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"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." —1 Thessalonians 5:11
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"BUT why are you so happy, though?"
"My lady started speaking a little differently after she woke up, and she also started to act a little diversely. But you know what, my lady? I think I like this version of you more, although it might just be an after effect of the poison that they used to harm you," Emily said happily while beaming with happiness.
Lantana gave her a glance with a raised eyebrow, which made the maid panic and speak again in a defensive tone.
"But it's not like I disliked my lady before! It's just that your version today looked like she treasured her body well, and she doesn't look like she's still seeking other people's recognition nor finding her worth through the wrong people. Although your memory is still vague, your version today doesn't look like she's hurt emotionally because her fiancé didn't show up even after she woke up. I liked you in any way, my lady, but it's okay to be strong like this, too. You have the duke. It's not bad to use his power sometimes, especially to those who deserve the taste of Montgomery's power."
Lantana was taken aback at Emily's words and eventually stopped her stretching. Afterward, a genuine smile came out from her lips.
'See that? You had such a good person around you who treasured you so much.' Lantana thought as if she was talking to Penelope.
"Thank you, Emily, for always being here for me."
She blushed but soon recovered.
"No, my lady. Thank you for always bringing joy to everyone here. We are all happy to serve a master like you so, please, continue being the light for everyone and don't mind those people who want to dim your shine. Everyone in this fief has your back."
Emily smiled after she said those words that made Lantana laugh wholeheartedly.
Really. Why did Penelope not manage to appreciate the kind people around her and always sought the approval of those who didn't like her? She actually had a lot of people who cared for her genuinely, yet she just ignored them. She didn't see them, even the duke, because she was always busy looking somewhere else.
Hah. Since she already became her, she would definitely do her best to cherish the people around her in the present. Duh? Why would she want to waste diamonds over pieces of junk?
'Penelope, I hope, wherever you are right now, you are also happy. We didn't have a chance to meet, but I wish you the happiness you failed to acknowledge before. I can feel that you are kind. If you're alive, please don't live the same way you did here anymore. Don't be like me who had regrets in my past life just because I didn't manage to date. In this life you've given me, I'd definitely date the most handsome guy that I'd find—the one who would treat me like our father.'
"MY LADY, are you still exercising? Should I bring the refreshments later?"
"It's alright, Emily. You can just open the door," she replied while doing push-ups.
It had been a week since she started exercising and also a week since she made the whole mansion go in complete disarray. At first, they were all shocked when Emily announced Lantana's plan to everyone while she was beside her when she called all of them—including the duke.
The duke almost lost his consciousness—though Lantana thought it was just a drama—luckily, the large-built head chef managed to catch him before falling, making him only stumble for a few minutes before he regained his natural composure.
After Emily's announcement of her dieting and exercising plan, all the maids and the other people who were close to Penelope cried sequentially while blaming themselves as if it was their fault. Of course, the duke was the loudest of them all.
Lantana laughed merrily inside because of their overwhelming feelings towards Penelope, however, instead of looking further like what the latter did, she made sure to do what she failed to do which was to look in front of her.
"Please, everyone, father, you don't have to worry too much. Stop crying. I am alright. I'm fully recovered now, and it's not your fault that I wanted to lose a little weight. I'm really okay, I promise," she said in her most innocent and reassuring tone.
Their cries went louder as if someone just died because of the way they wailed, so she spoke again, which made them silent.
"Everyone, the only reason why I wanted to lose weight was only because I wanted a change in me. This has no connection to everyone who didn't believe in me. I'll be doing this thing only to satisfy myself. There's no permanent thing in this world other than change, and I thought I shouldn't be just staying in my shell like a snail whenever there's something strange in front of me. I should also try going with the flow at least so that I wouldn't be carried away by the current. I should also go out of my cover and face the world so that I wouldn't be stuck at one place without knowing what to do next to move forward if ever there's something unfamiliar in front of me that I have to face. Please continue believing in me and support me with this decision of mine. I'll only lose weight, but my heart will never change…"
Her heart would never change, but her thoughts would. She was not Penelope, but her body became hers already, so the heart would not literally change. However, the soul was already tainted, so she really hoped that she wouldn't shock them too much. Although they were clearly two different people, she would still like to show them the changes slowly so it wouldn't appear too shocking for them.
Lantana's heartwarming speech almost made her puke, but everyone seemed to like it because their sad, tearful faces suddenly went bright—though they started crying again with laughter on their faces. They all looked stunned at first, though, as if they couldn't believe that the Lantana they knew could say something so mature like that. They all thought that their lady had changed, but no one found it bizarre.
Well, the real one would never manage to say things like that since she was stupidly so angelic yet small-minded that she ended up in such a silly way.
"My lady, we will support your decision! We will always follow you!"
"They are right, my dear! You can do whatever you want. Dad and the rest are always here for you. We will always be at your back," the duke said as he pulled Lantana into a warm embrace.
She saw some of the servants wipe their tears again with a bright smile on their faces, so a genuine smile arched on her lips as she embraced the duke back.
And so because of that confession from Lantana that day, she managed to cheer up everyone who made a lasting effect. Because of her very "sincere speech," she managed to motivate the head chef to create the best and healthy yet tasty dishes for her, which was really a gain to her side. Aside from that, the others were also fired up to support Lantana, which she appreciated very much.
IN THE present, six days of exercising were done, and the seventh day came. All she could say was that everything was actually going great—which was very surprising.
So far, she noticed that her current body was astonishingly progressive in such an immense scale that it's actually hard to believe that it was even real. She had only used seven days out of the two months time limit that she set for herself, yet the previously thirty-six inches waistline already lost six inches.
In the past few days, she had only eaten eggs, fruits, and vegetables without eating rice and other junk food while continuing her extreme exercises and sleeping at the right time and drinking a lot of water. It was just really amazing how she hadn't passed out yet when exercising was the only thing that she had ever done and ate only mostly grass for a week. If she pushed that kind of way in her old world, doing all the extreme exercises that she knew while eating so little, she would definitely be sent to the hospital because of over fatigue—or she would even probably kill herself.
The body that she had during the first day immediately got so used to her old extreme exercises that she even had to ask herself if it was really Penelope's body or not because she did not even have any struggle at all unlike when she was still just starting.
"My lady, here's your watermelon juice and towel," she heard Emily say, which made her stop her routine with a shocked face.
"Thirty minutes already passed?"
"Yes, my lady, but your mind was wandering, so you probably didn't notice." She smiled as she accepted the towel and drank the juice in one breath.
"Thank you," she kindly said while wiping the dripping sweat around her face.
"Your bath is also already ready, my lady. After taking a bath, would you like to go to the plaza to look for clothes? I noticed you're losing weight so much faster and I realized your old clothes are probably much bigger to you now."
"Sure," she replied happily.
She also thought it was also time for her to roam around her new world and enjoy herself after a straight hell week of excessive exercising while avoiding all the pleasures that the world could offer her.