TMLHGCFTV 03

Chapter 3

Luisa was a haughty maid who served the youngest daughter of House Ardena.

Seriel particularly hated her older sister.

‘That ugly girl. She’s nothing but skin and bones! Isn’t she the reason Father keeps dragging me into his affairs? I can’t stand the sight of her.’

Luisa had spent the entire day putting up with Seriel’s complaints and had only just left after receiving an order.

‘She hates chicken more than anything. Well, I suppose she’s picky because she thinks she’s so refined. Apparently, she once got terribly sick after eating chicken. This is the perfect opportunity to teach her a lesson.’

So she boiled a chicken until it was completely tender, without adding a single bit of seasoning. She had taken special care to make sure the chicken’s gamey smell remained strong.

This much would surely be enough to keep Rosana from even touching it.

Just like always.

Whenever Rosana was locked in the attic, they had starved her this way.

Expecting praise from Seriel, Luisa opened the attic door.

“Your meal, Lady Rosana.”

As she spoke, she looked around the room with a contemptuous expression.

Strangely, Rosana was nowhere to be seen.

“Lady Rosana?”

“Ah, just put it there.”

Hearing the voice from below, Luisa lowered her gaze.

Rosana was lying flat on the floor, doing something.

“What are you doing?!”

There she was, sprawled on the floor without the slightest regard for her dignity as a noblewoman.

Rosana glanced at Luisa, who was staring at her in shock, then sighed.

She staggered to her feet, stretched lightly, and muttered,

“I’m trembling after doing just this much? Where did my lovely muscles go?”

“Lady Rosana!”

“I’m busy with my own thing, so don’t bother me. Just go.”

Rosana waved her hand dismissively.

Luisa’s lips puffed out in displeasure.

Rosana had never treated her like this before.

Then Rosana spotted the food on the table and raised her head as though she’d been waiting for this very moment.

“I prepared this especially for you, Lady Rosana, so make sure you finish it. Lady Seriel told me to keep an eye on you.”

“Thank you so much! I was just wondering how I was going to get enough protein!”

“…Pardon?”

Luisa stared at Rosana blankly.

Rosana immediately began tearing into the chicken like a starving beast.

She stripped the meat from the bones with both hands, eating with startling ease and efficiency.

Was that really Rosana?

“Wow. This chicken is boiled perfectly. The meat just falls right off the bone. Keep making it this tender from now on. And don’t add any seasoning, just like today.”

“…Y-You’re really going to eat that?”

“Why?”

Rosana pointed the chicken leg bone at Luisa.

Her sharp eyes flashed.

For some reason, the chicken bone suddenly looked like a sword.

Even though that was obviously impossible.

Luisa instinctively took a step backward.

“You want some too? You should’ve said something. Want me to leave you some?”

The completely unexpected, innocent question left Luisa speechless.

She swallowed hard.

Watching Rosana resume devouring the food with such animalistic enthusiasm, Luisa decided to change her plans.

Apparently, Rosana had changed hers as well.

“Hmm.”

I examined the bowl and tilted my head.

I lightly rummaged through the generous pile of chicken.

“It’s all chicken breast?”

The maid who had brought the food arrogantly raised her chin.

With one corner of her mouth curled upward, she said,

“You should think about your health. Gaining too much weight wouldn’t be good for you, Lady Rosana. This is all for the sake of your health, so please understand—”

“That’s perfect. Keep preparing it like this from now on. Don’t season it, cook it just this much, and give me plenty of chicken breast.”

The maid looked distinctly displeased.

“L-Like this? Every time?”

“Yep. Just like this from now on.”

Actually, I could understand why the maid was reacting that way.

The original Rosana had once gotten seriously sick after eating dry chicken breast and had spent two whole days bedridden.

After that, she couldn’t stand chicken.

Whenever she was locked up and forced to eat it, she’d sometimes even complain that she couldn’t breathe.

It seemed they were deliberately bringing me nothing but chicken to torment me.

But for me, who needed to build up my leg muscles right now, it was the perfect food.

And chicken breast?

Wasn’t that basically a giant chunk of protein?

I’d practically lived on it when I was working on building muscle.

So I was used to it.

Besides…

Someone else was preparing my workout meals for me.

I didn’t even have to pay for them.

Was this heaven?

Sure, it was a little disappointing that there was no exercise equipment.

