Chapter 10

As the door closed behind me, I leaned against it for the briefest moment before reaching to my back to pull at the strings holding the tight corset around my waist. Rosetta had done too well of a job tightening it onto me. Now alone, I could no longer ignore the itch that had developed across my body, as my clothes continually pressed and rubbed against me. I desperately needed to be out of them. Without being able to see my back, my fingers struggled to make much progress, and my frustration began to build.

It was with a large amount of relief that I managed to finally loosen it, rather than simply entangling the strings further. They weren’t fully undone, but I hoped it was enough to slip out of the dress and corset. I pulled the dress upward and leaned my butt against the door still to my back. Gradually, I squeezed the dress and corset off of me, struggling particularly with my shoulders. With a bit of painful application of force, I finally got it off and over my head, leaving me almost entirely naked.

The shoes slipped easily off my feet as I marched toward the bed. As I approached, the mirror across from it caught my eye, and I stared as my body came into view. I couldn’t help but focus on the developing curves, as the thought of my body becoming more feminine lingered in the back of my mind. Would others notice? Or was it simply my imagination? My fingers moved to my waist and slid down toward my rear. Did my butt seem bigger? As my eyes trailed up, they narrowed as I stared at my chest. It seemed… swollen. Gingerly, I poked it, feeling the sensitive swell of skin. At a glance, it could have been a simple gaining of fat, but no. That was the beginning of… breasts. My fingers trailed to my slightly swollen nipples, and the fiery warmth within me roared. My legs trembled, nearly giving out. The smooth stockings, the only pieces of clothing I still had on besides the bow in my hair, brushed against each other sensuously, and I let out a moan.

Moving backward, I bumped against the bed behind me, falling down onto it. My eyes never left the mirror in front of me as I sat, my legs spread apart like an invitation. My reflection stared back at me with a lust-filled and hungry gaze. She looked to be on the verge of drooling. The smell of sex already lingered in the air. It felt wrong, perverted, to be so turned on as I looked at myself. Yet that sense of perversion seemed to only make me even hornier.

I looked the girl in the mirror up and down as she breathed in and out. Even without the dress and corset, she still looked quite girly. It was no wonder no one questioned it at this point. Somehow, the changes in my appearance had almost entirely slipped by me. There was only one small thing that sat like a reminder of who I was supposed to be. Despite how turned on I was, I couldn’t help but see just how small and delicate it looked, not at all like the expanding rod I was used to. It was… concerning.  If a girl were to have a penis, would this be what it might look like, I wondered?

I gasped as my fingers trailed down my body, as though they had a mind of their own. Gently my hand grabbed the little cock between my legs. It wasn’t big enough to fit the length of my palm, not with how it was somehow refusing to harden. I’d always been more of a grower, but now it was appearing that I wasn’t even that. Yet another thing to be concerned about. I watched the reflection as the girl with the crooked white bow began to play with herself. Her cheeks were as red as tomatoes, and she gently rocked back and forth, her mouth open in long gasping breaths. Was this really how I looked?

Despite the overwhelming sensitivity of my skin, my usual methods of pleasuring myself were a struggle. Instead, I ended up rubbing against my little cock back and forth. A continual rush of heat thrived inside my body, rushing through me in large never-ending waves. My sight left the mirror as I fell backward, and my other hand trailed up to my chest with instincts I wasn’t familiar with. Gently, I caressed the soft skin, my hand brushing up against the surprisingly sensitive little bud poking outward. I groaned and continued to rub against it as my other hand increased in pace. My eyes closed, and my back arched upward along with the tempo of my touch. Something inside me began to twirl in delight, curiously coming from my chest instead of lower down. There was no mistaking the orgasmic feeling speedily making its way to the surface. My fingers became more frantic as I gasped repeatedly louder. In my final two kneading strokes, I reached the crescendo. It flooded through my body in warm waves of pleasure and I took deep breaths, basking in the orgasmic glow.

As the orgasm came back down, I felt as though I was floating in a sea of warm clouds. My arm slid outward, and I could almost somehow see the flow of energy part around it despite my eyes being closed. I breathed, and the warmth flowed in and out of me in a continual cycle. For an indeterminant amount of time, I laid like this, both on the bed and in my imagined cloudy haven.

