Chapter 4: The Stupid Daughter of a Duke

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"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." —Proverbs 31:25

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SHE WAS very stupid!

She was so stupid to let the dog that she picked up from the rags to steal her own fiancé and treat him as if he was her own.

The original girl was so stupid and an annoying pushover who let the dog she picked up, almost dying in front of a boutique, to do whatever she wanted in her life.

Despite on seeing how close her fiancé was to a girl all throughout and despite all the evidences that were pointing out that her fiancé was cheating on her from the very beginning, she never tried to entertain the doubts that were building in her stupid heart—that liked the guy so much—because she thought that he was "kind". She never tried to doubt the girl that she helped in the past even though she always showed her evident hostility whenever she tried to talk to her fiancé, who even ended up poisoning her easily.

Just how stupid could she be? She had eyes but she didn't even try seeing things. She had ears but she chose what to listen to. She had brains but she chose not to use it!

Brianna felt so stressed with Lantana's life story. It was exactly like one of the famous plots of her favorite novels in the past when she was still on Earth, the one where an innocent girl and a scheming woman would have an encounter and the scheming woman would always act as if she was bullied by the innocent girl whenever there were people, especially the male lead, which made the innocent girl the villainess in the eyes of others. And then, when the innocent girl reached her limit, she would either die and go back to the past to avenge herself or another soul that died from another world would occupy her body.

Wasn't the second one exactly what happened to her!? The original Lantana was weak, the fiancé was a dick while the friend was a total piece of shit.

Brianna knew that she was also stupid for not knowing that the snake Vermin had that kind of nature inside him but… Lantana was even more foolish! Their situation differed because Lantana was always presented with clear evidence while Brianna was completely left in the dark.

Well, anyway. She just woke up after that sudden outburst of pain in her head.

Right after she woke up, the people around her went berserk again. Afterwards, an old male doctor came to check her up.

Although the duke—who was basically the body's father—tried to keep his voice down when he asked the doctor about her sudden reaction when she first woke up and acted as if she didn't know them, she still heard what they were saying.

Apparently, since Lantana's body was poisoned with a poison that they couldn't identify and detoxify, she might really suffer from a memory loss—the doctor said. But, Brianna was not suffering from any memory loss earlier! She just didn't really know them.

She didn't know if she could really call the sudden eruption of memories in her earlier a blessing since the body owner was a total pinnacle of stupidity but she guessed, it was still something to be thankful for since because of that, she kind of had a gist of what was happening.

And also because of those, she knew what she had to do. With those in mind, she decided to change the course of her life first. If she was really given a second chance to live, I might as well use it to the fullest and without regrets like in the past. And if she really wanted it to go smoothly, she must make sure to break ties with that cheating bastard and that gold digger.

But before that, she would need to make her body stronger and maximize every one of the body's assets first to make sure that she would be able to give those people the grandest face-slap that she could give them.

Hah. The body was targeted for being fat—though in her original world, it was accepted as just being voluptuous. In fact, men in that world liked it more when their women have a little volume especially in the bust and buttocks areas.

Lantana Penelope Montgomery was the whole name of the body she was currently possessing. She was seventeen years old and very pretty—in a way completely opposite to her previous sultry appearance.

Upon seeing her face earlier in front of the mirror, the only words that she could find in her vocabulary to describe her was a white lily. She looked sweet and innocent yet pure and untainted from the world's malice. The beauty that she had was refreshing yet also enticing that if a guy would see her face, he would definitely look again and not want to take it away anymore. Her hair on the other hand was pale blonde, long enough to reach her buttocks; smooth and silky that she wouldn't even need a comb to fix it. Although her skin complexion was like fresh milk, her cheeks were naturally pinkish to the point where she wouldn't even need to put a rouge to create unnatural blush. Her eyebrows were thick yet they were in the right places, making her even more beautiful and sophisticated. Her face was small and heart shaped that complemented her blue eyes that had long, thick, and naturally curled lashes on them which made her naturally watery eyes pop out. Her eyes, where the white space below the iris was revealed, had an expressive look on them that if she would be seen crying, anyone would definitely be filled with the feeling of wanting to protect her.

