Under the Heiress' Facade
Chapter 144

The speech contest began promptly at 2:00 pm. The auditorium was packed with students, while sixteachers sat as judges in the front row.

Lily, the first contestant to take the stage, seemed particularly nervous. Despite the chilly earlyNovember weather in Norburgh, she stood on the stage in a sky-blue strapless dress, facing thevast audience.

Her voice quivered uncontrollably, perhaps due to the cold or her nerves, prompting laughter fromher peers.

However, being a member of Class A for two consecutive years, Lily possessed a solid grasp ofTerranish, though her pronunciation wasn't flawless.

Despite some stumbling due to her anxiety, she managed to complete her speech. The judgesawarded her a score of 80, given that she was the inaugural contestant.

Aware that her chances of winning the Belle title were slim, Lily found some comfort in her score of80, considering her nervous performance. She believed that other contestants might not fare aswell.

However, as she watched the contest unfold from the backstage prep room, her expressiondarkened as she realized that her score remained at the bottom.

When Christopher, contestant number 17, took the stage in his impeccably tailored black suit andstyled hair, he immediately drew screams from the female audience.

Despite being recognized as the top student in the school, Christopher had put considerable effortinto improving his Terranish over the years, aided by his frequent travels to Terrania, resulting in hisclear and fluent pronunciation.

Delivering his speech with natural poised and emotional depth, Christopher captivated the audiencewith his clear and readily comprehensible content, prompting enthusiastic applause.

"Thank you, Christopher, for the wonderful speech. And the score he received is… 95! Ladies andgentlemen, that's the highest score we've seen today!" the host announced.

Once again, the audience erupted into applause, cheering for Christopher to be crowned as thehunk of the year.

Backstage, Zyler grew even more confident about surpassing Christopher's score. WhileChristopher might excel academically, Zyler knew his Terrainsh were superior.

As Cindy prepared to take the stage, she glanced toward the hallway, still no sign of Hera. Itseemed she couldn't make it after all.

Adorned in a creamy feathered dress, Cindy walked onto the stage gracefully, her fair skin radiantunder the lights.

Passing Christopher as he descended from the stage, she greeted him with a blush,"Congratulations on the highest score, Christopher."

"Where's Hera? She's up after the next two contestants… " Christopher hurried past her, pulling outhis phone to make a call.

Feeling slighted by Christopher's oversight, Cindy took a deep breath, reassuring herself that theBelle title would be hers if she could achieve a score of 95.

As Cindy stepped onto the stage, the male students in the audience showered her with whistles. Asa member of Class A, Cindy's Terranish pronunciation was almost as fluent as Christopher's.

In the end, her graceful performance and well-written speech won her a 95 score—the highestamong the female participants.

Hearing the audience cheering for her to be crowned as the Belle of the Year, Cindy smiledconfidently, assuming that the title was hers to earn.

Meanwhile, Lily, who remained in the prep room, felt embarrassed upon realizing she had earnedthe lowest score among the female contestants.

Nevertheless, she consoled herself with the thought that she wouldn't be in last place. Even if Herawere to show up for the contest, Lily was confident that Hera couldn't outperform her.

Zyler, the last male contestant, had a long history of participating in various piano competitions andperformances since childhood. As a result, he had a keen understanding of stage lighting.

For his performance, he specifically opted for a bright red suit, styled his hair into a maturepompadour, and applied makeup to his face.

As he stepped onto the stage, his features appeared strikingly attractive under the bright lights,eliciting screams of admiration from his fangirls.