Chapter Eleven

There was a time skip between the first chapter of the game and the second to show how badly her choice of benefactors in the first chapter worked out without making the player sit through it all. In most of them she ended up as some flavor of maid in order to compensate her host for her room and board. Only in one route did she get taken care of like a guest and that route ended early with an early Bad End where she wound up forcibly engaged to her host’s grossest son.

That meant that there’d be about a month to a month and a half interval where Mira wouldn’t have to worry about game events cropping up to ruin her day.

Vesper excused herself after lunch to see about moving her office and meet with the person she wanted to headhunt for Mira’s sake. Adding more bedrooms and an executive office to the suite gave them access to a larger sitting room so Mira chose to set up there for the afternoon. Cecily brought some knitting out of her room and took a spot in one of the lounge chairs there. For a while, Mira dared to think that they were set for a peaceful afternoon.

Then Nanny let herself into the room with a pinched expression and a calling card in one hand. “Miss, there is a gentleman caller in the front room.”

Cecily froze and blanched, although Mira didn’t think there was any way possible for one of her boyfriends to have found her already. She didn’t have her own crystal yet so she couldn’t call anyone and Mira wasn’t convinced that she would when she seemed like she was almost as anxious about one of them showing up as Mira herself was.

“If it’s for me, please let them know that I’m not at home today,” Cecily said as she clutched her knitting.

“The caller is for Miss Violet,” Nanny clarified, although not unkindly. Everyone was worried about the male leads inviting themselves over, it seemed.

“For me?” Mira asked, surprised. She held her hand out for the card, but the name didn’t ring any bells. “Reginald Duvall.” She looked up at her nanny. “Do I know him?”

“Not that I’m aware of, dear,” Nanny replied. She looked towards Cecily. “Do you recognize this name, miss?”

“I know of a Robert Duvall, but he’s a baronet and much, much older.” Cecily chewed on her lip. “Perhaps he’s a relative? Even so, I’m not acquainted with him or his people. I just saw Lord Duvall once at a distance during an event. Except Adri…” she broke off, blushing, “… his majesty, Prince Andrei, advised me to avoid being alone with him.”

“So he’s a scoundrel and there’s no guarantee his people are any better,” Mira sighed. She could resent Violet’s ex fiance for any number of justified reasons, but his advice about the social world was invaluable during the game. If he said to avoid Lord Duvall, then Lord Duvall should be avoided at all costs. Violet was the only person who shorted out Andrei’s good sense. “Did this Mr. Duvall say what his business was?” she asked Nanny Byrde.

“He would only say that it was an important private matter,” Nanny said, projecting a palpable aura of disapproval. Even if Mira didn’t have past experience and Violet’s memory to rely on for hints about acceptable levels of contact between young people of mixed genders in this society, Nanny’s body language would have given her all the hint she needed that this was wildly inappropriate behavior from a visitor.

“I do not have important private matters with men who have not been introduced to me,” Mira sneered. This sounded like a headache already and she hadn’t even laid eyes on the person yet. If Vesper had sent him then he would have said so. “Please inform him that I am not at home to guests.”

Nanny nodded and left with the card. Mira’s memories of being Violet stirred, but not in a way that was entirely helpful.

Cecily caught her scrunching her face and asked, “Is something the matter?”

“I’ve got a blank spot,” Mira said, crossing her arms over her chest. Was this going to be an ongoing problem? “Shouldn’t she have left the card with me?”

That earned her a little chuckle from Cecily, the first laugh Mira had ever heard from the heroine. Cecily covered her mouth to hide her smile, which was cute but also worrisome given what Mira knew of her background.

“Usually she ought to,” Cecily explained at last. “If you give someone’s calling card back then you’re telling them not to return. It’s very rude, but appropriate in this instance. He was rude first. You’ve probably never done it before.”

“Ah,” Mira sighed as the explanation triggered a little more of her more generalized knowledge of the world. Violet had known that, but Cecily was correct. She’d never done it before. People were not as willing to offend Violet in those days and, as a future princess, she couldn’t afford to cause unnecessary offense either. She’d had to resort to other, even more oblique methods of getting people to fuck off. “I think you’re right.”

Unexpectedly, Nanny returned after a few minutes looking, impossibly, even more ticked off. “Forgive me, miss, he is refusing to leave.”

Mira examined her nails. How annoying. She’d been hoping he wouldn’t be stubborn. “Call down to the concierge to have him removed,” she directed.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.