Ramas took another deep breath before knocking on the door to the Grand Duke's study.
"Come in."
He entered the room and Alek got right up and walked around the desk. "So, is she very angry?"
Well, this is going to be messy. "She told me to tell you that you could at least be man enough to ask her for forgiveness yourself."
The grand duke narrowed his eyes. "So you were busted, huh?"
"With respect Your Grace, I had warned you that this was an extremely ... lacking plan. Besides, it's really hard for me to lie to my employer."
Alek leaned against the desk and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just announce earlier this year, with tears in your eyes, that your grandfather had died and that you were taking a month's vacation at my expense so you could grieve properly?"
Ramas wiped away an imaginary tear. "Indeed, it was truly sad."
"Your grandfather wrote me a letter not too long ago. He seemed to be in very good health."
Thoughtfully, Ramas nodded. "That is quite correct. However, although he is still among the living, to me he is dead. This man dared to organize a family dinner and not invite me." *Mainly because a certain person never gives me a vacation.*
Sighing, Alek sat back down in his chair. "You don't even bat an eye when lying to me. So why can't you do that to my fiancée?"
"Because I respect the future Grand Duchess," he replied with a shrug.
"Oh, and you have no respect for me?" The Grand Duke took one of his daggers in his hand and played around with it.
"I lost respect for you a very long time ago. But who knows, possibly a raise would make me find it again."
"Extremely funny," Alek put the dagger back on his side.
At least the door would stay safe this time. "Lady Celia has asked me to deliver something else."
"Speak."
"Either you stop running away like a little girl and will share a meal with her once a day in the future, or she will come to your study three times a day from now on and bring the food personally."
He could clearly see the panic on the Grand Duke's face. At least he finally realized the gravity of the situation.
"Did she really call me a little girl?" asked Alek then.
Or maybe not. "As the messenger of the news, I took a certain artistic licence."
At this, his old friend seemed so relieved that he didn't even get upset. "Tell Celia that I will honor her request and in the future will share dinner with her."
This was probably the first wise thing the Grand Duke did in this regard. Lady Celia was still an innocent young woman, but even she would eventually have enough.
So before Alek could change his mind, Ramas gave a short bow and then left the room.
+++
Over the next few days, Celia could see a marked improvement in her fiancé's behavior. Ramas had probably successfully delivered her message. Alek showed up on time for every dinner and even chatted with her.
There was only one tiny problem. It continued to be just dinner and trivial conversation.
"Perhaps the Grand Duke has too little experience with women," Elin suggested while braiding her hair.
Dina, meanwhile, attended to her makeup and nodded. "I suppose it must be. However, then it is clear what you have to do. Take the initiative yourself!"
"That's not proper," Jannah chided her, setting a cup of tea down for Celia.
This offended Dina, "You don't know what exactly I meant by that."
But Jannah only looked at her reproachfully. "You would have suggested that Lady Celia try to seduce him and then steal a kiss."
"There's nothing stolen about that," the smallest of the maids muttered grumpily, applying some more powder.
Her etiquette teacher would probably agree with Jannah. She was the future Grand Duke and she couldn't act so shameless. Besides, she might possibly scare him off by acting pushy.
On the other hand...
"No one outside the estate would have to know," she suggested timidly, and her maids looked at her in surprise.
Jana cleared her throat slightly. "Well, I guess that would have to be okay, after all, he is your fiancé. A little kiss is not unusual." Elin and Dina quickly agreed with her, and Celia got a little bolder. "I've just never kissed a man before. What if I don't manage to kiss him or he finds it uncomfortable?"
The three maids looked at each other. "I don't think you need to worry about that," Jannah reassured them. "Men are...not very particular about that. He may also not make the first move so as not to scare you away."
If even the most rational of her maids believed she could succeed, perhaps she should try. "All right. But what would be situations in which I could most naturally try?"
Elin pondered. "How about a walk? You could have a picnic by the big pasture and get closer to him that way. The view from there is really beautiful"
"But what if he takes an escort with him and they stand next to it? That might spoil the mood," Dina mused. "Wouldn't it be better if it was a little more private? She could bring him some tea to his study."
"The study is so gloomy, not the nicest setting for a first kiss," Jannah interjected again. "You guys should take a boat ride. The beautiful setting down by the lake would be perfect for your kiss." The maids continued to debate whose idea would actually be the best, but Celia didn't think any of them were bad. Apparently, despite their young age, the maids had more experience in love matters than she did.
Just the thought of what she was about to do made her nervous, but she wasn't going to let it get her down that easily, she had already come too far for that.
Tonight she would ask him for a date. How hard can it be to kiss a man?