CATB Chapter 5

"Kyaa! My Lady, you look amazing!"

Lily exclaimed in admiration.

Jen's handiwork was truly excellent. She had neatly trimmed the coarse hair into subtle layers. The ghostly hair that had reached down to her buttocks was now cut to about shoulder blade length, making her look fresh and active - no longer the gloomy beast from before, but more like an active, large-framed woman.

"From now on, I'll take care of your hair texture too."

"You don't need to go that far..."

"No! With my special hair pack, you'll have silk-like hair texture."

She's not going to charge me later, right? I'm very sensitive about services first, payment later arrangements.

"Me too! I'll give you massages."

Lily, who had been quietly looking at my hair, led me to the bed and applied white cream all over my body.

"This is my mother's special cream that makes skin smooth."

Suddenly it seems like the service has gotten way too good, you two?

Even while receiving massages and hair packs from the two girls, I tilted my head in confusion at their obvious change in attitude.

Um... there's no need to be this proactive...

"Like this... like this removes swelling and makes your figure beautiful. Now My Lady will be able to have the same figure as Princess Ariel."

"Wait. Wait. Why are you two acting like this?"

When I sat up, Lily gently pushed me back down with weak force.

"We're embarrassed, so please let us help you."

"Embarrassed? Why?"

"......."

Don't tell me these ladies are still dwelling on what I said earlier?

While it would be good if they suddenly became favorable, I was naturally uncomfortable with kindness that expected no compensation in return. Having lived alone, receiving help from someone was awkward as hell.

"I just wanted you two to stop being afraid of me. You don't have an obligation to do all this."

"We also want to be helpful to My Lady."

"..."

"My Lady... I didn't know you carried such pain. At some point, I became swayed only by what people said and judged you, and even when you were present, I would participate in speaking ill of you. When I think of all the disloyalty I've shown until now..."

"It's natural for you to be influenced by majority opinion. You don't need to apologize."

"But My Lady never once scolded me. You never got angry at us or hit us like people said you would, so why did we hate and fear you so much?"

"Jen."

"I never even tried to think about My Lady's pain. I thought all the criticism and fear was natural and deserved. Yet I couldn't even see the true Lady Alexa, wrapped as she was in outward appearances."

"......."

"So I'm going to let them know. Other people too. How we've been criticizing and condemning one perfectly fine young girl, that My Lady has no reason to bear such one-sided attacks - I'm going to show them."

Tears had welled up in Jen's eyes.

I knew those tears well. It was guilt. The human guilt that appears when you've turned your back on someone in need.

"I was rude to the witch, wasn't I? There must be reasons for everything."

"My Lady was only seven years old then! What would a child know!"

Lily... you seem a bit excited too? Why have these girls become so sentimental?

"This punishment is too harsh for My Lady! I just can't understand it! The witch must be a wrinkled old spinster with a heart as small as a bean!"

"Hey. Calm down."

"My Lady doesn't deserve this treatment! You're a hero who saved our kingdom, but everyone judges you based only on your appearance. In fact, the ones who should be ashamed are all of us who don't know gratitude..."

I was actually flustered by Jen and Lily's heartfelt outburst.

In truth, I wasn't the one who should receive their sincerity.

Suppressing the uncomfortable truth, I forced a smile.

"Thank you. Both of you."

"We'll do our best to help My Lady!!!"

"We'll make you the kingdom's greatest beauty!"

"Isn't that goal a bit too high?"

Even in this situation, I pointed out reality.

Since there's such a thing as natural looks, just as it would be impossible for me to become Audrey Hepburn, it would be nearly impossible for Alexa to transform into the kingdom's greatest beauty.

And silence enveloped the room.

"Well... it's good to have high goals!"

"Right! The higher the goal, the harder we work!"

I looked up with a smile at Jen and Lily shouting fighting spirit with all their might.

Anyway, I'm glad I met good people.

Damn, but being a beast still sucks.

