4 — A Convoluted Solution

Having been rescued from the women’s club by Miss Iris just when I was starting to accept that I’d be a bystander for that whole conversation, I found myself among the same group of ladies who had included me in their circle at the last party.

Looks like they’re all here, too!

I mean, look at me... I’m not here because I actually like going to parties. Obviously I had no idea who was going to be here, but these ladies probably got together and came as a group.

“It’s good to see you all.” I struggled to match names to faces as the ladies around me smiled elegantly, but thankfully had just enough social skills to not let it show.

It was with great effort that I dug their surnames out from the back of my mind: Earl Krokusse’s daughter, Marquis Nastersham’s daughter, and one from Earl Columbine’s family.

Their first names, on the other hand...

That’s okay, brain cells—you gave it your best shot!

“It’s been a while since the soiree at the palace, no? I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing you since then, Miss Viola, so I was wondering if you’d be here.” That’s right, the pudgy one was from the Krokusse family.

“The Duke hasn’t come to any parties, either...” This one was from the Nastersham family; she rivaled me in lankiness—er, excuse me, in slenderness.

Now that she mentions it, Mr. Fisalis really hasn’t gone to any events. He’s just been coming straight home.

A better question, ladies, would be: how do you all know we have or haven’t been?

“Er, how do you know that?” I inquired, timidly.

“Because we go to nearly all the parties!” they all replied, laughing cheerfully.

Spoken like true aristocrats. Socializing comes as easy as breathing to them.

Guess that makes me substandard.

“You really ought to try going out and meeting people.”

“That’s right! Since you’re already married, you’ve barely gotten to know anyone! That’s no good for us!”

“I figure my parents will look after me if I don’t get married, but I know society thinks of it as a lost opportunity.”

“They all think that if we have any feminine charm, we might as well use it as a political weapon.”

“Yeah!” It seemed they were all on the same page. That is: none of them had fiancées.

It sounded like they had some unrealistic ideas about marriage, too, like still being set on a love match.

They’re like little girls.

Since going to events like this one serves as a way for unmarried men and women to find a partner, I suppose they’ve all got their antennas out and are privy to all sorts of information.

Guess their antennas picked up on the discrepancy between our attendance ratios.

Fighting hard to keep my cheek from twitching, I replied, “Is that so? You sure know a lot, then. Ahahahaha. We can’t go out to events like these very often since Mr. Fisalis is so busy.”

I can’t very well tell them that I despise social events. But I can lie. So I slapped a grin on my face!

Since we were standing around talking, Miss Iris and the others quickly secured some chairs; a proper girls-only meeting was now in session.

“What a stunning dress you’re wearing tonight, Miss Viola! Is it from Madame Fleur’s?”

Miss Iris’ guess was right on the money. She was incredibly up-to-date with the latest brands. Madame Fleur was the name of my usual dressmaker—her high-end brand was called Haute Couture de Fleur.

“It is.”

“I knew it! Her dresses really make their wearers stand out. But doesn’t it take her six months to make each one? It’s unfortunate that by the time they arrive, you’ve forgotten you ordered anything. Forget one season—you’ve got to order two seasons ahead, or else it won’t arrive in time,” Miss Iris said with a shrug. It seemed she was a patron of Madame Fleur’s, too.

Why didn’t my dress take six months? It usually gets delivered in two weeks, even... there was no way I could tell them that, though.

Looks like my order really was made a top priority. The Fisalis family name must really pull some weight!

“I’ve heard that her shop is all the rage right now. It’s a privilege to even have something made by her,” I told them, holding back much more than I actually said.

“I heard that Madame Fleur was excited to work with you, Miss Viola, since any dress looks beautiful on someone with a body shape and proportions like yours! I’m so envious!” the Krokusse daughter said, seemingly critical of her own body.

Tsk, why did you bring up something so hard to talk about?

I forced myself to smile on the inside, but it didn’t make it all the way to my face. Ugh, socializing!

“But Miss Krokusse, you have a very feminine figure, and the cute look suits you quite well,” I told her, complimenting her airy, loose-fitting dress.

“Oh my! Thank you...” she said with a blush. She was really quite adorable, and charming, too.

“On the topic of body shape, Miss Nastersham is tall, so I’d think she could pull off any look, too,” I said, looking at the marquis’ daughter.

“Goodness, no. My proportions are terrible and I’m too skinny. I’d like some more curves! Yours are perfect, Miss Viola!” she responded, looking straight at my chest.

Hey, my eyes are up here.

What about this flat chest looks perfect to you? I only look like I have anything there thanks to the efforts of this dress and Mimosa’s magic. It’s just an illusion! It all disappears once I take my dress off!

“You flatter me! Heh heh heh...” I wasn’t very good at giving or receiving compliments in public.

I’m sick of empty compliments. Everyone just takes turns finding something flattering to say about each other!

“I’d like to talk to you at length sometime, Miss Viola, but this isn’t really the right place. You know, about clothes and beauty tips, this and that... tee hee!”

You looked awfully suspicious at the end there, Miss Iris! What do you mean, ‘this and that’? Dare I even ask?

