Heroine On Strike

“Young master. I’ve told you countless times that you should stop doing these pranks. I know both of you don’t heed my advice anymore. You should know by now that Lady Ella can’t deal with your manhandling anymore. I’ve told you before that what you’re doing now is just bullying her.”

Maylin’s lectures were a frequent occurrence for Evan. They were so frequent that he had a response to each one, “That’s why I objected to Ella’s weight loss! Look at her. She’s so thin even without her corset! At this point, a corset will only hurt her. It won’t even make her look thin. Besides, I don’t like the idea of my sister starving just to look good to other men.”

A month ago, even before he left, Evan argued with Maylin over Ella’s 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 couldn’t even escape his headlock, which she had single-handedly escaped before. 

Evan never imagined his sister would be in such a state. He especially hated the idea that she was doing this all for the sake of the crown prince. Instead, he would have done his best to help her if she was marrying into an ordinary noble family. Because Ella was the crown prince’s fiancée, extra care and attention were given to her. From now on, she will have to deal with her problems on her own. It was clear to him that it would be difficult to even visit his sister in the future. 

The current empress was an example of a woman who ruined her life by marrying into the royal family. Evan didn’t want the same to happen to Ella, so he looked into the empress’s past. As he learned more about her, he became increasingly worried for Ella. These days he couldn’t shake his worries away. Although Evan hated the idea of his sister’s marriage, it was impossible to stop it. The marriage was, after all, the emperor’s idea. That’s 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, wasn’t 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. ‘W-what’s up with her…?’ thought Evan. Then he asked, “W…what’s wrong?”

Ella almost burst into laughter at Evan’s reaction, but she maintained her beautiful smile. As she smiled, Luciella’s past memories appeared in her mind. One of them showed her kicking Evan’s 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 didn’t stop his sister from walking towards him. She felt loved. 

“I’m thankful that you care about me. I think I’m going to go easy on the weight loss as you’ve just said.”

“My lady!” shouted Maylin in response to Ella’s words.

Although she knew why Maylin reacted that way, she valued her relationship with her brother more than the crown prince, who she hadn’t met yet. There wasn’t 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 didn’t even want to try. Maintaining her current weight was enough for her. Ella didn’t 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, didn’t know this, and his face instantly brightened.

“Is that true?” asked Evan.

“Of course. Did I ever talk nonsense? I think you’re right. I don’t see what’s the point in dieting anymore. Maybe I should start training my body. I think it’s time I learn about the ‘fighting Evan’ technique that Eric always wanted to teach me. Don’t you think it’s better that I learn to keep myself alive for the crown prince instead of looking good for him?”