The crew came back with their drone, ready to start recording. The guests were surprised that they would start so soon. Leader approached them with a smile and a box in hand.
"Hello. I am the leader of our group, simply called Leader. We have not started recording yet, but we hope to start as soon as we are ready. We have masks readily available if you wish to show up on our video without disclosing your identities. Otherwise, we can edit you out. We will be interviewing Princess Aphra as our colleague, Beauty, so that the video will not disclose any association with you all. We hope that you all will cooperate with us."
Radulfus, being the eldest of the five cousins, smiled and thought it novel that they would be recorded, so he was the first to look through the box of masks and pull out a white masquerade mask. He fixed it properly on his face as there was also a mirror for him to use in the box. Seeing himself presentable in his new mask, he was nodded, satisfied, then stepped back to let someone else take a turn. Following his lead, his younger cousins took turns to pull out white masks and fixed them on their faces.
When it was Prince Maxen's turn, he felt Margarette move behind him to wait her turn. Being a gentleman, he thought to let her go first; however, he thought it would be more appropriate to let his wife go before him since they were in front of people. Prince Maxen turned to look and saw that Princess Aphra was standing demurely next to Leader as she waited for everyone else to put on their masks. Seeing her there, he did not know how to feel as he felt stuck on whether to let her choose first.
In the end, he decided to pick his mask and place it on his face. He slightly frowned as he thought it would look strange to the others that Princess Aphra stood so close to another guy. Prince Maxen glanced at his cousins and realized that they were more focused on the masks and looking at each other than to pay attention to Princess Aphra. He sighed before turning his gaze at her, who looked as if she had not moved since the first time he saw her next to Leader.
He took a step back to let Lady Margarette take her turn. He had noticed that all the masks were the same but that there had been only one left when he had picked his. Prince Maxen knew that Lady Margarette would be the one to get the last mask, so he wondered how Princess Aphra would hide her identity. Feeling curious, he decided to voice his question.
"What will you wear, Ginny?" Elizabella looked up at him and smiled.
"My persona is used to wearing make-up. I can easily change my appearance with a simple hair change and make-up. Leader has already told me that they will be recording many shots today and end tomorrow. I will get ready now. Beast, let us go and fix ourselves. Will you appear dressed like this?" said Elizabella as she turned her attention to the girl that was busy scrolling through her CD.
"Alright, I already know what I will wear," responded Beast as she stood up and put her CD away as she strutted her way to the back of the stage with Elizabella, who had excused herself from the rest.
Seeing the girls leave, the guests wondered what would happen next. Leader continued his smile as he proceeded to explain what would happen next.
"We will soon begin to take aerial shots of the area. We wanted you guys to wear the masks first if the shots we take tonight make it into production later with you in the background. Ah, but first, we will do some test runs to ensure that the drone is fully operational and does not have any technical difficulties. In the meantime, before Beauty arrives, you may mingle amongst each other while we finish setting up everything."
Leader explained to the guests as they understood and took a seat while they waited. Prince Zander had been trying to keep his temper from flaring as he, too, saw Lady Elizabella standing beside her ex as if it were natural for them to stand next to each other. Prince Zander swallowed as he understood that he had no right to voice his opinion as he was a third party in the situation. He reluctantly had taken his mask and secretly stole glances at her, who either disregarded him or did not notice his peeking. He frowned internally, as he felt gloomy that she ignored him.
When he saw Maxen look up at her, he had noticed that Maxen slightly frowned but kept quiet when he soon realized no one seemed to care about where she stood. Seeing this, Prince Zander felt peeved that Maxen did nothing; however, he felt alarm bells ringing as he understood that Maxen might have experienced his first pangs of jealousy. If that were true, it would be a disaster for him if he left his mistress and started to pursue his wife actively.
The mask helped hide his emotions, but he still looked down to make sure that no one noticed his mood. He was unaware that both Leader and Darian felt his heavy mood, but they both continued to smile at them as nothing had happened.
