While I was dancing with the viscount, I casually scoped out my next target—only to find Marquis Erectum standing not too far away. It was definitely a short enough distance for me to inch closer bit by bit.
I pretended to follow the viscount’s lead while stealthily steering us in the direction I wanted to go. This sort of thing was my specialty!
By the time the song ended, we’d drifted into the vicinity of the marquis. Once I’d thanked the viscount for the dance, I crept towards my next victim in hopes of recycling my previous strategy.
I need him to ask me for a dance before someone else does...
Once again, I “accidentally” locked eyes with him. When he noticed me looking his way, the marquis returned my gaze with a sweet smile, strode over on those long, shapely legs of his, and took my hand in a sweeping motion. “Care to dance, Lady Viola?”
Okay, am I the only one getting “playboy” vibes from how smooth that gesture was?
What’s more, I hadn’t noticed it until he came over, but he positively reeked of cologne.
But it suits him, to be honest!
He had a slender, well-proportioned figure and a strong but sweet fragrance about him. With his black eyes and black hair, he was an exotic sort of looker.
The scent of his rich, floral perfume grew stronger the closer I got to him...and was one step short of giving me nausea. It was so sickly sweet that it might as well have been shooting straight up my nose to stab me in the brain. Too bad my only choice was to suck it up and breathe through my mouth.
“We’ve already had our fair share of dances back at the royal palace, haven’t we?”
“Y...Yes, I’d say so.”
Had we? I didn’t remember that at all. Considering I always had to work my way through a sea of men looking for a dance, there was no way each and every one of them was going to stick in my memory.
I decided to go for as vague an answer as I could manage. “I seem to recall that—erm...”
He chuckled. “Of course, I doubt you’d remember it.”
He had my number so hard that I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“It looks like the duke is dancing with my wife as we speak,” he pointed out, spinning us around so that I could see my husband.
Marquise Erectum was a modern-looking beauty with brown curls that fell to her shoulders. She had striking purple eyes, and when she stood side-by-side with the marquis, the two made for a gorgeous-looking pair.
Given how pretty she was, she looked picture perfect next to Mr. Fisalis. Pack it up, Viola—you lose this round! A plain Jane like you never stood a chance.
Wait, no, that’s not the point here! I got a little off track with my brooding, but it’s time to get my head back in the game!
I shifted my gaze back to Marquis Erectum, and that was when I noticed the ring on his left hand. And on his fourth finger, at that. That could only mean one thing.
“May I ask about this ring of yours?”
“Ha ha ha—so you noticed that, did you? She and I jumped on your bandwagon and decided to have rings of our own made. A matching set, of course,” he explained, showing off the enormous amethyst accessory that sat on his finger.
“Gosh, I see!”
“My wife is wearing one that looks just like this. It matches her eyes.”
“That’s wonderful! It’s such a lovely amethyst too. We don’t mine those gems in our territory, so I’m assuming this isn’t one of our products. Too bad.”
“I must beg your pardon for that! We were dying to have a Viola Sapphire, I assure you, but we couldn’t manage to get our hands on one,” he said with a laugh. “Luckily for us, my grandmother kept an extensive collection of jewelry, so we had one of her old accessories reworked into a trendier design.”
It’s true that the gem’s popularity left our stock pretty low, but if a marquis said he wanted one, I’m pretty sure we could have accommodated him! But on the other hand...remaking old pieces? You love to see it!
“By the way, Lady Viola, how old are you?”
“Who, me? I’m nineteen.”
“Not too much younger than my wife, then.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. She’s twenty-two.”
“Wow, she really isn’t that much older!”
Twenty-two, huh? Well, that would make her closer to Miss Verbena’s age than anything.
“You and the duke have yet to be blessed with children, if I’m not mistaken?”
“Um, that’s right.”
Why is he bringing up kids all of a sudden? Great, now he’s reminded me of the whole looming “heir” problem.
“The same goes for us. My wife is still young, so she’d like to live fast and loose for a little while longer yet.”
“Oh, I see!”
There are a multitude of reasons we don’t have any children yet, but I assure you that none of them have to do with “living fast and loose”!
After that, he kept coming out with stories about how they blew a bunch of money messing around somewhere or another, or how they bought a super expensive decoration just the other day.
Hello? If you run around spending money like it grows on trees, it’s no wonder you can’t keep any saved up! Looks like Rohtas was right again.