Why was she even thinking of that in the first place?
The maids had practically dragged Melissa's body into her room, preparing for her appearance and accessories.
"Lady Melissa, what lipstick color would you like to wear?"
"I don't want to wear lipstick."
"But Lady Melis-"
"No buts, I'm not wearing lipstick no matter what.
They make my lips itchy and uncomfortable.
How about lipgloss instead?"
Lady Melissa compromised with the maids, and after a few minutes of bickering, the maids reluctantly agreed.
She'll force the maids not to let her any lipstick, hehe.
No matter what it takes, she wouldn't wear lipstick.
However, lip gloss wasn't a problem at all. Instead, she loved lip gloss—much to the surprise of the maids.
Lip gloss was quite similar to lipstick. However, it didn't have that thick consistency.
Lip gloss just made your lips..shinier?In a way, it did.
She didn't see much of the differences between lip gloss and lipstick, but hey, as long as she didn't have to wear lipstick, she would settle for anything.
"Lady Melissa, what lipstick color would you prefer to wear today?"
"I'm not wearing lipstick."
"B-but Lady Melissa!"
"Come on. It's not as if anybody is going to care. I'll just wear lipgloss instead."
"Fine..."
After a few minutes of bickering, the maids had finally agreed to Lady Melissa's wishes, and they had reluctantly agreed.
"Lady Melissa, you look stunning! We didn't even have to use such heavy makeup on you, only putting light makeup like foundation and blush!"
The maids fangirled over Lady Melissa.
"Of course I look cool! I'm a part of the Shayla family for a reason."
"Kyaaa!Lady Melissa, your so cool!"
The maids fangirled again.
But this time louder.
Lady Melissa was quite...embarrassed.
But at the same time, she was happy someone was praising her.
Nobody had ever done so in the past.
Not even her parents...
The maids had taken advantage of her quiet nature and often mistreated and looked down on her in her past life.
She didn't have friends, so none of her friends could've praised her.
The Crown Prince never praised or complimented her either.
Her parents had rarely seen Melissa. When they did meet each other, Lady Melissa would only let them hold a conversation with her for 5 minutes at most.
So they couldn't praise or compliment her either.
It wasn't that they didn't want to compliment their daughter. It was more of that they couldn't.
It was hard for them even to hold a conversation with her, so no doubt it would be harder for them to compliment them.
Looking at it now, she regretted how she acted towards her parents, the maids, etc.
Well, she couldn't do much about it now.
Dwelling on the past would always bring bad memories.
What was most important now was that she was in the present.
She'll make sure not to make the same mistakes this time.
"Lady Melissa! Stop staring at yourself in the mirror!"
"How could I not? I look this beautiful, much to the effort of my amazing maids."
The maids blushed, hearing Lady Melissa compliment them.
Usually, maids were treated horribly, even being beaten and hit if their masters were abusive. Nobody did anything to defend them.
Why you might ask, the reason was simple. It was because maids had a lower status than their masters.
However, Lady Melissa treated the maids with the utmost respect. She would thank them for what they did, such as delivering the food, massaging her body.
Lady Melissa acted as if the maids were equal to her. Unfortunately, she couldn't act like this in public, or else she would be made fun of. She didn't want her reputation to go downhill the moment the guests saw her, so she made a little note to act a bit more disrespectful to the maids in public.
"Thank you for the compliment Lady Melissa. However, we did not do much, except for just putting a bit of makeup. You were already stunning even without it. We only added a few finishing touches."
Lady Melissa's face was red now.
She was stunned; she didn't know what to say nor act.
Should she say thank you? Or should she ignore the compliment and act as if nothing happened?
After a few seconds of silence, Lady Melissa chose the latter and brushed off the maids' compliments.
The maids noticed this but went along with Lady Melissa's act.
After two more hours, the maids and Lady Melissa have arguments regarding her clothes, jewelry, etc.
Melissa was finally ready, and she looked absolutely stunning.
"Lady Melissa, you look beautiful! I bet you could even charm the Crown Prince right now!"
"..."
Silence filled the room.
It was her debut. Why was the Crown Prince even brought up?
Her mood had changed from happy to pissed real quick.
However, Lady Melissa was a master at hiding her emotions. She had done it numerous times in her past life with the Crown Prince.
So Melissa acted along with the maid's words.
"Ah, you think so? A woman like me can't even compare to someone as high and mighty as the Crown Prince...."
"He's the Crown Prince, and I'm just the Lady. I can only dream of being with someone like him."
Wow, Lady Melissa deserved an oscar right now.
She felt repulsed even saying those words, wanting to take back her words more with every second that had passed by.
"Lady Melissa! You are good enough for the Crown Prince! No, you deserve better than him! You should get a guy better than the Crown Prince!"
The maids loudly shouted.
"Eh? Is there anyone that's even better than the Crown Prince himself?"
The citizens saw the Crown Prince as the best choice, but that was his status and reputation. If he didn't have that, she was sure they would choose another person.
"Oh, there's someone! The Emperor!"
"....You want me...to be a ....concubine?"
"Besides, the Emperor is in his 70s..... I'm not into older men..."
"Ah well- That's not what I meant, Lady Melissa!"
"A handsome guy would be someone like Duke Gaston Berniece Mieth of the Mieth Estate, he's handsome....and he has quite a high status among society."
Another maid chirped into the conversation.
"What about Duke Alphonso Vincent Peagler of the Peagler estate instead? I think he would be Lady Melissa's type! He's cute and nice."
"No, no, I bet Lady Melissa would be a good match with Duke Mason Thaddeus Trafford of the Trafford estate! He has an appearance that would make anyone's heart stop!"
"Hm...you guys have got it all wrong."
"Lady Melissa doesn't need a man to be successful in life, she might have one if she falls in love, but it won't be her that needs a man. The man would be the one that needs her.
Don't get it mixed up."
"YES, THERE!YOUR CORRECT!"
Lady Melissa shouted at the top of her lungs. She was tired of hearing those words in her past life, and for her to listen to them in her current life again? Like seriously?
She just wanted to take revenge on the Crown Prince, make his face disappear from Earth, and live a good life alone.
She didn't want to marry a man, besides she was too young! She was only 19 this year.
Well, technically, that was the age of marriage for society.
But she thought it was too young!
Women at the ages of 19 would be at the peak of their lives, having fun! Only to be forced into an arranged marriage with some old geezer who was in his 60s or 70s.
The maids eventually noticed Lady Melissa's attitude, so they changed topics, not wanting to anger Lady Melissa anymore.
"And we're done!"
"What do you think, Lady Melissa?"
Lady Melissa looked stunning right now. She had the beautiful red dress that Duchess Kandis Laura Lendora of the Lendora estate had handmade herself! Along with gorgeous red high heels. Don't even get me started on her jewelry.
She wore a beautiful red gemstone on her neck, and it was surprisingly heavy for such a small gemstone.
Her parents had surprised her with it a few hours before her debut. It was their present to her.
Melissa wanted to use it. It looked beautiful and...really expensive.
Well, the least she could do was wear it, it was her first present from her parents, and she would make sure to cherish it no matter what.
She had always hidden the presents they had given to her in the past, and eventually, they got lost.
Not that she had minded, but now she'll make sure to cherish and treasure this present.
She'll make sure to always wear it during important occasions, and she wanted to wear it every day. Still, she decided not to, in fear that the red gemstone would somehow get lost or stolen.
Great, now she had 30 minutes to spare before the ball started.