Chapter 3
The maid hesitated, unsure whether she should answer or not.
“……Were you staying in the annex not to serve me, but to keep watch on me?!”
“N–no, that’s not the case.”
“Then hurry up and answer my question.”
The maid pressed her lips together tightly, then finally answered Grace’s question.
“He went to serve at the Rondel Canal.”
“The Rondel Canal.”
Grace repeated the words *Rondel Canal*, rolling them around in her mouth like a bead.
“Is Saintess Aria there, by any chance?!”
“Uh… today the temple is holding a large-scale purification ritual and volunteer service at the Rondel Canal, so…”
“……”
That meant Saintess Aria was there.
Grace withdrew her gaze from the maid and looked toward the window.
An empty garden spread out before her, and a faint reflection of herself appeared on the glass.
“I see.”
There was no need to go all the way to the mirror to check her appearance again. Even if she looked now, her looks wouldn’t suddenly have changed.
*It would be hard to love a wife who looks like this.*
Grace traced the freckles embedded in her cheek with her index finger.
She could feel the rough texture of her skin. Because she rarely went out into the sunlight, her complexion was dull and grayish.
The hair the maids had carefully arranged was already sticking out here and there due to its heavy curls, and no matter how luxurious the clothes were, they were pearls on a pig’s neck.
*<You’re actually wearing a pearl necklace, so that saying fits perfectly.>*
A mocking voice echoed in her head.
*That’s right.*
Wasn’t it exactly like that? Grace agreed with the voice in her mind.
“…Huh?!”
“My lady?!”
Startled back to her senses, Grace saw the maid looking at her with concern.
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
She shook her head to reassure her, but the strange voice still left an unpleasant afterimage in her mind.
It felt unsettling and ominous.
*Did I imagine that because I got too immersed?!*
Grace knew Aria’s appearance well.
Even though she had never seen her in person, the novel constantly praised her beauty through the author’s narration.
Pure white hair like freshly fallen snow, golden eyes like the radiant sun, flawless skin, and a slender figure.
In every way, she was the complete opposite of Grace.
As if it were only natural that Benjamin would be drawn to Aria.
The maid stood there at a loss, silently watching Grace as she stared out the window for a long time.
Grace, who had been peering beyond the window, finally spoke.
“…I’ve decided.”
“A-about what?”
“I’m going to exercise.”
“Exercise?”
“Yes. Exercise.”
Objectively speaking, losing weight through exercise wouldn’t magically make her beautiful. But her current body was genuinely worrying from a health perspective.
She had finally obtained a body she could move freely, and she didn’t want to fall ill and die young without ever truly living.
*Besides, this body has no stamina at all.*
With this body, she wouldn’t even be able to run a few meters before collapsing on the ground, gasping for breath, likely fainting from shortness of breath.
Wasn’t that no different from her previous life? Well, the difference was that in her previous life, she couldn’t even walk at all.
Since she had gained a body that could move, Grace wanted to live healthily.
A healthy body, a healthy mind.
Grace resolved to improve her stamina and lose weight—for her own goals.
*And then I’ll get a divorce.*
Grace wanted to live a long life.
Benjamin was already seeing Aria, so there was no way to know when Grace might be killed by him.
On top of that, since Grace never left the estate, she didn’t know how far the story in the novel had progressed.
*Not knowing when I’ll die makes me anxious. Well, people never really know when they’ll die, but still.*
In any case, for Grace to survive, she needed to divorce Benjamin as soon as possible.
That way, Benjamin wouldn’t see Grace as an obstacle—and wouldn’t try to quietly get rid of her.
…Though it wasn’t absolutely certain that Benjamin was the cause of Grace’s death.
The reason Grace wanted to diet before divorcing was simple.
First, if she divorced while looking like this, rumors would spread even more—*that the ugly woman was discarded because she was too hideous.*
*At least if I’m slimmer, I won’t look quite so pathetic.*
Second, dieting was easiest when you were wealthy.
