Becoming the Terminally-Ill Villain Who Torments His Disciples

Tap, tap, tap.

Ryan tapped his tail against the floor, unable to hide his discomfort.

It wasn’t a misstatement.

It really, truly was a tail.

And for good reason…

“Grrr―”

Because he had transformed into something strange.

A lion with fluffy red fur.

“…Could it have been the wrong medication? We definitely took the same one.”

Cielo murmured, averting his gaze slightly.

Ryan, who was expressing his displeasure by slapping his tail on the floor, had his face resting on Cielo’s knee.

“I’m sorry, Ryan. I must have made a mistake in the formula.”

Cielo spoke with a crestfallen face.

Lately, Cielo had been learning how to make medicine from Ryan. It was to ensure he could handle Ryan’s duties in case Ryan had to go to the battlefield as a knight.

Besides, Oscar occasionally had to leave the imperial palace for work as well. In reality, Cielo was the only one always stationed at the clinic. That was why he had started learning pharmacology from Ryan.

But perhaps the medicine he made yesterday had a faulty composition.

When he woke up that morning, Ryan had turned into a lion.

As Cielo’s expression visibly drooped, Ryan lifted his body. He rubbed his face against Cielo’s in an attempt to comfort him.

“I’m sorry. We need to find a way to return you to normal… Should we just wait for the effects to wear off like last time?”

At Cielo’s question, Ryan growled softly and nodded.

Though he had changed in appearance, he didn’t seem to be in pain.

Even in this animal form, he was trying to reassure Cielo, and it warmed Cielo’s heart.

What’s more, Ryan began rubbing his fluffy head against Cielo like a pet, showing affection.

Feeling both guilty and completely charmed by Ryan’s cuteness, Cielo couldn’t help himself.

“Are you feeling any discomfort?”

He asked while discreetly grabbing Ryan’s paw.

Since he was now an animal, his paw pads must be different, right?

Hiding his ulterior motive, Cielo gently touched Ryan’s paw pad.

It was soft and squishy.

When he pressed down a little more firmly, hidden claws slid out.

Cielo’s eyes lit up, and he focused even more as he continued to touch the paw. Ryan growled softly and slowly pulled his paw back.

“Does it tickle…?”

Come to think of it, animals didn’t like having their paws touched.

Was it because it tickled? Or was there another reason?

As Cielo stared at him curiously, Ryan shook his head, as if to say it wasn’t that.

“Then… Can I touch it a little more?”

Cielo muttered, gazing longingly at Ryan’s paw. Ryan hesitated for a moment, then slowly extended one of his paws.

“MyaaAAaawk!”

Just then, with a strange cat-like yowl, someone burst into the room.

A cat approached at lightning speed and swatted away Ryan’s outstretched paw, then immediately climbed into Cielo’s lap and lay down.

“…A c-cat?”

Wait, were cats this big?

With its long ears and sleek body, it resembled a Savannah cat, but its fur color and eyes didn’t match.

Because this cat had black fur and violet eyes—

“Violet eyes…?”

‘No way…’

“Oscar?”

The moment Cielo said his name, the cat—Oscar—stuck out his tongue and licked Cielo’s hand.

“W-What on earth…?”

Yesterday, only Samuel and Cielo had taken the medication.

Oscar had been away from the clinic due to work, so he hadn’t even seen the medicine, let alone taken it…

“Could it be that the medicine wasn’t the cause after all?”

Then why were just the two of them transformed like this?

As Cielo stared at them with a face full of questions and concern, both Oscar and Ryan rose and licked his cheeks.

“Ahaha, that tickles.”

Cielo let out a short laugh and pulled the two of them tightly into his arms.

He should have been worried about them turning into animals. But the way they kept snuggling up to him and acting so cute, that thought completely disappeared.

Oscar even let out a soft cry and willingly offered Cielo one of his paws.

Squish.

As Cielo played with Oscar’s paw for a while, Oscar purred contentedly.

“Does that feel good…?”

At Cielo’s question, Oscar responded with a short meow. Of course, Cielo couldn’t understand it.