— — —

My eyes peeled open, and I realized that I’d fallen asleep. As they opened fully, I sat up and took a breath of air. The girl in the mirror still sat before me, mostly naked and slightly more disheveled than before. She appeared to almost glow despite this. I rubbed my eyes and stood to my feet. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I had the distinct worry that I’d slept much longer than was normal, much like the previous night. I needed to clean myself up quickly before someone stumbled upon me like this. My feet bumbled their way to a small washing tub in the corner, and I splashed the cool water onto my face before using a rag to wipe off the sweat and cum that’d I’d gathered. As I passed the mirror once more, I glanced toward it and did a double-take as something strange caught my eye.

Almost hesitantly, my hands went to my head. As I ran them through my hair, they bumped into two small nubs sticking out just behind the large white bow. I froze, both in body and mind as I struggled to process just what it was I was feeling and seeing.

Something was growing out of the top of my head.

The curse was escalating.

In a rabid panic, I rushed to the door, only thinking at the last moment to crack it open first to peek through. Seeing no one, I rushed into Camilla’s room, my eyes going immediately to the bookshelf. I needed to find a way to stop this, or I was certain to end up a monster. No more dallying. Camilla had said I could read her books, and I was going to take her up on that allowance. As I approached the bookshelf, my eyes glanced toward the window, taking in the bright sun shining through. It appeared I’d slept the entire night and into the next day. How had I managed to change so much in only a couple of days? Was I doomed to become a monster? Would I even last the day?

My fingers trailed along the book bindings as I skimmed over the printed titles. There had to be something here that could help, there just had to be. I couldn’t trust everything within them. A lot of the contents were certain to be some kind of evil cursed propaganda meant to confuse and sway you toward accepting your darker nature. Still, if I was careful, perhaps I’d find what I needed hiding within.

I mumbled out some of the titles as I passed by them, many of them not making any sense to me, and some being clear historical texts or fiction.

“Marked Meditational Practices - Your First Steps as a Newly Marked,” I muttered.

Would this be helpful? I wasn’t sure, but it was the best I’d found so far. If I wanted to understand this and find a way to remove it, starting with the basics was probably my best bet. I pulled it from the shelf and plopped down on the floor. As my bare ass touched the cool wood below, my eyes widened. I was still completely naked!

How had I forgotten clothes? What was wrong with me?!

I shot up off the floor, leaving the book spread open below me. Straight up forgetting clothing wasn’t anywhere near normal, despite my occasional nightmare suggesting otherwise. And there was one obvious conclusion, I thought darkly. The curse was warping my mind, doing far more than I had realized. It was using my weaknesses against me, in this case, likely my tendency to be a bit absentminded, and amplifying it. At the same time, being naked suddenly felt so natural that it could only be another strange aspect to it. I had to be more careful! The curse was clearly upping its game. If I wasn't vigilant, I’d end up walking through the streets without even a strip of fabric to cover me. I shivered at the thought of so many eyes leering at my naked body.

The question was, could there be anything else that the curse was doing that I hadn't noticed? As I pondered back to earlier in the day, I recalled how I’d tripped and fallen, managing to tear my dress. Was that bit of poor luck a mere coincidence, or something more? The dots slowly connected. Tripping through Lena’s window only to be caught by her, being dressed as a maid while Camilla conveniently was in need of one, Rosetta somehow realizing who I was right in front of the sorceress, and finally the tearing of my dress in a moment where I was both in a public area and incredibly horny: it was clear that the curse was attempting to set me up. It wanted me to fail and was throwing me into as many hapless situations as it could. The curse wasn’t just making me increasingly horny and feminine, it was also somehow making me unlucky. Was that even possible?

Could it be that the curse was so powerful as to have an intelligence behind it, I wondered? I shivered. If so, it was no wonder those who received it ultimately fell for its evil machinations.

The distinctive sound of footsteps met my ears, and my nudity came back to the front of my mind. A moment later, the door handle jiggled and turned. Faster than a speeding train, I shot back into my small room, slamming the door behind me. I sucked in several deep breaths. Had I made it in time? Had someone seen me?

“Little Pearl, was that you?” Camilla’s voice echoed through the door to my back.

I jolted forward, my eyes searching the room for something to cover myself with.

In a panic, I moved toward the maid’s dress along the floor, before remembering it had a large tear. My eyes traced briefly over the bedspread, wondering if I could hide beneath it before I remembered the armoire near the mirror. I slung the doors of it open in a flash, and nearly sighed with relief at the sight of clothing within. Wasting no time, I pulled the first thing off I could grab. It was a dress, but that was probably to be expected. Hopefully, no one would mind me using it.

