Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Our Lord Withbel Has Done It
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Humanity's strength is having emotions, and its weakness is also having emotions.
Is that really true...?
I got called ugly by a complete stranger.
It wasn't a cheerful person's joke.
It was dead serious—a barrage of venomous insults laced with every degrading term imaginable, all aimed at tearing down my looks.
Even I felt my gut twist hearing that.
I'm no monk.
Getting cursed at right to my face is just unpleasant.
So in the heat of the moment, I snapped and accepted the princess's offer.
Let's give that lady a taste of her own medicine!
That's what I thought.
But once my head cooled down, it felt childish.
A true adult about to hit thirty the day after tomorrow, huffing and plotting revenge over some trash talk from a kid who just turned legal?
Guess I'm still immature too.
Yeah, yeah.
"Princess Vera, maybe you should get another checkup?"
From the moment we entered the garden, Illia had been glaring at me like I was her parents' murderer. Now she opened her mouth with a mocking lilt.
"Looks like that curse messed with your eyesight."
The princess smiled quietly, as if inviting her to say more.
"Bringing livestock into a garden where the empire's flowers gather? Shouldn't livestock stay in the barn?"
Everyone here knew exactly who that "livestock" jab was aimed at.
Endure it.
I have to hold back.
I'm the adult here.
"Or did you bring it along to amuse us after so long apart?"
Go on, keep talking.
I'll listen to see how far you go.
I'm an a-dul-t.
"If that was the intent, it worked. Look—a cow in a dress, hehe. Those udders are so huge, it's just pitiful for the pretty gown. No designer made that for a vulgar slut like her."
Ughhh.
Ughhh.
"Oh, and I heard this saying: intelligence is inversely proportional to breast size. Guess that's why cheap whores selling their bodies in brothels have such massive tits."
No, that's not true.
I'm smart.
The next master of the Green Magic Tower...!
I was top of my class every year at the academy...!
Okay, fine, I admit my chest is ridiculously big.
It's embarrassing, sure.
I could even stomach them turning my boobs into the butt of their insults.
But insulting my intelligence? That's unforgivable.
I have my pride.
Dignity to uphold as a high-ranking mage.
Whatever.
Lady Illia kept ripping into me like I had some massive grudge against her personally.
She had the power to do it.
The influence.
As the daughter of House Snowbelt, the foremost among the three great ducal houses.
Even the prime minister, the emperor's right-hand man, hailed from Snowbelt.
That's why she wielded power rivaling the imperial family.
So even at a social gathering like this, where she spouted ear-grating nonsense, the other ladies just made faces like "Here we go again~" and let it slide in one ear and out the other.
And above all, they had no reason to step up for me.
That was when it happened.
"Lady Illia."
The princess, who'd been listening with a beaming smile, finally spoke.
Everyone turned to her at that low, overwhelming tone.
"Ugly."
"...?!"
One short word cracked the smug face of Lady Illia, who'd been dishing out her venom so leisurely moments ago.
"U-Ugly...? What do you mean...?"
"You seem to know exactly what I mean."
The princess reached out.
Thud.
A large hand pressed against Lady Illia's flat chest.
It made a pathetic smack, like slapping a bony back.
"Eek! Wh-What are you doing?!"
Lady Illia flinched in shock, clutching her chest with both arms.
"You shouldn't devalue what you lack just because you don't have it."
The princess suddenly pulled me into a waist-hug.
"P-Princess...?"
To my confusion, she nodded with a smile, as if saying just trust me.
"If I'd stayed a woman, I might've agreed with you, Lady Illia. But now that I'm in a man's body, I get it."
"Hiyak...?!"
The princess's large hand gripped my left breast firmly.
"The bigger a woman's breasts, the better."
She declared it boldly, as if it were gospel truth.
"Even the Goddess of Beauty surely had a voluptuous figure."
In paintings of the Goddess of Beauty, she's always depicted with ample bosom and wide hips.
It's not just for artistic flair—it's because she's also the Goddess of Abundance, symbolizing fertility through her curvaceous form.
