As Merissa browsed through designs, she frowned and called Diana’s number, only to realise she had been blocked.


    “Ahhhh!” She screamed out in frustration and anger. Stomping her feet she pulled her hair in frustration and red at the wall, “I was yed by the likes of that garbage piece?”


    Taking a deep breath, she rxed and pushed her rage to the back of her mind. “I can’t lose my temper if I want to win against Lily. I’ll just have to browse and see which one of these designs hasn’t been used yet. There is no big deal and no need to get angry,” She muttered and returned to browsing through the designs.


    Unknown to her, she has sessfully attracted the negative and watchful gazes of the audience to herself after the first round.


    Meanwhile, Lily and her group became the talk of thepetition alongside the top teams of thepetition. Praises were showered on their team. Despite Gary’s face being covered with the mask, he was able to sessfully win the hearts of the young female audience with his muscr build.


    The tutors assigned to thepetition after the first round were meant to pick a group to work with and train them through thepetition, giving them hints and themes to work with for the next few stages; however, they were all on a standstill, with each of them wanting to have Lily’s team under them.


    “Only one tutor can work for each team; everyone can’t pick Lily’s fashion team,” the host reasoned as he let out a heavy breath of frustration.


    To think grown-ups would behave like children just to have one team under them. But then again, he could not me them; he could see the potential in the team.


    Starting from the designer to the model, all members of the team worked perfectly well with each other to bring out the clothing, making it a sight to behold despite how simple the attire appeared to be.


    Plus the fact that the people that were in charge of the Paris show had sung Lily’s praise, raising everyone’s expectations of her. Not only did she meet the expectations, she surpassed them, momentarily leaving the judges and audience in awe.


    However, that much was expected for someone who came to the nationals; there was no need to go overboard with fighting to have her team as students.


    Seeing none of the tutors were backing down, the hostess sighed and stepped forward. “If the other contestants find out you are doing this, they’ll probably hate Lily’s team and make trouble for her. I’m sure that Merrisa girl would not pass on the opportunity to cause some trouble,” she voiced, and the tense atmosphere between the ten tutors reduced.


    “Speaking of Merissa, I thought you were asked to separate her from Lily’s. As far as possible, that was the instruction,” Jade, the third judge, pointed out with a frown as the host sighed.


    “Their living arrangements were separated by two buildings, and she went to look for trouble with Lily. The drama will only make the programme an interesting one for the audience. It wasn’t our fault for not separating them, they are like iron and ma ” He replied.


    “There is no use crying over spilt milk. We can use their feud to promote the programme; thank goodness they both have a strong online presence and that’s all we need,” he continued with a shrug.


    “But I was curious from the start: why did the sponsor ask both of them to be separated? I mean, they are both from the same school and even if they meet, it doesn’t matter, right?” One of the tutors asked.


    “The sponsors have their own arrangements. I was surprised when I received a call from that man. I swear, my soul almost flew out of my body.” Jade replied  with a dramatic expression,


    “Since when have they begun interfering with the things going around again?” She continued, and the team shrugged.


    “Like you said, they have their arrangement. Since all of you want to have Lily as a student, we are left with one option: we will have to pick lots, and you’ll manage the team assigned to you, no questions asked,” the hostess instructed, and the team agreed.


    ***


    “Good morning, people. I hope you all had a restful night after your first presentation,” the hostess greeted as she stood in front of the remaining contestants in therge meeting hall.


    “So today I’ll be assigning you your tutor, and they’ll be in charge of guarding you all through thepetitions,” the hostess announced, nodding towards the door where the tutors walked in one after the other.


    It didn’t take long before all their teams were assigned their tutors, and the tutoring phase began.


    “Hello, I’m Zara, and I’ll be your tutor for the rest of thepetition,” the woman assigned to Lily’s group greeted as he joined them in the space assigned to the group.


    “Hello, ma’am, we’ll be in your care,” the group replied with a bow, and she smiled approvingly before taking them through the regr procedures.


    “We don’t have any extra time to waste, so I’d like for us to get straight to business.” She remarked carefully while pulling out the whiteboard. “The focus for the next stage is going to be a royal banquet during the mediaeval era,” she announced.


    “Your designs must be bold. They must tell a story, and they must be beautiful; of course, they have to showcase the elegance and the luxurious fabrics used during that time,” Zara started.Original from N?velDrama.Org.


    “You’ll be expected to use the popr fashion trend during that time. I’m talking about the embroidery, the beadings, the flowers and all others. Don’t be afraid to go wild with it, however, your designs speak perfectly well with the glory and splendour of the mediaeval time.” She exined.


    “I’m saying no modern elements should be added. And since one of the things the next stage will be testing is your originality and creativity, you’ll have to make sure the designs arepletely yours,” she instructed.


    “Do you have any questions?” She asked with a smile while maintaining the grace of a well-known designer.


    “How many days are we given toe up with this design?” Lily asked, and Zara hummed. “You’ll be given the whole week to not onlye out with the design but to get it ready,” Zara replied.


    “The next runway show is on Sunday, exactly seven days away. And usually, it’s not enough time to get things done, but we mostly need you to train yourself and be ready for emergency asions,” she exined further.


    “And since I’m in charge of your team, I’ll be providing you with guidelines for your work and basic corrections when needed. However, I won’t be helping you with your work. If that’s all, I wish you good luck,” she announced with a raised thumb as she walked out of the studio, leaving the three behind.


    “Do you have anything in mind already?” na asked as she noticed Lily drawing away on her sketch pad. “I have an idea; I’ll work on it today and all through the night to make sure it goes well since every second of thepetition counts,” Lily replied calmly.


    “The theme we are working with had a lot of pieces to be done: the tunic, the cloak, the hose, and all that. Just thinking about it is making me dizzy,” na grumbled.


    “Since we are given free rein over the design, you have nothing to worry about as long as it fits them, right?” Lily winked and continued working.


    As promised, Lily worked through the design in the system’s space all night, giving her enough time to sift through the designs and find the most practical and awestruck design to use.


    As shepleted the design, she woke her teammates up and presented it to them. “There you go, originality, creativity, and awestrucking. What do you think?” she asked with a proud smile.


    “It’s beautiful, but the embroidery process is going to take more time than the actual sewing,” Zaraments as she walks in on the group discussion with a steamy coffee in hand.


    Lily grinned as she turned back  to na after giving their tutor an acknowledging nod. “Just the sewing; how many days will it take you to get it done?”


    “I’ll start right away, and it’ll be ready tomorrow night.”


    “Good, that’s enough time; we can make it work.”