âCossette-sama, Cossette-sama! Please wake up.â
âFuwaâŠ? Shishi? I need to sleep some moreâŠâ
âNo. Hurry up and get ready or we wonât be able to get ready on time.â
âŠready?
I rubbed my sleepy eyes as I swiftly sat up and saw a different ceiling.
Crap!
Last night I was so nervous!
Of course there was nothing like that.
I can sleep anywhere, no matter what the pillow is, and I slept soundly last night in the soft bed in the palace.
The maid, who had looked after me yesterday, brought me some water to wash up.
I washed my face with the slightly flower-scented water, which made my heavy eyelids feel refreshed and clear.
Outside the window, the beautiful garden that I hadnât seen last night was shining brightly in the morning sun.
Last night I was guided to this room, which was located on the first floor of the royal palace, and when the French door was opened, we could go out to the garden for exclusive use.
As expected of a royal guest room.
The garden seemed to be quite spacious, perhaps in anticipation of a small tea party for the guests.
In the well-decorated garden, seasonal flowers were in full bloom and there was even a small stream running through it.
I didnât know it was this beautiful.
I would like to enjoy it more anyway.
While I was absent-mindedly gazing at the garden, breakfast was being prepared.
They had arranged for me to eat in bed because of my injured leg.
The table was lined with freshly baked croissants and sausages, scrambled eggs, half-boiled and shiny, and a fresh salad.
The food prepared by our head chef is, of course, wonderful, but this is the Royal Palace.
All of the ingredients exude a sense of luxury.
And the croissants.
Iâll say it again because itâs important.
What we have here is a croissant.
Our head chef rarely makes croissants for us.
Why?
Because youâll get fat!
Croissant is a very high-calorie bread with lots of butter.
It is crunchy, moist, and light in texture, so you can eat as much as you want, which is also bad news.
We donât have a concept of calories in this world, but we all know from experience that butter and other greasy foods lead to obesity.
Especially since I started my diet, the head chef has rarely made me a croissant.
On the rare occasion that I am served a delicious croissant, I would think that ten or twenty would be too light, so it could be considered as a kindness on the part of the chef.
The last time I ate a croissant was three months ago for breakfast.
When I had my fifteenth refill, a snowman object was placed on my plate.
It was a very well-made object.
He looked like me in the past, and I felt a sense of kinship with him, so I keep it in my room.
While I was eating my breakfast, thinking about the snowman, I was stopped by a maid of honor at the ninth croissant.
âCosette-sama,â she said, âYou will not be able to fit in your dress. Please, thatâs enoughâŠâ
Just how slim is the dress�
His Highness would provide all the dresses, too, but I stopped at nine croissants, terrified at the slenderness of the dresses I hadnât seen yet.
The dresses that had been prepared for me were really slim.
No matter how much weight I had lost, I was at a level where I wondered what the harassment was all about.
It seems that the corset that was avoided last night due to an injury will have to be worn due to the fact that they are going out to a gathering of many nobles.
There are no injuries or wounds on my abdomen, so thatâs a relief.
After that, three handmaidens began the terrifying dressing process.
I thought I was going to throw up.
No, I threw up a bit.
Itâs a maidenâs secret that I drank it as it was because it was a waste of time.
Once the dress was on, I was made to sit at the mirror table and had my hair and makeup done.
My hair was half up and decorated with white fresh flowers and her makeup was modest.
When all the preparations were done, there was a very fragile young lady.
The dress that covered her entire body was a pale cherry blossom color, and together with the narrow waist that was just barely cinched by the corset, it looked as if it might break at any moment.
The skirt part has a three-dimensional effect by overlapping delicate lace layers, and each time it moves, it swings lightly and fluffily.
The white arms peeking out from the puffed sleeves were covered with long silk gloves.
Her feet were soft silk slippers instead of high heels, due to her injuries.
Itâs an ant.
Oh, yeah, itâs an antâŠ
From my point of view, itâs ruined at my feet, but the maidservants are satisfied.
âThis dress was worn by the queen when she was young. The queen said that she could wear it if she could, and she would be great at it.â
âBy the Queen? Oh wow, Iâm in awe!â
No wonder it looked like a very expensive dress.
I was going to pretend I didnât see it, but there were countless pearls sewn into the lace, and I think the fabric of the dress is of the finest silk.
âThe Queen wishes to have it if it is to your liking, Cossette-sama. She also said it was an apology. BesidesâŠâ
She, the maid of honor, said that the dress had been made so slender that she had only been able to wear it once.
But she wanted me to wear it, because it was designed by Mrs. Zamasu and was of fashion-inspired beauty and elegance.
By all accounts, it did not sound like a gift that could be given casually, but since it would be impolite to refuse what the Queen had handed me down, I no longer had a choice.
Now there was no choice but to keep me in shape to wear this dress.
As I hid my tragic resolve, my parents came to meet me in my room.
âGood morning, Father, Mother,â
âCosette! How beautiful you are!â
âGood morning, Cosette. My, my, arenât they very fragile? Beautiful, of course.â
I nodded my head in agreement with my mother.
Youâre right.
I think it was made to look somewhat more vulnerable and fragile than it needed to be.
Well, itâs probably because itâs more convincing to be fragile than a kidnapped young lady whoâs pin prickly and crunchy or something like that.
I suppose the Queen has her mindset on this, so for me, it doesnât really matterâŠ
Itâs not a problem.
âWell, whatever it is I have a stomach ache.â
âOh, you had croissants for breakfastâŠâ
Thatâs my mom.
I know what youâre talking about.
After talking for a while, an attendant came to call for us, and we headed to the audience room where His Majesty the Kingâs ruling would be made.