With plenty of money and servants, there was no need to worry about trivial matters. Expensive ingredients were readily available, exercise was always possible, and there was no need to work.
*Having an environment where you can focus solely on taking care of your body is a blessing.*
No matter what everyone in the ducal household thought of Grace, she was still the Duchess.
Not just any Duchess, but one who didn’t manage the internal affairs of the household. She wondered if that was really acceptable, but there was no need to reject the comfort she had been given.
*Of course, a lady of the house who doesn’t manage the estate is basically incompetent.*
Whatever the former Grace had been like, the current Grace truly was incompetent.
If she were told to manage the estate finances, she would probably only be able to say, “Those are numbers, and those are charts.”
“So, from now on, I’ll manage my diet and exercise.”
“M-my lady…”
“I’m serious.”
Grace had made her decision.
She would lose weight, divorce Benjamin, and escape this story that was teetering on the brink of tragedy—then live a long, peaceful life on her own.
The basics of dieting were balanced meals, a regular routine, and moderate exercise.
In Grace’s case, her activity level had been far too low until now, so she couldn’t start with anything strenuous. Her maximum activity had been taking walks in the garden behind the annex.
Grace’s stamina was worse than that of a baby deer. She didn’t need exercise clothes.
Besides, the very concept of “exercise wear” didn’t even exist in this world.
“Hm.”
Looking at herself in the mirror, Grace spoke to the maid.
“Do you have anything that fits properly, not oversized clothes? If so, I’d like to use them.”
“……”
Seeing Grace’s sudden change in behavior, as abrupt as flipping a hand over, the maid swallowed hard. Grace had always hated showing her body.
She never adorned herself and was obsessed with hiding her figure.
Wondering what kind of whim this was, the maid stared at her master despite knowing it was improper.
Unaware of the maid’s gaze, Grace continued.
“If not, let’s alter a few of the clothes I already have. Should we call a tailor?”
“Are you planning to have a new dress made?”
“Hmm…”
After a moment of thought, Grace nodded.
“If my allotted budget allows it, then yes. Is there someone who works quickly and can make various styles?”
The maid asked cautiously, watching Grace’s expression.
“…Shall I call the one you usually use?”
There was a hint of reluctance in the maid’s voice, but Grace didn’t notice and simply nodded.
“Yes, that would be best.”
*There’s no point in increasing the number of people who know what I look like now.*
The phrase *“what I look like now”* held many meanings.
*…Fat, freckled, and my hair is…*
Grace roughly grabbed and released her tangled carrot-colored hair.
*Because I look like this…*
Those weren’t Grace’s own thoughts—it was the lingering emotions left in this body.
*I just want to be able to move. I just want to be healthy.*
How much had she hated herself? Grace stared intently at her reflection in the mirror.
She could feel the maid watching her nervously. Grace gestured for the girl to leave.
Once she confirmed she was alone in the room, Grace drew all the curtains shut.
Grace hadn’t been able to adapt as “Grace” immediately after possessing this body. At first, she had been tormented by countless negative thoughts and an inexplicable sense of helplessness—so miserable she wanted to die and couldn’t do anything. Only after barely escaping that pain did she realize that her body could move freely.
Only after that did she realize this place wasn’t the hospital she had been staying in.
*And only then did I look in the mirror. After some time passed, I realized this was the world of a novel.*
There was something Grace had been searching for ever since she regained her composure in this body.
*Where on earth is Grace’s diary?*
She had already searched Grace’s office thoroughly, but it was nowhere to be found.
The memories she currently had were far too vague. For now, she avoided suspicion by minimizing contact with others, but as time passed, her limits would become apparent.
*I can’t stay in this estate after the divorce.*
But she couldn’t ask the maids what kind of person she had been, either.
There was only one thing Grace could rely on—the fact that even in her hazy memories, she remembered that *Grace never missed a day of writing in her diary*. The problem was that thanks to those hazy memories, she had no idea where that diary was.
