I’ll swallow my pride and ask Derek!
Real talk, I wouldn’t have even considered Derek a candidate when the Meet the Parents date was set. A major factor was that he was Uncle Dearest’s son, but he was also Sirius’s best friend, and he and Sil were also pretty close. Given that and our messy history, I always perceived Derek as being on Team Sirius.
But after the way he acted at the junior ball and the survey, I came to realize that even though Derek was technically in my brother’s camp…he also kind of wasn’t. I got the impression he would help me out if I asked.
If nothing else, when I told him my crazy proposal, he would at least hear me out with an open mind.
In the event that he agreed to be my fake boyfriend, I would have to worry about how that might affect his relationship with Sirius. But considering what happened during the survey, I had a feeling I could calm any storms that arose from that as well.
Also, if there’s any guy everyone would blindly accept as my boyfriend when I go, “It was him all along!”—it was Derek.
For starters, his and my families are real tight, and he’s the eldest son of a duke. And to pile it on thicker, Derek and I are childhood friends! It wouldn’t be at all surprising to find a secret romance had blossomed between us. You know, the whole, “I didn’t notice him when we were younger, but once we started to mature, I saw him with new eyes” trope.
Additionally, nobody could gripe about a gap in social standing. It’s like, if the heir to a duke won’t do, then who will?
The only downside was the way my father would treat Uncle Dearest. But looking back on all their public behavior thus far, my father was nice enough to Derek. I didn’t get the sense he judged him for being Uncle Dearest’s son.
So, putting it all together…if I introduced Derek as my boyfriend, it’s very unlikely my father would exercise his veto power. When backed into a corner like this, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like Derek was the only choice! That’s how I was starting to feel anyway.
Well, actually, this totally wouldn’t fly, but there is another candidate just as good as Derek.
It’s the very hero of The Noble King himself—Sil Burks! My Lord Sil!
“Too bad I can’t just ask Sil…”
Just like with Derek, our experience at the junior ball had brought us much closer together. Sil was definitely the easiest guy for me to ask.
He would be a fake boyfriend through and through, but only until I found my own true love. I figured it would take about a year? And we’d have to simulate the whole thing, from courtship to engagement to a satisfying breakup. I knew that, with Sil, we could breeze through the whole thing while still being friends.
If only he and I didn’t have a complicated relationship. If only he weren’t already Sirius’s lover!
In my fantasy, I could practically hear him humbly replying, “I’m all right with it, if you’ll have me.”
Then again, even if I wanted to ask him, it would be kinda hard to do that right now. He’s under surveillance, and Sil really isn’t in a good place to be a fake boyfriend anyway.
And he was already Sirius’s lover! That really said it all.
“In other words, it’s not in the cards…”
I hung my head in disappointment.
And thus, my only remaining target was Derek!
I drew a circle around the name Derek in my diary.
Hmm.
However, I must never forget that this whole arrangement has to serve me. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what sort of resistance Derek might put up.
Of course it was possible he would reject me outright, just like Guy.
And if that happened—if I failed to secure Derek as my partner in crime—there was still one option left.
I gripped my pencil firmly.
For I still had one forbidden trump card up my sleeve!
A last resort named Alexis!
My angel of a little brother, Alec of course!
Even though he felt like a brother to me, by blood we were just cousins. And since this world was modeled after a book series written in Japan, marriage between cousins was legal in Esfia. He still met all the requirements to be my fake boyfriend!
A part of me always wanted to confide in Alec about my dilemma anyway. With Alec, I could put my hideous vanity on full display! And he would accept me with open arms and an open heart!
“The truth is, I have no boyfriend! Sirius just pissed me off so much I mouthed off and now I can’t take it back! I tried to find somebody, but I couldn’t! So please, I just have to make it through the Meet the Parents! I wanna take the piss out of my brother!” See, if I could just tell him the truth like that…!
Alec would cheerfully agree to my plan…the deceptive plan by his shameless sister.
There’s just one catch…
With a start, I sat up then propped my chin on my elbow in bed.
My dynamic with Alec was not so much he-protects-me, but rather I-protect-him. With Alec, I didn’t feel like the baby sister Maki was. Being reborn as Octavia had given me a taste of maturity I’d never felt before. It was likely the sort of feeling my big sister felt for me in my past life.
And while I was itching to tell Alec the truth, I also just wanted to look cool in front of him…as his big sis! At present, the latter weighed heavier on me.
As Alec’s big sis, who worked really hard to be a good role model, I just didn’t want him to see me at my most cringe!
Alec wasn’t in the capital at the moment, but he promised he would be back before Meet the Parents…in ten days from his departure. Put another way, if I’m being really honest here, I didn’t want to have to ask Alec for help unless I absolutely couldn’t find anybody else. I didn’t want to give him weird things to worry about.
Therefore…
I drew another circle around the name.
…my target is Derek!
And thus—
I reached for the invitation on my desk. It was from Lucinda Nightfellow. With a glance at the surname, I knew it was from Duchess Nightfellow, Uncle Dearest’s wife.
It was an invitation to the Nightfellow villa in the royal capital for a private tea party tomorrow. She asked that I let her know if the date or time was unsuitable for me.
It was delivered to my room that afternoon by the official channels, but it suddenly hit me—the true sender of this invitation was Derek.
After our stroll under the kallum trees during the survey, I already had an open invitation to visit his home. But Derek had gone through the official channels so that it wouldn’t be considered at all amiss for me to visit the Nightfellow villa.
On paper, he made it a personal invitation from his mother to me, which made sense. An invitation from his father would have worked as well, but it was more natural from a fellow lady.
I had already sent in my RSVP, “I would be delighted to attend tomorrow,” and my schedule was all cleared! That’s why I had crammed three days’ worth of work into today!
It’s giving, “two birds with one stone.”
I can pay the Nightfellows a visit and get my fake boyfriend at the same time!
So it shall be.