But being locked in a room where I could work out all day?

That was practically paradise.

I was making up for the lack of cardio with things like running in place.

This was the best!

The corners of my lips twitched upward.

The maid stared at me with trembling fists, clearly furious, before practically fleeing the room.

Once she was gone, I stretched leisurely.

“What should I do next? Leg presses? Stretching? Cardio?”

I’d only worked out for one day, yet every muscle in my body was screaming.

Still, the pain was a hopeful sign.

The muscles that had been practically dead were finally waking up again.

Besides, muscle soreness was something you had to work through with exercise anyway.

My determination burned even brighter.

Meanwhile, at the Grand Conference Hall of the Imperial Palace of the Gradana Empire—

Kael stared coldly at the Duke of Ardena.

The Duke held his pointed chin high, and his eyes were filled with a sly, contemptible light.

Kael disliked Rosana, but he hated her father, the Duke of Ardena, even more.

“Say that again, Duke of Ardena. Who exactly are you sending on this expedition?”

“As I said, Rosana volunteered, Your Imperial Highness.”

“Ha.”

Kael thought of his irritable, oversensitive former fiancée.

She was the kind of woman who couldn’t stand even the slightest bit of dirt touching her body.

She also hated having to mingle with other people.

She was completely self-centered.

And that woman had volunteered for an expedition to save the world?

Even looking back on the two months they’d spent as fiancés because of the coercive decision made by the Duke and the Emperor, Kael couldn’t imagine her doing something like that.

He’s trying to dump his burden on me.

Kael swept his cold gaze across the conference hall.

Every single person avoided his eyes and cleared their throats awkwardly.

They were all thinking the same thing.

Even in a crisis like this, they were carefully hiding their precious heirs away and pushing forward collateral relatives, second daughters, second sons, or anyone their families considered expendable.

Noblesse oblige?

The spirit of the nobility has rotted so badly it’s practically dead.

They were blatantly trying to leave the salvation of the world—and all the hard work that came with it—to other people while waiting safely in the rear to reap the rewards.

And House Ardena was standing at the very front of that line.

Could that skinny stick of a woman even hold a sword?

More people would probably die trying to protect the precious daughter of House Ardena than would actually be fighting the monsters.

The only person in Ardena who was remotely suitable for an expedition like this was their eldest son, Kirdel.

But there was no way they were going to offer him up.

Kael roughly ran a hand through his hair.

Is there even any hope for this expedition?

He turned his gaze toward the Emperor.

There was even less hope there.

The Emperor’s cloudy eyes were filled with nothing but greed.

He’d probably already taken as much money from the nobles as he could.

Once the Empire had fallen into this state, the Emperor had been the first to lose his grip.

He had at least been somewhat useful before.

Now, he was no better than garbage.

The Emperor was doing everything in his power to avoid facing the situation.

He had thrown himself into a life of pleasure.

There was no hope for the Emperor.

The world was steadily turning into a wasteland.

Even now, the Empress was pressuring Kael with her determination to put her eight-year-old son on the throne.

Kael let out a hollow laugh.

Even if they saved the Empire by sacrificing noble blood and countless lives, those people would be the ones to reap the rewards.

The thought filled him with disgust.

Was this world really worth saving?

Perhaps the power he’d been given wasn’t meant to save the world at all.

Kael gave a derisive snort.

The worst part was that, even in the middle of all this, he couldn’t bring himself to turn his back on the people of the Empire who were desperately struggling to survive.

You damn idiot.

Kael swallowed the curse between his teeth.

“If you’re going to act like thugs, then you should at least pay the proper price for it. I expect you to provide adequate supplies for the expedition.”

“Your Imperial Highness, ahem. Thugs? What do you mean by that?”

“My blade does not discriminate.”

Kael delivered the warning in a low voice.

He was only holding himself back because he didn’t want to add even more chaos to an already chaotic situation.

“Either give us the money or give us someone useful. Choose one.”

Kael issued a sharp warning.

Once again, disgust washed over him.

Just thinking about having to face the precious daughter of House Ardena made his stomach churn.

‘I don’t eat dishes made with cheap chicken.’

He remembered the woman who delicately dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, her face pale with disgust.

‘I don’t like places that are this dirty and cramped. Let’s go somewhere else.’

He remembered the woman who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest inconvenience.

Kael swallowed his anger and closed his eyes.