Chapter 452

Veronica moved her hands under the table and discreetly unfolded the note.

Something was written there. She read.

‘If you don’t want to get fatter than this, I advise you to eat less meat and more vegetables.’

It was signed with a leaf.

The unique leaf belonged to only one person.

The Second Prince of the Elvish Realm.

‘U.R.U.L.A.S.’

.....

Veronica gritted her teeth in anger.

She clenched the note tightly and turned it into a ball before throwing it on the ground, under the table. No one noticed anything.

“Veronica, you should eat more or don’t blame me for stealing your meal,” Darius warned her playfully.

Veronica scanned the dishes. Except for the main dish, rice, every side dish was cooked with meat.

She lowered her head and looked at her stomach. She stroked her stomach to understand how large her stomach was.

She noticed her belly moved. She gasped.

‘Belly fat! I have belly fat!!!’

She let out an internal scream.

Darius and Ironin were busy eating. They didn’t notice her changes in expression.

“Veronica, eat before you think,” Darius reminded her. “No need to be shy. Here, I’ll give you something.”

Then, he put a chicken drumstick on her plate.

Veronica started at the drumstick and gulped.

Ever since she was a child, she had only had meat once a month. Other days, she had to go with vegetables and grains.

She liked meat so much but only had it occasionally.

That’s why after leaving the temple, she ate more meat than vegetables.

With her training and eating meat, she gained more muscles in her arms and legs.

However, for some reason, her stomach became pudgy even though she trained every day.

She recalled that Arthur wanted something in return after giving her the idea of how to deal with Duke De la Pole.

‘How am I supposed to show my body to Arthur? His body is so perfect!’

Just thinking about that her face paled.

She looked at the meat that Darius served her and gulped.

She was drooling to eat but worried about her belly fat at the same time.

‘Let’s just eat today. I will exercise more until I give Arthur what he wants. He is busy dealing with Trevor’s death. He won’t be back until the investigation is over.’

‘Should I pray that the investigation takes a month? I shouldn’t. That’s too selfish. Sigh!’

She pulled the plate closer with a glum face. Then, she dug in.

After coming back to the tower, she started exercising.

“Ver, are you okay? Why are you exercising at this hour?”

Catherine came to find her and saw her doing a side plank hip lift.

She once saw Zinnia do the same thing. When she asked her what this exercise was for, Zinnia explained it to her in detail.

“The side plank with hip lifts activates the obliques and helps to build endurance and core strength. This exercise works the deep abdominal muscles and helps to tighten and shrink the waistline.”

Veronica counted one to ten before she stopped.

She panted for a while and then replied, “I’m getting fat.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Catherine was puzzled upon hearing that. She scanned her friend up and down.

“I don’t see any changes. On which side are you fat?”

“My stomach! I have belly fat.” Veronica pulled her shirt up and showed her pudgy belly. “I can’t believe I’m gaining weight.”

She looked depressed, ready to cry her heart out.

Catherine commented while staring at her friend’s stomach, “I guess your diet is out of control. You eat more meat than Ironin.”

Veronica frowned. Somehow, she found her comment insulting.

She questioned her, “How do you know Ironin eats more meat than I do? Are you spying on him or something?”

“I just happened to notice.” Catherine shrugged.

She hid the fact that she was spying on Ironin after coming back from his estate.

She added, “But I don’t think your belly fat is alarming enough to start the exercise. You are already training every day.

“It will toil your body. You should enjoy a little fat. It’s normal. I believe every woman has belly fat.”

“No, Zinnia and Roxana don’t have belly fat. Their stomachs are flat and their waists are nicely shaped. I want to be jealous.” Veronica pursed her lips.

“Oh, come on, it’s nothing bad.” Catherine hugged her friend to console her.

She continued, “Your changes in physical appearance won’t change who you are. The only thing that matters is your heart.

“Those who truly care for you, won’t start hating you for gaining some weight. They love you because of your personality.”

Veronica felt better after being consoled by her friend. She stopped worrying about her belly fat.

She asked, “What about you? It’s so hard to get in touch with you nowadays. I went to look for you at Ovior’s office in the morning before I left the tower. You weren’t there.”

