LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 54: Studies and Preparation (I).
Chapter 54: Studies and Preparation (I).
Two weeks later...
"Hey! Can you order me some of these fabrics!"
"Yeah I can hold on, I need someone to make sure the tree that I made fits Miss Analissa!"
"I can handle that."
The classroom was in a bit of an excited rush, it was homeroom period meaning they would have a whole hour to themselves doing anything that they like.
"I'll be designing the background, we can go ahead and paint the scenery." A student carries out a box full of paint and brushes, placing them down on the floor and starts mixing the base color with water.
"We can use our earth magic to change the terrain for more naturalistic feels."
"Yeah you can but that will be hard to clean up."
"Ugh we'll make sure to clean it up after, just leave it to us. We just want to make the play look really cool. My parents said they'll come and watch."
"I have been cursed by the witch and only the kiss of true love would be able to break my curse!" A dramatic voice calls out as the blue haired boy looks hurt staring through the eyes of his acting partner, holding out his script Lord Ein had taken on the role of the prince in the play and the frog in most parts.
Lady Evelyn furrows her eyebrows and tries her best to act.
"Oh do you speak of the truth, dear frog?" She asks, waiting for him to continue on with his lines holding the script in her hands trying not to frown that she has to think of Lord Ein as her prince.
The knight enjoys acting, placing a hand on his chest dramatically replying to the villainess. "Yes, for a prince does not break his word. I have journeyed far and wide- asking maidens from all over to ask for a kiss."
"Hoping that one would end my suffering." He winked and all the ladies that were watching swooned at his charms.
All except the heroine of the story.
"Hmm." (Lord Ein) flips the page, keeping a side glance on Analissa who was focusing on working hard being a tree.
"..." The girl stood still saying nothing, as the costume she was wearing made her look like a silly figure with her head popping out-
"Ah... Miss Analissa as a tree still brings my heart flutters."
"Indeed even if she's going to wear a ragged tree costume she's still beautiful."
"Beautiful, lovely, gorgeous or even all of the above." The boys at the back who were working on the background props swooned and the girls who were designing the costumes rolled their eyes at their reaction towards the heroine about being pretty when she's obviously so- well!
She's actually really pretty even if she was wearing a pretty shitty costume and they just couldn't admit that.
"Ugh the boys in this noble section are such a bootlicker towards that commoner girl."
"Don't you think so as well, Lady Serene?"
Lady Serene who was busy doing her best to draw a frog costume clicks her tongue. She was tasked to be in the costume design process, her fondness for clothes helped her grasp the basic keys to making them and she can draw quite professionally but she just makes it into her hobby. "Yes, yes sure."
The girls who were trying to talk to her placed a hand on their waist and whispered in their conversation so she couldn't hear them. "Uh... I don't even think she heard me properly."
"You have to excuse her, Lady Mills. I think she's so focused on making the costume that she can't hear anything we're saying."
The other girl nodded, staring at her drawings and design of the frog with layers of needed materials with detailed descriptions. "I was not expecting her to be knowledgeable in such an area, like making dresses."
"Likewise but with her help our play will be successful in terms of costume and design. It's all original, I've known her to sew as well."
The lackey of the villainess stopped drawing, putting the pencil down and frowned.
Her current design looks alright but it could be better. The head shape of the frog needs to be big but not heavy so that the actor could move and breathe properly, it would also need breathing holes so that the person wouldn't suffocate.
"Ugh." (Lady Serene) shakes her head, takes the eraser and starts making a few more changes.
"Let's leave her alone for now." The two girls wandered off somewhere else to check off their portion of responsibilities.
The two main actors were nearing the finishing scene where the two would need to kiss, Lord Ein laughs, brushing off the script and stretching his neck.
"We've been practicing for two hours already. Why don't we take a break?" He walks forward to Lady Evelyn with a smile and they both agree on taking a break.
"We used much of our homeroom time and the potions class because our lab needed a lot of cleaning after some potion incident that turned the whole room pink."
Lady Evelyn sighs, putting down the script and agreeing with him. It'll take her days to memorize the script, they've made changes to some parts of it that don't follow the whole story. "Indeed I say we made such good progress. Though, why is it that the frog prince story had a few twists and turns in the plot?"
Lord Ein waves around the script looking happy that the girl asked. He personally made changes on the plot of the story for future shenanigans. "Only in the middle part of it, I wanted to have you become a battle princess who knows how to fight and protect herself from bandits that planned on kidnapping you for ransom!"
"And?"
"Imagine you'll be saving me, a helpless young frog. I am a prince who is at your mercy."
"Alright..."
"Then after you kiss me the witch notices that the curse she put on me has been broken and we'll have our last fight together! This time, the prince in the story will be fighting by your side!" The excitement in his voice was obvious, it made the girl a little suspicious of his sudden action. He's usually so nonchalant, mysterious and cunning like a fox but now-
"...you seem really excited to be doing this, Lord Ein." The villainess didn't even hide the tone in her voice that she's finding it all weird.
