Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 52 - After Meal Selfie Spam

Chapter 52: Chapter 52 - After Meal Selfie Spam

Because I’d seen them when eating with Anise, the idea of disposable cutlery had entered my mind. So, I purchased a multi-pack of knives, spoons, and forks.

With this, I will be able to eat like a more civilized person. Modern sensibilities aside, the ease and variety on offer for almost anything one can imagine is mind boggling.

In that same regard, I’d compared the few different solid feeling water bottles that the store had and picked one... mostly because it had a pretty, blue plastic coloration. There were just so many choices from a mere single store!

Next came the bar of scented soap and bottle of lavender shampoo I’d felt compelled to purchase. After one experience with the motel’s harsh, chemical-smelling offerings...

The combination package promised ’salon quality’ results - and while I doubted it would match yesterday’s experience, it had to be better than what still waited in the bathtub rack.

"A small indulgence... no big deal."

I rationalized aloud in the very same way I’d done back when placing them in the grocery basket. That entire aisle of hygiene and beauty goods was a nice place.

A dangerous place, for someone like me.

"Brush, comb, hand mirror... maybe I should have just bought that whole kit?"

The only reason I did not was because it seemed excessive. I don’t even know how to apply makeup yet... or if I need to learn.

But there was something which I did want to try and handle on my own, which is why the last item in the bag was a package of assorted hair ties in various colors.

> I only have the two from yesterday. What if they break? Then what? <

Vrika really, truly, did not care any more about my worry than the first time I asked. In fact, the spirit was seeming kind of tired as it curled up.

I guess it was helping me by being alert all day...

After putting some things in my second bookstore tote, I set about making a simple dinner with my purchases. Using the plastic knife to spread peanut butter on bread is absolutely not a trick that can be just... copied from memory.

"Maybe it’s the cheap quality of bread..."

It tore repeatedly as I tried and I eventually gave up. The ’ruined’ bread was stuffed in my mouth as I just licked the paste from the knife.

Sweet, salty, and nutty. However, I am not sure I like how it binds my tongue to my teeth as I try to chew and swallow.

Memories of old videos surface, Helene watching dogs being fed the substance - and their ’funny’ reactions. If only I could say entertainment out in the forest was low, but almost all those videos were inside homes that appeared very modern.

"I suppose even in my world, people will stop and watch anything if it is a little interesting and they aren’t busy."

My tongue tip runs along the corners of my lips as my fingers wipe a little excess. Better not to waste any of it.

The situation reminded me of sneaking food from the palace kitchens during my adolescence. Making sure I didn’t leave any spots on my face - so that I would not be caught.

After a few pieces of bread and many spoonfuls (I did switch tools) of peanut butter disappear, I finally try dismantling the banana. I’m quite glad that Helene knew about these.

My world did have fruits whose outer shells you avoided eating, for various reasons. We even had something a bit like this... with a very thick and fibrous casing that could be torn away by hand to eat the chewy insides.

But that thing is fuzzy and unpalatable looking on the surface of it. This banana? I imagine I would have bitten right into the ’peel’ had I not known better!

As I enjoyed the strong smelling but weirdly mellow fruit, my eyes kept drifting to the phone left lying on the bed. Tempted to use if for... something wholly unrelated to the frustrating Alpha.

When my meal was over, I wiped my hands clean with one of the ’wet wipes’. Then I gave in and retrieved the abandoned device.

The photo taking function had caught my attention earlier. The simple ’flip phone’ the original body owned had, what could be judged with her opinion, a terrible camera.

"One she still used over, and over, to take blurry photos of blooming flowers and cloudy sunsets."

This one was much more ’advanced’. A decade or more of technological improvements.

Rapid growth in this world’s era seems to be taken for granted by the average person... but discoveries and improvements take so much time when knowledge is limited and unshared. A fault of my world’s societies, I suppose.

Without keeping Helene’s memory I really would have been lost with things like this. It’s really... lucky.

While shaking away the sense of paranoia, I tapped the button that switched the view to the front-facing mode. Something I’d seen Chad do before.

Of course, I found myself staring at the face I now ’wear’.

"Huh."

I turned my head, watching the image follow. Lifted the phone higher, then lower as I tap the shutter.

The novelty of it sparked something playful in me. I stuck out my tongue like a child, then made a stern royal expression that looked ridiculous on these features.

Impulsively, I continued to press the button to capture my image and took photoafterphoto.

Soon enough I was fully committed to taking vain ’selfies’ in various poses. Experimenting with the angle I held the device, the angle I tilted my face, and the intensity of expressions.

I even changed clothes at one point...

It wasn’t what I intended to do tonight, but felt strangely freeing to be so... frivolous.

My gaze eventually caught on my hair as the fun wore off... strands of black loose from the elastic. I set the phone down on the nightstand, propping it against the lamp so the camera still faced me.

"This seems just as good as a mirror, maybe I shouldn’t have bought that..."

After taking my twin-tails down, I start to comb out the minimal tangles and then soften it all down with inexpert brushes. I see my face wince a few times when a particular tug arrives unexpectedly.

In time, I became satisfied enough and grabbed the package of hair ties. Tearing it open with perhaps a bit more excited force than necessary.

"This can’t be that difficult. I watched her do it. I’ve seen servants do it. I just need practice."

What followed, after trying to collect my hair together, was an exercise in frustration.

My first attempt left one tail higher than the other again. Clearly something to do with which hand is dominant...

The second attempt had the band slip and snap down before I’d maneuvered all of my hair through.

The third came completely undone on the left when I stretched the material too far and it broke.

Finally, I decided to focus on one side at a time. Smashing the ’record’ feature of the device, I spent almost two hours adjusting and readjusting the one that gave me the most trouble.

Between each, I could rewatch the recording until I was sure I’d seen what I’d done right and where I messed up. Determined to master this seemingly simple task.

Vrika gained some energy again halfway through and watched my struggles with what seemed like amusement. But I was in no mood to interact.

My arms and neck ached from raising them above my head so often and for so long.

"Just one more try."

I promised myself when I saw the battery icon change to something ominous. This time, I applied everything I’d discovered.

When I finished both sides and looked at the phone...

"I did it."

A surge of triumph at how much closer to perfect they were filled me. I smiled and grabbed the phone, holding it high into the air!

I began smashing the shutter button over and over before looking through the latest photos. Seeing one particularly good one... I froze.

The smile on my face turned brittle and shattered. All because a thought and desire had wormed into my heart.

"...What are you thinking..."

Slowly, I lowered the dying phone down to the table and then lowered myself to the floor. I sat there with my legs to my chest, rubbing at my temples as Vrika whined at me.

> I know, it wasn’t you that time. It wasn’t the system either. <

"I just... wanted someone to praise me is all. That’s all."

> And she’s the only one who I could have sent it to. That was it. <

For once, it didn’t urge me into thinking differently. My wolf merely took my side on this matter. This time.

Because it was learning to accept that I was stubborn... and still hurt.