The next person I danced with was Earl Lizardtail.
The earl was a handsome man with an explosion of loose blond curls, blue eyes, and tender features. He struck me as the type who was fully conscious of his own good looks.
“What a truly beautiful woman you are, Lady Viola! Like a goddess in the flesh!”
That was his opener? I didn’t even know where to begin with a response.
“Your display of bashfulness only speaks to your humility.”
I was getting smacked with a tornado of compliments right out the gate. PLEASE stop—I’m begging you here! You’re taking it so far that it’s just giving me the creeps! Besides, when you go full throttle with the praise like that, none of it rings true! What is this guy’s problem?
“I see you’re wearing another gorgeous necklace tonight. Is this one of those Viola Sapphires I’ve heard so much about?”
“It is, yes.”
“This is my first time seeing the gem up close, and I must say, this one is no less stunning a jewel! And the designer deserves just as much credit for bringing out its beauty so well.”
“Thank you.”
Now that he’s done complimenting me, I see we’re onto singing my jewelry’s praises!
I didn’t know if he just had a special fondness for jewelry or what, but I wasn’t a fan of the way he was ogling my neckline. He sure could stand to learn Mr. Fisalis’s skill for staring without being off-putting about it.
“There’s been no shortage of jewelry passed down within my family for generations. Why, I’m confident our collection could put even yours to shame!”
“Yeah? Wow, imagine that...”
Whoops, that response came out a little half-assed. Sorry. But you know how it is—I was just getting a little ticked off! Don’t sell the Fisalis family short there, mkay? We’re practically rolling in money and treasure alike! Even better, we’re turning out more and more of it by the day—not that any of it is technically mine, of course☆
The earl sure seemed to enjoy tooting his own horn; he didn’t even notice that I was pretty much giving him the brush-off while he kept droning on and on. I was tuning him out so completely that by the end of it, I didn’t even remember what he’d talked about.
✦ ✦ ✦
Last up was Viscount Trifolium. Since I’d already learned what sort of person he was during our chat the other night, I could breathe a little easier in his company.
“Did your necklace get scratched the other night?” he inquired out of concern, his voice as soothing and gentle as ever.
Forget scratched—the whole darn thing went missing! But that’s top secret information, of course. I’ll just have to play it off.
“No—it turned out it was just fine. But I must say, I almost had a heart attack when I dropped it.”
“Me too,” he replied with an airy laugh. Like always, he was the very picture of serenity.
I almost felt bad about suspecting such a nice guy.
“If I had to wear a jewel as expensive as that one looked, I’d be quaking in my boots.”
“Trust me—I feel the same way!”
“Come now, you’ve gotten so many of those gifts from the duke that I’m sure you’re well used to it by now. You’re always wearing them with your head held high—which only serves to make the gems look even more bewitching.”
Is that how it looks to other people?
He was right that I’d grown accustomed to wearing pricey jewelry, but that Viola Eye had been a whole other level of terrifying. And yet I’d taken that priceless necklace and...well, for the sake of brevity, we’ll skip the recap!
“Unlike the duke, I’m afraid I don’t have the means to give such wonderful gifts.”
He’d muttered something under his breath, but it was too quiet for me to hear.
✦ ✦ ✦
I’d successfully shared a dance with all four of our initial targets—that was a start, at least. I’d managed to get a bit of information out of each of them too.
I’d better report back to Mr. Fisalis before I forget everything!
“Cercis!”
I hurried over to where all the sparkles were coming from—ahem, I mean, to where Mr. Fisalis was clearly standing. As an added bonus, hanging around him would give me a chance to take a breather.
“Oh, Vi! Nice work out there. Are you done dancing?”
“Yep. I knocked out the whole list.”
“I see. Want to take a break, then? Or would you rather go for one more dance?”
“I’ll take that brea...hm?”
Mr. Fisalis had taken me by the hand to help me into a chair...but there was something off about him.
He gave a curious tilt of his head when I came to a dead stop all of a sudden. “Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s clearly not nothing. Just look at that frown!”
“My face just looks like this, okay?!”
“It does not. What is it? Come on—just tell me.”
“Do I have to...?”
By now, Mr. Fisalis was all up in my face demanding an explanation. At this rate, he wasn’t going to back off until I fessed up.
“...I could smell another girl’s perfume on you...and it just bothered me, that’s all.”
Even worse, it was a nausea-inducing sort of odor. No duh that was going to make me frown!
“Huh?”
“Like I said, that’s all there was to it! C’mon, it’s time for that break!”
“Vi...”
“What?”
“You’re adorable!”
“Eep!”
Refrain from hugging me in public, please and thank you!