novelraw Chapter 199 : So-Called Charm
Chapter 199 : So-Called Charm
"Miss Elsa, it's been a long time."
Michel seemed very happy to see Elsa in the mansion's reception hall, standing up to greet her.
"Prince Michel, it really has been a long time. What brings you here today?"
"I'm relieved to see you and Miss Yvonne safe and sound. I came specially today to bring gifts and pay my respects... But it seems Yvonne is as busy as ever, I'm afraid I won't be able to see her today."
Saying this, she showed a somewhat regretful expression. She brushed her hair behind her ear, emanating a fragrant scent.
"Yes, after all, business has increased in various areas... Evie is in charge of the social aspects."
"I've heard about that too, Elsa, you've been very active recently—I hear the 'Magic Rice Cooker' is very popular among housewives!"
"Hehe, it's just some insignificant little things."
After observing the real objects in the "Reality Book", Elsa had the idea of realizing these incredible objects from another world here by replacing electricity with magical power. This led to many inventions. Most of the time, she shut herself in the laboratory tinkering with magical formulas.
However, compared to the time-pressed Yvonne, her disposable time was relatively more flexible.
"By the way, Prince Michel... You've become even more beautiful."
Michel seemed somewhat different from before.
Not having seen her for a while, Elsa felt she had become more beautiful, more womanly.
But she couldn't pinpoint the specific changes. They were all very subtle, but these accumulated details made her more elegant.
Her hair was very glossy, and her face had a rosy glow. Even though winter is typically when skin becomes dry, this princess's face was as tender as if water could be squeezed out of it.
"Hmm... Is that why you've been staring at me?"
"I apologize for my rudeness."
"It's alright, feel free to look a bit longer~ Can't be helped... Even as a woman, I still exude charm—This is the sin I must bear~"
...Her narcissistic side remains unchanged...
However, she indeed had the capital to be proud. Her beauty was the kind that seemed natural, as if it was only right for her to be so enchanting, enough to make any woman who saw her feel a bit jealous.
"Of course, Elsa is very charming too."
"I'm far behind Your Highness Michel's natural beauty."
She chuckled in response,
Michel marveled inwardly. After not seeing her for a while, Elsa had changed quite a bit. Now, her speech and manners had become much more proper. If one didn't mention her background, she now gave the impression of a well-bred young lady, with her former naive commoner girl appearance having faded considerably.
"Oh right, speaking of this, I have something good to show you."
She clapped her hands, and her attendant immediately came forward, presenting a box.
The box was filled with bottles and jars, making clinking sounds as it was carried. They were all taken out and neatly arranged on the table.
"...What are all these?"
She revealed a mysterious smile and spread her hands,
"Next, I will tell you the secret to my beauty!"
"Actually, Elsa, you have a good foundation, very suitable for makeup! Let's start with the basics."
Saying this, she took out a shiny metal tube from inside, then opened the cap with a pop.
"This is a twist-up lipstick made according to the design provided by the current merchant guild."
"...This is lipstick?"
Elsa expressed great surprise. Although she had seen lipstick before that came in small boxes and was applied by dabbing with a finger, this was her first time seeing lipstick in such a special container.
"This design is very convenient, if you want to apply it—You just push it out like this."
Michel twisted the small metal tube-like object in her hand, and the red cylinder slowly extended from inside the tube with her movement.
Collect red petals, then crush them, extract the red pigment from the juice with tree sap oil, mix it with beeswax, pour it into a special mold to make this shape, and that's lipstick.
"This is lotion and foundation. Before applying makeup, first let the face absorb the lotion, then apply powder foundation. This way, the makeup will adhere better."
"You can try applying a little on your hand."
"It's smooth, and smells so good!"
"Right? This is natural lotion made from mountain spring water plus plant gel and floral essential oils—I highly recommend this fragrance. It can make people feel happy."
Michel stuffed all these foundation, lipstick, eyebrow pencils, and hair cream to Elsa.
"These are all for you."
"Wait, I'm already very grateful for letting me try them, how could I accept all of this..."
