The day of the second banquet had finally arrived. True to her word, Eris came to Siffia’s room an hour early to make sure that nothing was out of place, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Siffia was already properly adorned in one of the dresses that she’d bought for her.
“Father orders the maids to actually do their jobs when it comes to formal events, you see. Even last banquet’s dress… would have been impossible for me to put on alone.”
Eris couldn’t help but let out a huff at that, clearly unamused by the situation. The idea that the Viscount cared enough about saving face to make sure that no one at official events could claim that he was neglecting Siffia, while simultaneously giving her such an ugly, mismatched dress to wear, made absolutely no sense to her.
Siffia, for her part, could only smile wryly and avert her gaze, clearly thinking the same.
“Well, it’s no matter, Lady Siffia; This simply speeds things up for me."
"Hmm...?"
Siffia's drifting eyes quickly climbed back to look at Eris, only to find her looking her up and down with a thoughtful finger placed over her mouth.
"I’d been concerned that I would have to waste time stripping yet another ugly scrap of cloth off of you... but thankfully it seems such actions won't be necessary this time.”
“!”
Siffia’s eyes immediately grew wide. Of course, it was obvious that Eris hadn’t been the one to personally remove the poorly treated remains of the previous banquet’s dress from her, but her wording made Siffia unable to picture anything else but Eris pinning her against something and lasciviously removing her garment piece by piece from her at an agonizingly slow pace. She couldn’t help but gulp and bite her lip, her eyes averting for an entirely different reason from before.
“Hmm... Although, I must say-”
Eris tilted her taller form closer to Siffia, peering at her in such a piercing way that Siffia had to stop herself from jumping and letting out an unladylike squeak.
“-The maids who helped you certainly mustn't have been sent from your mother’s collection.”
Though Siffia had been placed perfectly into the dress, her hair had only lightly been combed through and not at all styled, and not a speck of care or make up had been given to her face.
Blushing in embarrassment and slightly bowing her head to hide herself behind the curtain of her hair, Siffia nodded along to Eris’s astute words.
“...Yes. My mother had already left for a prior engagement before my father had ordered the maids. My mother’s personal maids had already left with her... A-And anyways… Erm...”
Even if they had been there, Siffia had absolutely no belief that they would have bothered to help her without being ordered to. It wasn’t as if her mother had ever exactly been charitable to her in such a way.
“Hmm, I see.”
Eris straightened up again, gently reaching out to tuck Siffia’s hair behind both of her ears, revealing her face once more to her view.
“Well, it’s nothing to worry about. I made sure to bring a few of my own just for this situation anyhow.”
Crossing her arms and giving a loud snap, the three maids that had been waiting outside of the room quickly entered, professionally bowing at the pair and waiting for further orders.
“You know what must be done. Prepare her. You have my permission to use any of the accessories.”
“”Yes, My Lady.””
The maids responded as one, moving like well oiled clockwork as they went about their mission. As Eris led Siffia to a nearby ancient looking vanity and sat her down, the maids each retrieved their separate tools, one opening a box full of combs, brushes, and hair ties, one preparing a pallet full of makeup, and the last one coming up to Eris with a small chest, gracefully presenting it for her to peruse.
Siffia attempted to turn her head to peer into the chest as well out of curiosity, but swiftly had her head turned back to the front, the gentle but efficient tugs at her hair and the precise and artful placement of the painting of makeup upon her face not allowing for any more turning, lest she mess it all up. She quickly gave up, closing her eyes and letting the maids do whatever it was that was needed. It wasn’t until the hands that had been steadily working on her lifted and the touch of something cold was felt near her neck that Siffia finally opened her eyes again.
The sight of Eris leaning down at her once again and placing the jewel of a necklace just against her clavicle greeted Siffia, causing her to freeze up in surprise, both from how close Eris was, and how close Eris’s hand was to the top of her cleavage.
“Hmm, no... The color isn’t quite right.”
Eris, seemingly not having nearly as unrefined thoughts as Siffia was, only held a face full of concentration as she pulled the necklace away and searched through the small gleaming chest once more. Seeing this, Siffia couldn't help but let out a small sigh, upset with herself for her childish-feeling reaction.
