A DIFFERENT PORTRAIT - PART 8 (Patreon)

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Part 8: On The Other Side Of The Mirror

At this hour, I was usually at the ranger’s guard post deep in the forest. But today was different—the girl standing beside me was gripping my shoulders firmly, forcing me to stay seated in the garden. My eyes were glued to the handheld mirror Lina had just handed me. My hair, which I’d let grow out haphazardly with bangs that completely covered my face, had now been neatly combed and lightly tied with a small ribbon, thanks to Lina’s skilled hands. It had been a long time since I’d seen my entire face so clearly.

“Look at that! Just a little work on your hair, and you’re already so much brighter!” Lina exclaimed, her excitement evident in her voice.

I turned my face away, avoiding the scrutinizing gaze of my own reflection in the mirror. “But… I don’t like it. It’s embarrassing! I don’t think…”

“Don’t think what?” Lina interrupted, hands on her hips, her sparkling eyes brimming with playful mischief. “You already agreed to let me help, didn’t you? If you’re only going to do it halfway, then what’s the point?”

What could I say? I had no choice but to remain silent. I sneaked a glance at Lina—her gaze was firm yet gentle, and her hands… were still pressing down on my shoulders with all her strength. Of course, I could easily shrug her off at any moment, but doing so to someone who was trying to help me would be terribly rude! Oh… so now I know what it means to be polite! If only I had thought that way when Ace Vernon was here.

But isn’t that the very reason I have to try now? After thinking it through, I decided to relax my shoulders and stop resisting. Lina flashed a satisfied smile. She began her “Becoming a Girl 101” with the most fundamental lesson: how to walk. She taught me to step more lightly, to stop slouching or looking down as I usually did, and most importantly… to forget about avoiding others altogether.

On my first attempt, I walked as stiffly as a robot. My legs, accustomed to taking long, forceful strides to scare off poachers in the forest, now had to adjust to smaller, more graceful steps. By the way, if you’re wondering how someone like me, who’s so afraid of strangers, managed to chase people out of the forest—it’s simple. I never had to get close to them. My grim demeanor, coupled with the sight of a taser in my hand, was usually enough to make them run before I even approached. Yes, success came purely from intimidation at a distance.

“Oh my goodness! Not like that!” Lina exclaimed, laughing as she smacked her palm against her forehead. “In the future, what you’ll have in your hand is a handbag, not a taser, and what you’ll wear on your feet are high heels, not those clunky hiking boots! Don’t walk like you’re trying to scare someone! Think about strolling through a garden full of flowers. Like this!” Lina stepped closer, standing beside me. She took my hand and guided me through each step. “Slowly, gently… that’s it. This foot first, then the other. Imagine yourself as a flower swaying softly in the breeze.”

Lina patted my shoulder, her face glowing with encouragement, “It’s alright, just keep practicing like that, little by little!”

After the walking lesson, Lina decided to take things a step further. “Alright, now for the most exciting part: outfits!” she declared, pulling me into my house. She had already prepared a selection of light, feminine clothes. I stared wide-eyed at the pile of clothes, a wave of embarrassment washing over me. “Lina… I don’t think I can…”

“Clothes make the woman! You can’t fully grasp the magic of being a woman without wearing women’s clothes. Come on, try it on!” Lina exclaimed, holding up a pastel-colored dress, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“But it’s so weird… Men don’t wear dresses…” I shook my head, but Lina quickly pulled me closer and placed the dress in my hands. “Just try it on! If it doesn’t suit you, we’ll pick another one.”

“The problem isn’t whether it’s this one or another one…” I started to protest, but Lina pretended not to hear a word I said. She pushed me into my bedroom and insisted I change into the outfit no matter what.

As the bedroom door closed, I stared at the dress in my hands, my mind a tangled mess. Even in my wildest, most bizarre dreams, I had never imagined wearing women’s clothing. At first, all I felt was embarrassment, but somewhere deep inside, a faint sense of curiosity seemed to stir. Taking a deep breath, I told myself, Well, if I’ve gone this far, I might as well see it through.

The light dress gently draped over my body, a stark contrast to the heavy, rugged outfits I usually wore at the ranger’s outpost. My room didn’t have a mirror, so I couldn’t see how I looked in the dress. Even if there had been one, I wasn’t sure I’d have the courage to face my reflection. Surely, I must look like some kind of pervert man right now.

