Book 7: Chapter 8: A Torture Device, No Matter How You Look At It. (1/2)
Feeling uncertain about the future of this country, the pressure of guarding Felix, and the fear of meeting Minerva's people, Monica visited Lana's room, and now…
…she being constricted by Lana.
”Uuuuuuh, this is so tiiiight.”
”Come on, Monica! Just breathe out ‘heave-ho' like that.”
”Ugh…”
”Not ”Ugh…” but ‘heave-ho'!”
Lana walked behind Monica and pulled the straps of the corset tighter, quickly tying it up.
”It might be painful at first, but you'll get used to it… This dress could be considered a light dress, but when it comes to the ball dress, it would be much worse than this.”
Apparently, the corset used for the ball was even heavier than this, as it included a frame to inflate the skirt. Realizing the efforts of the noblewomen behind the glamorous in the high social events, Monica put on her uniform over her corset.
The whole reason Lana had called Monica was to lend her this corset. On top of that, she would put some makeup on Monica as part of her practice for today's ball.
Lana sat Monica down in front of the dresser and called the maidservant to arrange her makeup. She then skillfully applied a thin layer of powdered paste on Monica's face.
”If it were an evening ball, I'd apply makeup to make you look dazzling, but I decided to keep it light today. Since it's a chess tournament, it's better to appear more intellectual.”
Lana then instructed the maidservant to slant Monica's bangs slightly.
”We should give your forehead a little exposure. Since you tend to cast your head down and cover your face with your bangs, I think showing your face would change your impression.”
Do I really need to change my impression for a mere chess tournament? thought Monica in bewilderment, and then Lana added.
”I don't mean to pry, but…”
”Eh?”
”There might be a possibility of someone you don't want to meet… will be attending the chess tournament today.”
Monica's shoulders tense up.
Lana was absolutely right. While it was not certain someone she knew from Minerva would be there, the mere mention of ”Minerva's people” was enough to make Monica feel uneasy.
As Monica fell silent, Lana flicked white powder on Monica's cheek and continued.
”You can change your impression a lot by putting on makeup and changing your hairstyle, and if things work out well, you might be able to deceive people you don't want to meet if you run into them.””
”!!!”
To Monica, who only thought about hiding her face by putting her hood over and turning away when she didn't want people to notice her presence, Lana's words were an eye-opener.
”My father used to say this. First impressions are mostly determined by posture and facial expressions. Physical appearance is usually secondary.”
For this occasion, corsets seemed to have a stronger meaning of correcting posture than correcting body shape. Certainly, hunching over would cause the corset to tighten into the body, forcing the wearer to stretch his back straight.
To make her look even more radiant, Lana applied makeup to Monica's face.
She covered the pale and shaded skin with white powder and add a thin layer of rouge to the cheeks. The rough lips were glossed with beeswax cream, and then a thin layer of lipstick was applied to make them look more vivid. The eyebrows, which had not been groomed at all, were trimmed slightly.
”There you go! It's done!”
Reflected in the mirror was a seventeen-year-old girl with a healthy complexion.
Makeup didn't suddenly make her into a beautiful woman whom everyone would turn to. The image in the mirror was of a simple-looking girl with round eyes, a small nose, and a small mouth.
But if they saw Monica now, no one would mistake her for a child in her early teens. If anything, Monica, who always had an unhealthy complexion, looked healthier and brighter now. That alone was enough to shock her.
”I-I look like… seventeen!”
”… was that the impression you should have to say right now?”
”Also, I look so healthy…”
”So you did aware that you looked unhealthy? You better improve your diet and sleep, you hear me?”
Although Lana sounded taken aback, she seemed satisfied with the quality of Monica's makeup.
Lana let out a triumphant snort and instructed the maidservant, ”Bring me that thing.”
She thought her current appearance was already nice enough, so she was wondering what kind of stuff she would bring in.
While Monica was impressed by her reflection in the mirror, a maid behind her brought out some unfamiliar metal equipment.
To Monica, who had no idea what it was for, it looked like a torture device… But then the maidservant started to roast it over a fire.
”La-Lana… wh-what kind of torture device is that?”
”You think this is a Torture device? Jeez… It's called a hair straightener.”
”N-Not branding iron?”
When it comes to iron that was roasted over a fire, the image that comes to her mind was that of the branding iron used to brand livestock. When Monica shivered thinking about getting that thing on her skin, Lana gave her a half-hearted look.
”…I don't know what you are imagining, but… this is for curling hair.”
”Curling… hair…?”