“It doesn’t matter? Hmm…, then that’s fortunate.”

The elderly couple quickly shut their mouths upon seeing Chloe flare up.

“How did you two know that I am a tiger shapeshifter and that he is a wolf shapeshifter? Who are you two exactly?”

The elderly couple smiled at Chloe’s words and looked at each other.

“Since the young lady has revealed that she is a tiger shapeshifter, we should also let you know what we do. You may become our customer in the future.”

They were merchants who for generations had been making various medicines needed by shapeshifters. They said that in the times when there were many shapeshifters, they openly conducted business and prospered, but as the number of shapeshifters decreased, so did their numbers. This elderly couple said they were the descendants of the few remaining merchants who had carried on the trade for generations.

Although the number of shapeshifters had decreased, they were mostly from the ruling class and very wealthy, so they had been selling them necessary medicines and suppressants. Their techniques had been passed down in secret, and the couple added with a lament that they had no children, so now there were no descendants to inherit their secret manufacturing techniques.

They said they only manufactured the medicines, and the sales were handled by another intermediary. In any case, it was because of this secret income that this inn could continue to operate even without guests. They said that from the beginning, they had built an inn in such a remote place in order to manufacture medicines.

They even told her that the inn’s basement was a drug manufacturing lab. They said that even if they revealed the secret of the manufacturing lab, unless they taught the manufacturing method, no secrets could be uncovered anyway. They even added that they look forward to having her as a customer in the future.

“The dog and cat we raise would hide every time the young lady came. They’re used to moderately high-level predator shapeshifters, so we thought it was strange to see them do that. Then it would have to be a lion or tiger level, but the young lady didn’t seem to be of royal lineage, so we thought you must be at least a tiger or wolf.”

Chloe couldn’t find anything else to say in response. It felt like she had gotten a glimpse into the underground world of hidden shapeshifters.

The shapeshifter suppressants that her mother had obtained must have also been manufactured by people like them. They must have been monopolizing their secret manufacturing techniques without revealing them even to shapeshifter families, earning high income.

Just what kind of medicines did they make?

“Ah! By the way, did you feed me something that night too?”

Chloe asked as soon as she realized. Her body was definitely not normal that night.

“I’m sorry about that. The person who stayed that night was Duke Ulpaz, right? We knew long ago that Duke Ulpaz was a wolf shapeshifter. Although he wasn’t our customer. We thought the young lady might be a shapeshifter, but we weren’t sure, so we just mixed a little enzyme in the chocolate you ate as a test.”

“Enzyme? What is that?”

“It’s just an enzyme, a substance that acts as a catalyst for all chemical reactions in the body. But it usually doesn’t work on ordinary humans. It’s a catalyst that only works on shapeshifters, and you were indeed a shapeshifter, young lady. It doesn’t really have any specific use, it just enhances all the physiological phenomena that occur in a shapeshifter’s body. In fact, it helps digestion, boosts metabolism, improves physical functions, things like that. The problem is, for a shapeshifter in heat, all organs focus their functions in that direction. How were we to know that the young lady would happen to go into heat that exact day.”

“Then it’s possible that because I ate that, I was being true to my desires?”

“Well… you could say that.”

Chloe’s face turned pale at the elders’ answer. To think that the enzyme substance could have caused the incident that night.

“Oh, don’t look so serious, in fact, the young lady also said that day that you wanted to get married and have children. Someone like Duke Ulpaz would be hard to find a better match, wouldn’t it?”

“Haah…”

A sigh mixed with anger burst out.

The thought that she had been deceived by them, that such a thing was in the chocolate they gave her to slowly get drunk on, made her furious to the tips of her hair. Even if they didn’t know she was in heat, if they had already noticed that she was a shapeshifter, shouldn’t they have not tried it in the first place if there was such a possibility?

“Why are you so agitated? In fact, with someone like Duke Ulpaz, you should be grateful to us. Seeing how Duke Ulpaz went looking for the young lady, he must have imprinted on you that day. The Duke has undoubtedly become the young lady’s possession, so it’s thanks to us, why are you getting angry?”

“How can you say that? If you knew that the Duke was a wolf shapeshifter, and even knew the fact that wolf shapeshifters imprint, you should never have done such a thing! It’s a matter that can change a person’s fate, how could you commit such a reckless act!”

“Young lady! Calm down!”

Even when Chloe raised her voice, the elderly couple remained unperturbed.