**********
Elizabella and Beast went to the back where the girls were getting ready. When they saw Elizabella entering with Beast, the girls who had not had the chance to greet her all came bouncing to talk to her happily. After their greeting and many hugs, they continued to prepare. They liked to dress up whenever they had to record, while their hair and make-up always took the longest.
Elizabella always has Walliams carry around her make-up organizer, which was nearly as tall as her. The make-up organizer was where she kept all her stage make-up, wigs, and hair products. One thing about Elizabella's regeneration ability is that her hair would always grow. She would often cut her hair a few times during a week, and no one would notice. Because of this, she was not afraid of dying her hair during her music videos, as it could take days to film.
Since going to the Royal Academy, she has learned to color her hair using temporary chalk as she could wash it off quicker. The school she attended was strict with hair dyes. Mainly, if the students did dye their hair, they could not dye it midway in the school year. Since people were born with different hair colors, it was difficult to monitor students dying their hair. However, once the teachers got to know the students, it was hard to change their hair color as, at that point, it would be evident that they had dyed their hair.
When Elizabella was with the group, she would often volunteer to do others' hair. This is when she found out that her regeneration powers could be transferred to others. Every time she would do their hair, their hair would be the healthiest it has ever been. When it was known that she could do this, the group could not wait to experiment with hair dyes as their hair would not be damaged if Beauty worked them.
"I miss you, Beauty, when you quickly did our hair. I understand that your stage make-up has also improved since the last time we saw you. Do you think that later you can do our hair?" asked a girl named Sparrow as they were finishing up on their make-up while looking in their mirror.
"Would that even be allowed? Remember that Beauty has married a Crown Prince. To have her do our hair would be beneath her," said a girl named Gem.
"If we had a sleepover, who would know what I did?" said Elizabella as she had straightened her hair and colored her hair with pink-coral chalk before putting her hair up and started on her make-up. "Unless, of course, someone here rats me out."
"No way! Who would tell on you?" said Sparrow as she smiled widely while she gave herself a last look before being satisfied with herself.
"What, does this mean that you will have a sleepover with us tonight?" asked Gem with stars in her eyes. "Say yes!"
Elizabella smiled as she carefully drew her eyebrows, changing the shape of her facial features.
"I am sure that I can have one last sleepover before going back home," said Elizabella as she thought that she and Maxen would still feel awkward sleeping in the same room, making the girls squeal in delight.
The thought made Elizabella secretly sigh as she understood that sleeping with someone in the same room might lead to trouble with her nightmares. Although she has not had one in a while, she was afraid that she would have one if they did sleep in the same room because she stresses over the fact. Elizabella quickly did her face and finished her lips by lining them with a pencil and filling it in with a purple nude color.
Her face seemed intense compared to the natural look that she would typically use in public. Elizabella's eyes had a bronze pink with an exaggerated wingtip. Her false lashes were full, and overall, she looked like a different person from when she first started. She smiled before stepping back and letting the other girls see her.
"What do you think? Do I still look like Princess Aphra?" asked Elizabella as her whole demeanor changed.
She tilted her head in a coy manner, and the demure lady had turned into a normal girl getting ready for a night out. The girls looked her over and thought that it was amazing how she looked and felt like a different person by standing there.
"Wow! No one would think that you are the same girl that married a Crown Prince. Your transformation would shock people if they knew," said Starfish as they continued to stare at her. "Your clothes do not match your face anymore."
"I will need to change," said Elizabella as she looked down at her clothes. "I did not bring anything that would match this look. Can I borrow some of your clothes?"
"Check in the back. I think we have a jacket that would match your look," said Ivy as Elizabella was about to go the back when Beast spoke as she came out from the back dressed in a corseted dress that reached to her knees.
"By the way, when did you dye your hair?"
"I just used pink chalk right now," responded Elizabella as Beast shook her head with a slight frown.
"I mean, what happened to your silver-white hair?" asked Beast as Elizabella froze where she stood.