Elsa hurriedly waved her hands. Cosmetics were such high-end goods that naturally belonged exclusively to the noble class. Each item in this box was probably very valuable,
"We're childhood friends after all, don't be so polite. There's also a set as a return gift for Yvonne. Please pass it on to her for me... I have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
Giving Elsa no room to refuse, Michel stood up to leave,
"Although you're still young now, you can't be careless—If you don't take good care of yourself, you'll age quickly when you get older. If you lose your charm, feelings can fade too."
Having grown up in the palace, Michel had seen too many such examples.
A woman's most beautiful years pass in the blink of an eye. Taking good care of oneself is the most important thing.
Elsa nodded thoughtfully.
.
The face in the mirror did indeed look too young.
Although she was already an adult, she still looked no different from a few years ago,
But! To make herself more womanly, some things had to be tried!
However... how exactly should she do it?
Looking at the bottles and jars laid out before her, Elsa was at a loss. She had no experience with makeup at all,
Anyway, let's try following the steps Michel mentioned to apply makeup!
...Is this too much?
Ah, this seems to be too much, too thick.
In her fluster, her face ended up looking stranger and stranger.
Just then, a familiar voice came from the door.
"I'm done here—Let's prepare for lunch."
"O-Okay! I'll be right there." The flustered Elsa originally wanted to remove the failed makeup, but she found that no matter how she washed with water, it wouldn't come off clean.
Come to think of it, didn't Michel mention these were waterproof makeup?
Oh no—
"What are you doing in the bedroom? Can I come in?"
"No, not now!!"
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
But this only made her more worried. After pushing the door open, Yvonne hurriedly came forward and held Elsa's shoulders.
"Your face... pfft, pfahahahaha—"
Upon seeing Elsa's face, Yvonne first froze for a moment, then covered her stomach in a fit of laughter, even falling onto the bed and pounding the pillow as she laughed uncontrollably, taking a long time to calm down,
"Evie is so mean!... Is it really that funny?"
"You should have said so earlier, if you wanted to learn makeup, why not ask me?"
After being pummeled angrily by Elsa, Yvonne held back her laughter and gently wiped Elsa's face with a handkerchief soaked in makeup remover oil,
"To remove makeup, water alone won't do. You need to use this special makeup remover oil."
"Ugh..."
Making such a basic mistake, Elsa realized she was truly clueless about makeup, even less knowledgeable than Michel who was once male. This made her feel quite dejected.
"It's okay, everyone has things they're not good at, right?"
Being held like this by her made Elsa feel light-headed. Guided by her gentle voice, it seemed as if she was about to reach the heavens,
"Do you want to try applying makeup again?"
"Mm..."
"Actually, your skin is very good. Too much foundation would have the opposite effect... Just a little touch-up like this is enough."
She gently patted cool lotion onto Elsa's face with two fingers, spreading it in circles. Elsa's face immediately felt much fresher.
"Here, look down with your eyes."
She placed a pointed pen above Elsa's eyelid,
"...What's this?"
"It's an eyeliner pen. It can make your eyes look more three-dimensional."
The pen tip glided smoothly. To complete this delicate operation, she moved even closer to Elsa,
"Now look up."
"...Like this?"
"Mm, stay still like that."
Yvonne supported Elsa's chin with one hand, and with the other, used a small clip to curl her eyelashes, then used a small black brush to brush along her eyelashes several times,
"Now for the lips."
Unlike what Elsa had imagined, Yvonne didn't directly apply the lipstick to her mouth. Instead, she took a cotton swab, picked up a small amount of lipstick, and traced the lip line from the center of Elsa's upper lip towards the corners.
Only then did she use the lipstick tube itself,
"Press your lips together."
Smack smack...
"Mm..."
After finishing all this, Yvonne held up her hands and began to carefully examine Elsa,
"Although makeup skills are important, the most important thing is still the person."
"Can I see?"
"You look very beautiful."
When she smiled and handed the mirror to Elsa, Elsa couldn't believe the person in the mirror was herself.