As I stepped out of the bedroom, Lina couldn’t hide her satisfaction. “It’s amazing! But something’s still missing. Can you guess what-that-is?” Her deliberate enunciation of each word, paired with a mischievous smile, sent a wave of unease through me. Instinctively, I swallowed nervously.

Lina reached into her bag and pulled out... a pastel pink set of lingerie.

I instinctively took a few steps back, my face turning bright red. “Lina… that’s not necessary…”

“Necessary? Of course it is! Don’t you understand? Lingerie is the foundation of every outfit,” Lina declared firmly. Without giving me any chance to protest, she thrust the pastel pink lingerie into my hands. “You have to adapt to becoming a girl from the inside out. If you keep thinking of yourself as a man, how can you possibly transform into the perfect woman? Don’t you want to close the distance between you and Ace Vernon?”

Hearing his name, I suddenly felt my resolve weaken. “But… I don’t know how to wear this,” I admitted, referring, of course, to the bra in my hands.

“It’s okay! I’ll show you how! Even girls have to learn at first,” Lina said patiently as she guided me on how to fasten the bra. She even shared a little trick: turning the bra around to hook it in the front before twisting it back into place. “But it’s best to do this only until you’re used to it,” she added. “The important thing is getting a feel for fastening it behind you.” After fumbling for a while, I finally managed to put the bra on.

“Now, go back to your bedroom and change out of those men’s underwear you’re wearing into the matching panties that go with this bra,” Lina instructed firmly.

Embarrassed but obedient, I did as Lina instructed. Once I had fully dressed in the women’s lingerie, I felt a mix of strangeness and awkwardness. The sensation of wearing a dress and women’s lingerie wasn’t something I could get used to right away, no matter how much I wanted to. And yet, there was something I couldn’t quite explain—a part of me felt a strange sense of relief. It was as if, for the first time in my life, I no longer had to force myself to embody the ideal image of a man that everyone, including myself, had expected me to be.

As soon as I stepped out of the bedroom, now fully dressed in women’s clothing, including the lingerie and dress, Lina approached me with a beaming smile. “So, how do you feel? Not bad, right?”

I hesitated, fumbling for the right words. “I don’t know… how do I put this… it feels strange. But… it’s not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. Actually, it’s… kind of comfortable in a way.”

“Because they suit you!” Lina explained cheerfully. “Do you know why I was so surprised back then when you confessed to me? It’s because, in my mind, you always seemed to fit the image of a woman more.”

I was surprised, “Why… would you think that?”

“Hehe, you’re cuter than you think,” Lina said with a teasing smile. “Back then, us girls used to use you as the standard for cuteness. I think that’s part of the reason why no one wanted to date you. They wouldn’t want to go out with someone prettier than they were. Of course, that was before you started hiding behind your bangs and building up that whole ‘dark emperor’ persona.”

“I’m… cute? No one’s ever told me that before.”

“Because you seemed so obsessed with being masculine, that’s my guess!” Lina said with a knowing smile. “Why do you keep trying so hard when you’ve probably realized by now that the whole macho thing doesn’t suit you at all? The result is that you’ve become less confident in yourself and more withdrawn over time. That’s something you and your future sweetheart have in common—though at least he can talk to animals.” Lina giggled as she finished her remark.

I found myself picturing Ace Vernon playing with the dogs or cats at his clinic. Just the thought of him made my face flush red.

“Oh! I just mentioned him, and you’re already thinking about him, huh? What were you imagining? Holding hands with him while strolling through a summer rain, or being lovingly held in his arms?”

“I did not!”

Lina’s eyes sparkled with suspicion. “Really?”

“Really! That would be so weird. Just imagining a guy like me curled up in another guy else’s arms…”

“Oh… it seems like the person you’re imagining is some gloomy guy who only ever wears black, slouches all the time, and hides his face behind his hair. Try looking at yourself now!” Lina said, tugging my hand and leading me to the large mirror in the house.Honestly, I didn’t want to look at my reflection, but under her insistence, I reluctantly opened my eyes. In the mirror stood two girls—one of them, of course, was Lina. But the other… was that really me?

“Alright, now try placing your new image into the scene we just talked about,” Lina suggested. Her words had an immediate effect. As I imagined that scenario, my body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Hehe, I knew it! You’re starting to feel like a girl now, aren’t you? No more denying it—clearly, you were thinking about being in Ace Vernon’s arms, weren’t you!”

“You... This is cheating!”

PART 9 >>