Villainess WG - 04 (Patreon)
Content
It was customary amongst high society to celebrate the end of the harvest season with a grand ball, requiring the participation of every major household. It was every young girl’s dream to make her debut as a woman being presented to the other nobles with much enthusiasm. The focus of this ball was to congratulate the first year students of the magical academy with their participation absolutely vital to the event with no excuses entertained.
Not even Katarina’s new, enormous size could get her out of this one.
Stuffy parties were never an aspect she was keen on, something which she loathed even more now that she had more than tripled her starting weight since she had left home. To her, it was just another event in a long list of never ending duties where all she had to do was greet everyone and smile while wearing a nice dress. The added difficulty which made this event so much more difficult however was that ‘all first year students MUST participate in the final event in order to pass the year’ as was decreed in the fine print of her enrolment. She wasn’t the best dancer even when she was slender, so what more now that she was so wide she almost filled the entrance hallway?
It was fortunate for her that Mary Hunt had a plan.
Two weeks prior to the event, Mary had put her plans into motion. Katarina’s ever expanding girth was noticed by every person on campus which had attracted even more attention to the outspoken noblewoman. Mary was sure that among them, new rivals would be sure to approach Katarina as they had never once beheld such an enormous woman of highborne status. For her to have grown so wide and still have the decency to clothe herself, must have meant she was from an exceedingly wealthy household. The disingenuous and money hungry were sure to be in that number and it would be up to her to defend Katarina’s good name.
“Whatever shall I wear, Mary?” Katarina groaned as she fingered a large hole she had torn in yet another new dress. “This is why I don't like these sorts of parties.”
“Never you mind,” Mary consoled her as she handed Katarina another dress from a large pile they had collected to try on. “After this party, why don’t we just run away together and start a life on our own. You just leave everything to me and I’ll make sure you stay fat and happy for the rest of our lives.”
She could hear Katarina giggle from behind the curtains as she slipped out of yet another tight, silken outfit.
“Oh Mary, you do always know how to make me laugh. I am rather fond of all your jokes.”
“Yes...jokes…”
Mary had been betrothed to Prince Alan since they were children but it was only as she grew into her young adulthood that she learned that was not what she wanted. She had never had ‘feelings’ for other women the same way, but Lady Katarina was special to her. It was through a party such as this one that they had met each other in a garden one day where Mary had first become entranced with the young Katarina as she gobbled down plate after plate of sweets and snacks without a care in the world. Watching her eat and grow without worry made her feel...different.
From that day forth, Mary continued to enable her unrequited love from the shadows. Swapping out low calorie meals for higher calorie ones, plain cookies for buttermilk shortbreads and exchanging old evening gowns for slightly larger ones in order to keep Katarina from noticing. Her plans had worked far better than she had anticipated as Katarina continued to swell and grow the longer they spent around each other, each idyllic pound adding a further layer of softness to her complexion. Waddling into the great hall together brought about a flurry of surprisingly genuine compliments from all that passed them much to both Mary’s relief and chagrin.
The illuminations of the hall held an idyllic glow with lights flashing at different angles, twinkling and sparkling among the jewel encrusted arms and necks which adorned almost every woman and their gowns. At the far end, the orchestra was playing sweet music which attracted many couples to begin their dance. Mary looked about nervously for anyone giving her precious Katarina a lusty gaze before carefully corralling her towards the closest open sofa near the buffet. Now, more than ever, she had to be on her guard.
She would not have to wait long. Several men and women had seen the enormous young lady enter and were already whispering among themselves, no doubt making bets in a way only the very wealthy could as to how they might bag this enormous prize. After loading Katarina’s plate with goodies, Mary swiftly intercepted each and every one of them, sternly but politely advising them towards more ‘affluent’ matches that would be a better use of their evening. Political connections were her strong point after all, an aspect which she knew Katarina was less interested in keeping tabs on.
“I had marked my time looking for a most beautiful partner and now I have found her.”
Mary’s ears pricked up. She had missed one.
A man with flaming red hair had approached Katarina and had deftly kissed the back of her gloved hand. Katarina blushed as she stared at him blankly, unsure of what to make of the gesture.
“My name is Sirius Deike and I would love to-”
“You would love to help refill Lady Katarina’s plate,” Mary interrupted. “How kind of you to do so.”
The man turned his attention to Mary who held a polite but stern smile.
“Ah, Ms Hunt, I was not aware that you had engaged Lady Katarina’s company. I beg your pardon for interrupting.”
“Think nothing of it,” Mary smiled back. “As you can see, Katarina is quite engaged with a most pressing matter which demands her full attention. It would be most impolite if you were to distract her at this critical point in time.”
The man named Sirius cocked his head.
“Critical? It would seem that Lady Katarina is merely enjoying the culinary festivities. I assure you, there will be plenty more of it after a brief twirl around the ballroom.”
“Can you now? Do you even have an inkling as to how much dear Lady Katarina must consume to maintain her most pondorous figure? The Claes Household has always prided themselves in their extra large women with only the finest breeding. I dare say that any excessive activity such
as a ‘twirl around the ballroom’ would be in stark contrast to those goals of becoming by far, the largest girl of the academy.”
“She is?” Sirius asked, eyes widening. For as large as she was already, he had never heard of a woman wanting to become even larger.
“I am?” Katarina interjected. “This is certainly the first I’ve ever heard of it.”
Mary reached into the frills at the back of her dress and withdrew a neatly folded letter she had tucked into the back of it. She deposited the paper into Sirius’ open hand.
“As you can see here, I have a complete family tree and blood lineage which denotes her family’s clear intentions. With the exception of her mother who had married into the family, every Claes female has always been of enormous stature.”
Mary planted her hands against her hips firmly as Sirius’ eyes trailed across the caricatures and records of Katarina’s family line, with each woman appearing more enormous than the last.
“It would behove you to do your research first, before making such seemingly innocent, yet harmful requests.”
They were all doctored of course, the family resemblance in each part of the document, one of Mary’s own sketches of her beloved Katarina which she spent making each night before bed. The different ways she had her wear her hair, distributed her fatness or altered her double chins to her liking made for a genuine looking pedigree devoted to obesity and the finer things.
“M-my apologies,” Sirius stumbled. “I had meant no disrespect. Please, carry on with your evening, ladies.”
With a low bow, the man took his leave. Mary huffed as she folded up her arms in triumph.
“Alright, we’ve made our appearance as expected. We should probably get out of here before more people try to disrupt us.”
“Agreed,” Katarina sighed as she added another empty plate to the towers around her. “They’re all out of those little danishes I like too.”
Acquiring more food for her beloved was the next thing on her agenda, but there was something off about that man in particular. Predators like that were quite obvious to Mary but for someone as innocent and cute as Katarina, she would have to stay extra vigilant for the both of them.
From behind her, Mary could hear an enormous straining followed by the sound of tearing fabric. Half expecting to have seen Katarina burst out of her dress for all to see, she was both mildly pleased and disappointed to note that the couch she had been lounging upon had simply burst at the seams instead.
“Um, a little hand?” Katarina laughed awkwardly. “I seem to be unable to get up on my own…”
“I’ll take your hand,” Mary smiled as she leaned back, using her entire body’s weight to try and heave the enormous woman to her feet. “I’ll take it in marriage if you ask me to.”
“You’re funny, Mary,'' Katarina laughed in return. Her laugh was cut short by a chill as she felt her belly brush against the cold floor for but an instant as she leaned as far forward as she could. “You always have a good joke to make me feel better.”
Mary bit into her lower lip in frustration. That denseness was what she both loved and was what caused her no end of problems.
“Yes...a joke…”