âYoung master. Iâve told you countless times that you should stop doing these pranks. I know both of you donât heed my advice anymore. You should know by now that Lady Ella canât deal with your manhandling anymore. Iâve told you before that what youâre doing now is just bullying her.â
Maylinâs lectures were a frequent occurrence for Evan. They were so frequent that he had a response to each one, âThatâs why I objected to Ellaâs weight loss! Look at her. Sheâs so thin even without her corset! At this point, a corset will only hurt her. It wonât even make her look thin. Besides, I donât like the idea of my sister starving just to look good to other men.â
A month ago, even before he left, Evan argued with Maylin over Ellaâs weight loss. To him, his sister was fragile but more beautiful than anyone else in the entire world. She was also so athletic that there seemed to be no lady more perfect than her. But now, Ella began to wither away due to her drastic weight loss. She couldnât even escape his headlock, which she had single-handedly escaped before.
The current empress was an example of a woman who ruined her life by marrying into the royal family. Evan didnât want the same to happen to Ella, so he looked into the empressâs past. As he learned more about her, he became increasingly worried for Ella. These days he couldnât shake his worries away. Although Evan hated the idea of his sisterâs marriage, it was impossible to stop it. The marriage was, after all, the emperorâs idea. Thatâs why he hated it even more. He already felt it was unfair of having to send her away against his will, but what was the reason for her having to diet in order to look good? The one who should put more effort was the crown prince, not his precious sister, Ella.
Ella stopped glaring at Evan when she realized why he was behaving this way. Although his actions were rough, she could feel his sincerity behind them. The usual Luciella would have told Evan to mind his own business. She, however, wasnât the Luciella that he knew.
Then she approached her brother with a smile. Evan flinched as he looked down at his sister who smiled differently compared to a month ago. âW-whatâs up with herâŠ?â thought Evan. Then he asked, âWâŠwhatâs wrong?â
Ella almost burst into laughter at Evanâs reaction, but she maintained her beautiful smile. As she smiled, Luciellaâs past memories appeared in her mind. One of them showed her kicking Evanâs shin after approaching him with the same smile. Her smile became even brighter as he became more fearful of her. Although her brother was aware of what was going to happen to him, he didnât stop his sister from walking towards him. She felt loved.
âIâm thankful that you care about me. I think Iâm going to go easy on the weight loss as youâve just said.â
âMy lady!â shouted Maylin in response to Ellaâs words.
Although she knew why Maylin reacted that way, she valued her relationship with her brother more than the crown prince, who she hadnât met yet. There wasnât any point in her diet. Ella knew that in three months at her debutante, she would meet up with the crown prince. After that meeting, they would instantly fall in love. Everything would happen as described in the original novel. No matter what she looked like, the crown prince was going to fall in love with her. After all, they were the main characters of this story.
Even in her current state, she was beautiful. There was no point in trying even harder. She didnât even want to try. Maintaining her current weight was enough for her. Ella didnât want to tell Evan that because of the headlock he gave her. The headlock moments ago was just too much, even if he was concerned for her. Evan, however, didnât know this, and his face instantly brightened.
âIs that true?â asked Evan.
âOf course. Did I ever talk nonsense? I think youâre right. I donât see whatâs the point in dieting anymore. Maybe I should start training my body. I think itâs time I learn about the âfighting Evanâ technique that Eric always wanted to teach me. Donât you think itâs better that I learn to keep myself alive for the crown prince instead of looking good for him?â