TLFKCT 03

Chapter 3

The Male Lead Went Crazy for the Incompetent Villainess

Louisa was a proud and haughty maid who served the youngest daughter of the Ardena ducal family.

Seriel especially hated her older sister.

‘That ugly girl. She’s nothing but skin and bones! Isn’t it because of her that Father keeps dragging me into his affairs? I really can’t stand the sight of her.’

She had spent the entire day putting up with Seriel’s complaints, and now she had been sent out on an errand.

‘She hates chickens more than anything. Well, I suppose she has expensive tastes, at least. Apparently, she once got terribly sick after eating chicken. This is the perfect chance to teach her a lesson.’

So she boiled a chicken without adding a single seasoning. She had even taken special care to make sure the foul smell of the chicken came out.

There was no way Rosana would even touch it.

Just as always.

Whenever Rosana was locked in the attic, this was how they starved her.

Expecting praise from Seriel, Louisa opened the attic door.

“Your meal, Lady Rosana.”

As she spoke, she looked around the room with a contemptuous expression.

But strangely, Rosana was nowhere to be seen.

“Lady Rosana?”

“Ah, just leave it there.”

Hearing the voice from below, Louisa lowered her gaze.

Rosana was lying face down on the floor, doing something.

“What are you doing right now?!”

There was no concern for the dignity of a noble lady whatsoever. She was sprawled on the floor like that.

Rosana glanced at Louisa, who was staring at her in shock, then sighed. She staggered to her feet, stretched lightly, and muttered,

“I’m already trembling from just this much. Where did my lovely muscles go?”

“Lady Rosana!”

“I’m busy doing my thing, so don’t worry about me and get out.”

Rosana waved her hand dismissively.

Louisa’s lips stuck out in a sulky pout. Rosana had never treated her like this before.

Then Rosana spotted the food on the table and immediately raised her head as if she had been waiting for it.

“I prepared this especially for Your Ladyship, so make sure you finish it. Lady Seriel told me to pay special attention to your meals.”

“Thank you so much! I was just wondering how I was going to get enough protein!”

“…Pardon?”

Louisa stared blankly at Rosana.

Like a starving beast, she began tearing into the chicken.

She expertly stripped the meat from the bones with both hands, eating without the slightest hesitation.

Was that really Rosana?

“Wow. This chicken is boiled perfectly. The meat just falls right off the bone. Keep cooking it this well from now on. And don’t add any seasoning, just like today.”

“…Are you really going to eat that?”

“Why?”

Rosana pointed the chicken leg bone at Louisa.

Her sharp eyes flashed.

For some reason, that chicken bone suddenly looked like a sword.

Even though there was no way it could be one.

Just as Louisa instinctively took a step back—

“Do you want some too? You should’ve said so. Want me to leave you some?”

Louisa’s mouth fell open at the unexpectedly innocent question.

She swallowed hard.

Looking at Rosana devouring the food like a wild animal again, Louisa decided to change her plan.

It seemed Rosana had changed hers, too.

“Hmm.”

I examined the bowl and tilted my head.

Then I lightly poked through the large pile of chicken.

“It’s all chicken breast?”

The maid who had brought the food arrogantly raised her chin.

Twisting up one corner of her mouth, she said,

“You need to think about your health. Gaining too much weight would be bad for Your Ladyship. This is all for your health, so please understand—”

“I love it. Keep preparing it like this from now on. Don’t add any seasoning, cook it just this much, and bring me plenty of chicken breast.”

The maid looked displeased.

“L-Like this? Every time?”

“Yep. Just like this from now on.”

I could understand why the maid was reacting that way.

The original Rosana had once eaten so much dry chicken breast that she became seriously ill and spent two days suffering from indigestion.

After that, she couldn’t stand chicken.

Whenever she was locked up and forced to eat it, she would even complain that she couldn’t breathe.

It seemed they were bringing me nothing but chicken specifically to torment me.

But for me, who needed to build up my leg muscles, it was the perfect food.

And chicken breast?

It was practically pure protein.

It was something I used to eat constantly when I was seriously working on building muscle.

So I was used to it.

Besides…

This was a workout meal prepared by someone else.

I didn’t even have to pay for it.

Was this what heaven for working out looked like?

Of course, it was a little disappointing that there was no exercise equipment.

