Chapter 22: Princess Mia... Experiences F.A.T.

“If you’re going on a cruise, you’ll need to bring a swimsuit, won’t you?” Rafina asked after the boys left.

“Hm? A swimsuit, you say?”

Mia scratched her head. The term was foreign to her.

“Yes. It’s clothing designed for swimming. I assume you’ll want to change out of your regular clothes. Trying to swim in this,” she said, plucking up the hem of her uniform for emphasis, “would make for a very unpleasant experience.”

“That’s true. I do remember it being very difficult,” agreed Mia as she recalled the times she’d almost drowned. There was when she’d fallen into the lake...and when she’d fallen into the river... She shivered. “Yes, I do think some new clothing is in order. Hm...”

She probably wouldn’t have much luck finding clothes designed for swimming in Tearmoon...

“Would you happen to know any tailors who specialize in such clothing, Miss Rafina?”

“Well... I sometimes go on excursions out to Noelige Lake, and I had a swimsuit made for those occasions. Perhaps I can introduce you to that store...” she said as she chewed on her lips. “Yes, I think the tailor there will do. It’s important to choose the store carefully, you see, because the designs vary, and I’ve heard some of them can be terribly indecent.”

“I-Indecent?”

Mia’s eyes widened.

“Yes. Apparently, some of them...” Rafina motioned around her abdomen. “Leave this area completely bare.”

“My! All that?! How terribly indecent indeed!”

Mia’s hands instinctively rubbed at her tummy, feeling the comforting sensation of fabric over her flesh. The fabric was...tighter than she’d expected. A lot more.

“Unbelievable! Such immodesty, baring their bellies! That kind of behavior shouldn’t be allowed!” she exclaimed in outrage.

Rafina nodded firmly in agreement.

“Some amount of exposure is certainly unavoidable given the nature of swimming, but baring an excessive amount of skin impinges on the moral fiber of our society. We’ll need to carefully ascertain the design beforehand...”

“I couldn’t agree more. Hmph, baring my belly... Absolutely unthinkable! Why would I ever wear clothes like that?”

“Right? Oh, I’m so glad you understand, Mia!”

To the others in the room, the conversation must have sounded like two girls sharing a moment of mutual understanding. The two conversers themselves likely thought so as well. However, unbeknownst to all those present was the existence of a fundamental discrepancy in their outrage. One was moral in nature, criticizing society and its tendencies. The other was a lot more pragmatic, involving a rather inconvenient phenomenon of metabolism. Regardless, their dialogue continued.

“Now that I know we’re on the same page,” said Rafina, “I’ll contact the tailor for us. I’ve been meaning to order a new one for myself as well... Oh, what about everyone else? We can all do this together if you’d like.”

Thus was it decided that the girls of the student council would all have swimsuits made for themselves.

Rafina’s tailor of choice arrived three days later.

“I’m honored by your patronage. Now then, let’s begin.”

She was a lady with a terse manner and a scrutinizing gaze who wasted no time getting to work. Instead of taking detailed measurements, she started by having the girls try some swimsuits on.

“Sizes can be adjusted later. First, I’d like confirmation regarding the designs. I’ve received instruction from Lady Rafina to keep the amount of bared skin to a minimum, so if you could take a look at these...”

She laid out a number of swimsuits across a table. In terms of design, they resembled the dress Mia had worn to the evening ball, but the skirt was shorter and underneath it was what looked like shorts that reached halfway down the thighs.

“Let’s see... I believe this one may be more suitable for Princess Mia’s smaller frame,” said the tailor as she produced a pair of pants. “These would be worn next to the skin, by themselves.”

“Ah, you mean like undergarments?”

“The comparison is apt. As for the size... The tighter the fit, the easier it is to swim. To ensure its function, I’ve designed it to feel slightly constricting.”

Mia nodded at the explanation as she tried to put them on.

She...isn’t kidding. Honestly, I feel like this is more than “slightly” constricting. It’s as tight as a corset. I wonder if they’re all like this? she thought as she struggled to pull the thing over her hips.

Just then, she heard the tailor utter “Huh!” in a surprised tone.

