Chapter 73: First day jitters

Today is the day. It’s now Fireday morning of the last week of the month. I’ll have to head to Domoania early this time as it’s my first time on the job. I need to be fitted with the clothes I’ll be wearing for my debut and go over some things. My measurements were already taken when we were there a few days ago.

Before heading out, I spent the morning preparing enough ready-to-eat meals to last Scarlet for the rest of the weekend. I wasn’t too sure if I’d be coming back at all through the weekend.

When I arrived at Domoania, I showed my staff contract to a receptionist. Soon after, a mature looking woman came out to guide me.

“So you’re the new girl right? My name is Melony. You can just call me Mels.”~Mels

“Nice to meet you, Mels. I have a mute curse so I’ll use this to communicate. My name is Lilia. Please feel free to call me Lily. So, what can I expect for my first night and hereafter?”~me(note)

“Ah, right. I think that I remember hearing something along those lines from the boss. First off, Fireday night always hosts an auction. The rights to reserve some of the more popular girls are auctioned off and some various items as well. Since it’s your debut, you’ll be the star of tonight’s auction.”~Mels

“The winning bidder gets you for a full day and the right to reserve you for an additional day. Included in the deal is a reservation for one of the VIP rooms in the upper floors for the night which includes all the various goodies. Did you get to read the guidebook by any chance?”~Mels

“I’ve read it. We appear to be heading towards the salon which is where women customers will go to rent costumes or visit the spa inside. Whereas the den that is for the male customers is on the other side with the ballroom between the two. Right?”~me(note)

“You got it right. What’s not written in there is that the staff will also use the facilities for their own preparations as well. There’s a few private back rooms and ones for staff only too. We’ll be going into one of the staff only rooms to get you ready to debut. Wouldn’t want to expose you until the finale after all.”~Mels

The salon looked pretty much like you’d expect of a spa facility. Lots of cushy seating, some staffers doing mani and pedi for the guests, make-up stations, massage tables, a large selection of clothing and even a couple tubs where you could take a quick bath.

I’m led into one of the staff rooms and told to strip off everything while she goes back out to gather up the things I’ll be needing for my preparations. As I didn’t want to reveal my traits gained from the living armor, I’d worn normal clothes here. Soon after I finished removing my clothes, Mels came back with three other girls, each of them carrying various items.

“Does that not come off? Girls, this is Lily. She can’t talk because of a curse, so she’ll write a note if she has anything to say. Lily, this is Naomi, Jean, and Whitney. Jean and Whitney will be doing your nails while I trim your hair. After that, you’ll get into the bath that Naomi is going to prepare. Speaking of, make sure to add the skin skimming potion to it Naomi. It’s Lily’s debut tonight.”~Mels

***HISS***

“My collar doesn’t come off at all. It’s a variant of the succubus’ collar of submission and even has the dual cultivation effect. Why did everyone just cringe and suck in their breath when you mentioned that potion? Is it something bad?”~me(note)

“Oh, well that will raise your value a bit for the auction actually. Now that we know, I’m sure Mels will make sure that the guests will be informed about it. As for the potion. It’s not bad for you, just a bit painful is all.”~Whitney

Jean exaggeratedly nodded her head to confirm Whitney’s comment and they explained further about the potion while ushering me to a seat, starting their work while talking. The potion is made from some concentrated scavenger slime juices which are well known to only dissolve dead things.

It should be very effective to remove any dead skin. Which wouldn’t normally be so bad, except that I’ll have to apply another potion first that will kill off the outer layer of skin while simultaneously stimulating skin growth. I’ll basically be molting my skin, leaving me with my raw fresh skin exposed.

My nails were trimmed and polished, gold colored to match my eyes and Mels cut my hair up to my lower back. Frankly, I like my hair long, but it would occasionally get yanked by accident while it had been longer. It was initially down to my butt and I hadn’t cut it since my rebirth, so it had grown a little too long.

Jean and Whitney left once they had finished. Naomi was left to monitor me bathing while Mels left to retrieve my garments that I’d wear for the auction. I made sure to get the name of their potion supplier while gnashing my teeth in the tub. Funny enough, it’s Rose who supplies them. I’m sure Scarlet would love to try a new beauty treatment if I buy some on the way home.

Some people say that what you don’t know, can’t hurt you. But in this case, it can and definitely will hurt her...just a bit. It’s not like I want to inflict anything truly harmful upon her. A little pain in exchange for beauty though? We girls from any world have been doing such for ages! I’m fairly confident I can get away with this trick without punishment. Muhahahahahaaa...cough cough...

IT HURTS!!! Seriously, this is very painful. A good, no, an equally bad comparison would be to have fire ants attacking your entire body. And even though I know she’s really using a very soft rag to help me wipe, it feels like Naomi is using a dishpad to scour my flesh!

When I left the tub, goosebumps appeared all over my body and I let out an involuntary shiver due to how chilly I felt. Then Naomi made it worse by applying a cold lotion.

“I know it feels cold, but this lotion has a cooling effect that will help to alleviate the redness of your irritated skin and it will keep it moisturized as well.”~Naomi

Next step was a massage. She had me lay on a massage table and told me it would be fine to fall asleep since the auction was still a while from now. And I did, fall asleep that is. My muscles really needed the care. Though Scarlet has tried to learn how before, she just doesn’t have any talent for it. When Mels woke me up, Naomi was already gone.

Time to get dressed, dress being an overstatement. What Mels had brought for me to wear was a bunch of straps. One of those bondage body harnesses with minimal coverage. It would circle around the breasts, the waist and had long sections going up the middle of my front and back that separated at the top to go over my shoulders. The bottom looked like some leather panties with the front cut out to show off ‘the goods’.

“Wait, don’t wear it yet. I need to wipe you down to remove the remnants of the earlier lotion and apply another one.”~Mels

“What will this one do? No more pain, right?”~me(note)

“Sorry about that, but no. This one doesn’t hurt and will even be pleasurable. There’s two effects. First, it will increase your sensitivity to the limit. You’ll be thankful not to be wearing fabrics later as even light chafing will cause you to be stimulated. The second effect is a mild, slow acting aphrodisiac. You’ll be raring to go by the time the auction gets to you, but won’t lose your wits.”~Mels

Not so bad. I’ve tried much stronger stuff before. After lotioning up, I put on the ensemble with Mels’ assistance. The whole getup is made of white leather and includes ball handcuffs, arm bands, thigh bands and ankle cuffs. Everything with lots of D-rings and the ankle cuffs even looked like they have extra straps to lock some heels on me. But where are the he...els…?! WHAT.the.HELL...are those doing here?!

“Uh, can’t I wear some more normal heels? Not those torture devices?”~me(note)

“You’ll try them on first to see if you can walk in them. Believe it or not, these are like a status symbol here and your catkin side should make them easier for you to use than for others. Lots of nobles visit this place and you can get higher bids, gifts and even some unique privileges from them by showing off a little.”~Mels

Ballet high heel ankle boots. That’s what she just pulled out for me to wear. Again, we have reaffirmed the fact that women in any world will torture themselves for the sake of beauty. I CAN’T let Scarlet find out about these things! O-or she’ll...I’ll be...Let’s just think some happy thoughts.

“Good, I’ll go check on the auction progress. You can stay in here to rest until it’s your turn.”~Mels

Just like she said, I had no problem walking in them. As soon as she left, I chucked the boots into my inventory and duplicated them with my remodel trait, giving them the comfortable and strengthening effects.