She was naturally pretty but she always tried to put too much makeup on her face that only made the opposite result she wanted. She was so pretty but she didn't know that because she was busy minding her fats that she thought were making her unsightly. She was definitely prettier than anyone else but she was so busy finding faults in her body and comparing herself to others that she didn't realize that.

She was a duke's daughter by the name only as she grew up always receiving looks full of contempt and ridicule whenever she went out of their duchy to attend a party with her father—all because she was fatter than the size requirement of their world.

She always received mockery behind her back and at most times, they would intentionally let her hear their cruel insults just because the original body owner was so kind that she wouldn't even bother telling their unkind deeds to her father because she believed that it was partially her fault for being fat.

Hah! Brianna, currently Lantana, felt so annoyed! Why was the original body owner so kind?

No. Wait! She was not kind. She was a pushover. She had the power of a duke behind her yet she always easily let people do whatever they wanted with her. She didn't even know how to take advantage of her situation that surely, anyone would die to have.

She was a duke's daughter—a duchess, yet even just a baron's daughter had the audacity to raise an eyebrow at her one time she attended a ball.

Kindness... Too much kindness was really toxic. Even people need a little dirt in their body to exist yet Lantana didn't think that Penelope had it—she decided to use the second name of the new world's Lantana when referring to her since it felt weird to her as she possessed the same name at that moment. She felt like that word was really something she could never have for being too soft.

Her situation was annoying yet also funny. She was a duke's daughter yet she was agonizing over something that was so small that could be solved easily. It was also funny because that was the only reason why she had gained weight.

Well, why couldn't people just mind their own business?

What could they do if the duke wanted to pamper and spoil his only daughter and give her more than everything that she wanted?

What could they do if the duke wanted to give his daughter the whole Leontios—the name of the world where she now lived—just because the pitiful daughter lost her mother at such a young age?

What could they do if the duke was just being the best father that he could be to fill the gaps of a mother's love in his daughter's life because they lost the duchess at such an early age that even the original body owner couldn't even remember interacting with her?

What could they do if the original body owner got chubby after receiving a lot of love from her father and all of the people around her except those cheating couples!?

'Why were the people in both worlds such a busybody? Could that make them richer than my father!? And yes, from now on I am claiming to be his daughter now!' Lantana sighed. Having all the memories of the original body made her want to cherish the pitiful man as well. His wife died when their daughter was just around three or four years old yet he still did everything that he could to become the best father that Penelope could ever wish.

"EMILY? Do I have any plans for today?" Lantana asked the personal maid of Penelope who was busy sweeping the floor of the room where she was staying—which was basically her room as well.

"My lady? You remember my name?" Emily said with a tone filled with surprise and delight as her eyes rounded.

Lantana was at the terrace of her room—which was facing the entrance gate of the house—busy laying on the most comfortable and grandest hammock she had ever seen. And yes, the duke bought it for the previous owner just because she said it looked pretty one time when they were looking at a catalogue.

How she wished she reached that kind of richness in her old life. If she was able to, she wouldn't probably have to do that kind of night job. If she was that rich, she probably wouldn't have died in the first place nor her grandmother.

Well, anyway, it was already in the past so she should just do whatever she could to live her new life happily.

"Yes. I remember you now, the others and the du—my father… Although my memory is still a bit vague, that's why I asked."

"Oh! The duke will surely be happy once he hears this!" she happily exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah, I think so? So, what is my schedule for today?"

"There is no prior engagement within this month or in the next month, my lady. The duke wanted you to have a full recovery so he made sure that you'd be comfortably living in the castle for this month without anything to worry about."

Upon hearing what Emily said, a mischievous smile arose from Lantana's lips. The maid suddenly looked taken aback because of the smile that Lantana just expressed. It was the first time that she ever saw her master look like that so she was very surprised. In fear of getting caught, the lady tried to keep it in while acting like she did nothing, although inside her mind, she was already having a party with all the versions of herself.

Two months was enough for her to lose all her body's weight.

Too conceited? Nah. She was just having a strong hunch that she would be able to do that. It was not like her current body was very fat. It just needed a little reshaping while removing all the baby fats and after that, everything would be perfect.