It worked?
It really worked?
He hadn't held out any hope. He had only been trying his luck, hoping to put the matter to rest. He never expected it hadn't been his imagination.
Yes, Mire was utterly ordinary. His appearance could no longer be described as merely mediocre; he possessed most of the usual flaws.
Although the Water of Purification had cleared the acne from his face, when he stood beside others, he truly had nothing going for him.
His face was genuinely unattractive, he was rather short, and he was fat. The Water of Purification had not yet slimmed down his figure.
But who would have thought that handsome, wealthy people had all failed, while he had succeeded?
"What, are you saying you aren't human? You should know that everyone has different tastes. I can tell you're very insecure, but has it ever occurred to you that, in some people's hearts, you look quite good? That's how this world is. What the masses like squeezes out niche preferences. When everyone thinks one face is beautiful and another is ugly, those who happen to like the ugly one and dislike the beautiful one won't dare speak up. They'll only follow the crowd, creating the illusion that the other kind is completely unpopular."
The Empress gazed easily at the sky overhead. "There were cases like this before, too. Noble young ladies would sit in luxurious halls, their conversations elegant and civilized. Someone like me, who hid in a tiny room all day and didn't dare speak to anyone, would naturally feel that I could never fit in with them. I thought their lives were so rich, that it was the life normal people were supposed to have."
"But in the end, I realized that what I liked was actually this kind