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…?"

Monica, who had never heard of the culture of curling hair, could only make blank stares. Lana picked up the hair straightener and then faced Monica's hair.

"Well then, this is just the beginning. From now on, don't move your head even a slightly."

＊ ＊ ＊

It was the morning of the chess tournament, and the student council members were ordered to come a little earlier to prepare for the arrival of the students from other schools. As soon as Monica stepped into the specified meeting room, the rest of the student council members saw her and their expressions changed.

Everyone was looking at Monica, who was different from the norm. They were like "Oh, which princess is this beautiful girl!" …though, it's not the case.

"…Miss Norton, your appearance looks like a seventeen girl."

That was all Elliot managed to say.

Some people might take offense at the rudeness of this line, but Monica nodded enthusiastically with a twinkle in her eyes.

"D-Did I look like, seventeen, years old?"

"Yeah, that's a surprise. What's with all the makeup and hairstyle?"

"M-My friend arranged it for me… Did I really look like seventeen years old?"

"Yeah, you sure looked like a seventeen years old girl."

Elliot's crude speech made Monica squirm with excitement.

For Monica, who has always been told that she looks like a child and has a babyface, the phrase "you looked like xxx years old" was the best compliment she ever received.

Now Monica was wearing a corset to correct her hunched back, applying makeup to brighten her complexion, and curling the ends of her light brown hair into a slight curl. Though her hair was adorned with the usual ribbons and not particularly flashy, the curly hair gave her a much different impression.

The current Monica was like a normal, healthy seventeen-year-old girl who could be found anywhere. The sad thing was, to the surprise of those around her, the usual Monica was a girl with an unhealthy complexion.

Cyril Ashley's eyes widened in amazement then muttered rude things such as "I didn't know your face was looked like that…"

He had probably identified Monica only by her features as "a skinny little girl with light brown hair" as she always kept her head down and tended to conceal her eyes.

Neil honestly said, "Wow, you look wonderful!" and Bridget, who was generally harsh with Monica, only commented, "You should do that much normally."

As Monica squirmed with excitement, Felix, who was standing in front of her, gently brushed aside a strand of Monica's hair and parted his lips.

"You look so lovely today. You are usually adorable, but today you are very beautiful. A butterfly might be tempted to rest its wings on a beautiful blossoming bud that had been closed tightly."

Monica's thoughts paused for a few seconds. Her brain, which was not used to this kind of expression, took a very long time to understand the poetic and literary phrases.

So, Monica decided to ask straight away.

"…then, did I look like, seventeen, years old?"

"Yeah, you did."

"Mmmmm!!"

Felix was muttering "You were more pleased with that compliment, huh" to himself when he saw Monica was squirming in delight.

Monica has never been interested in fashion. In fact, it would be fair to say that she was indifferent to it. For her, who has been hiding away in her cabin without seeing anyone, being fashionable was something unnecessary.

However, ever since she came to Serendia Academy and Lana taught her how to braid hair, Monica's consciousness had started to change, if only slightly. At least, to the extent that she was concerned about Claudia calling her a "toddler."

"It is about time, Your Highness. I think you should leave it at that."

Bridget chimed in, casting her eyes over her watch.

Felix reluctantly withdrew his hand from Monica's face and then gave instructions to all the student council members.

"Well then, I guess it's about time we welcome the students from "Temple" and "Minerva"."

The mention of the name of the institute she had once attended brought Monica back to her senses.

It'll be fine, I'm sure it'll be fine… as long as I keep my posture good and keep my composure, they won't notice me unless things go horribly wrong.

＊ ＊ ＊

"Barney, Barney, what are those people doing?"

"Oh, they are playing chess. It could be categorized as a board game… a game for those with too much spare time in their hands."

Barney snickered mockingly, looked at the people of the chess club from a distance.

"They came to Minerva to study magic, but then creating a chess club, it's beyond ludicrous. We are at the pinnacle of a magician training institution, so shouldn't we be concentrating on studying magic?"

That's what Barney had said when Monica was still attending at Minerva. And because of that reason, somewhere in the back of her mind, Monica had assumed that Barney would never take a part in chess, but…

"Nice to meet you. I'm Barney Jones, President of the Minerva Chess Club."

The sight of the bespectacled young man shaking hands with Felix had left Monica speechless.

His height was taller and his voice was lower from what she had remembered, but… she would never have mistaken him for someone else.

Why… why are you here…

Standing at the head of Minerva's students was a man who had once been Monica's best friend.

…why are you here… Barney!?