Madame Manuela's Masterful Makeup-kit. All I could do was stare it down, studying it, as if I were staring down an enemy on the battlefield.
I sighed before placing it down on the desk in my private quarters. What did Annette even see in this stuff? It was hard enough being a woman becoming a knight. Trying to add being "fabulous"to the equation just seemed unnecessary. On the other hand I felt different when Annette started complimenting me.
"You've got beautiful bone structure, lovely hair, long legs…"
I shook my head trying to focus up. Why did that affect me? I am a knight of Serios dammit!
I stood up and started to walk out of the room making sure to grab my training lance and my weighted tunic.
"Maybe I'm just restless. Perhaps a training session is in order, it'll probably help with this lack of focus."
I left my room, went to the training area and promptly trained, sparred, and lifted until I felt all the silly feelings that had come over me leave my body.
This was what I needed, not some makeup, not the commodification that it brought with its use, and certainly not the feeling of embarrassment that came after remembering the praise from Annette.
Cleaning myself off in the showers was a quickly paced procedure, doing the absolute necessities and then quickly leaving to give everyone their necessary privacy. But after arriving to my room, I am reminded why I left.
That damn makeup kit.
I sighed even harder than last time, tossing my jacket onto my bed and just went back to staring at the kit.
Would it make me less of a knight to do such a womanly activity?
Why did I care if it did?
It's not like I would lose all of the strength, technique, and knowledge I've gained throughout my training and studies.
Was I just scared?
Me? Scared? Of an inanimate object?
What a foolish notion that I, Ingrid Brandl Galatea, could ever fear something like the opinions of others.
I sat down, opened the kit, and quickly realized that I had no idea what I was doing. But I am an intelligent, capable, and brave knight, and even if I didn't know something, I could absolutely accomplish whatever I put my mind to. And so, I started experimenting with the makeup kit.
The next day I had put on what I assumed was a small amount of lipstick, a bit of concealer, and I attempted to use some blush but I ended up washing it off and going without it.
Not many of the boys had noticed which was more than fine with me, but this little experiment garnered a different result than I expected. Dorthea had given me a rather forward compliment as I had walked past the Black Eagles classroom causing me to turn and walk into a wall.
'Maybe I will continue to mess with makeup.', I thought to myself.