She noticed that Catherine was hard to find these days. Not if Veronica needed her for something, Catherine barely approached her.

Moreover, she became a lot quieter and she started wearing light-colored clothes.

After Vincent’s wedding incident, she mostly wore light gray, light brown and off-white skirts with off-white or white blouses. And her corset was brown in color.

Before, she would wear bright-colored dresses. Just looking at her people would feel better.

Now, she looked remorseful and depressed.

Her behavior sometimes scared Veronica.

“I had to run an errand. Sometimes I deliver documents to higher sections,” Catherine explained.

Truthfully, she was avoiding Veronica. She noticed that her friend was worried but she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Do you want to have dinner together?” Veronica invited her. “I have something to discuss with you.”

“Sure!”

Catherine couldn’t decline the offer. So, she agreed.

——–

At dinner, Veronica and Catherine sat down with Zinnia.

Veronica narrated shortly to Catherine what she and Zinnia found out about the fake Arthur case.

Catherine gaped at them. “I can’t believe something like this is happening in the tower. Shouldn’t we tell Arthur about it? He should take extra measures.”

“That’s why we can’t tell him,” Veronica said. “I’m already dealing with bodyguards and can’t roam around freely. I hate it. I have something else to tell you.”

She also told them what she thought about the relationship between the Queen and the witches.

“Such conspiracy!” Catherine was astonished.

“So, you have gone that far. Good job, Veronica!” Zinnia complimented her. “I’ve thought that too but we have no proof of the Queen’s involvement. It’s just our speculation.”

“If we don’t have one, we will get one,” Veronica said.

“How do you plan to do that?” Zinnia showed interest. “Do you have a plan?”

Veronica was excited to share her plan.

She said in detail, “I think I do. At first, you have to give Arthur, Darius and Felix false information. It’ll lead them to look for the culprit somewhere else.

.....

“Second, we will tell Ovior and Ironin about our plan and ask them to assist us. When the Queen’s spy will see that Arthur and others are investigating the wrong side, they will lower their guard.

“When the spy lowers their guard, they ought to make mistakes. That’s how we will capture them.”

“I understand but what lie should I tell Arthur?” Zinnia asked. “We are already investigating all the high-ranking magicians.”

Veronica said, “Tell him that you noticed a low-quality magic item in the information guild or a seal maybe. You can tell him that you were wrong all along.

“The information guild wanted to divert her attention to the high-ranking magicians so that the real culprit who is a lower-ranking magician can run away.”

Zinnia approved of the idea. “Nice idea. I’ll think of a way to divert his attention. But what about capturing the culprit? How will we catch him?”

“We need a bait and I can be the perfect bait. Don’t you think so?” Veronica’s emerald eyes glinted.

“I don’t think it will be a good idea,” Zinnia instantly denied. “Arthur will slaughter us.”

Veronica knew it wouldn’t be easy to get Zinnia’s approval.

She told her, “That’s why we need Ovior and Ironin’s help. Ironin will secretly protect me and Ovior will use his magic to hide Ironin’s presence.”

“It is a solid plan but if you get even one scratch, Arthur will kill us.” Still, Zinnia didn’t agree.

“How about I become the bait? I’ll disguise myself as Ver,” Catherine suggested.

Zinnia’s eyes flickered.

“No way! I won’t agree with this. I will do this myself.” Veronica was firm with her decision.

Zinnia said, “Maybe we can ask some other woman...”

Catherine interrupted her by saying, “No one knows Ver better than I do. What she likes, how she acts, how she walks – I know everything. I even know she has belly fat.”

“Oh, shut up!” Veronica hissed. Her face was red in embarrassment.

Zinnia chuckled. “You might be in danger. You know that, right?”

“I do.” Catherine nodded.

“It’s settled then,” Zinnia approved. She looked at Veronica and said, “You better find out how you are going to deal with Duke De la Pole. He is not an easy guy.”

“I know. I will deal with him properly,” Veronica replied with a sour face.

The next day, Duke De la Pole came to the Magic Tower to meet Veronica.