Dress, make-up, hair. Besides those three things… There’s nothing else for contestants to do.
If they have money, students can hire workers. So, there isn’t much physical labor for students to undergo. The committee is busy because they have paperwork to do, but contestants really have nothing to do. It’s honestly kind of anti-climactic.
A contest is supposed to be more… focused on trying to appeal to the crowds. At least in my imagination. No, they probably are supposed to work hard more. Contestants are supposed to go to the cafeteria, terrace, and other places where tons of people gather, to smile and wave.
Nevertheless, before the voting started, Christine-sama had already pulled ahead. And, in second place, was me!
“What Christine-sama said was really true…”
For some reason she… Acknowledged my appearance, but even though I also think Mariabell’s appearance is magnificent, I thought I was the type who wouldn’t get votes from others.
Because, my appearance was flashy and extravagant. My eyes are sharp and my smile doesn’t function like a smile. Rather than a beautiful girl, I’m like a beautiful woman, a villainess.
I was pretty, but I didn’t have an appearance that people liked or admired. However, looking at these results, I could see that my understanding was wrong.
“Maria, you’re becoming more aware, huh.”
“It’s hitting me hard.”
I was glaring at Keito who didn’t even glance at me. I thought I was being quite intense. Primella and Eru weren’t used to my glare yet, so sometimes they still got scared.
People who don’t feel guarded towards me are precious but… I feel like Keito has never been scared of me before.
“I think it’s amazing. You didn’t even advertise anything and you’re already second place. Aren’t you glad you have that face.”
“Can’t you praise me better.”
“I wasn’t praising you.”
This guy… I seriously hit you one day. I’m a noble lady, so I can’t right now but, I think I could just barely get away with a slap. We don’t have much of a height difference right now, so I think I could get a good swing full of power in.
“You’re the one who said you wanted to end this without standing out. How could you be happy that you’re in second place?”
I always think again and again, this guy really understands. Keito was really slow with things related to other people, but when it comes to me, he was like an Esper.
But, just as Keito had said, I was hoping to be in last place but to be in second… just because of a photo… It’s not what I wanted. If you understood that then console me!
“Do you think it’s bad if I move the flowers to someone else’s…”
“If you’re going to do it I won’t stop you, but do it on your own.”
“If I get caught, then I’ll drag you down with me.”
“I’d run before that happened.”
Of course, I’m not going to. It was just a joke, but I do want to do it. I don’t think I’d get caught if I did it little by little… My apologies to the people who voted for me, but it’s not too late! Please, move your flower to someone else. I won’t mind at all!
“Do your best on stage.”
“How?”
“… Make a weird face, or something?”
“I’ll get yelled at.”
“I’ll laugh.”
“I’m definitely not doing that.”
Why is it harder to aim for last than for first place. Furthermore, I’m a candidate to win. How unfortunate. If I made a weird face on stage, there would definitely be complains thrown at me… Having a lot of things on mind is so bothersome.
“Well, if it continues like this, that upperclassman should win.”
“That would be good but…”
To be honest, it’s basically been decided that Christine-sama will be in the top rankings. The difference between her and I was basically, well, I don’t think I could catch up. Third place onwards has no choice but to give up.
This means that the difference between me and third place was also quite large! I don’t want to have to use my last resort, voter fraud.
“Ah, Mariabell-sama is here!!”
“Ts… Sara, sama.”
“I was looking for you… Now… Ah, are you in the middle of a conversation?”
“No, it’s fine. Did something happen?”
“I heard that your clothes arrived, so I wanted to go see them with you.”
“Aah, come to think of it…”
They were just dresses I asked my parents to send, but they finally arrived to the waiting room. The people who were having their dresses order-made still weren’t done. The only clothes in the waiting room were mine.
Father and mother were good at choosing dresses that suited me, but right now, I wanted a tidy one… In other words, one that didn’t suit me at all. So, they had some trouble, and in the end, apparently Orseine-san picked them.
Come to think of it, I haven’t checked them yet.
“Then, let’s go together. Keito, see you later.”
“Yea.”
“Sorry for interrupting.” (Sara)
“Not at all, don’t worry.” (Keito)
Keito just waved his hand at me, but properly replied to Sara… What a difference in treatment. His expression didn’t change at all, but his choice of language was really noticeable.
We were originally close, so now he only says that much when we part.
“The waiting room is towards the club building.”
The waiting room was acting as a storage room until the day of the contest. The contest location was near Oz so of course the waiting room should be close by the venue, but it would be troublesome for Oz if we left our things there until the day of the event, but it would be troublesome for us if we had to bring our belongings from school the day of… So, they built a place just for this event to be shared equally between Oz and the school. The rich are amazing.
Therefore, the place we’re going to right now, strictly speaking, is something like a temporary waiting room. Only a waiting room until the day of the event.
“I’m so excited… I didn’t think I’d have anything to do with the Ozcon.”
“… like I thought. It’s a big event.”
For a first year to be talking about it like this… Primella knew about it, too. Though, she only knew about it because it was so large.
When I think that I have to appear in such an event, my stomach starts to feel heavy.
“Eh…?”
“Nothing. It’s this way.”
While holding my stomach down, I continued towards the clubroom building. My steps felt heavy… It was probably just my imagination.