Duke, You're a Bit Stiff (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1

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‘A walking demon.’

‘A human weapon.’

‘A hunter who shreds body fat.’

These were the illustrious nicknames of Kang Ji Ha, director of the Spartan Pilates Center, who had always held a particular fascination with the human body.

Including the notoriously difficult international Pilates certification,

sports massage,

chiropractic,

exercise prescription specialist,

senior fitness,

infant fitness,

and lifestyle fitness instructor, among others—

She held every imaginable qualification related to the human body,

ranked among the world’s top-tier bodybuilders,

boasted dazzling awards and accolades,

and was the hottest trainer on social media platforms like Neutube, Starstagram, and Blue Sparrow.

All these achievements served as brilliant descriptors that defined Kang Ji Ha.

Simply enrolling in her academy was a status symbol among the elite, comparable to securing tickets to a celebrity fan meeting.

Yet Kang Ji Ha—the woman once hailed as a “human weapon”—ceased to exist from the very moment she encountered an oncoming truck while walking down the street, her final scene in life.

She opened her eyes to find herself lying in bed.

Her body felt unresponsive, as though she’d been lying still for a very long time.

Recalling her last memory, Kang Ji Ha blinked groggily as she tried to sit up.

‘Where am I? A hospital…?’

Given that her body—ordinarily light and easy to move—now refused to obey, she must have suffered serious injuries.

She wiggled her fingers and toes experimentally.

‘Ah… my fingers and toes all move. That’s a relief.’

What about the rest of her?

The moment Kang Ji Ha stepped in front of a large full-length mirror to assess her condition, she gasped.

“No way, this can’t be!”

Her original hair had been a short, crisp black cut—but now, her silver-white locks shimmered brilliantly with even the slightest movement.

Her obsidian-black eyes and pale skin were topped with a natural rosy flush.

Even at a glance, the woman in the mirror was stunningly beautiful.

“Is this really me? I look like a completely different person!”

Utterly bewildered, Kang Ji Ha’s eyes dropped to her body.

Instead of her usual health-conscious leggings that accentuated her toned legs, she was draped in an extravagant pink dress.

It was undeniably lovely—but—

‘Seriously, how long have I been sitting down for my glutes to be this tense?’

‘My pelvis is way too misaligned.’

‘Unbelievable… a straight spine?’

There was hardly a single part that didn’t need fixing.

Naturally, memories of more than ten years spent rigorously training her body came flooding back.

Back in elementary school,

when she’d mustered the courage to confess to her crush for the first time, he’d replied with the cryptic words, “Sorry, but I want to date a human.”

When she asked what he meant, he answered plainly:

『Your nickname’s ‘Walking Skull,’ right? Sorry, but honestly—you just look like a corpse to me…』

Deeply shocked, Kang Ji Ha experienced a sudden epiphany.

A child’s awakening during puberty can be terrifying.

How fiercely had she trained just to shed the infamous label of “Walking Skull”?

By the time she graduated elementary school and entered middle school, no one dared call her “skull” anymore.

Her once fragile, breakable limbs were now packed with dense muscle fibers.

Overcoming the trauma of her first heartbreak, Kang Ji Ha watched in awe as her body transformed—her confidence soaring, as if she’d truly become someone new.

Trending

That was when it began.

‘I want to understand everything about the body!’

Kang Ji Ha embarked on a comprehensive study of the human physique.

How much muscle could a person realistically build?

Just how strong could one become?

Over the years, nicknames like “Boss Lady,” “Big Sister,” “Don,” and “Gang Leader” cycled through her life.

Her astonishing transformation even led some to suspect steroid use—

Yet she had never touched any performance enhancers—it was a true miracle of pure, natural ability!

But where had that powerful body gone?

Now she was stuck in this frail, doughy form—pale and wobbly.

Her once iconic muscular thighs had reverted to bony sticks that resurrected old traumas.

“Oh, my God! After all the effort I put into building this body…!”

All that hard work had vanished into thin air.

Was this what it felt like when a carefully built tower collapsed?

“Aaaaaah!”

As Kang Ji Ha screamed, the door flung open, and someone rushed in anxiously.

“M-Mistress! Are you alright?!”

A maid, alarmed, continued hastily,

“Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?”

“Wh—who are you?”

“Mistress?”

Only then did Kang Ji Ha slowly blink back to awareness.

Seeing this, the maid tilted her head in confusion,

her expression a mix of fear and bewilderment.

“Are you alright? Is anything bothering you…?”

“Oh…”

Suddenly, faint memories of this body’s original owner flickered through Kang Ji Ha’s mind.

The woman before her was a servant in this household.

‘This is a duke’s mansion… and I… who am I again? Artia?’

As each hazy memory resurfaced, her mouth hung open in disbelief.

‘Wait a second… I’ve been transported into a novel?!’

She’d known she’d entered another body—but of all places, it had to be inside a book!

“Good grief!”

And not just any ordinary novel, either.

It was , a book she’d only read because of her romance-novel-obsessed friend’s persistent recommendation.

was anything but soothing or mentally healthy.

It was a chaotic love story where the male lead, the crown prince, successfully seduces the female lead away from another man, and the two fall deeply in love.

‘From the male lead’s perspective, it might seem sweet as sugar-dipped candy.’

But from the supporting characters’ view, it was practically a battlefield.

First, there was the woman she’d possessed—Artia.

Born as the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking noble, Artia wasn’t even a side character—she was pure background filler.

She never dared dream of a smooth path in life.