It's amazing—Even more amazing than magic,
The girl in the mirror had skin as delicate as a peach, with a rosy glow on her cheeks, long eyelashes, sparkling eyes, and lips with a crystalline red color,
It's incredible, is this the charm boost of makeup?
"...Does Evie think it looks good?"
Elsa asked, hiding her face behind the mirror, blushing,
"Of course."
She ruffled Elsa's hair.
"But what I like best is still your original appearance."
"Eh? Why... Isn't the dressed-up look better?"
Elsa couldn't quite understand,
"It does look good, but... If I wanted to kiss you now, wouldn't it be much harder to do?"
The person sitting across from her already didn't need any blush,
A small mischievous idea formed in Elsa's mind.
"Does Evie want to apply lipstick too?"
"...Do you want to apply it for me?"
"Mm, I want to apply it for you, the same color."
"Is it for practice? Well, that's fine..."
Although she said she wanted to apply it, she didn't seem to have any intention of opening the lipstick cap.
It wasn't until she narrowed her eyes and leaned in that Yvonne realized what she was about to do.
"...Mmm..."
"The lipstick is applied."
After separating, the red on her lips had faded,
"Really... You've drawn outside the lip line..."
Instead, a touch of intoxicating wine red had been added to Yvonne's lips.
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"Bebe, look—These are tangerines specially sent by grandpa and grandma from their hometown!"
However, when Yvonne put these yellowish-green tangerines on the table, Bebe ran to the farthest position from the tangerines as if facing a great enemy, which was on Elsa's lap.
"Hiss... hiss—"
The little one raised her tail, fur standing on end, showing such a nervous appearance for the first time.
Yvonne felt somewhat disheartened,
"Evie... It seems she doesn't like them."
Elsa smiled wryly as she smoothed down Bebe's bristled fur.
"...Come to think of it, I've heard before that the Pelo have very sensitive noses, so they don't like fruits with strong sour smells because they find them pungent."
"I see, then it looks like she can't eat tangerines. Let's eat them ourselves."
Yvonne peeled the tangerine and handed a segment to Elsa.
"This is so sweet!"
"Mm, it snowed recently, right? When pressed by snow, they become much sweeter."
Gathered around the warm fireplace, Yvonne peeled tangerines, placing the peels near the stove to dry. They can be made into dried tangerine peel later.
The room was filled with the fragrance of citrus.
"By the way, this type of tangerine is also called 'spring view'."
After eating them, spring will be near.
"What a lovely name."
The orange-yellow translucent fruit pulp was clearly defined. Biting into it released a mouthful of juice, with a perfect balance of sweet and sour, though overall the sweetness was more prominent,
Eating it left a cool, moist feeling in the throat. Very satisfying.
Whine...
Bebe stared somewhat resentfully at the two who were eating with relish.
"Aha, does Bebe want to try too?"
Might as well try!
"Ah woo!"
Although her face scrunched up from the sudden sour smell, she still made an effort to open her mouth and toss the tangerine segment in.
Then her expression changed immediately, and her tail started wagging.
"So sweet~~!"
"How is it, not sour right? The tangerines from Momo City in the Northern Frontier are quite famous."
Not just North Kalos. Specialties from other regions have also been effectively promoted through various efforts, becoming well-known to the people.
Bebe returned to Yvonne's lap,
"Mama, I want more."
"Alright, alright, let me peel it for you... But you can't eat too much, eating too much will cause internal heat."
Now the little one's appetite was fully opened, and she ate several in a row.
"Phew..."
After eating her fill, she felt sleepy.
The drowsy little beast curled up on Yvonne and fell into a deep sleep.
Stroking between her two ears, Yvonne's face also showed a gentle expression.
She's really easy to understand~
Elsa watched the two with a knowing smile,
Usually time was limited, so the moments spent with this child became very precious.
Let them have some time alone like this.
But just as she was about to leave, a hand from behind caught the hem of her clothes.
"Elsa... Help me quickly, my leg's gone numb..."