Her voice had taken on a mature feeling, something a normal child shouldn’t have. Immediately, Ivan jumped out of Janet’s reach and bolted for the door.
“Wait! Ivan! Please…”
Hearing her sadly call out to him, his heart lurched. He couldn’t see her as a little girl anymore. Especially now. She was definitely an adult on the inside, but combined with her outside, she was a double knockout.
Ivan slowly returned to his seat as he was forced to look at Janet. He hadn’t left her side since he fed her the plant, so his beard was a little scraggly. Janet reached out to rub it, something she normally did to tease him.
However, this time, he flinched away! Then she saw her pale white hand. She saw her smooth and unblemished skin and felt a strange change inside her body when she breathed. She looked around and saw her hand mirror. She reached for it and looked at herself.
“Huh. With your expression, I thought I had become scarred or something. I guess since nothing happened, you just must have been worried…”
Janet placed the mirror back, not noticing that her every action held a strong charm to it. Ivan had lowered his guard to Janet, so he still hadn’t realized that he was under a spell. But when she acted like nothing changed, he shook. He shrouded himself in magic, cleansing himself of status effects.
Her face never changed, but for some reason, she had reverted back to her old self. He then realized that the Damning Butterfly must have had a synergizing effect on her. Maybe it had something to do with that tree from the Gilded Glade. If she used it for equipment or ate a pill made out of that monster, would she get even stronger!? He sighed heavily and returned to his old self, though Janet did notice his change.
Stolen story; please report.
She performed one of her childish looks at him, batting her eyelashes, but this time, even though he was guarded, his defenses shook. For the briefest of moments, she had transformed into her seductive self, causing him to take in a sharp breath in surprise.
But when she stopped the glance in reaction to Ivan’s startled expression, he returned to normal.
So she did it again, watching as Ivan jumped each time. She couldn’t help herself and did it again, wearing Ivan out. Eventually, he collapsed into his chair as he called in a maid to deal with the mischievous little girl.
Abigail walked in and immediately covered her mouth in shock. To her without defenses, Janet appeared to be the most beautiful girl ever. She quietly got her cleaned up and ready, but when she was done, Abigail quickly left after Janet told her to. She didn’t feel like seeing this beautiful girl get angry, as she felt it would ruin such radiance.
Rumors would eventually travel, and the ‘emerging’ of Lady Brittoli would become a well-known topic in the region.
She had thanked the unconscious Ivan by sitting in his lap, letting her sweet smelling body alter his dreams so he could sleep peacefully. When he awoke that night, the beautiful version of Janet seemed more tolerable now. He wasn’t having to constantly cower away like a hurt puppy.
But he didn’t know why. In fact, he felt calm around Janet, which was weird. But he had given Janet a strong chance in her future, so he was happy. She liked the gift he gave her. A wave of relief covered him and he finally realized that he held feelings for this girl who was a little more than ten years younger than he was. He felt awkward knowing this, but he had tried to justify it by claiming she was older on the inisde, so it was okay. Still in denial, he let Janet hug him tightly.