A strange transformation, life in the Red Keep

Ghost had grown somewhat delirious from soaking in the water, and the sense of suffocation was growing stronger. The feeling of being close to death brought about a new change in her...

She still had the shape of a wolf, only...

Rhaegar went on full alert. He wasn't afraid of assassins or spies or the like. What he feared was a naked woman suddenly bursting out from the bottom of the pool...

Then he would never be able to clear his name.

Fortunately, it wasn't a person. All he saw was a white blur suddenly spring out of the pool, then float motionless on the surface...

A little... white dog? It looked like a young puppy, too. Rhaegar secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a person.

The puppy was rather pretty, with snow-white fur and an endearingly round body. It was a rare breed, small and dainty.

Had a pet brought in by some noble at court gotten lost? The puppy was very clean and carried a faint scent of incense and flowers. A girl must have raised it.

Rhaegar lifted the puppy, which had passed out in the water, and carefully patted its back. It didn't seem to do much.

No wonder, after drinking so much bathwater.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the bathing chamber, and Arthur Dayne's voice rang out. "Where did that dog come from?"

He crouched down and took the puppy from Rhaegar, thrusting the harp into his hands.

Reluctant to part with the puppy's soft warmth, Rhaegar reached out and rubbed its belly. "It popped out of the pool. I don't know how it got in."

Arthur Dayne held the dog upside down to make it spit out the water.

Ghost finally came around slowly, only to find Arthur Dayne's expressionless face before her. Her heart lurched, and she immediately realized things weren't looking good.

His cold, hard gauntlet was gripping her. She had been discovered. The Kingsguard had caught her...

Wait... why had she shrunk?!

She looked down. Rhaegar was soaking in the pool, watching her curiously. When she turned back, Arthur Dayne was staring straight at her...

His eyes were terrifying. He wasn't going to kill her, was he?! Humiliated, Ghost cried out, "Whine... woof, woof."

She really had shrunk. Even her voice had become a puppy's. Ghost declared that she was taking this very well-compared with being killed, what was pretending to be a puppy?

She wagged her tail ingratiatingly at Rhaegar and gave another "woof."

"Shall I toss it out?" Arthur asked without a trace of emotion.

"Mm." Rhaegar reached out and flicked Ghost's forehead. "Don't come running into the bath again."

Arthur Dayne found a cotton cloth and gave Ghost a vigorous rubdown, then casually tossed her into the royal gardens without even waiting for her to dry.

"Off you go. Find your owner."

Hmm... this knight was actually pretty nice.

Ghost was still a little dazed and couldn't remember at all how she had ended up like this. Just now, she had only instinctively thought that she couldn't let anyone see her, or she would be finished... she would get offed.

Then her body had shrunk, instinctively transforming into a safe form... which was also why she had been let go so easily.

That should be it. Or had she turned into a puppy because she had previously imagined becoming a pet and staying by Rhaegar's side?...

A light breeze blew past. Ghost was still wet, and the cold made her sneeze.

She... had better go back to sleep first.

Being small really was convenient. She bounded over rooftops and along walls, returning to her quarters without anyone noticing. After experimenting under the covers, she discovered that she could still return to her normal-sized wolf form.

Could her puppy form be a chibi version of a direwolf?

She hadn't taken wolf form in a long time since leaving Riverrun, and the process of her body changing felt somewhat unfamiliar. If she went too long without practicing her transformations, would she forget what being a wolf felt like?

Her senses really had dulled somewhat. Otherwise, she would certainly have heard Rhaegar's footsteps in advance.

Ghost returned to human form and lay in bed, her mind full of random thoughts that kept her from falling asleep. The sight of Rhaegar soaking in the pool kept drifting before her eyes...

It had to be because the full moon was approaching. She was being affected by it, she thought silently, with a handkerchief plugging both nostrils.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she felt as though she had forgotten something...? Never mind. Tomorrow.

The sky had only just begun to lighten when she was woken.

Even the roosters hadn't crowed!! It definitely couldn't be later than five. Ghost silently held back her irritation at being woken, letting several maids bustle around her room. They wanted to help her dress and wash.

"I'll do it myself." Helping her dress was one thing, but she wasn't used to having someone wash her face and brush her teeth for her.

The maid was so nervous she was almost crying. "My lady, have I done something wrong? Why won't you let me attend you?"

"You can help me dress. I'd like to wash my face and brush my teeth myself."

The maid curtsied respectfully and went to prepare her toiletries.

All of them were marveling at the young lady's beauty. Her face was as smooth and tender as a peeled boiled egg, and her hair shone even more brilliantly than Prince Rhaegar's silver-gold hair. Her teeth were straight and gleaming white... As expected of a girl who could become the prince's fiancée.

Beauties belonged with beauties. The maid's thoughts were already wandering to what their future children might look like.

Ghost heard every word of her muttering perfectly clearly.

Ghost: "..."

Dream on... But how did everyone know she was the crown prince's fiancée?

She and Rhaegar... If the king hadn't arranged the marriage, she could never have married such a dazzling male god. Just think of yourself and your idol in real life... Besides, marriage wasn't even remotely settled yet.

Ah, but if they really did have a child, what would be a good name? She liked daughters, though King Aerys might be the one to choose the name. Hehe...

"My lady? My lady? I've brought you a bristle brush and tooth powder."

Ghost abruptly snapped out of it...

What am I thinking, aaaaah! Ghost, have you no shame!! Goumi's purity must not be sullied~~

Ghost's face burned, and she hurriedly splashed water onto it. The icy water instantly chilled her cheeks numb and doused her wild fantasies along with them.

First... let's survive. Come to think of it, this was well water, wasn't it? She wanted hot water...

Ghost took the things the maid brought her. So the Red Keep already had tooth powder and simple toothbrushes. She had been worried she would have to rinse her mouth with vinegar or orange-peel water, hahaha!

The Red Keep was also quite clean. She hadn't seen many rats or bugs and wondered whether it was because of the material of the red stone blocks. Her room didn't feel cold and dank, nor was there any obvious stench.

She really was lucky. If it had been one of those medieval old castles, even having Goumi wouldn't have helped. She would have fled straight back to the North.

The maids deftly and swiftly helped Ghost wash and braided her hair, chose a simply styled dress with a pale white inner layer and a dark green outer skirt, and led her outside.

A maid with cute freckles on her face looked worriedly at Ghost's luggage. "Your clothes are a little plain, my lady. But Prince Rhaegar will surely give you lots of gifts in the future, won't he?"

"Why would His Highness concern himself with such little things?" Ghost yawned. "Where are we going?"

The maid holding her hand said softly, "You're to join Her Majesty the Queen for morning prayers, my lady. We mustn't be late."