The brown-haired boy turned his head. He saw a purple-haired man leaning limply against the sofa, and a Night Wolf youth sitting right next to him with a worried expression.
"Where am I?" the boy asked in confusion.
"You are currently in Mr. Eralio's house." Calian answered from the sofa, his voice still sounding slightly ragged as he continuously tried to steady his breathing from exhaustion. "And most importantly... you are free."
"Free?" the boy repeated in a confused tone, his brow furrowing deeply. "What do you mean?"
Calian did not answer with words. He merely raised his left hand, pointing straight at an object lying on the floor.
The boy's eyes reflexively followed the direction the purple-haired youth was pointing.
Instantly, his eyes widened. The boy could not believe what he had just seen on the floor.
"Impossible!" he muttered softly, his voice trembling violently, radiating disbelief. "H-How could that slave collar be taken off my neck?!"
Right as the boy was engulfed in confusion, Eralio, who had been sitting on the floor tightly holding the boy's thighs all this time, finally moved. He gently lifted the tiny body and sat him down on the carpeted floor.
As soon as his bottom touched the floor and was no longer supported by Eralio's hands, the boy instantly realized there was something very strange about his perspective. The objects around him, like the table and the sofa, appeared much larger than usual. He also felt as if the ceiling of the room had suddenly become much higher.
When he accidentally looked down at his own legs and hands, the boy's breath suddenly caught in his throat.
What is actually happening to me?! the boy screamed inwardly, his pupils trembling. Why... why have my hands and legs become this tiny?!
Driven by the panic exploding in his chest, the boy stumbled to his feet. He began looking around in all directions searching for something, ignoring the gazes of the three people around him.
"What are you looking for?" Eralio asked in bewilderment.
"I am looking for a mirror!" the boy answered in a panicked voice. "Where... where is the mirror in this room?!"
Eralio immediately raised his right hand, pointing toward the corner of the room near the bookcase. "It is over there."
With tiny footsteps dragging on the hem of his own long trousers, the boy ran toward the wooden-framed mirror the man had pointed out.
The moment he arrived and stood directly facing the glass reflection, the brown-haired boy instantly turned to stone, completely frozen in his tracks at the reflected figure in the mirror.
W-What is this?! I became a little boy like this?! the alchemist exclaimed in shock inwardly.
With mixed feelings of confusion, shock, and fear, the boy turned around, then looked at the three people in the room one by one, demanding a logical explanation.
"W-Why did my form change into a little boy like this?!" he asked in a panicked tone. "What exactly happened to me? Can my body return to normal again?!"
Seeing the panic beginning to spiral out of control, Wolvin let out a soft sigh, then looked seriously at the brown-haired boy's face.
"Isn't there a far more fundamental thing you should do first before throwing a barrage of demanding questions at us like that?" the Night Wolf youth asked in return. "Do you not have a name given to you by your parents when you were born?"
Though slightly startled upon hearing the reprimanding question, the boy immediately realized that in his panic, he had acted very impolitely and ungratefully toward the people who, somehow, had removed the slave collar from his neck.
"Ah... forgive me." the boy answered, his tone of voice still sounding panicked. "M-My name is Arlen."
"My name is Wolvin." the Night Wolf youth replied in a friendly tone. "Nice to meet you, Arlen."
"Y-Yes... nice to meet you too, Wolvin." Arlen answered awkwardly.
The Night Wolf youth then gestured with one hand toward the purple-haired youth still leaning exhaustedly against the sofa on the right.
"And this handsome man resting here is Calian." he said, introducing his husband to Arlen with a tone full of pride. "He is my beloved husband, as well as the one who removed that disgusting slave collar from your neck."
Calian, whose name had just been mentioned, merely responded to the introduction with a warm smile for Arlen.
However, a vastly different response and feeling was currently being experienced by the brown-haired boy.
Instead of returning his savior's warm smile with gratitude, Arlen stood rooted to his spot once again, his eyes wide open as he stared alternately at Wolvin and Calian.
Arlen truly did not expect that the two youths currently sitting next to each other were a same-sex married couple.
Completely uncaring about the shocked expression Arlen was showing, Wolvin casually gestured again, this time toward the man still sitting on the floor.
"As for this man sitting on the floor..."
Hearing the pause in the Night Wolf youth's introduction, Eralio nodded in understanding, then immediately stood up.
The man turned his head and smiled warmly at Arlen, who was still standing transfixed with his mouth half-open near the mirror.
"My name is Eralio." the man said, introducing himself. "I am a merchant and the owner of this house."
"N-Nice to meet you too, Mr. Eralio." Arlen replied awkwardly to his host, his tiny body bowing slightly in respect.
Calian, whose fatigue had slightly subsided, immediately stared straight at Arlen.
"Arlen, we are in a hurry right now!" Calian interjected suddenly, his tone no longer relaxed. "Sit down immediately on the sofa in front of me because there are some important matters I want to discuss with you!"
With his steps slightly dragging due to the overly long hem of his trousers, Arlen slowly walked away from the mirror. His tiny feet carried him toward the sofa in the middle of the room.
A fierce storm of emotions raged within his chest. The awkwardness of being in an unfamiliar room, the confusion of suddenly turning into a little boy, the wonder and curiosity of how he had ended up in another place without realizing it, as well as the indescribable happiness because the slave collar was finally off his neck.
All of those emotions swirled together, making his chest feel incredibly full.
However, as soon as the brown-haired boy sat his tiny body down on the soft sofa, the atmosphere in the private room suddenly changed.
Calian, who was sitting directly across from Arlen, slowly straightened his back. The youth's purple eyes, which had previously radiated calmness, now instantly sharpened, staring straight at him.