By the time Luna's dress had been made, she had been told a ridiculous amount of information. After telling her that Lukas liked the color red and for people to obey him, along with giving her some very graphic descriptions, the catkin had left, and left the rest of it in the hands of the short, eager Elf.
She had immediately picked up the thread of information and had begun to tell Luna the names and favorite colors of every other noble in the city, along with basic descriptions. Most of them were Lycans, but there were a few other races, especially among the minor nobility, most of whom apparently weren't important enough to warrant knowledge of their favorite color.
Luna didn't remember even half of the names. She was sure that she could have learned at least something valuable if she had listened properly and paid attention, but she was too busy being nervous.
The Alaxian nobility were like squirrels fighting over a nut whenever someone new stepped into the room. Everyone was always searching for some new edge or ally that would push them up to the height of favor with the court.
Her father had a court, but they didn't really make any important decisions. He ruled as a dictator in practice, and the court was more like an elite club than an actual tool of governing.
As for this new playground? Luna had no doubt that it would be more akin to a pack of sharks. Tearing at each other, killing, destroying every bit of flesh the second they smelled blood. And Luna was just fresh blood to them. For now.
Luna simply sat passively, worrying, as the Elf woman made the final adjustments to her new dress. All things considered, it was remarkable work. The dress itself was a deep maroon. In the words of the short Elf, "Can't do the best yet, no, we save that for later".
That particular sentence had been accompanied by a wink that had made Luna's blood boil.
But Luna had snagged a small secret. They would notice it was missing, perhaps already had, but she had it now. It was a small scarlet broach, currently hidden in the voluminous folds of her dress.
As for the design of the dress? Its heft could be compared to the ball gowns from her former life, but barely. There was a definite difference, obvious even from the outside in how it fell down so quickly after flaring out slightly around her waist.. It was noticeably smaller, thinner, and sleeker, but the material was heavier. The design and composition made Luna think of a warrior's dress, if her usual attire at her father's balls in Alaxia were considered that of a princess.
She liked it. It suited her quite well. And of course, there was no question of powder. Although the maids did have some, Luna had seen it with the other makeup, unsurprisingly, they didn't even ask her if she wanted any. They were the professionals, after all. But it did relieve Luna that she didn't have to admit her weakness.
It made sense, all things considered, that the noblemen here liked their women stronger. To depict strength instead of just frail beauty, that was the Lycan style, to no great surprise. Luna had realized that when she had seen her completed makeup. It was very minimalist, except for the lip paint, which was bright crimson.
Well, to be fair, they barely had to do anything to get it to that color. Luna's lips were naturally more red than most, so just a small touch-up would cause the color to pop against her tan skin.
All in all, it was nearly exactly how Lina would have done it in the same situation.
But there was still that 'nearly'. Because the maids had spent a large majority of the time during which they were measuring her and modifying the dress to fit her and doing her makeup advising her on how to best attract and keep Lukas's attention, as well as how to seduce him after the dance.
Luna hadn't heard anything about a dance. The first thing she knew when she woke was Lukas, right next to her, and her own nakedness, then he had torn her clothes and brought her to get new ones. She had assumed that this was more for casual wear, but perhaps she had been wrong.