5 — The Tea Party

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The weather was so tranquil it could make you sleepy, with a breeze carrying the gentle scent of lush green foliage.

The breeze gently washed over me.

This garden, where I was currently enjoying the fresh air, was the pride of the Fisalis family. Dozens of aromatic sweets and piping-hot, amber-hued tea sat on a specially prepared table.

It was the perfect day for my first tea party at the manor.

The guest list consisted of Miss Iris—who had helped with the preparations—along with Miss Sanguinneah, Miss Nastersham, Miss Krokusse, and Miss Columbine.

In other words, the very people who suggested I have a tea party in the first place.

“I was so surprised at the party the other evening, though!” Miss Iris giggled melodically, her voice like a ringing bell.

My guests were all enjoying their tea around the table.

“How I envy you, Miss Viola! To be adored by a man as wonderful as your husband!” Miss Krokusse said with warmth in her eyes.

“There were so many rumors circulating, but that dispelled them all, I’m sure.”

“It was the first time I’d ever seen the duke say anything like that.”

“Me too!” the others replied.

The ladies appeared to be enjoying themselves with lively conversation; I, on the other hand, could only feel my cheek twitching.

No mooore! All I want to do is pretend that never happened!

“We-we really don’t need to bring that up again, ah ha ha ha...” I smiled weakly, already sick of hearing about it.

The evening in question:

Mr. Fisalis had basically given a lecture on how proud he was of me in front of a whole crowd of people.

It’s as if he gets his kicks from humiliating me! Something that felt suspiciously like my soul left my body that night.

To Miss Verbena, however, it must have been like stepping on a landmine... just as I’d intended.

Each of the three of us found ourselves in the spotlight (albeit in different ways), and the ones who finally put an end to it were actually the hosts, the Argenteias.

“Give it a break already, Verbena! Sorry about that, Cercis!” the Argenteia siblings told us, flashing several thumbs up, as they dragged Miss Verbena away.

“It was no problem! I had more to say, but I can continue next time!” he replied with a smile and a hand in the air.

Hold on! There’s isn’t going to be a ‘next time’! Stop!

Quite the opposite of an out-of-body experience, my soul hurriedly returned to my body at his mention of a ‘next time.’

“Oh, Vi. Are you alright? She didn’t do anything to you, did she?”

He examined my face in concern, but all I wanted to do was shout that I was more mentally scarred by what he had said than anything Miss Verbena had thrown at me!

I did not, of course, shout at him.

“Not at all. And then you stepped in...” Pay no attention to the corners of my mouth twitching under the strain of suppressing my real feelings.

“I’m glad I was able to make it in time, then,” he replied with another refreshing smile. Too late to correct him now.

“Ah, you were looking for me, weren’t you? Did you need something?”

“Huh? Hmm... oh, that’s right. Would it be alright if I held a tea party?”

Yeah, that.

The tea party had slipped my mind during my moment with Miss Verbena.

He looked puzzled for a split second at my sudden proposal for a tea party, but his expression quickly returned to normal and he readily agreed. “That sounds like a great idea! By all means, invite your friends over.”

“Er, yes. Thank you.”

“Let Rohtas and Dahlia know; they’ll get everything prepared for you. I’m sure they’ll be pleased.”

“Sure.” I’ll opt out of asking why they’ll be pleased.

...oh.

I just remembered something I would rather I hadn’t.

I hadn’t noticed how the way everyone looked at Mr. Fisalis and I had turned warm and fuzzy, because I was utterly frozen in fear!

“Miss Viola?” Miss Nastersham asked, peering perplexedly at me while my mind was elsewhere.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I was just caught up in how lovely the weather is.”

Ah ha ha ha.

I paid particular care when picking up my cup and saucer to avoid showing how worked up I was. That is to say, the tea party was officially underway.

“I’m just happy to see that the duke is finally acting his age,” Miss Iris chuckled grimly.

She was in yet another fluttery, pink ensemble.

“Thank you.”

“Indeed. About Miss Verbena—given that the Argenteia and Fisalis families are on great terms with each other, and that their sons were all friends as children, she was once the most likely candidate when it came time for the duke to get married.”

