Stuck in a Manga (Patreon)

“Damn it!”

I angrily yanked up the edge of my neckline, trying to somehow contain the absurdity that was called my chest. My heavy, soft, unruly tits bounced like they had a will of their own, almost spilling free again.

My hands in white gloves were already trembling from the strain, just like my entire posture as I desperately tried to keep that impossible neckline in place. My heavy, lush breasts bounced once more, pressing firmly against each other, and for a moment I froze as heat rushed into my face.

“Baroness Elizabeth!” a high, slightly surprised voice rang out beside me. “What are you doing? Everyone is staring at you!”

I sharply turned my head, and the heavy curls of my styled hair lashed across my cheek. Standing beside me was Lady Victoria, my “best friend” and the main heroine of this cursed manga I’d stolen from my sister just to read as a joke. She stood there in her pale pink dress with a lace collar, lazily fanning herself more for appearance than from heat. Her eyes were wide, and her lips curled in a mix of surprise and faint amusement.

“And what the hell am I supposed to do?!” I hissed, finally lowering my hands but still clutching the edge of the neckline. “These two... these two damn weights... almost popped out while I was dancing with that idiot!” I jerked my shoulders irritably, and the movement made my chest sway heavily beneath the tightly cinched corset again, forcing me to grimace.

“Sir Leonard Vale is not an ‘idiot,’” Victoria corrected softly, though obvious amusement lingered in her voice as she tilted her head slightly. Her fan snapped shut lazily. “He’s one of the most desirable bachelors in this hall.”

“To hell with him!” I yanked at the corset again, and my heavy breasts shifted inside the tight bodice once more, like they were deliberately reminding me they existed. The deep neckline trimmed with white lace ruffles was barely doing its job. “That pompous turkey spent the entire dance staring at my tits and intentionally twirling me around so they’d spill out!”

“Elizabeth...” Victoria sighed quietly, hiding her lips behind the fan, though her eyes were openly laughing now. “Men always stare. Especially when there’s something worth staring at.”

I clenched my teeth and shot a glare at Leonard, who was chatting with the other NPCs, as I called them. The moment he noticed my brief glance, he answered with that sickeningly sweet smile of his.

“Oh, I’m gonna...” I started, then stopped abruptly because at that exact moment another couple walked past, and the man practically twisted his neck around just to get another look at me.

I jerked sharply to the side, instantly regretting it because my damn breasts stretched the fabric even tighter, the corset dug painfully into my ribs, and the hem of my dress caught slightly on my heel.

“Shit...” I hissed, jerking my foot free.

“Careful.” Victoria instantly grabbed my wrist to steady me. “You’re going to fall.”

“Oh, leave me alone!” I snapped, then froze.

Just like the entire world around me.

The ballroom, glittering with gilded columns and crystal chandeliers, suddenly stopped dead. The music cut off mid-waltz, like someone had ripped the needle off a gramophone. Couples on the dance floor froze in ridiculous poses, some with a raised leg, others with a hand around their partner’s waist. Sir Leonard Vale stood motionless with a wine glass in hand, his sugary smile twisted into a grotesque mask. Even the air itself became thick and unmoving.

Only my heartbeat continued pounding, while my heavy breasts rose and fell beneath the corset in panic.

Shit. Again?

But what did I even say this time? Did that bitch seriously get offended... again?! AAAH! God, she pisses me off! This whole damn thing pisses me off!

Suddenly, a translucent window glowing with soft blue light appeared before my eyes.

【System Notification】

“Supporting heroine Elizabeth von Reinhardt has committed a critical deviation from the storyline.

Current phase: ‘Duke Alfred’s Ball.’

Original event: Elizabeth must display mild jealousy toward Victoria, maintain the image of a noble lady, and accept Sir Leonard Vale’s invitation for a second dance.

Current behavior: aggression, vulgar language, physical disorientation.

【Deviation: 87%】”

“Oh, screw you! I’ve been holding myself back all damn evening, talking in that stupid sugary tone to all these morons! What the hell do you mean eighty-seven percent?!”

The system flashed brighter, the letters trembling slightly as if savoring my helplessness.

【System Notification】

“Critical deviation threshold exceeded.

Storyline correction initiated.

Rollback: 4 hours 12 minutes.

Please maintain the role of Baroness Elizabeth von Reinhardt.

Violation = repeated rollback.”

And it started again.

I didn’t even know how many times by now, but I’d definitely been through this ball over thirty times already, not to mention all the earlier scenes with their “scripted” lines and fake smiles.

Thank God there weren’t too many of those, and the rest of the time here I could at least just live like... damn it, like a lady, yeah. Like Baroness von Reinhardt, second daughter of Count Adrian von Reinhardt.

I’d gotten used to repeating it to myself like a mantra.

Elizabeth von Reinhardt. Twenty-one years old. Wealthy, but not especially influential. A baroness whose role in this story was to serve as background decoration for the radiant Victoria and occasionally pull petty schemes that always backfired on her in the end.

Strange that the system skipped all those details this time...

Maybe because I’d already started accepting it?

Because sometimes I even think of myself as a woman inside my own head now...

Damn.

Why did I have to read this specific manga from my sister’s collection? Why couldn’t it have been something about space or the future? Or knights or something? No, of all possible options, I got this one.

The Duchess’s Brilliance. God, I hate that title.

I’d opened it to the scene that looked the most interesting because of the fanservice, a busty aristocrat whining about her tight corset and the “unbearable weight of her bust.” Back then I laughed my ass off and said out loud:

“Oh come on, lady, that’s what you’re complaining about? If I were you, I definitely wouldn’t complain!”

Then, after my sister snatched the manga away from me, I muttered quietly while leaving her room:

“It’d actually be kinda awesome to live there for a while and see what it’s really like.”

Literally a moment later, I was already standing in that exact scene beside Victoria, listening to her ramble about how “lucky” I was to have this figure.

Of course I freaked out. Started panicking, trying to explain who I really was.

And that’s when the first rollback happened.

Then the second.

Then the third.

I think I got rolled back so far that I still haven’t “read” my way back to the point where I originally arrived.

To hell with it.

Right now I don’t even want to think about it anymore. I just want to “finish reading” this manga and finally return to my own body, forget about these tits like some horrible nightmare...

Though something tells me that’s not going to happen...