“Pearl?” Camilla’s voice came through the door, followed by a few taps against the wood.

“J-just a moment!” I stuttered out.

I squeezed the dress over my head, managing to get my arms through it with only a minor struggle. Before going to the door, I looked into the mirror. The bow on my head was crooked, reminding me of the small nubs that were poking out of my head. I paled a bit as I realized I’d nearly forgotten about them. Adjusting the large bow until it sat above them, I hoped it would hide them from view. I’d have to come up with a better solution going forward.

I gave one last glance over myself. Was my dress on backward…?

Camilla tapped against the door again, and I jumped toward it, quickly opening it with a smile on my face. My eyes trailed up to her horns, and I wondered if I would get ones just the same if I didn’t cure this curse soon.

She looked me up and down. “Are you alright?”

I nodded up and down. “Yep.”

She gave me a concerned look in return. “I imagine what happened at dinner last night was a bit of a shock for you. You were asleep earlier, but I wanted to check on you and let you know that you don’t have to worry about me for the rest of the day. Just take some time to relax, alright? Tomorrow we’ll get Rosetta to help you with learning the rest of your duties.”

“Alright.” That made sense. She probably thought I was flustered about the incident in the dining room. There was no way she knew or suspected what I’d been up to last night instead. I hoped. ...unless my room still smelled of cum. Had she spotted me naked, I wondered?

As I internally panicked, Camilla continued to look me over. A smirk spread across her face, and I paled. “Did you want help getting dressed? I’m not sure that fits you quite right.”

My eyes widened and a blush flushed through my face. “No-no, I’m fine!” I insisted, “It's fine.”

“Are you certain?” Her eyebrows raised knowingly, causing me to blush further.

“Definitely. This-this is how I w-want to wear it.” I looked down as though to confirm my statement. It was a blue dress, one which unfortunately did look a bit large on me. I didn’t imagine my lack of chest helped, not to mention that I definitely had it on backward. I imagined it would be gorgeous on the right person, however, or perhaps with some adjustments.

“If you’re sure.” Her amused smile lengthened, and she leaned up against the door frame. “Of course, you could always just go without..."

I looked away, unable to meet her eyes. She'd definitely seen me. Though judging by her reaction, it didn't appear she'd noticed anything besides my nudity. I'd gotten lucky, it seemed.

Before I could bring myself to respond, likely saying something embarrassing, she extended an olive branch. "I noticed you were reading one of my books before you ran off.” Turning, she glanced at the book still sitting on the floor near the bookshelf. A bout of worry gathered within me. Was she angry? “Did you want to continue?”

Slowly, I nodded as I stared up into her red eyes.

Now was my chance to find some answers.

— — —

In a well-lit office, a man in his early thirties sat over his desk with an upright and militant posture, diligently writing with a fine-tipped quill. His hair was trimmed short and well-styled, his face smooth and clean-shaven, and his finely tailored grey jacket was cleanly ironed, holding several impressive-looking medals.

A knock came to his door, and his blandly neutral expression transformed into a confident smile, lighting up his previously stately, if handsome, face. He leaned back into his chair, adopting a more casual demeanor.

Almost jovially, he said, “Come in, come in.”

The door opened, and a young man entered with a salute.

“Ah, Gavin. Please, relax.” He gestured for him to be at ease. The man several years his junior moved his hands back to his side, yet continued to stand stiffly, having not been offered a seat. “Now, what can I do for you?”

“Praevus, sir, I have a report from Sunridge.”

“Ah, the little town we sent Camilla to. Don’t tell me they’ve already found the smugglers there?”

“Sir.” The young man held forward an enclosed letter, allowing the Praevus to casually reach forward and take it. With a smooth and practices gesture, he ripped it open, pulling out the letter within.

For several moments they sat in silence as the Praevus read. Finally, he folded it back up, sitting it down along his desk.

“Well, it looks like we’ll be going on a small trip.”

He tapped his desk and then stood, sliding his chair tidily back into its place, before making his way toward the door. “Get me the train schedule, would you? And have someone pack my things. We’ll be leaving before sundown.”

“Sir,” the other acknowledged, following behind him and gently closing the door.