All Chapters of Afternoon Tea Disaster : Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

I survived Chapter Three.I should’ve been celebrating. Instead I was hiding in a palace bathroom trying to figure out why my hands were shaking."That was not meant to happen."The whisper still echoed in my ears. Cold. Male. Amused. And Duke Cassian had heard it too. I saw it in the way his jaw ticked right before he turned and walked away without looking at Elara once.That was... not in the script."My Lady?" The maid, Mira, poked her head in. "The carriage is waiting. Everyone is leaving."Right. The ball was over. I had caused a scene by NOT causing a scene. Now we were going home. Hopefully not to a funeral.The ride back was silent. Too silent. When we got home, a sealed black envelope was waiting on my desk. No crest. No signature. Inside, 4 words in sharp, furious handwriting: `My study. Midnight. Alone.` Oh. He was mad. Or suspicious. Or both. In the book, Cassian didn’t speak to Seraphina alone until Chapter 12. And it ended with her slapped. New rule:

I walk to afternoon tea like I'm walking to my death. Mira is braiding my hair too tightly. My head feels like it's going to explode. "My Lady," she whispers to my ear. "Just smile. Nod. Say little.""Villains don't work that way," I retort. "Living people do," Mira insists, and the logic is sound. The hallways here are even worse than before; the whispers have gone from 'ruined the ball' to 'she's mentally unwell' to 'send her to a convent'. A remarkable progression. I feel the stare of everyone in the palace like physical objects embedded in my back. The lily man is probably out there somewhere, taking down notes and observations. 'Chapter 4: Insult the Viscountess'. My sleeve is burning. The great doors to the drawing room fly open and a wave of tea and judging eyes rushes over me. Four women. Four pairs of eyes narrowed on me. At the center sits Viscountess Hart; layers of thick pearls around her neck and her mouth a constant quivering mass. To her right, sit two unfamilia

Three days.That was the Duke's limit. Three days to live.The first two days. Fabric and books.Mira dragged me to the seamstress at dawn on day one. Fabrics- silks, lace and judging stares-were piled everywhere. "My Lady," she whispered as the needle prickled my waist. "You must look… perfect. Lady Elara will wear white. What you wear will indicate you are not dead.""…Red?" was my first suggestion.Mira fainted.Deep green was decided upon then. The shade of poisons and gold. Longsleeved for concealing new scrawls beneath the fabric, high collared for my constantly-sweaty face, and the color of deception.Day two involved books. The afternoon brought a large package to my room. No note, only the Duke's crest.Common Poisons and their AntidotesHow to Tell if someone is Lying in 10 SecondsSocial Etiquette for Public HumiliationI read all three, twice, that day.Day three: silence.Duke Cassian didn't visit me that day. Nor did he send any notes or lilies. I preferred the latter.