"You cannot blame me, my lady. If I am to lead this class then I will make it as interesting as possible. Why don't you take a break?" The knight says sweetly, patting the side of her arms.
The villainess turns towards the direction of the heroine who stepped out of her tree costume prop and started wandering on her own inside the classroom looking for somewhere she can be useful in.
"Then I'll check on Miss Blanchet-"
"Ah no, sorry but I'll be borrowing her for a bit. You can check on your student council duties because I heard that your fiancé might be up to something." He suggests, leaving a little hint that the main love interest is already making his move.
"Are you certain?" (Lady Evelyn) asks, not trusting him. To be fair, Lord Ein is a very hard person to trust.
"You don't mind me having the blonde girl for now right? Well then, toodles!" (Lord Ein) winked and immediately set off to call his friend, Analissa who seemed to be roaming around the classroom looking for anyone that might need any help.
"..." Something was fishy, the villainess wanted to make sure that this man didn't have any ill intentions or plans to use Miss Analissa Blanchet in any of his schemes.
"What is he planning?" She wanted to follow them but acting out in class would make her be the bad guy, thankfully however, Losimer is on duty. That little bird should be able to take care of Analissa when she needs him. "Take care of her, Losimer. I won't be far."
Meanwhile...
Analissa is done watching the two main characters work and decides to see if she can help her classmates in other areas. Everyone having their own circle sort of made her jealous, she didn't really finish high school with a passing social life because of her sickness she was forced to take many absences and found comfort in playing games.
Eventually getting into streaming.
Festival planning looks like loads of fun.
"Hah..."
Her hands felt warm to the touch, shaking a little.
"Tweet, tweet?" (Losimer) could feel that something was wrong with the blonde girl, hearing her heart pound very loudly with her chest.
Talking to other people is easy, right?
But for some reason... talking to other people asking if they need help then facing the rejection that they don't need you, so you have to find other people that might need your help ending up in an endless cycle of asking and rejection, it's nerve wracking.
What if no one in here needs her help?
"Tweet?"
"Ah sorry, Losimer. Were you worried about me?" She asks the little bird who was giving a nod, Losimer was hiding inside her hair and nesting on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm just afraid... the girls here might ignore me, pretend that I don't exist or something like that. I really do want to bond with my other classmates but something might be keeping me away from achieving that."
"Tweet!" (Losimer) encourages Analissa that everything will be fine and if her classmates don't accept her kindness then it's their loss.
"I don't really get what you're saying but I think you're trying to cheer me up, aren't you?"
"Tweet~" The bird coos and suddenly becomes shy when Analissa gives the little one a kiss on the forehead.
"Alright, I'll do my best." The heroine was determined to make some progress on her social life today and found the perfect group of classmates on the side.
"Do you need any help?"
Wanting to make new friends, the Japanese streamer decided to check out the other non playable characters that appeared on the Otome game story as black silhouettes, people that she never got their name or even what they looked like. 'I managed to get the villainess as a friend. The story is changing, doesn't that mean that it's possible to befriend other girls who hate me because of the heroine halo?'
'I haven't been paying any attention to the guys here. Surely there's one girl who I can make my friend other than Lady Evelyn!' She asks the other girls who were handling fabrics, checking the sizes of the other background characters that will be appearing in the play.
One girl shakes her head, takes a meter rod from her [Inventorium] and starts doing her job. "Sorry darling, my hands are capable of doing this job alone. You can check whatever the boys are doing though, if you're good at keeping their attention you'll be better over there."
"...alright, thank you." That was a rejection, with a personal call out too. The girls handling the measurements and fabric costume orders is a no go.
It made Analissa a little sad but she needs to check the other classmates who might be willing to let her in their girl friend group.
She tries to approach the special effects team who were playing around with their magic, holding a book of spells summoning flowers by their hands. The petals looked pretty as it broke off with the rest being carried out with the wind making a beautiful scene.
"I could try over there." She mutters to herself, keeping confident that she'll make another friend. "Okay we can do this."
She marches on forward.
"Okay so with this spell we can make this really beautiful scene that when the princess and the frog kiss, this spell could make a flower effect where it acts as a wall so that Lord Ein will have the time to change out of his costume to make it look impactful." One girl made more flowers and the others clapped their hands in amazement.
"That's a great idea! But if a wall, what if the flowers surround the frog prince and then he can transform into the prince." The girls were talking about how this could help make their play better so that everybody will be singing their praises to the special effects team when-
"Hello, by any chance do you guys need any help around here?" (Analissa) walks forward with a friendly smile hoping it would lower their guard around her.
The other girls looked at each other, hesitating but in the end their decision was clear. They would never want to be near someone like Analissa Blanchet, rumored to be a flirt to many noblemen. "We're obviously busy."
