CHAPTER XXV: Your Goddess, Reborn

"Come on, Dia!"

"Don't fucking call me that!"

"Oh shush! Don't avoid the topic. You've been there for an hour already!"

"Then you'll have to wait longer."

Before I could even grasp my sanity back, the curtain suddenly popped out the head of a troublesome individual.

"What's the fuss abo-" Gwenne stopped mid-sentence.

What the heck is wrong with her?

Few seconds later, my question was loudly answered by the shriek of a woman.

"OH MY GOSH! YOU LOOK GREAT! No. Is great even the right word to describe you right now? YOU LOOK SUPER DUPER AMAZING!"

I could hear the murmuring of the people outside of this self-made dressing room which was rather inconvenient to think about in the first place.

Like, anyone can peek in.

Argh, why am I even here?

I wouldn't be thinking such things if I wasn't dragged here like a ragged doll.

"HEY! DIA! MIRADIA! DON'T IGNORE ME!" Gwenne shouted near my ear.

I immediately pushed her away and glared at her.

"Even I'm not allowed to do that?"

"Yes. You're ruining the dress!" She exaggeratedly pointed at the maid costume she made me wear.

"Thank goodness."

I looked down at the mentioned attire.

To say it was a maid costume was extremely wrong.

It was more like a goddess theme. It was purely white. The skirt was long and reached just above my ankles. It also had a lengthy slit that reached an exceptionally high point in my leg.

The top was separated into a heart-shaped tube top. The outfit was connected with a gold metallic belt that ran along my entire body. It looked especially majestic in the belly part wherein it was crossed beautifully to showcase my curves. The outfit was entirely made out of smooth silk that increased its glamour.

For my shoes, like how normal people visualize Greek goddesses, I was wearing a pair of gladiator heels in a somewhat tan color.

They also decorated me with a golden laurel wreath on top of my head and bedazzled my hair with flowers, leaves, and a few tiny gems. How they got that to stick was something I didn't understand.

In addition to that, I was showered with jewelries made of gold that made the whole ordeal seem way out of league for a normal 'maid.'

Lastly, the girls who helped put makeup on me made sure that I looked as elegant and luxurious as possible with sparkling glitters, focusing on gold, silver, and white palettes, difficult eyeliner on both eyes, and a distracting red luscious lipstick.

Looking at the overall look, I wondered if it seemed a little over the top for something like serving in a café-like event.

But before I could ponder any further, I felt someone grasp my hand, again, and pulled me quite forcefully out of the secluded and protected place I was in.

No matter how much I struggled, I didn't gain the escape that I wanted because the outfit was hindering my movements which made it advantageous for Gwenne to successfully pull me out.

Once I was out, I quickly directed my glare towards Gwenne who looked annoyingly thrilled.

Giving up, I decided to scan the room and the people in it.

I furrowed my eyebrows when I noticed that it was strangely quiet.

When I looked closer, I saw that everyone was completely still like a statue.

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but when I saw a person arrive and bump into the nearest table once he looked in my direction, I was sure that my eyes were working perfectly fine.

When I looked back at Solar, Haru, and Ross, they were all still stupidly frozen solid.

Getting irritated, I crossed my arms and kicked the person closest to where I was standing.

Which was Solar.

"Hey! Ouch! That hurt, you know?!" She clasped her knee and scowled at me.

"Oh sorry, you looked like you weren't breathing anymore. I just needed to make sure." I smirked.

"Your attitude totally gave the outfit a wrong vibe." She rolled her eyes at me.

I rolled my eyes back at her and looked at Ross and Haru.

I raised my eyebrow, "What's wrong with the two of you?"

Haru snapped out of his weird trance first and approached me with a cute blush on his face.

He beat me in that aspect.

"Y-You l-look really pretty…" He shyly complimented me.

I just wanna pinch his cheeks!

"Does that only count now?" I teased him. He blushed a deeper red and shook his head instantly.

"N-No! Not only today, I mean, everyday, I mean, yesterday too, I uh-" I stopped him before he overheats.

"I was kidding. Thanks though." I patted his head repeatedly.

He looked flustered for a second before he smiled widely at me.

I saw a slight movement in the corner of my eye that made me move my sight away from adorable little Haru.

When I looked up, I saw Ross staring intensely at me.

What is wrong with him? He's been like that for the entire day!

I ignored him and turned towards Gwenne who was happily jumping everywhere inside the room.

When she was about to pass by me, I hurriedly grabbed her collar and kept her in place.

"Would you mind telling me why I have to go through this humiliating thing?"

"I already told you, we need a substitute maid."

"A maid huh? Then why is my outfit so different from yours?" I scanned her outfit with scrutiny.

She was wearing a similar theme to what I'm wearing but with a more of a maid style.

It was completely different in form!

"Ah hehe, you're hallucinating things." After she said that, she quickly escaped my grasp and fled away.

I sighed and looked around. Everyone had already diapered but there were still some constant glances directed towards me.

It made me slightly uncomfortable but I didn't let it show on my face.

I was about to walk away when I felt something drape over my shoulders.

When I looked back I saw Ross standing behind me.

He just placed a warm jacket on top of my shoulders.

"Are you done being a jackass today?" I said sarcastically.

"What?"

"Nothing, I don't need your jacket. Take it back." I tried to remove the additional clothing he gave me but he abruptly stopped my hand from doing so.

"Why are you being like this?" He bellowed.

"Why are you being like that?" I returned.

We glared at each other for almost a minute until I heard my name being called by Gwenne.

I gave Ross one last glower then I ripped off his jacket and shoved it at him.

As I was turning back, he grabbed hold of my hand and made me look at him.

I was scowling at him when he placed his jacket on my barren shoulders once again.

"I told-"

"I know. I'm sorry. Just please wear it while you're not yet doing anything. Let's talk about the rest later." He cut me off.

I was about to lash out on him but decided against it when I saw the look on his face.

Worry. Persuasiveness. Sincerity.

And another unidentified description.

I don't know which one it actually was but whatever I may have made me think calmly to just let it slide for now.

"Fine. But you do know that this doesn't go well with my outfit right?" I gave him a blank look.

He still smiled and shrugged.

"It's…" He scanned me up and down, "…quite alright."

"Whatever. I'm taking this." I grabbed the jacket and wrapped it on me properly before I bid him farewell.

I could still feel his eyes on my back as I strutted away.

I hadn't walked that far when I heard him call out to me.

"You look beautiful by the way. Good luck, my lady!"

I unknowingly smiled secretly but retracted it back at once. When I entered the architecture department's designated room, I could feel yet another pair of eyes follow me.

This made a chill run down my back.

I looked around and saw that everyone was indeed looking at me.

But that stare was different. I roamed my eyes around, thinking that I might catch whoever it was, but the place was packed with people.

However, the chilling eyes still burnt my back.

Exactly at that moment, Gwenne came up to me along with other students who wanted to admire my looks.

She scolded me about the jacket but let me be since I wasn't working yet.

Even amongst this crowd, the intensity of that pair of eyes still lingered.

I gave the room one last sweep before bringing my attention back to what Gwenne was discussing.

Whoever you are…

…just wait, once I catch you, I'll definitely light you up.