“Perhaps… this? Hmm, or- Ah, yes, this one.”
Eris soon pulled out a necklace with a sizable gem, holding it up to get a better view of it in the light before giving a small satisfied smile. The light from the gem danced over Eris’s already radiant visage, seeming blinding, as if Siffia were looking directly into the sun. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the dazzling image, however, willing to be blinded if it meant witnessing such a magnificent view.
Siffia wasn’t able to stare up at her forever though, as soon Eris was making her way behind her, her long elegant arms and graceful fingers smoothly draping the necklace around Siffia's neck and clasping it into place. The feel of the cold gem against her chest, as well as the occasional ticklish touches from Eris’s fingers against her neck, made Siffia feel like the hairs on her skin were standing on end. It was as if she were slightly electrified.
“There. It’s perfect.”
Eris’s hand landed confidently on Siffia’s shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.
“Look at you. You look absolutely lovely, Lady Siffia.”
“Oh? I-I do…?”
Looking over her shoulder to verify the sincerity of the comment, Siffia quickly realized that Eris was looking at her in the vanity’s mirror, and not directly at Siffia herself. She decided to join her in looking in the mirror as well, and was soon shocked at the image that she found.
Delicate makeup shimmered on her cheeks, complimenting the lovely subtle black lining that accentuated her eyes, as well as the delectable yet innocent looking coloring that had been added to her lips, making them look plump and kissable. Her hair had been put up into two large youthful yet sophisticated looking buns, with only one thick and sleek frond of hair from her bangs stylishly tracing along the curve of her face and coming down to tickle against her chest. Jewels had been pinned here and there against her hair, sparkling and shining, making her usually dull and dark hair seem brighter than normal. And the necklace that Eris had chosen seemed to compliment it all as if made for this exact look, its beautiful splendor making Siffia pause to stare at it for much longer than she’d intended to.
At first, she’d found the gem a bit sinister looking due to its dark coloration. But as she stared at it more as it glinted and gleamed in the light, she soon realized that its obsidian-like depths held captivating, beauteous hints of deep purple that made it hard for one to look away.
-And the fact that that wonderous color was so close to the hue of her own hair filled Siffia with unspeakable emotion.
“Mmm, yes. It suits you quite perfectly. You look almost like some sort of fairy, Lady Siffia.”
“Ah…”
Siffia tore her eyes away from the gem, the hand that had been absentmindedly coming up to stroke at her hair quickly falling back down into her lap as she scanned herself over once more. She couldn’t help but nod in agreement with Eris’s words. Although it felt odd to think so of herself, the way that she’d been done up matched with the long, flowy, almost airy-looking dress that she was wearing in such a way that she could have looked like a pixie from a fairytale. If she were to wear wings right now, it wouldn’t even have looked out of place.
“...Yes, you’re certainly right.”
It was so odd, so different, so crazy to look so much unlike herself like this. Truly, never in her life had Siffia imagined that she could look so pretty. The fact that even she couldn’t help but think so was positively baffling.
Still, her self-admiring eyes soon pulled away to gaze at the other figure in the mirror. The strong, proud Eris, with her elegantly flowing waves of golden hair. As usual it was pulled into a high ponytail, now with only a section of styled wavy hair left in front of her face to cover over part of her eye. However, the many braids that weaved their way across the flat of her head and ringed around the tie of her ponytail somehow seemed to scream ‘power’ to Siffia, even more so than Eris's typical style. This, combined with her always flawless and confident face, the slightly sharper than usual makeup, as well as the luxurious and saucy-looking red velvet dress that hung from her perfect figure, made Siffia feel as if she were looking at a proud lioness. To consider the person that she was looking at as anything less than a queen above all felt almost impossible.
“A-And you, Lady Eris, you… You look-”
But Eris seemed to not have the time for any such compliments.
“Yes yes, this isn’t about me. I’m perfectly aware of how extraordinary I am. Now then, if we’re all prepared and we're finished admiring ourselves, let’s quickly make our way to the carriage, lest we be late.”
"Ah... Okay."
Feeling embarrassed, Siffia shut her mouth and let Eris whisk her away, the pair quietly alighting into the carriage, headed for the long awaited second banquet.