Chapter 16

The days passed by more quickly, and today was Friday, the famous day of the blind date. The past few days were more hectic because I had to be rushed from right to left by Nana to do my hair and arrange my nails. Even if I had to impress on the famous blind date, they didn’t want to use money unnecessarily in bringing me to beauty salons. Instead, I had my hair and nails done by someone who is used to helping Nana when she is supposed to attend balls or ceremonies accompanied by her mother. After I was done with the preliminary steps to make a breathtaking creature, I now had to go and meet Nana to see which dress would go in accordance with all the efforts made on my hair, especially.

She walked towards Nana's room and knocked. When she heard a sound inside, she immediately knew that her cousin was there. She was more certain when her cousin opened the door with a beauty mask on her face. Her cousin first took her sweet time to look at Aurora from top to bottom before stepping backward to let her enter.

She then went directly to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she returned with a towel still in her hands, probably from washing away the beauty mask. She was also in a bathrobe. She walked towards a chair in front of her table, turned it to face Aurora better, and made herself comfortable. She crossed her right leg over the left, causing the bathrobe to slide to the side, revealing her thigh. Her right hand was lying on the table, and her left hand was lazily resting on her thigh.

Aurora narrowed her eyes. She didn’t understand why all those gestures were necessary just to give a dress and accessories. She was so absorbed in trying to understand the reasons behind these actions until she came to the conclusion that maybe the person wanted to show their level of superiority compared to her. While thinking about it, she concluded that this was the only reason. Feeling quite satisfied with this conclusion, she looked at Nana, who was calm, different from her usual horrible behavior.

Aurora narrowed her eyes. She didn’t understand why all those gestures were necessary just to give a dress and accessories. She was so absorbed in trying to understand the reasons behind these actions until she came to the conclusion that maybe the person wanted to show their level of superiority compared to her. While thinking about it, she concluded that this was the only reason. Feeling quite satisfied with this conclusion, she looked at Nana, who was calm, different from her usual horrible behavior.

Nana, who had been staring at the other party's face for a while, tilted her head to the side. "What are you here for?" she asked with a hint of pure disdain in her voice, not even bothering to mask her facial expression to show the level of hate she had for Aurora. (Hateful, I don’t understand how a good-for-nothing orphan can have more looks than I am supposed to have.) Her eyes became more expressive about just how she hated Aurora.

Aurora tilted her head to the side and opened her dainty, slightly red lips to answer, "The time for the blind date is approaching, and I thought it would be better to have everything needed ready in one place." Her voice was soft and smooth to hear; even Nana was momentarily entranced by it until she snapped out of it, angry at herself for being dazed.

She then motioned for Aurora to approach until they were near each other. Nana looked up and smirked, “Why must I lend you my accessories? You're just going to be my substitute, right?” she asked. Aurora just turned her back and marched towards the door while answering the question, “You can still refuse. I don’t mind wearing my dresses, you know,” she said rather provocatively.

With that said, she turned back to have a look at Nana's face, which was mixed with different emotions, whether fear, anticipation, or doubt. Nana looked up defiantly and answered, “I refuse. You're just going to be a substitute. Do you think my father will let you have my belongings? Why don’t you wake up from your dream, pesky bug?” Aurora just smiled rather sweetly and left the room.

She walked towards the corridor leading to her room while humming a tune in a low voice, her eyes sparkling and expressing her enthusiasm for the upcoming events, but she was not looking forward to the blind date. She checked the time and realized she had thirty minutes left. Her expression grew somber at the thought of having a meal with a perfect stranger, but if it could give her some freedom for a while, then it wasn't a bad deal.

She walked faster and retreated to her room to prepare. She assured herself that she first needed to have a fresh bath to calm her nerves from the upcoming challenge. Then, she walked towards her closet to choose the least worn-out dress she had. It was a navy blue dress that reached her knees. She then took a light cherry red lipstick that was given to her by Vicky and carefully applied it to her charming lips.