Fenix was utterly shocked.

He knew some people had an easy-to-gain weight constitution, the type that gains weight just by drinking water, but seeing someone like Ferran gain weight so easily was a first for him.

Some people look the same even after gaining weight unless they step on a scale. Others become noticeably rounder at a glance.

Unfortunately, Ferran belonged to the latter category.

Ferran seemed to notice Fenix’s arrival only now.

He looked down at the cat and exclaimed softly, “Linix, why are you here?”

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something, reaching out to touch the terminal beside him, glancing at the time, “My vacation isn’t over yet.”

Then, the very happy Ferran smiled at Fenix, “I agree with you, being so relaxed during the holiday is really enjoyable!”

No!

Shut up!

Fenix never taught you to gain weight without restraint!

Look at that double chin!

Look at that belly!

Fenix was having trouble breathing.

He felt he couldn’t explain Ferran’s condition to all the Athenas who loved this sweet little golden retriever.

What if the Athenas here suddenly wanted to start a relationship and chose Ferran, the safest and most innocent choice, only to find him fat!

My goodness.

Why do the male leads in otome games have such a terrifying setting as an easy-to-gain weight constitution?!

And not only that, but people with this constitution also love desserts!

This is an otome game!

How can a male lead without a handsome face and a good figure have any qualifications to be pursued?!

Ferran actually gained weight, which was both unscientific and overly scientific.

Fenix was full of exasperation.

If Athena really wanted to start a relationship at this time, Fenix had already thought of a forum post title for her:

"Why did the honey-flavored puppy suddenly gain weight? Why does the otome game male lead need to lose weight? What is the combination of easy-to-gain weight and visible weight gain like? Athena invites you into 'Today’s Science,' exploring the darkest secrets of the otome game production team."

Damn!

Too damn real.

Apart from the production team being idiots, he couldn’t think of any other reason!

Now that Ferran had gained so much weight, how could Fenix explain this to Athena!

Wait, no, he didn’t need to explain to Athena.

But Ferran was one of Fernando Group’s mascots. Fenix remembered the company always used their young awakened prince in advertisements.

In other words, the Fernando Group cared about their image!

If Ferran returned from vacation looking like a balloon, the Fernando Group would definitely have something to say!

While they might not necessarily find Fenix, they might blame Lion!

He had caused Lion enough trouble already, and it wouldn’t be good to get him into more.

Fenix took a deep breath and examined Ferran closely.

Fat.

But a pretty cute fat.

Still, a fat one!

Damn!

The problem circled back to the original question.

How much did Ferran eat and how good was his attitude to gain so much weight in a week?!

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Could it be that orange cats are prone to gaining weight?

Good grief.

Fortunately, Fenix wasn’t an orange cat.

Fenix took a deep breath. He didn’t have his terminal with him, so he reached out to pull at Ferran’s terminal.

Ferran unlocked the terminal.

Fenix typed: "Have you weighed yourself these days?"

Ferran: “?”

Okay, judging by the look, he clearly hadn’t.

Fenix typed: "Have you looked in the mirror these days?"

Ferran: “??”

Alright, seems he hadn’t done that either.

Fenix typed: "Get up and go look in the mirror."

Ferran looked confused.

He still didn’t realize anything was amiss.

Fenix, filled with sorrow, typed: "Go look in the mirror!!"

So Ferran got up, went to the bathroom, and stared for a moment, then froze.

Fenix leaped onto the sink, his face full of sorrow, "You need to lose weight!"

Ferran: “…”

Ferran looked down, lifting the hem of his pajamas, staring at the extra flesh for a moment.

Who would have thought that soda, desserts, and junk food could be so powerful!

—Though he indeed hadn’t stepped out of the house recently.

Sigh.

There was no way around it; the feeling of wasting time and neglecting life was just too good.

Good in a way that couldn’t be described, good enough to make Ferran feel freer and happier than ever before.