"Yes, very much so." Another girl nodded but one changed her mind when she saw the genuine expression on the heroine's face that she looked like she just really wanted to help and nothing else.
"B-But wouldn't her light magic be helpful for our special effects you know? We can't exactly use fire for lighting-"
The noble girl right beside her pushed her sides, glaring at her. "Shush we're already full. I'm sorry, she's twisting her ankles but as I've said we're full."
Analissa was rejected yet again, she could only force a polite smile and nods understanding their decision. "Alright, thank you. But if... by chance you do need help please do tell me."
The other girls blinked their eyes feeling guilty now that they looked at the heroine casting her head down and walking away from them. "Weren't you a bit mean to that? She could be a good asset to us, her light magic is good for special effects."
"S-Shut up. I don't know what came over me. The rumors say that she's just good for nothing, a noble flirter, we shouldn't be getting acquainted with people like her."
"I know, I've heard the rumors but still- it looked like Miss Analissa Blanchet asked around only the girls if she could help- not one of the guys."
"...so?"
"I'm saying that the rumors might not even be true."
"If you could ask Lady Serene what she thinks I'm sure that she'd agree!"
...
Analissa walked into the corner of the classroom looking livid that none of the girls would give her a chance to help.
"I thought things might change, but the heroine halo still affects the mindset of some of these girls to hate me. The villainess is the only one being unaffected by it." The heroine guesses that the reason it wasn't working on Lady Evelyn was because she already promised her that she won't be getting near the crown prince and that was enough to not trigger her.
Scratch... scratch...
"...?"
Analissa could hear the sound of pencil drawing and the sound of the surface of the paper being scratched. "Oh it's Lady Serene."
"..." (Lady Serene) who was alone in the very corner of the classroom didn't realize that she had company near her.
She continued to draw the new version of the frog prince costume but she wasn't satisfied with her work. The way that she had drawn the costume was too realistic and it's not cute enough-
When it came to dresses, gowns, formal attire and casual she would have no problems!
"Ugh."
But when it comes to animals with cute characteristics that children would like-?!
She was not talented in that area.
"Stupid frog costume design. You expect me, someone from a high noble status to draw a silly cute frog costume?" She took the paper of her current drawing and started crumpling it before throwing it to a nearby corner.
...
Unexpectedly it lands on the heroine's thighs.
"Oh-" The Japanese streamer could see the lackey struggling to make the costume design for the frog. Analissa takes the crumpled paper from her thighs and opens it, staring in disbelief. "Oh god that's one frog that will haunt me in my nightmares."
It was a realistic looking drawing of a frog standing up, with skinny legs and its webbed feet. "Is she okay?"
"Ngh..."
Lady Serene reacted rather unsatisfactory because her design could never be a good and cute frog costume with how realistic everything looked, the resources and materials that would need to make this costume not existing from her experience.
Analissa folded the piece of paper, standing up from the corner to see how the lackey was doing.
"If I do this... add a bit more flair and color no- that wouldn't work. It's too similar from the last time and the frog head is just too weird." The red-haired girl muttered to herself and didn't even notice someone else was standing behind her watching her work.
"..." (Analissa) continued on watching, she could see the other costume designs for the villagers, the witch, the prince and the princess.
The only one missing was the frog costume design.
Lady Serene clicked her tongue and was just about to get the eraser but not until she saw a dark figure looming over her paper. 'A shadow? Someone must be behind me.'
She turns around and sees the blonde girl she dislikes. "..."
"Hello."
"What do you need? I'm currently working here. Aren't you supposed to be busy being a tree?" The lackey mocks her low role that she got in the play, but the blonde girl didn't look annoyed or even angry at her mocking.
Analissa looks down a little nervous. "Script rehearsals were done and I thought I could help you know... somewhere else?"
Lady Serene eyes her frog design and sighed giving up. She still needed to make a few arrangements in the other costumes so she's currently having difficulties balancing everything on her plate.
Perhaps leaving this work to the commoner would be a good idea.
It would also give her a chance to observe Miss Analissa Blanchet, the mysterious transfer student who made everyone around her become wrapped in her small fingers.
"Commoner, I see that you are unneeded in other areas. Don't tell me the other noble girls shut you out?" (Lady Serene) have already guessed what could be happening on the other girl groups who have divided amongst themselves to complete their tasks, all of their opinions on the blonde girl weren't exactly good.
"They... I'm sure they didn't shut me out, they told me they were full."
The villainess' lackey scoffed, thinking naively of Analissa. Is she that dumb to not see that all the other noble girls don't like her. "..."
No, their dislike towards her is obvious, then it could only mean she's being humble.
"Then you're in luck. I currently have something that I don't like doing." (Lady Serene) rolls her eyes before urging her to sit beside her, patting the empty chair beside her. "Commoner, come and sit down with me."
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