“Ah, I see.”

It’s no surprise that someone like me, who rarely ever went out and didn’t have any juicy gossip to offer in return, hasn’t heard about this.

Listening to her explanation, it’s becoming impressively clear just how much this girl knows.

“In reality, though, they never got engaged or anything like that. And even though Miss Verbena was madly in love with the duke, he was... well, you know? So she was probably mortified to hear him talk about getting married not to her, but to you, whom she had never met. I mean, one starts to get a bit impatient at twenty.”

“Ah ha ha ha...”

I had a thought while I was at the evening party: that it was improbable at any age, for Mr. Fisalis to ever say the words, “Would you marry me?” to someone who really liked him.

He’s too arrogant for that. Plus, once you say that, there’s no backing out.

So I guess that’s why he chose me over Miss Verbena.

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking about Miss Verbena. I should know better. I’m already twenty,” Miss Iris said, casually revealing her own age.

“I’m twenty, as well,” said Miss Krokusse.

“Twenty-one,” Miss Columbine added.

“And I’m nineteen.” Miss Nastersham was the youngest out of the four.

Among the aristocracy in the Flür Kingdom, eighteen to twenty was considered the proper age to get married, so they were all quickly approaching a critical point in their lives.

You might even say they’d passed it already!

“That’s why we have to go to all the events we can, to gather information and inspect the goods!” they all said in perfect harmony. That sounds like something a pick-up artist would say.

“Exactly. So when word got out that I’d been invited to this tea party, oh so many people were envious!” giggled Miss Krokusse as she sipped her tea.

“Huh? Of my tea party?” Why would that be, I wondered, cocking my head.

“Lots of people want to be friends with you!”

“Wait, what?” Miss Columbine’s response confused me even more.

“You’re so lovely and well-put-together, graceful, and good at both dancing and conversation. You have a prestigious social standing, and what’s more—a loving, attractive husband. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with someone like that?”

“Wh-Whaaat? Who’s been saying that!?

I didn’t think it was possible for my eyes to open as wide as they did then.

Just who are you describing? I know you mean me, but you’ve just created an entirely new character!

“It’s no wonder he chose you!” Miss Iris declared.

C-calm down.

This is getting out of hand. It’s all just a big misunderstanding.

“I-I’m really not all that special!” Aaand already teary-eyed.

“There’s no need to be so modest, you know! You truly are a lovely person, Miss Viola,” Miss Iris told me, her almond eyes smiling again. “You’re always wearing dresses by Madame Fleur, for one thing. The dress you were wearing the other night was so beautiful! I thought you looked so effortlessly stylish wearing the same colors as the duke! You made for such a striking couple that I was a bit intimidated. That elegant, subdued shade of violet... Until then, I never thought that shade would suit me, but when I saw you, I thought that I’d like to try wearing it, too!”

Oh, nooo. I let Mr. Fisalis have his way with our outfits, and now I bet she really means we looked like one of those tacky matching couples!

“You shone even brighter than your jewelry! Glossy strawberry blonde hair is trendy with the young people right now!”

This has to be a joke.

“Your dancing was so impressive everyone was wondering who taught you. The search for your instructor is getting frantic! You let your partners lead no matter how dreadful they were, so they wouldn’t be embarrassed, but still moved with such polish—down to your fingertips, even. Everyone was sighing as they watched you glide across the floor!”

That teacher was my butler, so you’re never going to find him! Er, should Rohtas open a dance academy, perhaps?

“And even your tea party manners today. Watching you drink so elegantly without making a sound, I feel like I’m looking at a physical embodiment of a book on etiquette! I can’t help but be enchanted by you! Seems like I ought to be looking for your teacher in that area, too.”

Oh, but Dahlia’s so scary. LOL, not really, though.

I nearly dropped my cup and saucer. I had a good grip on it, though, so no one else seemed to notice.

My maid taught me that, too. She’s not like other teachers.

I... I think my characterization might be running a bit wild! What with that night I’d like to bleach out of my brain and all these misunderstandings, I can never show my face in public again!