No wonder so many people enjoyed being sloths.

Being a sloth was just too good!

But…

Ferran touched his belly.

While he wasn’t the type with eight-pack abs, he did have a well-defined physique with clear lines.

Now, it was just absurd.

He took a deep breath, trying to suck in the extra flesh on his belly.

But reality told him that it was futile.

Fenix couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

How did a fresh piece of meat turn into a chunk of fat!

Fenix made a decisive decision, "Come on, let’s go outside to exercise!"

But Ferran didn’t move. He frowned slightly, seeming reluctant.

Fenix: ?

What, you’re still reluctant?

Look at yourself!

Your name comes from "fer"!

Look at yourself now! When the wind blows, can you still stand tall?

You can’t stand tall anymore, Ferran!

Fenix typed: "I remember you are the mascot of the Fernando Group."

Like a recruitment ad.

They’d pick the most handsome and photogenic soldiers to give the impression that "you could be that handsome too."

Plus, Ferran was an awakened being. He represented the company’s face, which couldn’t be lost.

Ferran realized this and was somewhat unhappy.

But faced with reality, he had to give in.

He picked up Fenix, placed the kitten outside the door, and changed his clothes.

Fenix breathed a huge sigh of relief, following him with his short legs, trotting along.

Ferran seemed to have a destination in mind, heading straight in a certain direction.

Fenix, with his low vantage point, only realized Ferran was aiming for the gym as they got closer.

"Mew!"

He looked up at Ferran, leaped, and hooked onto Ferran’s pants, climbing to his wrist, and gestured toward the terminal.

Ferran removed the terminal and hung it around Fenix’s neck.

Fenix typed: "Actually, you can lose weight while playing."

Dogs that don’t get walked tend to gain weight. Supplementing his activity and slightly overexerting him might help him regain his figure quickly.

Fenix, in good conscience, admitted he had a significant responsibility for Ferran’s indulgence in soda, junk food, and the darkened gaming room during the holidays.

He couldn’t let Ferran misunderstand that ordinary people spent their vacations in such a wasteful manner!

Fenix felt he could introduce Ferran to the ordinary childhood he experienced.

Fenix was born on a plain, unremarkable planet.

On that unremarkable planet, there was a small, unremarkable town, which was Fenix’s home.

It was more like a suburban area.

Fenix’s childhood was filled with memories of climbing trees and catching fish in rivers.

He could wield a pitchfork against a wild boar and dare to smoke out a beehive.

While rustic, his entertainment was indeed rich.

And Lion’s vast territory, apart from the training zone, was a genuine coastal natural landscape.

Beaches and forests abounded.

Now, in autumn, it was a time of natural harvest and plenty.

In Fenix’s memory, besides spring, this was the most anticipated season of the year.

Fenix confidently typed: "Come on! Let’s experience a different childhood!"

Ferran, recalling the joy of letting loose during the holiday following Fenix’s advice, nodded in agreement.

Through the surveillance, Lion watched Ferran wander around the gym, then transform from a man-cat pair to a cat-dog duo, frolicking towards the seaside forest.

The bodyguard saw this too, casually commenting, "They get along really well."

Lion heard this and turned to look at the bodyguard, tapping his fingers lightly on the documents.

"Why didn’t Fenix come to me after leaving the training zone?"

Lion was slow to realize.

Fenix hadn’t come to him but had gone to Ferran first.

Not only did he go to Ferran but also directly dragged the dog out to play without coming to him.

The bodyguard thought about it and realized he couldn’t figure it out either.

So he said, "Kids have their whims, it’s normal."

Lion thought it made sense but still felt something was off.

He looked down at the documents on the table and decided to finish them quickly and go find Fenix.

…

Fenix felt he had miscalculated.

He sensed that Ferran didn’t need him to show him around.

Fenix sat on a beach chair, expressionless, watching the golden retriever chase the waves and get chased back by them.