“...Hm?” She glanced at the lady. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh, no, no, don’t mind me. Nothing is the matter. Hm, hm... I see, I see. That certainly would make it feel rather tight... Well then...”

The tailor began speaking in a nervous mumble. Mia eyed her for a while before nodding in comprehension.

Aha. This lady’s probably a good designer considering she’s got Rafina’s seal of approval, but she doesn’t seem to be very good at gauging sizes, does she?

The tailor’s next statement, however, gave her pause.

“Does everyone else’s fit fine? Yes? So only the princess needs a slightly larger size. Hm, hm, all right...”

Mia frowned, puzzled by the statement until she noticed the look of sheer devastation on Anne’s face.

“That reminds me,” the maid mumbled to herself, “some of the dresses did seem a little tight lately. No, but milady is still growing, so there’s always the possibility that it’s not...”

Upon hearing the distress in Anne’s voice, Mia’s affect flattened. She placed her hands on her tummy and pinched. A generous wad of flesh rose up in her fingers.

“...Anne, I’d like to hear your honest opinion. Am I...fat?”

“N-No, of course not... Milady is...growing! Yes, you’re still growing! S-So of course your body would become bigger...”

“Hm, I am indeed aware that I’m still growing. However, if the horizontal rate of this growth outpaces the vertical, would that not imply my gains are primarily in weight rather than height?”

She fixed her maid with a steady gaze and repeated herself.

“You are my loyal subject, Anne. I trust that you will not lie to me. So, I will ask one more time. Tell me truthfully. Am I...fat?”

Anne looked away, unable to meet her gaze, and conceded.

“Maybe...a little. Just a little. But that’s probably because of all those cakes and sweets you’ve been having lately. I was worried it might have been a bit too much...”

She’d known the truth. After all, she’d been the one to ask. But hearing it acknowledged by her faithful maid still robbed her of breath. She let out a short gasp, feeling the weight of irrefutable, objective reality as it sunk into her consciousness—both figuratively and literally. Scenes from the recent past flashed through her mind’s eye. She saw herself climbing onto a horse and remembered how the beast seemed to tense as she mounted. She saw herself rolling across her bed and recalled the creaking of strained wood sounding louder than before.

More and more memories flooded her mind, all pointing toward a single, dreadful fact. She cupped her cheeks. They felt too round. She tapped at her tummy. It seemed to jiggle. That was it. The evidence was clear, and there was no denying it. She suffered from food-induced annular turgidity. Her body was demonstrating focally abdominal tumefaction. In other words, she was experiencing the phenomenon known as F.A.T.

“Princess Mia, um...” said a worried Chloe. “It says in books that you can lose weight by exercising.”

She examined Chloe, who’d slipped into the swimsuit the tailor gave her without any trouble. It fit her like a glove. Mia scowled, feeling profoundly betrayed, before her indignation gave way to despondency.

“Well then... I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles... Now that I think about it, I have been slacking off on my dance practice. That probably didn’t help...”

An anxious Chloe offered stammered words of comfort, but Mia waved her off.

“It’s all right. I know. I’ll do some more horseback riding and try a little harder during dance practice.”

“That is a most commendable attitude, princess. Keep at it, and you will surely see results.” The tailor approved, speaking in the somewhat arrogant tone of a teacher instructing a struggling student. “Though unrelated to the business of swimsuits, I should also mention that your upper arms are displaying a degree of pudginess. It is not too late, however, to reverse this trend. Even a small increase in exercise frequency may prove to be enough. Riding will also aid in toning up your legs and rear, so it is good that you are including it in your regimen.”

Arrogant tone aside, the tailor’s words carried a certain authority of experience that Mia found comforting. She felt her motivation returning, knowing that her current activities were already on the right track and required only minor modifications.

“All right. I’ll do this. Once I get back to the empire, I’ll go riding every day. Dancing too... Anyway, I’ll make sure it gets done!”

In the end, Mia opted to have her swimsuit made with the current specifications, trusting herself to make the necessary modifications to the body that would eventually inhabit it. The clock was now ticking, and the race was on. Would she be able to slim down enough to wear her swimsuit? Only time would tell!