“Hah—! No! Absolutely not!”
Ophelia looked at Merlin, who was curled up in the corner, and sighed with a slight frown.
“I finally managed to raise you to be a bit more like a girl, so why are you reverting back?”
Merlin shook her head frantically, her blue gradient hair scattering messily over her shoulders as her large eyes filled with panic.
“I… I just won’t do it! If you keep forcing me, I won’t talk to you for a whole month!”
“What’s wrong with a mother and daughter taking a bath together?”
“You! You know exactly what kind of life I lived before! I was originally a boy! And besides, we didn’t bathe together last night, did we?”
Ophelia narrowed her eyes slightly, her tone becoming firmer.
“Merlinlia, you are a girl. A genuine, through-and-through girl. Do you want me to take you out for another stroll? Let’s see if anyone would ever call you a man!!!”
“Hah! No!!!!”
Ophelia put her hands on her hips, looking at the kitten whose fur was standing on end in the corner.
“I was afraid of overwhelming you and wanted to take things step by step, so why are you suddenly regressing?”
“Th-then don’t overwhelm me!”
“I really don’t understand you…”
Ophelia suddenly leaned down and gently picked up a strand of Merlin’s hair, her tone softening.
“Clearly, when we slept together last night, you were sleeping quite soundly. You have no idea how clingy you were. All night, you were like a little kitten looking for milk, constantly rubbing against my chest. That soft little face was squishing right into me… What? Now that it’s dawn, you’re turning your back on me?”
“—?!”
That… how could that be the same?
When she was sleeping last night, the feeling of being surrounded by warmth and sweetness… snuggling in Ophelia’s arms, she had slept so soundly.
But being told that to her face was a completely different story!
Seeing it was effective, Ophelia continued her assault.
“Mhm… my baby was sleeping so comfortably she even drooled. It dripped wetly onto my nightgown and stuck to my skin… but I didn’t say a single word of complaint. I was even afraid of waking you, so I didn’t dare move. Sigh, my heart is truly cold now. A mother just wants to improve our bond through a bath, and yet she gets rejected like this…”
Ophelia clutched her chest in feigned heartbreak, looking like an abandoned soul.
Merlin stammered, trying to defend herself, her eyes darting everywhere but at Ophelia.
“B-but… I’ve never seen a woman’s…”
“But… aren’t you a girl yourself now? Haven’t you seen yourself in the mirror?”
“I… I have to look at mine! I have to bathe, don’t I? I have to change my clothes! That… ugh… that’s different!”
Merlin was so anxious she was on the verge of tears.
Ophelia began her devil’s whisper.
“Your logic is flawed, Merlin. Think about it. You slept with Mommy last night, right? You looked so cute and slept so soundly.”
Ophelia paused, her voice dropping a few octaves.
“If you were a ‘boy,’ you absolutely wouldn’t and shouldn’t sleep with your mother like that at this age, okay?”
“I!!”
Merlin jerked her head up to retort, but the image of her snuggling in Ophelia’s arms last night flashed through her mind, choking back her rebuttal.
“Waaa…”
If she didn’t admit to being a girl, then her actions last night were wrong.
If she did admit to being a girl, then there was no reason to refuse bathing together now.
“Because you’re a cute girl, a mother and daughter can be intimate and cuddle at this age, and sleep together too.”
Ophelia reached out, gently stroking the top of Merlin’s head to calm the bristled kitten.
“If you’re going to keep stubbornly insisting you’re a boy, then you’ve already lost the game, Merlin.”
Merlin bit her lip, her eyes moistening.
Merlin had indeed been gradually getting used to living as a girl.
She was getting used to the feeling of her skirt brushing against her legs as she walked, and used to being pampered.
But today’s meeting with her childhood friends had rattled her.
Because everyone had known her as a boy since they were little, and they interacted with her as one.
Not everyone could accept this reality immediately.
The cautious looks, the distance they didn’t dare bridge, the stiffness in their speech.
The massive contrast made it hard for everyone to adjust.
Merlin understood that it wasn’t her fault, nor was it theirs.
But seeing them so at a loss in that moment made a sense of guilt—as if she had betrayed them—well up in her heart.
Ah, I really can’t go back…
Indeed, Merlin knew they didn’t hate her; they even blushed because of how cute she was. They were just uncomfortable, and rebuilding that sense of boundaries would take a long time.
But…
Should she have remained a boy so her friends wouldn’t feel strange?
It was precisely because of this unspeakable grievance and sense of loss that Merlin began acting out again.
Ophelia had no choice.
Hmph, no choice?
Then I’ll just have to play rough and properly teach you what being a girl is all about.
“Enough talk! Are you going to listen to your mother or not? Let me teach you proper feminine hygiene and care. Come with me! Do you plan on never learning for the rest of your life!”
“Hah! I hate you!”
Ophelia firmly pulled her daughter’s small hand, leading her to the dressing room in front of the bathroom.
Once in the dressing room, Merlin stopped struggling, though she continued to sulk with her lips pouted high.
However, Merlin didn’t refuse entirely, merely pouting as a show of defiance toward her mother.
“Ah! Wh-what are you doing…”
Merlin tried to back away like a startled cat, but her back was already against the wall with nowhere to retreat.
She could only fruitlessly shield her chest with her hands, her pure white dress wrinkling under her panicked movements.
“Changing my disobedient daughter’s clothes, of course.”
Ophelia’s tone was so matter-of-fact that it left no room for argument.
Her long, pale fingers nimbly reached around Merlin.
Her fingertips occasionally brushed against the skin of her back, sending a shiver through Merlin.
“N-no! I’ll do it myself! I can do it! Ugh…”
“Yourself? What were you doing just now when I told you to do it yourself? I have to teach you a lesson today! Let me give you a proper education on being a woman!!!”
Merlin was still putting up a final struggle, her small hands flailing at Ophelia’s wrists.
“Be good and don’t move. If the buttons on this dress snap, I’ll be dressing you in even cuter styles from now on, you know?”
The devil’s whisper worked once again.
Ophelia’s movements were gentle. She took advantage of the moment to grasp Merlin’s slender wrists and pulled off the pure white dress in one smooth motion.
The rustle of fabric sliding over skin was magnified in the quiet space.
As the last bit of fabric slipped to her ankles, the slightly cool air of the dressing room sent a wave of goosebumps across Merlin’s skin.
She instinctively tried to wrap her arms around herself, but Ophelia beat her to it, placing both hands on her delicate shoulders.
“See? Wasn’t that easy? You really are a girl.”