This dog seemed to enjoy playing by himself.

Fenix’s gaze swept over the running golden retriever.

The dog looked thick-furred, but once wet, it was clear he was genuinely fat.

But never mind.

As long as he could slim down, it didn’t matter whether he needed company or not.

Fenix thought with his conscience.

As long as he could slim down, everything was fine.

Fenix looked around and found a robot.

He jumped off the chair, squatted in front of the robot, and tapped on the control panel.

One of the good things about a resort hotel dedicated to awakened beings was that all robots had pet-care and play functions.

Fenix was setting up canine playtime when Ferran, riding a wave, barked twice in their direction.

Fenix turned to see Ferran dive into the water and come back with a dark brown sea cucumber, paddling back.

Ferran knew Fenix didn’t like getting wet.

He shook off the water from a distance and placed the sea cucumber on the beach chair next to Fenix.

"I recognized this one, I’ve eaten it!" Ferran, tapping on the terminal, was quite proud of retrieving a sea cucumber, "We can eat this tonight!"

The golden retriever happily patted the sea cucumber with a paw.

Fenix saw the white stringy substance spurted out by the sea cucumber and darted away.

Ferran was stunned, about to retract his paw, only to find it stuck to the beach chair.

???

Ferran turned to look at Fenix.

Fenix slowly typed, "This kind of sea cucumber expels its organs when attacked; it’s quite sticky."

Ferran was stunned.

Fenix helped Ferran with the robot, then decided to take him to the nearby forest.

Marina City wasn’t in the tropics, lacking tropical plants, but this didn’t stop Fenix from dragging Ferran everywhere.

But when Fenix looked up at a wild beehive, wondering how they could collect honey, he heard another bark from Ferran.

Fenix turned to see Ferran standing in a muddy puddle.

Fenix sucked in a breath.

Ferran was unrecognizable.

If judged by fur color, he used to be called a golden retriever.

Now, he could only be called a mud retriever.

The mud retriever didn’t seem to mind the gray, dirty water covering his body.

Perhaps playing in the mud was a natural instinct for most canines.

After Fenix looked over, he lowered his head again and continued digging in the mud.

Ferran’s actions were so familiar that Fenix barely reacted before Ferran had achieved his goal.

Ferran dug out a piece of lotus root from the puddle.

Fenix didn’t bother thinking about why lotus roots would grow here.

He looked at the muddy Ferran and felt he was committing a crime.

Damn!

Ferran, do you remember your CEO setting?!

Fenix looked at the muddy dog running towards him with a lotus root in his mouth, noticing the flies buzzing around him, and backed away frantically.

Scram! Don’t come over!

Don’t touch me! Stinks! Dirty!

Fenix leaped up a tree and meowed at Ferran below.

Ferran, a dog, didn’t understand cat language.

But he didn’t need to understand cat language to see the beehive on another tree.

Ferran dropped the lotus root in his mouth, staring at the fresh beehive hanging on the tree, his eyes lighting up.

???

What are you going to do?!

Fenix’s alarm bells rang.

…

Lion finished processing the documents and followed the navigation to find Fenix, discovering the destination was the medical room.

Lion frowned.

He headed towards the medical room.

A cat and a dog sat side by side on the medical bed, their bodies shaved bare except for their heads, wearing shame collars, obediently cooperating with the medical robots for needle removal and medication application.

Lion opened the medical room door and saw the cat and dog sitting on the bed at a glance.

They looked swollen, like two balls of different sizes placed side by side.

On the floor, golden and white fur mixed with dirty water was being cleaned up by the janitorial robots.

Fenix twitched his ears, hearing the door open, turning to meet Lion’s gaze.

"…?"

Lion looked at Fenix’s face, swollen more than twice its size, silently uttering a question mark.

Weren’t you supposed to be losing weight?

How come you look even fatter?

Author Notes:

Ferran: Happiness~