Melissa fell in love with the beautiful red dress, and it was as if the dress was made for her! The design was stylish, and the dress was a bright, beautiful color. Melissa had thought it would be pretty uncomfortable, as the dress was relatively short. It was a dress that would be an eye-catcher for sure, which would be pretty helpful for her debut.
To her surprise, the dress was quite comfortable, completely the opposite of what she had initially thought about it. Melissa couldn't wait till the day of the ball.
"I think this dress fits me quite well, it's unique and one of a kind, not only that it's a masterpiece, and it's also stylish. I'm sure everyone will have their eyes on me if I wear this."
"My my Melissa, well you're not wrong about that, that was one of the few dresses that I had made by myself. I'm delighted that you liked it, Melissa. I was pretty proud of it, you know? I brought this dress today to show it to you, in hopes that you might choose it. It looks like your tastes are similar to mine. I'll make sure to design a few more dresses for you in the future."
"I'll be looking forward to that, Kandis."
Kandis glanced at the clock. It had already been more than an hour when she was supposed to leave!
"I'm sorry, Melissa, but I have to go now. It's been over an hour, and I have something urgent to attend to, my apologies."
"Ah, then I'll send you off!"
Duchess Kandis' carriage was waiting in front of the Shayla estate. She went inside only to see Melissa waving her off. The Duchess was a lonely woman, and she didn't have any true friends, only friends that would flock to her for power, status, etc.
So for Melissa to ask her if she wanted to be her friend, she was touched. Even though it was just a simple action, she felt happy. It had meant a lot to her, even if she didn't show it with her facial expressions.
And the fact that Melissa decided to send her off touched her heart once more, she had been to other noblewoman's houses before, but none of them had ever sent her off before. Thus, after the incident with Lady Melissa, she never judged a book by its cover anymore.
She didn't want a repeat of her past mistakes. She just wanted some real friends. She hopes that Melissa invites her to her house next time. It'd be nice to have a comfortable conversation with Melissa. She wanted to be closer to Melissa. She hoped Melissa wanted to be close with her too.
Well, only time will tell if their friendship will last.
Let's hope it does, for the sake of both of them.
Melissa's parents had just returned home after a business deal about some mines. They were confused as to why Melissa was standing at the gate of the Shayla estate.
Was she waiting for them, perhaps? Or maybe she was looking at the beautiful scenery in the Shayla estate? They weren't sure what she was doing, as these past few days, she had been acting differently, from trying out new kinds of food to taking swordsmanship lessons. Maybe she wanted to meet more people? Or perhaps she was sad?
"Mom, Dad. Where did you go?"
Melissa rushed to hug them; their facial expressions had turned from gloomy and nervous to overjoyed in less than a few seconds. One would be surprised by how fast their facial expression was changing.
"Ah, we had a business deal to do. Why are you out here, though? Were you perhaps waiting for us to come home?"
"I had invited Kandis into the Shayla estate to help me choose the dress for my debut to society. She had just left our estate a few moments ago, and I was sending her off."
"Tell me all about it, darling! You're already on a first-name basis with Duchess Kandis? Are the both of you perhaps friends? How was Duchess Kandis? Was she kind? I heard many rumors that she was a kind young woman. It's a shame that she was conceived from a Maid. Because of her origins, many people make fun of her."
"It truly is a shame that many make fun of Kandis; she's an amazing young woman, she's also kind, humble, and honest, and yes, me and Kandis are friends. I'm planning to invite her to the Shayla estate next time. Or maybe she'll invite me instead."
"Your growing up so quickly! It was almost as if yesterday you were a small girl, barely being able to walk. It's truly fascinating how quickly time can pass. It's a good thing we still have pictures of you when you were just a baby girl. Besides, I can't wait to meet her!"
Melissa, now her face bright red like a tomato, could do nothing but hide her face in embarrassment.
"Why are you acting like this? It's not as if I'm going away into another country or something! I'm just making a friend!"
"We know, and that's why we're so proud of you, you've finally overcome your fears, you've grown up and decided to make a friend, it might seem like a small and simple act to anybody else, but we know it's not. It must've been hard for you to overcome your fears, and that's why we're proud."
Melissa was just happy, they had loved her so much, but she had never realized it in her past life because she was always so focused on the Crown Prince. She had never started conversations with her parents. They always were the ones who started it, but she would usually end the conversations by giving short answers. Her parents were sad that her daughter wasn't communicating with them, but they couldn't do anything. All they could do was try talking to her in hopes that she would one day have a proper conversation with them.
And now their dreams were finally achieved, they're having a proper conversation with their child Melissa. Their bubbly sweet child Melissa. They were smiling ear to ear at how much their child had grown. It was just amazing to them.
"Now, let's go inside the Shayla estate. We can't just be standing in front of it all day long."
And so they did enter.
Melissa's mother had continued the conversation with Melissa after asking a maid to get her some refreshments for both her and Melissa.
"So what dress have you chosen for the ball? Tell me all about it, the color, the style and why you chose the dress. After all, I am one curious mother."
"It was a beautiful red dress, it was bright but not too bright, and for its style, it was truly unique, one of a kind, and the one who made it was Kandis herself!"
"I never knew the Duchess of the Lendora estate had that many talents. Wow, she truly is an amazing young woman. Ah, I have to go now, my darling. How about we have a chat another time?"
"I'll be looking forward to that. Goodbye, mother, have a safe trip."
Now it was just time for her to discuss some last-minute ball plans with the butler, Derick Noel Stanbury.
"I want drinks to be served to every guest that comes in by a few attendants."
"Make sure that there is enough food for all 35 of the guests, the Shayla estate cannot be made fun of because of the lack of food that was served."
"I will make sure to talk about it to the chef."
"That's good. What about all the maids and attendants I had fired? Have you replaced all of them?"
"No, worries, Lady Melissa, I have replaced each one of them and educated them on all the rules and etiquette so that they do not ever offend you or harm you. You have my word on that."
"Okay, now what drinks and refreshments should be served to the guests? I think that beer should be included, as this is an important event, my first debut to society. Make sure that there are enough meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables that are enough for all the guests."
"Yes, I will make sure to keep that in mind, Lady Melissa."
Now she had to think of the tables and chairs, tablecloths, etc.
"Hm...make sure that there are enough tables and chairs for the guests, put some chairs in a table, but put a chair alone on a table too, as some guests might not feel comfortable socializing with the other guests."
Derick Noel Stanbury was surprised. Lady Melissa had thought about all of this pretty well, even thinking of others' comfort, unlike many other nobles. He had realized how much he had underestimated her; she was the daughter of a noble, of course, she would be able to stand up for herself. However, that wasn't what had surprised him the most. It was the fact that she had taken the initiative on helping to plan the ball. Most other nobles had just asked their butlers to do it for them, but Lady Melissa?
She was different, you see.