“Calm down? How can I calm down? Even though you clearly knew that the Duke was a wolf shapeshifter, how could you, how, why! Really bad…”

Chloe was so angry that she couldn’t even finish her sentence. Played by their prank-like act, she had pounced on the Duke in heat, and the Duke had the misfortune of imprinting on her.

“Young lady, I said calm down. Listen to what we have to say. It’s not quite like that.”

The innkeeper’s wife blocked Chloe’s mouth with a voice as loud as hers.

“What is there to say! What more is there to hear!”

“You said you’re a tiger shapeshifter. If the young lady is a tiger shapeshifter, you must be of royal lineage from Tigrium? Then what is there that doesn’t match with the wolf duke? And no matter how much enzyme we fed the young lady, if you didn’t have the Duke in your heart, you would never have slept with him. We fed you the enzyme, but it was the young lady who chose the Duke.”

“What do you mean by that? I was so excited that day, I couldn’t see anything.”

“No. That’s not it. The young lady must have definitely wanted to sleep with the Duke that day. Among tiger shapeshifters, especially the females, they absolutely cannot sleep with someone unless it’s the partner they have chosen. If the heart doesn’t go first, the body won’t follow. In fact, we didn’t know that the Duke and the young lady were acquainted either. We didn’t expect you to sleep together right away like that. As I said, we had no idea it would be during your heat.”

“……”

Chloe’s head felt numb.

If the heart doesn’t go first, the body won’t follow? That tiger shapeshifters are like that?

“Judging by your expression, it seems you don’t even know the characteristics of your own species.”

The couple looked at each other and laughed again. Chloe was dead serious, but she couldn’t understand what was so amusing to them.

“Please tell me. I don’t understand what you two mean.”

“Strange. You’re a tiger shapeshifter, how do you not know?”

“I had been taking suppressants for a long time and had just stopped taking them around the time I visited here. I only recently found out that I am a shapeshifter.”

Chloe briefly explained her situation to them. The elderly couple’s faces darkened. Chloe thought that this couple might also know about the power struggle between her cousin and mother that had taken place in the Tigrium Kingdom. As merchants dealing with shapeshifters, they might have been quick to get information about the shapeshifter world.

However, the elderly couple did not ask Chloe any further questions. They just started listing facts that Chloe didn’t know.

“Tiger shapeshifters, especially the females, as I said earlier, absolutely do not sleep with anyone other than the partner they have chosen. However, unlike wolf shapeshifters, they are not so chaste. They tend to easily find new love anytime. But each time, it seems to be sincere. Anyway, the fact that the young lady spent the night with the wolf duke means that you either fell for the Duke at first sight or already had the wolf duke in your heart. There aren’t many tiger shapeshifters who fall in love at first sight and sleep together, so we think you were already acquainted. Right?”

“……”

“That’s right. What an amazing coincidence. How could the two of you meet just like that at our place? Although tiger shapeshifters’ love changes easily, they tend to be sincere when starting a love. The young lady probably already liked that Duke.”

Chloe felt like the two of them were pounding her head from both sides. That she wouldn’t have slept with the Duke if she didn’t have him in her heart.

“A tiger shapeshifter wouldn’t sleep with a man she doesn’t care for just because she ate that much chocolate. What we fed the young lady was only about a 20% stimulation. The rest was the young lady’s heart. Moreover, you said you were also taking suppressants. If the heat came when the influence of the suppressants was waning, the intensity would have been weaker than average. The enzyme wouldn’t have had as much effect on ordinary shapeshifters.”

Now the couple’s explanation felt like the buzzing of a swarm of bees.

That I already liked the Duke? That I had him in my heart? How could that be… I was just working at the ducal residence, there’s no way I…

However, Chloe found herself recalling the moment she first saw the Duke. The moment she met those neat yet strong-looking eyes and deep greenish-brown eyes, it felt like her heart had dropped with a thud.

She had thought it was just the reaction of every woman who met the most famous handsome man in the empire. She had considered it a tremor that would quickly disappear since he was just an employer.

But… was that not it? Could it be that in that moment, she had already fallen for the Duke right away? Had she been hypnotizing herself, saying no, that he was just the master, suppressing her emotions?

What was she thinking the moment she ran into the Duke in the second-floor hallway of the inn?

Her face turned red. Because the memory of that day, which she had suppressed to the very bottom, vividly resurfaced.