“My goodness! You made this much?”

Estella was taken aback as she looked at the jar, as big as a watermelon, filled to the brim with blue-tinted ash. It had been crafted perfectly, with a faint, shimmering blue glow.

When she had tried this in her past life, it had taken nearly a month of failure to produce such a result—yet Ria had managed it in a single day.

“Your… your face! Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep at all?”

Only now noticing the dark circles under Ria’s eyes, Estella looked horrified.

“...Yes. But I’m fine. I’m not tired at all.”

Ria’s calm answer made Estella feel suddenly guilty.

“You could have taken your time. Don’t ever do this again, okay?”

“It was the first thing you ever asked me to do, my lady.”

Ria had no sense of moderation—she was the kind of person who gave everything her full effort. She had nothing of laziness in her and was almost excessively diligent and silent. She had been the kind of presence you could forget existed. When Estella had realized Ria had been the only one to mourn her until the very end, her time had already run out.

She had been granted a miracle, given another chance by being merged with another soul. Estella believed the reason the god had allowed it was so she could treasure even the smallest ties she’d once overlooked. So she decided to value everything placed before her—selectively, of course.

“Ria. Go lie down and get some more sleep.”

“No, it’s really okay. I want to come with you to the training ground. Please let me stay by your side. I truly don’t feel tired.”

Estella stared at Ria’s wide, earnest eyes, then let out a soft smile and gave a small nod.

“Then let’s do this. Tonight, go to bed early. Deal?”

“Yes.”

Ria answered with a shy smile. Estella plucked a fleck of ash from her hair, then took a deep breath as if trying to lighten the mood.

“Well then, shall we try some of Ria’s miraclelium tea?”

Miraclelium.

Ria quietly repeated the word to herself. With such a cool name, it truly felt like she had done something special—she was overjoyed.

She watched closely as Estella placed the ash into a teapot and began to steep it slowly. The idea of brewing tea from ash was already strange, but Ria had never imagined it would smell so pleasant.

Trickle—

The liquid poured into the teacup glowed faintly blue, the same color as the ash. It looked like a piece of the blue sky had been cut out and filtered until there wasn’t even a trace of cloud left. How could something so clear be drawn from ash? It was fascinating.

Estella sipped the mint-scented tea slowly. Her mouth cooled, and she felt clarity bloom in her mind.

Miraclelium.

Made by turning the common weed gallweed into blue ash and brewing it into tea, it neutralized the effects of Pungyangcho—the key ingredient in fattening drugs—and helped restore the body to its natural state. Estella had discovered its properties after she turned forty, and it had become so popular that it sparked a miraclelium craze across the Empire.

The so-called “miracle diet tea.”

Later, its price had skyrocketed to absurd levels, but more people failed to obtain it than succeeded. Estella savored the tea and looked at Ria.

“From now on, could you serve this cold after my workouts instead of lemon water?”

“Yes, my lady!”

Ria’s amber eyes sparkled like stars as she smiled brightly. She was truly happy to have something she could do for her lady.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

Vice-Commander Gai approached Commander Lucius, who stood atop the training yard’s watchtower, gazing off into the distance.

“Ah… it’s Lady Estella.”

Gai’s lip curled into a sneer. His expression held no expectation—only contempt.

He didn’t look kindly on Estella. The sentiment was common throughout the entire Order.

People openly said, “If only Lady Katrin had been the firstborn,” and Gai was one of those who agreed.

“What do you see?” Lucius asked, eyes still fixed forward. As someone who had honed his instincts in years of war against monsters, even the way he watched held the sharpness of a predator studying its prey.

“She’s been running much longer than usual.”

Gai replied indifferently.

Estella had tried and failed multiple times in the past to lose weight through reckless means. He assumed this was just another of those attempts.

This one was simply lasting a bit longer.

“That’s all you notice?”

“Sir? What do you mean?”

“Look again. Watch how Lady Estella is running.”

Gai shrugged as if it was pointless, then glanced down at the training ground.

What meaning could there be in merely running?

But as Estella completed her fifth lap, Gai’s expression stiffened with disbelief.

“Now do you see it?”

Lucius asked quietly.

“...But how?”

Gai’s gaze faltered.

Even after five full laps, Estella’s breathing hadn’t faltered.

Moreover—

“She’s managing her stamina strategically while maintaining a consistent pace.”

There was admiration in his voice, even as he muttered without thinking.

She began slowly, increased speed at the midpoint, then stabilized her pace at the end to preserve energy.

It was reminiscent of the way soldiers retreated from battle while conserving stamina. Only then did Gai turn to look at Lucius, a dazed expression on his face.

“Yes,” Lucius said with an intrigued smile.

“That’s not just exercise. It’s basic tactical training—the same we use to drill soldiers.”

“My goodness! My lady, I think we’ll have to take the dress in again!”

Claire, who had returned to the estate with the altered dress, exclaimed as she noticed how loose it had become around Estella’s frame. Clapping her hands, she looked truly delighted.

“Really?”

Estella feigned ignorance, but she could feel the difference in her body every day. She had spent nearly every hour between dawn and midday exercising—it was no surprise.

And the miraclelium Ria had so perfectly made was alarmingly effective at burning away fat. It worked two or three times faster than exercise alone. Every morning, she could see her face changing. It wasn’t called “the miracle tea” for nothing.

Watching Estella smile, Claire gushed with excitement.

“Yes! Your jawline is so much slimmer, and your arms and legs are way thinner than before. You’ve lost so much around the waist, too! Even your skin looks better—and that bump on your chin is gone!”

Claire was as happy as if it had happened to her, thrilled to see Estella growing prettier by the day.

Estella looked at herself in the mirror from different angles as she listened. Just as Claire said, she looked much slimmer than when she had first awakened in this body. Without a scale, it was hard to say for sure, but it felt like at least 20 kilograms had vanished.

Still, no matter how much she’d lost, her body was heavy, and she was still overweight.

I need to return to my old body as fast as possible.

Being slim and pretty came afterward. In her current state, she couldn’t do anything.

To prevent the suspicious death of her father and stop the downfall of her house, she needed strength. There was only so much someone could do in this soft, doughy body.

She itched to move as nimbly as she once had. It drove her mad every time her body failed to keep up with her thoughts.

If only I had a gym…

Running laps every day made her crave strength training. Suddenly, it occurred to her—she was a noblewoman. Surely, she had the funds to build one.

Estella dropped the idea of adjusting her dress and dashed into the dressing room. If she remembered correctly, Estella had quite a collection of jewels.

“Of course!”

Just as expected, the dressing room glittered with enough jewels to rival a goldsmith’s entire stock. They were all in styles far better suited to elderly dowagers than a young woman just past twenty. No doubt this, too, was thanks to her ever-loving(?) younger sister’s influence.

With a wardrobe bursting with unfitting dresses and enough luxury to seem frivolous, Estella fit the rumors perfectly: a foolish noble girl who wasted money on dresses and jewels she couldn’t even wear properly.

“But I can sell all this!”

She wasn’t sure how much it would all be worth, but surely it was enough to build simple workout equipment—dumbbells, weights, a training bench—at the very least.

Chapter 6

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