But being locked up all day in a place where I could do nothing but exercise?

This was amazing.

For cardio, I had been doing things like running in place.

Seriously, this was the best!

The corners of my lips twitched.

The maid glared at me while trembling with frustration. Then she stormed out as if she were running away.

I stretched comfortably.

“So, what should I try next? Leg presses? Or stretching? Cardio?”

I had only exercised for one day, but every muscle in my body was already screaming.

Still, that pain was a hopeful sign.

It meant the muscles that had been dormant were waking up again.

Besides, the only way to get rid of muscle soreness was to keep exercising.

My determination burned even hotter.

Meanwhile, in the Grand Conference Hall of the Gradan Empire’s Imperial Palace.

Kael stared coldly at Duke Ardena.

The duke’s sharp chin was raised high, and his eyes were filled with a sly, contemptuous light.

Kael disliked Rosana, but he hated her father, Duke Ardena, even more.

“Say that again, Duke Ardena. Who are you sending to the expedition party this time?”

“As I said, Rosana volunteered, Your Imperial Highness.”

“Hah.”

Kael thought of his former fiancée, the sensitive and irritable woman who was now being sent on the expedition.

She hated even getting a speck of dirt on her body.

She also hated being around other people.

She was a woman who cared about nothing but herself.

And such a woman had volunteered for an expedition to save the world?

Even looking back on the two months they had spent as fiancés due to the forceful decision of the duke and the Emperor, she had never been the sort of person who would do something like that.

‘So he’s trying to dump his burden on me.’

Kael swept his cold gaze across the conference hall.

Every single person avoided his eyes and cleared their throats.

They were all thinking the same thing.

Even in a crisis like this, they were hiding their precious heirs away and pushing forward branch-family children, second daughters, second sons, or people their families considered useless.

‘Noblesse oblige? The noble spirit has rotted away to the point of death.’

They were obviously trying to leave the salvation of the Empire and all the difficult work to others while taking the rewards for themselves from behind the scenes.

And the Ardena family stood at the very front of them.

Could that stick-thin woman even hold a sword?

More people would probably have to sacrifice themselves just to protect the precious daughter of the Ardena family.

The only person from Ardena who was actually useful for an expedition like this was their eldest son, Kirdel.

But there was no way they intended to offer him up.

Kael roughly ran a hand through his hair.

Was there really any hope for this expedition?

He turned his gaze toward the Emperor.

There was even less hope there.

The Emperor’s murky eyes were filled with greed.

He had probably already taken plenty of money from the nobles.

After the Empire had fallen into this state, the Emperor was the first person to lose his mind.

He had once been somewhat useful, but now he was no better than garbage.

The Emperor was doing everything he could to avoid facing the situation.

He had thrown himself into a life of pleasure.

There was no hope for the Emperor.

The world was slowly turning into a dump.

Even now, the Empress was pressuring Kael, determined to put her eight-year-old son on the throne as Emperor.

Kael let out a bitter laugh.

Even if they saved the Empire by sacrificing noble blood and countless lives, those people would be the ones to reap the benefits.

It disgusted him.

Was this world really worth saving?

Perhaps the power he had been given had not been meant to save the world after all.

Kael gave a mocking smile.

What was even more infuriating was that, despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to turn his back on the people of the Empire who were desperately struggling to survive.

‘What a damn idiot.’

Kael swallowed the curse behind his teeth.

“If you’re going to act like thugs, then you should at least pay the proper price for it. I expect you to provide sufficient supplies.”

“Your Imperial Highness, ahem. What do you mean by ‘acting like thugs’?”

“My blade does not discriminate.”

Kael delivered the quiet warning.

The only reason he was holding back was because he didn’t want to add more chaos to an already chaotic situation.

“Either give me money or give me someone useful. Choose one.”

Kael’s sharp warning fell over the hall.

Once again, he felt disgusted.

Just thinking about having to face the precious daughter of the Ardena family made his stomach churn.

‘I don’t eat dishes made with cheap chicken.’

He remembered the woman who had lightly wiped the corners of her mouth with a pale face.

‘I don’t like places that are this dirty and cramped. Let’s go somewhere else.’

He remembered the woman who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest inconvenience.

Kael swallowed his anger and closed his eyes.