chapter 5

Many thanks do I owe the Kingdom's alchemist and his most potent elixir, for, with its help, Princess Evelyn grew at a rate faster than ever before; a rate which astonished all of her servants, chefs, and of course, her poor father.
Three months shy of her 18th birthday was she when she reached 345lbs; and she schemed to attain the most grand number of 400lbs by that time.
The king began to complain that his daughter was simply growing too fat--whereupon I gingerly pointed out that it was only befitting of a ruler to display a level of wealth of which the humble village-folk could only dream. "It should be this display of corpulence," said I, "that illustrates this better, and, indeed, in much more genteel a fashion, than opulent jewels or vulgar displays of affluence." Incredibly, my words pacified the king--for the time being.

The more the Princess grew, the greater her capacity for food did become. She had always been able to consume a surprising amount, but, at 350lbs, she was near insatiable.
"More food!" she would bellow from her great bed. She would be rendered most irate should her meals (though there was scarcely any gap to defrenciate and one meal from the one that succeeded it) be delayed by even a few minutes. Sometimes, her desire to consume food as rapidly as possible would see her abandon cutlery altogether, and eat with only her hands, in a most unladylike fashion.
On such occasions, she would, unsurprisingly, ruin most of her clothes with the foodstuffs that did not make it into her wide, greedy mouth; and it would be my happy duty to clean her afterwards.
Her belly now hung down far enough to cover the front of her underwear, whilst still protruding to the front, as far and as proudly as ever. Her legs were so fat, her walk had transformed now into a slow, heavy waddle, each step setting her entire body aquiver.
Indeed, after Princess Evelyn's most recent weigh indicated that she was now a hefty 376lbs, she began to complain of the long, tiresome journey from the dining table on the first floor, to her bedroom chamber, on the second. I habitually accompanied her in her ascent of the staircase; and, increasingly over the previous months, I had observed her round, plump countenance become quite red, as she struggled for sufficient breath.
This time, when we finally attained the top of the staircase, she was terribly winded, and stated in between gasps, that this was not a journey she wanted to suffer herself to undertake again.
"I- am- a- Princess!" she cried, most angrily. "I ought not- to- to- be running- running about the castle like- like a common maid!"
Thus it was that we conspired to move Princess Evelyn's bedroom chamber to the ground floor, so that she should not have to ascend the staircase on such a regular basis.
The Princess oversaw the moving of her items from the dining table, where she was partaking of a luncheon grand enough to feed ten famished guests. "I wish for the bed to be located in the centre!" she shouted at her labouring servants.
"This will be a most opportune transition, milady," said I, standing beside the Princess' chair, enjoying the view of her vast belly, outspread beneath the velvet fabric of her dress, now almost reaching her knees. Her legs were spread apart (like a mischievous harlot, I thought with pleasure), her belly occupying the space between them, as she ate continuously, setting her multiple chins aquiver.
When the moving was complete, she rose slowly from her throne, and waddled over to inspect her new room, which had previously been the king's study; the king now occupied the Princess' old chamber.
"Oh splendid!" cried Princess Evelyn, before turning back to me. "Senator! Tell the kitchens to fix me a dessert platter, and their finest mead! We must celebrate!"