Chapter 8 - Mochi vs Doctor

Now that Mochi could kind of walk, Milly assumed they would leave straight for Velho’s place, hopefully leaving Zen behind.

“Unfortunately you seem to have forgotten what day it is.”

A look of dread appeared on Milly’s face.

“W-we can’t go to the coronation like this!”

“I agree. Which is why I’ll tell everyone that you're ill, and we must postpone until tomorrow.”

Milly breathed a sigh of relief, but glanced up to see Nao with a concerned look on her face.

“I fear the royal physician will want to look at you… so…”

The two of them set their gazes on Mochi, who was scratching at her head with a balled up fist and creating a mess of tangles in her hair.

“We're doomed…”

“Dont be so negative. She just has to lie in bed and not speak. I can warm her head with a hot towel just before the doctor comes in. A fever will buy us enough time to visit Velho and switch you back, and we can have the coronation tomorrow.”

Milly grew depressed thinking about her life going back to what it was, and her mind raced with thoughts of asking Velho to change her fate with magic.

Velho himself was her inspiration to take up learning magic in the first place. She had dedicatedly followed his career and read every book he'd ever written, even going so far as to practice in secret outside of her mandated princess lessons. For some reason her father didn't include magic lessons despite the royal family having a notable aptitude.

She hoped Velho could change her back from being a dog at least, but if she had her way she still wouldn't want to be the princess.

Resigning to the plan for now, the three of them went back to the bedroom which had been neatly reorganized, likely by the group of maids from before. Just because they're angry doesn't mean they'll slack off!

Nao tucked Mochi into bed and went over the expectations with her a few times, rewarding her with a dried fish every time she repeated the directions correctly.

“No talking.”

“That's right, good girl!”

Taking her role very seriously, Milly hid above the canopy of the bed while Nao tried to soothe a now-complaining Mochi who did not like the hot towel. Luckily all the fussing caused Mochi to become very red and sweaty, and combined with her panting she looked the perfect part to have a bad fever.

The doctor arrived and Milly peeked her ghostly puppy snout through the top of the canopy to peek at him. He was a stout elderly man with beady eyes and glasses as thick as a can of sardines.

“Well now, I’ve heard someone has taken ill on the day of the coronation, such a shame, yes. I was quite looking forward to the festivities.”

Standing beside the bed in a professional manner befitting a royal attendant, Nao spoke politely and properly to the doctor.

“I believe it could just be a fever sir, though we thought it best to confer with you first, of course. Hopefully she will be well enough that we can have the ceremony and accompanying festivities tomorrow. If you would please take a look.”

With that she bowed to the doctor and stepped aside, gesturing to Mochi in the bed.

The doctor approached with his finger and thumb pressed to his chin, and inched closer and closer to Mochi’s face. She clearly did not appreciate this and clenched her teeth. Just as she was about to let out a low growl Nao cleared her throat and Mochi snapped to attention, panting once again.

The doctor stared intensely for a moment before finally declaring;

“This is the princess!”

“...Yes, doctor.”

Adjusting his glasses, the ancient doctor held a hand to Mochi’s forehead for a moment, before pulling it away and wiping it with a handkerchief from his pocket.

“Well she certainly needs a wipedown, she’s sopping wet!”

“Yes, doctor, my apologies.”

“Aside from that I suppose it is just a simple fever, yes. Hmm. Yes. Bedrest and tea. Good day to you!”

The doctor shuffled out just as quick as he came, and the three girls were left alone in the room with relief that their plan had gone so smoothly. Mochi tossed the heavy blanket onto the floor and tried to rip her clothes off again, and Milly flew down from above the bed.

“I can’t believe that man is still the royal physician. I swear he looked that old when I was a child…”

“I’m hot! I did it! I want a treat! Get this off!”

Nao was quick to placate Mochi with a cool towel to wipe her sweat and a handful of more dried fish. She managed to stop her from stripping herself nude again, and started to discuss the next steps.

“Now that we have the word of the doctor, I’ll have to step out to let everyone know the change of plans for today. When I get back we’ll get Mochi dressed in something outdoor-appropriate, and head straight to Velho’s.”

Milly tried to contain her giddiness, thinking that Nao had forgotten about bringing Zen along. She covered her crooked smile with her paws and nodded along in agreement to the plan.

“Also, since we’re limited on time, I took the liberty of calling for Zen to meet us here after the doctor left. You’ll have to explain the situation to him while I take care of the ceremony issue. He’s probably waiting out there now so I’ll send him in. Good luck!”

The look of betrayal and despair that spread across Milly’s face was unparallelled, and likely had never before been made by any dog in existence. Nao quickly scuttled out of the room with a plastic smile, and Milly overheard her quickly say something along the lines of “the princess is a ghost dog, and there's a dog in the princess’ body. See you soon!”, to someone in the hallway.

Nao stepped out, and in stepped Milly’s nightmare; Zen.

Nao: 1

Milly: 0