"One more thing. I picked out this dress myself. Our tastes might differ, Lady Illia, but I can confidently say it's designed to suit a woman with large breasts. If you wore it..."
It'd hang loose around the chest.
It barely fits me perfectly as is.
"I'll skip the rest."
"Eut...!!"
Leaving it unsaid hit Lady Illia even harder.
"Sorry for dragging this out, but one last thing. Has anyone here topped the academy four years straight?"
The princess placed both hands on my shoulders.
"Our Lord Withbel has."
She praised me to the skies, like a proud parent bragging about their kid.
"Self-taught magic as a child, enrolling in the academy was impressive enough, but graduating top of the class? And the youngest award at the mages' academic conference. Sure, she looks a bit dim-witted, but she's a true genius."
"Dim?"
"Let it slide."
Hmph, fine—I'm in a good mood, so I'll overlook it.
Not that she could do anything if I didn't.
"And if you're right, Lady Illia, does that make Lady Hereta an idiot too?"
"Me?"
Lady Hereta, who'd been watching the childish spat, blinked in surprise at her name.
"Lady Hereta's got huge ones too."
"Mine are... not small, no."
"Exactly. If big breasts meant low IQ, how would she run her business?"
The princess dismantled Lady Illia's words point by point.
She could afford to, with her absolute authority.
This was supposed to be a casual tea party among friends, but no one here dared talk back to the princess.
That's the imperial bloodline of this land.
"Lady Illia."
Lips bitten raw, face red as if about to burst, Lady Illia glared with fiery eyes.
"That was hardly befitting nobility."
"Eut...!!"
"I get the envy, but don't let it make you ugly."
Bam!
Unable to take it, Lady Illia bolted from her seat and fled the garden.
"Ahh~"
Lady Chera smirked, like she'd just watched a fun show.
"Wasn't that a bit much?"
Lady Chera glanced at the princess.
"Not really."
"You're the one who got all emotional—not like your usual self."
"Maybe."
The princess hugged my waist again and rested her chin atop my head.
She nuzzled her nose into my hair, like sniffing my scalp.
"I don't forgive anyone who messes with what's mine."
Thump.
My heart skipped a big beat.
Hers...? What does that mean?
Simple take: her person, her ally.
I'm her tutor, and in a way, her personal physician too.
Yeah, that's probably it.
"Um... Princess?"
I gently brushed off her hand, which had been kneading my lower belly for a while.
"I'll go check on Lady Illia for a bit."
"No need."
"Just a moment."
"Don't go."
"Really, just a sec."
"Don't."
The princess's tone turned quite forceful.
Not just this time—had something happened between them before?
She seemed to harbor real hostility toward Lady Illia.
"Just a quick word, then I'll be back."
"...Fine, go."
"Yes."
"No getting distracted by her."
"Pardon?"
"Answer."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
She demanded a reply, so I gave one and rose to leave the garden.
"She stormed off, but..."
How am I supposed to find her in this huge place?
That was when it happened.
"Uh...?"
My mind blanked out for a second.
Fog rolled in, and atop it, something appeared.
Palace of Life.
A neatly organized room.
A window overlooking the garden.
A woman standing before it.
'Who are you?'
'Ah...'
The woman flinched and turned.
White hair.
Red eyes.
A rabbit-like face.
Then the fog lifted.
"What... was that...?"
It felt like peeking into someone's memory.
"Definitely..."
That woman was Lady Illia.
And the room—neatly kept with a window on the garden—had to be my research lab.
"Guess I should head there...?"
I didn't understand it, but my instincts carried me there anyway.
No way, right?
I arrived at the lab.
Opened the door.
The large window overlooking the garden.
Sunlight streamed in, ripe with spring warmth.
As if fleeing it, Lady Illia huddled right beneath the window.
Knees hugged tight, she was sniffling.
She peeked up, eyes puffy with tears.
What a ridiculous lady.
She started the fight, but cries when hit back.
Anyone would think she was the victim.
But I'm not the type to see that and think serves you right.
"What... did you follow me to mock me...?"
Lady Illia mumbled in a tear-choked voice.