is reaching new heights, and I sincerely appreciate it!"
An elated Apple detailed how the research on demons had significantly contributed to the advancement of magic.
Extracting from a soul dormant for over a thousand years yielded far more than I had anticipated.
"I assumed they were non-recyclable, like Tyriel and Duval."
To my surprise, they proved to be quite useful.
As I pondered this, a sudden pain in my lower back made me grimace.
Apple, who had been boasting about the progress, was taken aback.
"What's wrong?"
"I've been having trouble sleeping these past few days."
I shifted my gaze toward the culprit, seated in bed, looking at me with puppy-dog eyes. He flinched slightly.
Believing me, Apple appeared apologetic.
"Is it because of the bedding change? By the way, I recall there's a magical item good for insomnia somewhere in storage..."
He mentioned searching for it and hastily exited the room. After a while, he returned with a large box brimming with magical items.
"What's all this?"
My eyes widened at the overwhelming quantity. With just that one box, I could lead a comfortable life for a lifetime.
Setting the box down, Apple proudly introduced the contents.
"These are items I crafted for Your Grace. Due to export restrictions, I couldn't send them all at once, so I've been sending them one by one. I tried to anticipate your needs, but since you're here now, I thought it would be best for you to choose the order yourself."
I was genuinely touched.
They say a black-haired beast doesn't know gratitude, but maybe it's not the hair color that matters. Apple, a wizard, repaid favors faithfully.
"All of this is for me."
Although I wanted to claim everything at once, I refrained from violating the tower's rules and creating a mess.
Following Apple's suggestion, I started examining the magical items in the box.There were so many options, it wasn't easy to choose.
"Wow, there's a magical item with an auto-makeup feature that erases it when you fall asleep. There's even a doppelganger magical item that goes to work in my place? Be careful, if the main body is too lazy, they might play together. Well, I guess that won't work."
As I sifted through the box of magical items, something caught my attention.
"What's this?"
I discovered a magical item that bore a striking resemblance to something from a past life.
It looked like an object resembling a lie detector, with two of them facing each other.
"Does this determine who's lying?"
If it did, it could be quite useful for the Ciel Love Manipulation Team. I read the description attached to the magical item.
"It reveals the other person's feelings...?"
It wasn't a lie detector, but something even more intriguing. I continued reading the explanation.
"When the other person acts frustratingly or does something you can't understand, a single use of this will coolly tell you why they did it."
"Huh? I didn't make this, so I'm not sure why it's here. It seems like an item from the neighboring warehouse,"
Apple guessed.
"The owner of this magical item is someone Your Grace also knows. It's the person who asked you to stay a few more days."
"That 627th wizard? Hmmm."
If it were an unknown wizard, I would have given up cleanly. But knowing that someone I recognized had made it made me think, "Maybe I can get this too."
With an item like this, it would be perfect for resolving marital disputes.
Plus, they claimed to be a high-level wizard, so it must be quite expensive.
"If you're curious, you can try using it. I'll explain to the senior wizard."
Apple made a timely suggestion.
Then I didn't decline.
I turned to Reynos, who had been quietly watching me while sitting on the bed.
"Would you like to try using it together?"
"Sure."
Without hesitation, he got up and came to my side. I placed my hand in the palm-shaped slot of the magical item, and Reynos did the same on the other side.
"Let's start."
"Yeah."
With our consent, Apple pressed the start button. The magical item briefly flashed and then suddenly turned off. I blinked.
"Seems like it's broken."
"Oh, I didn't make it, so let me... I'll take a look."
Apple examined the magical item in various ways.
That's when my heart started beating so hard I thought it was going to explode.
"...!"
What the heck, it hurt like hell.
I gasped at the pain, but it felt as if I were inhaling sand instead of air.
My head spun, and my breathing decelerated. Through my blurred vision, I thought I caught a glimpse of Reynos staggering.
"Duke? Duke!"
Panicked, Apple rushed to my aid, shouting for me to wake up, but I could barely keep my eyes open.
Eventually, he laid me down on the bed, struggling. With one last cry of, "Wait a minute, I'm going to get you!" he bolted out of the room.
'Damn, the 627th mage.'
I should have been cautious when they changed the bed to something like that.
I'm a fool for trusting them.
As I watched Apple's figure disappear into the distance, I blacked out, only to wake up shortly after.
Checking the time, I realized I had indeed awakened within tens of seconds of passing out.
My heart and head felt fine, as if I hadn't been unwell.
My vision was unusually clear—everything.
However, my arms and legs throbbed unusually, as if I had collided with something when I fell.
'Did Apple carry me to bed?'
Why do my limbs hurt, and why am I lying on the floor instead of in bed?
I sat up, scratching my head, and was surprised to see what I was wearing.
Why am I wearing Reynos' clothes, and why do my limbs feel like they've grown longer-?
That's when it hit me.
"Ugh..."
I watched my body rise from the bed with a faint groan.
A scream escaped me.
"Gahhhhhhh!"
I screamed again, startled by the sound of it.
"Gahhhhhhh!"
Ciela, still in a daze, narrowed her eyes and shook her head, then looked at me and squinted one eye.
"El?"
"Are you Ray?!"
"Yeah."
"What's wrong with my body?!"
"I don't know, maybe it's... that magic tool."
Exerting his otherworldly calm, the dragon tilted his head toward the lie detector-like magic tool.
"I think we've switched bodies."
What? This is what it means to be able to read someone's mind?!