The chef's balanced diet emptied the fat from my body at a pace you could confirm with the naked eye. Following the royal decree to spare no support when it came to food expenses (apparently Alexa was a renowned glutton), this castle had an abundance of food. When the chef provided a vegetable and fruit-centered diet, all the food ingredients that had been prepared for high-calorie dishes became the property of the castle's servants. Cheesecake and thick steaks were my greatest enemies while dieting, so I tearfully shared them with the servants. As a result, my unofficial favorability within the castle shot up rapidly, Lily later whispered to me.

I also started exercising to deal with Alexa's bulk and muscles.

Since she had tremendous muscle mass, it was typical strength training focused on shaping body lines and stretching to prettify the recklessly developed muscles.

Having worked various part-time jobs, I had once worked as a fitness trainer, so I knew exactly which muscles to work and how. Wow, this is what life is about. Fortuitous luck that overcomes misfortune. This is the driving force that helped me overcome all my bad luck until now.

Actually, I didn't believe the stories about Alexa roaming battlefields and defeating enemies.

How could someone with such sluggish movements survive when facing death?

The muscles only served to make Alexa's frame look bigger and didn't help with agility at all.

"How did she fight with a body like this?"

After a moment of pondering, Jen informed me that Alexa possessed tremendous magical power.

That magical power came as equivalent exchange for the witch's magic, she said.

So Alexa had essentially traded her appearance for magical power.

Even though it wasn't her own intention.

Well, whether it's magical power or magic, the fact that Alexa is currently a muscle-bound tank remains unchanged.

She supposedly rarely left her room normally, so her movements were limited to just inside her room - there's no way she could lose weight. Did she at least soak up some sunlight and photosynthesize?

The more I learn, the more I think it's a pitiful life.

Honey, why didn't you try living life more proactively?

Tsk tsk, I clicked my tongue as I focused on stretches to thin out my calves.

After doing exercises focused on lines and thinning muscles, my whole body would be drenched in sweat. It was because these were surprisingly high-calorie burning exercises.

"My Lady, it's time for your pack."

After exercise, when afternoon came, Jen would apply hair packs and whitening face packs.

Lily would apply body cream and give body massages to reduce swelling and improve body lines.

They both said they were using their own special products, and while I didn't particularly believe it, the effects were clearly visible, so I made up my mind to definitely coax the secrets out of these girls when I returned to the present world later.

If I took these and sold them... hehe

Just putting them on home shopping would get an amazing response, right?

Hah, what price should I set?

"My Lady! You can't smile strangely during the pack, you'll get wrinkles!!"

Hearing Jen's sharp words, I grinned.

I definitely have to find out their secrets.

When a month passed and I could see my body gradually getting in shape, I called the butler.

After asking about the castle's current financial state, it wasn't as satisfactory as I'd hoped.

The royal family sent a fixed portion of living expenses each month according to Alexa's surface-level status as princess, but most of it went toward food costs, and fitting with Alexa's mistreatment, necessary miscellaneous living expenses were entirely omitted.

Even when Alexa left the castle to carry out royal commands, she bore the accommodation costs herself (What the hell? I cursed out loud), and the soldiers' food and accommodation costs were also her burden.

"What? Is she a pushover?"

Then how were all these expenses covered?

It was additional income from her family. That is, Alexa's grandfather - Camilla's father, Count Erzen - owned a merchant company that traveled between the kingdom and empire, and in his will arranged for a certain percentage of the income to go to Alexa.

Count Erzen had passed away over ten years ago, and considering the negative perception Alexa currently received in the kingdom, they could have ignored the will and swallowed this income all for themselves, but the current family head and company owner, Count Duncan (Alexa's uncle), was quite a conscientious person.

Looking at the income that had come steadily from the merchant company for 11 years, I crossed out Count Duncan's name from my hand-written "Go F*ck Yourself List."

"My Lady?"

"Yeah?"

"The designer you requested from the capital has arrived."

"Show them to the reception room."

While I was in the middle of looking at Conetti Castle's financial documents, the butler informed me of the arrival of the designer I had specially requested. I hurried over to the reception room. Once this is over, I'm going to burn all these damn dresses.