“Oh, I know! Since the duke is so busy and you can’t go to very many evening affairs, why not host a tea party?”

“A... tea party?”

“Yes! You could chat with your friends at leisure and simply have a gay old time!” exclaimed Miss Iris, her eyes glittering.

“Do consider it. We’d all like to be your friends, Miss Viola.”

“I’d quite like to see the duke’s magnificent garden that I hear so much about, too.”

“And since it would be held at your home, it won’t interfere with whatever the duke might have on his schedule!” Now the other ladies had stars in their eyes, too, not just Miss Iris.

What exactly are they expecting? Social events and tea parties are really not my... cup of tea.

But I couldn’t possibly say that.

“At-at my home?”

“Yes!” they responded in unison.

Do they really want to come to the manor that badly?

“...Alright, then. I’ll ask Mr. Fisalis about it.”

I gave in to the pressure of their sparkling eyes, and then went to go search for Mr. Fisalis through the crowded venue.

I ended up spotting him without all that much trouble, however.

Besides being dazzlingly gorgeous, he’s so gosh darn tall! It makes him stand out.

He was by the window where I last saw him, talking with a group of men. I thought it might be hard to get to him, but my desire to go home seemed to be pushing me onward.

Figuring I had no choice, I was already making my way toward him when someone called out, “Are you Duchess Fisalis?”

“Yes, that would be me...?”

When I turned, standing there beside me was the owner of the unknown voice: a young woman whom I had never met.

Is she an aristocrat’s daughter? I don’t think I’ve made her acquaintance, so I haven’t a clue who she might be.

Ignoring the puzzled look on my face, she sneered at me from behind her fluttering fan. “Hmm. You’re just tall... and exceedingly average, too. You’re trying to hide it with that dress and your accessories, but you’re really just a plain-Jane nobody, aren’t you? You think you have a nice figure? Madame’s dresses would make anyone look beautiful. And ‘a beautiful posture’? I wonder if you’re not just self-conscious about how you move. What is it that they all see in you? I, for one, fail to see anything worth liking in a common girl like yourself. Take off that dress and makeup, and while you’re at it, drop the duchess act, too. No one will miss you, little girl.”

All this while looking me up and down, too!

Somehow, though, I don’t actually feel all that insulted. Everyone looks plain when they’re in casual clothes with no makeup, right? I jabbed back in my head.

That’s the first time anyone ever said I was self-conscious about how I move, though, so that’s a little embarrassing.

Oh! This is it! We’re on the brink of a new plot development!

I managed to dodge any sort of attack at the last party, but this time I’m experiencing it for real! Thank you for the opportunity, Mystery Lady! I’m so stoked! I feel like the heroine in one of those popular novels!

This lady’s been watching me for a while, though! I mean, gosh, even I don’t remember each and every one of the fake compliments I get once I leave the conversation. Could it be something she does in her spare time? I take my hat off to your superior memory, my lady. You perceived my true nature so easily! I am exactly as you said. Thank you for kindly letting me know that I am a common girl with no redeeming qualities.

Of course she’s picking a fight with me, look how pretty she is.

She had large, double-lidded indigo blue eyes and a straight nose, with lips as glossy as ripe cherries. She seemed to have a perfect physique—neither too tall nor too short, slim, and (very much unlike me) the parts that were supposed to pop out did indeed pop, and the parts that were supposed to be cinched in were. Adorning that perfect body was a pearlescent dress decorated with abundant frills, without crossing the line into overly cute territory.

I... pushed aside... my feelings of envy. She just oozed self-confidence.

Still, I wasn’t shocked, nor were my feelings actually hurt, considering what she said was utterly obvious to anyone with eyes. Was she hoping I’d break down and cry, or something?

“No, you’re entirely correct. I haven’t the foggiest idea what anyone sees in me. Who might you be, by the way?”

When I calmly told her how I actually felt, with no sign of fear on my face, she was the one who suddenly turned pale.

“Er, well I...! You-you don’t know who I am?” Her indigo blue eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her head. It was an expression of utter shock.

Huh? Are you really that well-known? My humble apologies, I am simply such an uncultured rube that I have never had the privilege of hearing your name nor seeing your face.

“Erm, I’m sorry. I think this is my first time meeting you. Have we met before?”

Maybe that was a little rude of me, but considering how rude she was earlier, I won’t be holding back! It’s one thing to be nervous about being out in public, but it’s another to forget your manners, after all!

“I am Verbena Argenteia, the oldest daughter of the family hosting this party!” She shut the fan she’d been using with a clap and glared at me.

Wha-? But I already said my hellos to all the Argenteia children... was this witch—pardon, was Miss Verbena not present then?

“Oh, were you not there when I introduced myself to your family earlier?”

“When you...? You both came over when I was away from the table!”

“Ah, I see now. I beg your pardon, then.”

Hang on, this stuck-up—I mean, proud lady is Mr. Fisalis’ old playmate! No wonder he didn’t choose her. She probably wouldn’t have agreed to a contract marriage in the first place, and even if she did, there’s no way she’d have gotten along with Miss Calendula.

Miss Verbena was growing angrier by the second, while I was only feeling more and more calm.

