The Ugly Lady’s Secret Pouch

Chapter 1: Stop Calling People Ugly. Everyone Has a Reason
Part 1

“Ugh, I hate this. I have to watch that finger-sucker eat his meal right in front of me again.”

My mood sank at the thought of seeing my cousin, with a large handkerchief tucked into his shirt collar like a bib, sucking the sauce from the corners of his mouth and fingers.

Whoever said she was ugly, anyone who saw his face wouldn’t be able to say it carelessly.

Because Lila’s ugly cousin, Louis El Este, was the very model of ugliness.

Lila emerged from her room just in time. As she descended the creaky staircase that announced her family’s history, the young butler who had replaced the longtime butler at the manor saw her and made a face.

Ignoring him, who didn’t even bother to hold the door open for her, Lila unlocked the dining room door herself and entered.

Despite her timely arrival, Baron Este, who was already eating breakfast, rolled his eyes at her entrance and clicked his tongue in a low voice.

“I told you not to be late for breakfast, you’ve come down just now?”

“Good morning, Brother Louis.”

“Yes, good morning.”

Lila, who had grown accustomed to being nagged whether she said anything or not, gave a polite bow and sat down in her chair.

‘What the hell is that butler doing here? If he’s not going to pull out my chair, he should get out.’

Lila pulled out her own chair and sat down, muttering to herself. People here are so faceless, anyway.

I suppose it’s the Empire’s influence.

The standards of beauty and handsomeness in the Vassium Empire were based more on the clarity of the skin than the exact shape of the face.

If you have a plain face but good skin, you’re considered beautiful and handsome.

If they also have the preferred eye color or hair color, the likability factor is even higher. For example, the red eyes of Prince Theobald, or the silver hair of Duke Heinrich, or the azure eyes of Marquis Alfonso.

In the Empire of Vassium, people with hair and eyes that resemble gemstones were favored.

Looking at the colorful Imperials, Laila thought she couldn’t possibly know the true standard, since it was faster to find hair or eyes that didn’t resemble gems.

After all, the standards of beauty in the Vassian Empire meant fair skin, hair and eye color that was luxurious at first glance, and a face that was harmonious and graceful.

That’s a pretty high standard.

I have the heroine buff, so no matter how hard I try to ruin my face, I still look cute.

Oh, is it because it’s my face?

I scooped a spoonful of thick, hot potato soup into my mouth while thinking about nothing else.

Just when I put soup in my mouth, he talked to me.

“What the hell were you thinking going out yesterday dressed like that? I don’t understand what the hell is wrong with you. You were so cute, Lila when the Lord was still alive…”

Louis shook his head, his tongue clicking out in finality. Lila gulped down the soup in her mouth and opened her mouth to speak.

“What’s wrong with my dress, I think it’s pretty…”

It was actually a very ugly dress in her opinion, and it cost a fortune.

Louis looked stunned by her words.

“What in the world are your aesthetic standards, that weird bird-feathered dress, how was that pretty?”

She couldn’t help but agree with him.

“Huh, that’s strange. I’m also curious about my brother’s aesthetic sense.”

Pretending not to know, I replied shyly, opening my eyes. Seeing her narrow eyes, Louis hesitated for a moment.

“Anyway, if you want to get married, you will have to dress up and attend the banquet. If your face doesn’t look good, you should have a good sense. Do you understand?”

Lila’s expression hardened at the mention of marriage.

‘Do you think I’m doing this because I want to? I want to have a relationship, I want to get married!’

She had hopes of marriage, and she was very disappointed in her current situation, but survival comes first.

“I see.”

Only after hearing her answer did Louis stop talking. After finishing breakfast in silence, Lila hurried back to her room.

As soon as she entered the room, she pulled out her diary, which she had kept in her pouch.

The makeup box the Reaper had given her contained more than just cosmetics, and the fact that Jin Yura had shoved it to her insistence was ironically helpful now.

Flipping open the black leather-bound journal, Lila read the novel reviews she’d left when she was Yoon Seol.

There were several comments she wrote about other novels, and among them, the original <Birds are happy when they are trapped in a cage> was also recorded.

In the original work, the female lead turned 19 years old, and the timing of the coming-of-age ceremony at the palace was also written, along with the rough situation and plot.

“Right, that happened.”

In the original, the female lead danced with all three male leads at her coming-of-age ceremony.

Crown Prince Theobald, Duke Heinrich, and Marquis Alfonso.

The celebrity attention she received is the catalyst for the wicked Charlotte to begin harassing her in earnest.

Lila, who could not refuse the invitation of Charlotte, the daughter of the countess, was repeatedly forced to do insulting and humiliating acts to her, and each time the male leads showed up to pay back the villainess Charlotte in full.

Imagine how angry the male characters were when they saw the female protagonist being bullied. Thanks to the good catalyst Charlotte, the men came to see her with all sorts of excuses.

And when the female lead turns 20, the legal confinement relay begins, starting with Heinrich.

“Wow… I can’t believe this is my future. It’s horrible to watch again.”

Lila checked her diary and put it away, then opened it again and muttered.

“But this novel is over, right? I mean, it’s in a series, but it had an ending, right?”

She ran her fingers through her hair, scratching at a random thought, and then remembered that her coming-of-age was just around the corner.

She had spent nine years preparing for it, and now the big day was upon her. Lila was planning to humiliate herself at the ceremony, but not in the same way as the original.

Being called ‘Ugly Lady’ wasn’t enough to make her nervous. She wanted to drive a wedge, so that she could live peacefully and beautifully in the days to come.