Instead, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness, abandoned by her family, forced into an unwanted marriage—

And despite enduring this crushing triple combo, her story ended in utter misery.

After all, Artia had been discarded by her family from the start.

Not only born out of wedlock, but she’d also been frail and sickly since childhood.

Worse yet, doctors declared her condition terminal.

Those around her, told by physicians she could die at any moment, chose to keep the diagnosis hidden.

There weren’t many places Artia could turn to.

Her stepmother, pondering the cleanest way to dispose of her illegitimate daughter,

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quickly decided.

Sending her off to House Wellington in the North—a family already estranged from the Imperial Family and other nobles—was just perfect.

Thus, Duke Cassus was suddenly forced into marrying a woman he didn’t love.

And Artia, already terminally ill, grew ever weaker in the bitterly cold North until she finally died—

Tragically, the duke was away at war and never returned in time for her to see him one last time.

Alone and bereft, Cassus later suffered a grievous injury on the battlefield.

That’s when he met the female lead, and they fell in love—

But the problem was, the heroine would eventually abandon Cassus for the crown prince.

Cassus—the ill-fated supporting character spurned by his lover—

Lost his way and stood alone against the Imperial Family, only to be eliminated by the crown prince.

In short, it was a novel written solely for the male and female leads.

Everyone else could suffer to the absolute bottom—and no one cared.

“Haa… Right. Let me get this straight. So the ill-fated supporting character, Cassus, currently has a wife—and that terminally ill wife is… me?”

She couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh at the absurdity.

With a body whose expiration date loomed near, there was almost nothing she could do.

Even if she wanted to survive, she had no idea where to begin or what to do.

“Mistress?”

The maid’s voice snapped her back to reality.

“Will you skip meals again today?”

“Huh?”

“Then I’ll have the dinner taken away.”

“Wait.”

Skip a meal?

That was outrageous.

No matter how strange this new world was, skipping meals went against her core beliefs.

Her eyes widened fiercely like an angry bird’s.

“I’d actually like to eat heartily today.”

This frail body looked as if it would collapse at any moment without proper nourishment.

“Huh? But you usually say your stomach feels off and barely eat anything…”

“Me?”

The maid nodded cautiously.

“Oh… did I really?”

“Are you feeling alright, Mistress?”

“Yeah…”

Just then,

fragments of the previous owner’s memories drifted faintly through her mind.

She’d spent nearly all her time in her bedroom, looking almost corpse-like.

Weak as she already was, skipping meals and never leaving the house—it was no wonder her health had failed.

‘If she was terminally ill, maybe she just lost the will to live… to the point of not even eating.’

Well, even if she died tomorrow, she’d damn well eat first.

“I won’t skip dinner today.”

Though puzzled by her mistress’s sudden change, the maid obediently bowed her head.

“Understood. I’ll prepare it, Mistress.”

Soon, Artia was told dinner was ready.

But as she walked to the dining room, her head spun dizzily.

‘If I’m this lightheaded just from walking a little, how long has she gone without moving at all?’

As the dining room doors opened, waiting staff bowed their heads.

“Welcome, Mistress.”

Artia could only gape dumbly in response.

‘Wha—what is this? Is this my dinner?’

ads

She’d merely said she wouldn’t skip a meal—

Yet the long dining table, easily seating thirty, was overflowing with food like a luxury buffet.

From dazzling dishes she’d never seen before to elaborately decorated cakes,

the sheer quantity was unbelievable for a single person’s meal—and plated with exquisite perfection.

‘Guess this is what you get living in a duke’s household.’

Though in her past life she’d been Kang Ji Ha—the famously disciplined Pilates instructor who adhered strictly to a strict diet—

seeing such a feast before her eyes made her mouth water uncontrollably.

Clank.

Artia picked up a silver utensil resting atop her napkin.

‘Every day, she starved herself with all this delicacy right in front of her?’

Though she’d once rigidly controlled her diet in her previous life, survival came first now.

She grasped the gleaming fork and immediately took a bite of the meat set before her.

And then—

Despite going so long without proper meals and presumably having lost her appetite,

the instant the food touched her tongue, every sense sprang vividly back to life.

“Wow…”

Artia let out an involuntary exclamation.

“What was that…?”

“It’s delicious.”

The servants’ mouths parted slightly in surprise.

“Whoever made this—it’s seriously amazing.”

And it truly was.

Better than anything she’d ever tasted even in five-star hotels.

Crispy on the outside, tender and moist within, perfectly balancing sweet and savory notes, with a uniquely spiced tang that delighted her taste buds.

With every new bite, she experienced sensations entirely new to her.

“Does it suit your taste, Mistress?”

One of the maids, reading her expression, leaned forward and blinked curiously at Artia.

“Yeah, it’s not overly stimulating, and the seasoning is just right.”

Artia gave a light nod and a small smile.

In the original story, Artia had always survived only on meager meals brought to her tiny room.

Occasionally, scenes showed her sitting alone at the banquet table, desperately waiting for her husband Cassus—

But no matter how long she waited, he never came, leaving her to eat in lonely silence.

‘Maybe she just couldn’t bring herself to eat because of that loneliness?’

She could guess as much—but still couldn’t fully understand.

‘But… honestly, if the food tastes this good, I think I could happily eat alone for the rest of my life.’

As Artia chewed thoughtfully, her eyes fell upon a massive portrait hanging on the wall—

The portrait of her husband, Cassus, Duke of Wellington.

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