“How rude! What could Cercis possibly see in you?” she said, disgusted. Wow, what a cliche thing to say, too! In total contrast to the raging vibes I was getting from Miss Verbena, I on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber.

“You’re right, again. As I said before, I haven’t the foggiest idea, myself. Why don’t you ask him in person? I’ll go with you, if you’d like.”

“Wha—!?”

I doubt I’d understand his feelings even if he explained them, though.

Miss Verbena, you look like a deer in the headlights. That expression isn’t doing your face any favors. Did you think I’d cry? Not a chance. I’m not that kind of protagonist.

Serves you right, in fact!

I wasn’t the slightest bit disheartened, but Miss Verbena’s tightly clenched fan began to tremble.

“I’ve had about enough of you, you little...” One moment she was growling at me as if something had snapped in her, but then the next:

“Whoa, there. Did you need something with my wife?” I heard someone say, suddenly materializing between Miss Verbena and I.

“Oh, Mr. Fisalis.”

“Cercis!”

We unintentionally talked over one another.

“Vi... Did Verbena say something to you?” Mr. Fisalis asked from where he stood in front of me, turning his head back to look at me.

Oh, he called me by my nickname since we’re out in public.

“Yes. She wanted to know why you chose me and what exactly you see in me,” I informed him straightforwardly.

Miss Verbena was startled by my bluntness and hid her mouth behind her fan again. “Wha-what are you saying? Ah ha ha ha ha!” her face twitched as she attempted to laugh off her blunder.

“Is that right, Verbena?” I could almost feel Mr. Fisalis glaring at her. His dark brown eyes glinted dangerously.

She did not respond. Perhaps realizing she couldn’t finagle her way out, she quickly dropped her gaze and hung her head.

“Oh, come now. I’ll tell you as much as you’d like to hear!” The threatening atmosphere vanished and Mr. Fisalis’ face lit up with a wide smile.

“Whaaat?”

“Huhhh?”

Miss Verbena raised her head in shock; meanwhile, a voice in my head shrieked, What did he just say!?

Way to rain on our parades, Mr. Fisalis.

Mr. Fisalis launched into an explanation, unbothered by the tension, not to mention anger, in the air, “To start with, her determination is her best quality, that’s for certain. And once she sets her mind to something, she doesn’t give it up easily, either. I’m often away from the manor, so she looks after it in my place, and she’s even won the hearts of all the servants. Even under the pressure of her new title of duchess, which must be quite a lot, she never complains or leaves anything unfinished. Isn’t she just amazing?”

I do believe this is the first he’s ever showered me with praise so enthusiastically!

“Er, ye-yes...” Miss Verbena barely managed to respond. I was still completely at a loss for words.

Whaddaya mean ‘away from the manor’? You’d shut yourself up in the outbuilding with your mistress! I railed at him internally. Not that I could ever let that out there!

“I rarely have the time for domestic affairs, as busy as I am with my work, but even still, she’s nothing less than friendly to me and greets me when I come home every day with a smile! And what a smile it is! Doesn’t it just make your exhaustion disappear?”

“In-indeed...”

Well, yeah, that’s my job, isn’t it? And you ‘rarely had time for domestic affairs’ because you were obsessed with your girlfriend! And those smiles are fake, by the way.

Sorry. I’ve recovered enough for my inner heckler to come back out.

Mr. Fisalis showed no signs of stopping, though, and seemed to be getting even more worked up, now adding hand gestures.

“She has filled every nook and cranny in the manor with warmth. The whole place!”

“That-that is quite a lot of square footage...”

What’s this? Miss Verbena’s looking around nervously.

Though, to be fair, I’ve been doing the same. I might as well still be looking for Mr. Fisalis, considering how I’m frantically looking around the room.

But as expected, he hasn’t noticed.

“I had expected she’d be thorough, but I’m absolutely floored by how hard she works. No man could do what she does! You wouldn’t be able to look away from him for a second!”

More silence from Miss Verbena.

Pretty sure I was the only one who got floored—by fancy food poisoning. It’s true, I do try ever so hard, but in a slightly different way than you’re imagining. I can’t say anything here, so I’ll let it slide... But make no mistake, he’s right. I’m no frail heroine!

I was getting so worked up inside that I was starting to feel dizzy.

Miss Verbena couldn’t even get a word in edgewise. All she could do was listen to Mr. Fisalis rain down praise upon me.

She was totally dumbstruck.

“She is very mature, too, even though she’s younger than you and I. Just seeing her motivates me to do my best, too. After all, it’s my duty to protect her and the family! Now I have the confidence to not crumble under pressure.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he’d just finished a passionate speech.

When he opened his eyes, he was wearing an amazing smile that felt like a breath of fresh air.

Ah, I feel completely recharged...

Miss Verbena wasn’t the only one who heard him boast about his wife. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me!

I sense a new round of pestering coming my way!

I don’t remember how long he went on for, but when he was finally done, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and smiled. I think I felt my soul leave my body at the humiliation.

Miss Verbena just stood there, nearly in tears as she repeatedly apologized. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I understand now, I’m sorry.”