/
James Castle was busy as usual, and so was the kitchen. Hans sighed as he looked at Emily, whose eyes were swollen from Carter’s beating.
“Emily. Go home early today. I’ll do the rest of the work.”
“
Can I do that?”
Clatter! The plate broke again. Emily made many mistakes today because she couldn’t see well with her swollen eyes. That was why Hans’ words made Emily happier.
“I’ll go then.”
After Hans saw her off, Emily came home and stretched out in her small room. Her eyes were swollen and she had bruises all over her body.
She never had this much trouble with her when she was beautiful. It was because back then, whenever Emily did something, the men around her said, “Leave it to me,” and helped her.
Before the regression, Carter stood in front of Emily. Emily was a maid working at the Castle, but she couldn’t go forward even if she tried.
[Emily. Don’t you want to be my concubine?]
[No, Master Carter.]
Carter swallowed his spit when he saw Emily’s face.
[I have more money than most commoners. I can buy everything you want.]
[Really? But I want to be a wife. A countess.]
At Emily’s abrupt words, Carter had no choice but to turn his gaze away from her. She had a great body for a commoner. A commoner can’t be noble in the first place.
[You have to know your position, Emily.]
[Hmm. I understand perfectly. Of course!]
Emily walked past Carter with a mop in her hand. Carter shrugged his shoulders. And immediately began to tease the other servant. This was how Emily used to get rid of Carter.
But she was beautiful then, so it worked that way. Carter said she was arrogant, but he didn’t touch her recklessly.
That didn’t happen to Emily today. It was unfortunate but on the other hand, there were no kind men. Perhaps that was why when she received kindness from others, she appreciated it many times more.
She couldn’t wait to move up from being a servant in charge of washing dishes to a kitchen assistant. Every day, Emily practiced boiling and frying by writing down the ingredients for her dishes on a piece of paper.
All the ingredients were too expensive to get, so she would practice with things like dirt and straw.
‘I have to work hard.’
If she becomes a kitchen assistant, she gets paid a little more. Then Emily’s house will be a little more settled. She wanted to save money, meet an ordinary man, and get married.
She wanted to live a “long” life, not die a quick death. That was Emily’s goal in this life.
***
“What’s the point of living for a long time?”
The old woman who owned the grocery store murmured.
On the street a woman was being beaten by Carter, bled, grabbed by the hair and dragged to the ground. Being the son of a lord, no one could stop him, so everyone just watched.
“Please help me. It was my fault. Master Carter
. I’m sorry.”
“How dare you ignore me.”
The woman’s face showed clear traces of violence, her hair was unraveling and blood clots were forming. She was a woman who owned a small restaurant. Carter was a regular at that restaurant, but today he staggered, drunk.
“What are you looking at? You ignorant commoners!”
The woman might die. No matter how noble he was, he didn’t have the authority to kill commoners. However, in trials, they were punished leniently because they were nobles, and only the dead commoners were unfairly ignored.
“Please save me, Master Carter. Please!”
“Why? Do you think I will forgive you if you apologize now?”
Carter took out a small dagger. The dagger, which he carried for self-defense, looked very sharp.
“What would happen if I cut your throat with this? Huh? If I kill you here, the others won’t be able to ignore me!”
Just as he placed the dagger on the woman’s neck, a small stone flew from somewhere and struck Carter’s hand.
“Ahh!”
Carter dropped the dagger and the woman took the opportunity to run away. He clenched his hands and shouted loudly.
“Who is it? Who threw a rock at me?”
The people who were watching ran away, afraid that he would jump at them, so Carter could not catch anyone. Clutching his sore hand, he called for his servant.
That day, a post appeared on the bulletin board saying they were looking for the culprit who threw the stone at Carter. He also offered a large amount of prize money, but no one talked about what happened that day.
“Ah, that’s refreshing.”
Emily felt as if a hundred years of stagnation were slipping away. Every day she practiced shaking the sand in the big cast iron wok, and her arms got stronger.
She whistled, hoping that one day her arm muscles might be as thick as chef Hans, the kitchen manager.
Cooking required finesse, but it was pure labor. You can’t hold a cast iron wok without strength.
***
A month later, Hans promoted Emily to the position of kitchen assistant. Emily’s arms became much thicker and stronger. Her face was ugly, but her body became so muscular that you could mistake her for a man.
” Emily from 

.Congratulations on being kitchen assistant. But it’s a shame. If you are a man, you deserve to be a general.”
The butler gave Emily her paycheck and clicked his tongue ruefully. Recently, Count James has been recruiting a private army, and many mercenaries have applied.
Private soldiers were guaranteed a monthly salary even if they did not work. Needless to say, the kitchen was even busier preparing food for the soldiers as well.
Emily also looked at her body. She thought she might have overdone it, but she had more energy and Carter seemed to be avoiding me, so it wasn’t too bad.
“There’s an important banquet being held today, so you’ll have to be extra careful with your food. Hans.”
***
It was the same banquet that was held in her previous life. As expected, it was held the year Emily turned 20.
“I don’t think I’ll go into the imperial palace again.”
Emily felt nervous and her heart palpitated. But no matter how she thought about it, she wasn’t going to be the emperor’s concubine with her current ugly face and this muscle-covered body.
Not if the emperor was a pervert who liked ugly women, anyway.
As the banquet began, the banquet hall of the castle became more and more crowded with people. Some nobles came from far away from the capital, some from territories nearby, and even nobles without territories gathered.
Count James’ banquet this time was special. It was an occasion to present his 20-year-old son, Carter, and his 18-year-old daughter, Emma to society.
Many of the families wanted to be the Count’s in-laws, so they brought their children to the banquet.
And in secret, the Crown Prince also attended. He attended under a different identity, which was a secret known only to his entourage.
Count James appeared when almost everyone else had arrived, and the musicians stopped playing at his gesture.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your presence. The reason we had the banquet today is because I wanted to introduce my adult son, Carter. Carter, come here.”
“Yes, father.”
Carter stood beside his father with a nervous look on his face. There was no one here with a higher title than Count James. He didn’t hear of any Dukes or Marquises attending. Count James grabbed Carter by the shoulders and said,
“I’m not well and it looks like Carter will be taking over the title in a few years, but I’d like to see my daughter-in-law and grandchildren before that happens. Ha ha.”
The nobles who had gathered laughed at the Count’s words. Carter looked at the noble ladies.
Each of them avoided his eyes. Carter had the look of a vile weasel on his face.
Rumors that he was not good were already spreading among the ladies.
However, many nobles wanted to be related to Count James, so the ladies had no choice but to attend with their parents.
Carter smiled slyly at the ladies. They were generally fair-skinned and had no spots on their faces, probably because they didn’t have to struggle as much as commoner women.
‘Your skin looks good, and your body is not bad either. It’s certainly a different quality from the rough commoner women. Oh, is there such a beautiful woman?’
Carter approached a Young Lady, who looked the most beautiful of them all. Pitch-black hair and perfect red eyes. The black dress suited her very well. She stood out among the women’s colorful dresses.
“What is your name?”
Carter asked, his heart racing with anticipation.
****