Damn it was hard! She had already tried two of her maids' three suggestions by now, but none had worked.
When they had made the picnic at the big pasture, there had actually been an escort, so it was difficult to pick a good time. When the escort finally made his rounds, she first tried to slide closer to him and then kiss him. But apparently he didn't understand what she wanted. In his eyes, she just looked hungry, so he took a piece of sandwich and shoved it into her mouth. Shortly after that, the escort was back and her chance was gone.
After that, she then tried the suggestion of bringing him something for tea in the study. This time they were alone and undisturbed. The best condition to launch another attack. She planned to feed him a piece of cake and then "accidentally" drop herself on him, as if she was just very clumsy... unfortunately, she really was.
At first everything went well, she sat down next to him and after a few deep breaths she gathered all her courage and turned to her fiancé with a piece of cake on her fork. As she did so, she propped one hand on the back of the sofa and leaned forward slightly. Out of sheer nervousness, however, she actually lost her balance and fell forward on top of him. The next thing she remembered was a pain-distorted scream and how the door opened and Ramas rushed into the room. The image that presented itself to him, however, made him leave the room right away. For what Celia had not considered was firstly the distance one must have to at least get close to the face when falling, secondly that a spoon was clearly less dangerous.
Now that she hadn't thought about it, her face ended up in his crotch and the fork in his arm. Hence the scream. She was so perplexed that she did not get up until Ramas had left the room again.
Stammering an apology, she ran out of the room as well and locked herself in her bedroom until her maids came and she told them everything.
"I think I'm cursed," Celia mumbled as she nibbled on a cookie her maids had brought.
Jannah shook her head thoughtfully. "Surely not. That was just bad luck. I'm sure it will work on your next try."
Celia wasn't so sure about that, but she was glad about her maids' confidence.
"That's right!" now Dina agreed with her, "You still have the romantic boat ride. All you have to do is invite the Grand Duke to it, and we'll take care of the details."
Sighing, she nodded, "Well, I guess it's worth one last try."
+++
"Ramas," Alek said thoughtfully, looking at the table with the cake, "I think my fiancée wants to kill me."
The secretary looked at his master for a moment, then shrugged. "Can you blame her?" Though her marksmanship is not very good.
The fork's wound was not particularly deep, yet he cleaned it briefly and applied a bandage. Lady Celia was thus probably the only person who had not only hurt this man, but got away with it without paying with her life.
"Can't you say something to calm me down for once?" his employer asked irritably.
"Of course, as soon as Your Grace stops talking nonsense. Lady Celia wouldn't even be able to hurt you even if she had a dagger."
Alek considered for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose that's true. Maybe we should assign her another teacher for self-defense."
Briefly, the image of a small white rabbit with a dagger in it's paw popped into Ramas' head. He shook it, as if to dispel the image. "Excellent idea, Your Grace. Perhaps her next assassination attempt will be more successful then."
"Don't get your hopes up," his employer warned.
The next moment there was a knock at the door and the two looked at each other briefly before Ramas opened the door. It was one of Lady Celia's maids.
"My mistress told me to tell you that she would like to invite the Grand Duke on a boat trip together. Is tomorrow afternoon convenient for him?"
"That could be arranged," he replied directly; he would take care of any upcoming appointments. He was too curious to know what the lady was up to again now.
The freckled maid nodded happily and then took her leave. After the door was closed again, he turned to the Grand Duke. "It seems your fiancée hasn't given up on killing you yet. Too bad you can swim."
Alek raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you meant to say 'too stupid for her and her scheme'."
The secretary was silent for a moment before answering. "Sure."
His counterpart also looked at him silently, then pointed to the door. "Out."
+++
"What did he say?" Celia looked at Elin tensely.
"He agreed."
The women looked at each other excitedly, and a load fell off Celia's mind. Now she had a chance after all. Then, however, old doubts came back.
"But... what if I screw up again?"
Dina waved it off. "Even you can't be that unlucky."
+++
The next day, her maids went to great lengths to choose her dress. It almost turned into a fight between Dina and Elin. The reason was the color of the dress. One was for pastel pink and the other for pastel green. In the end, Jannah then decided and chose a white dress with a blue bow. To match, a blue ribbon was braided in her hair.
Even Celia was thrilled with the final result. Maybe Alek himself would try to kiss her, as pretty as she looked. However, now her excitement was rising after all.
When she went down the stairs, Alek was already waiting for her. He himself was dressed very casually today. His shirt sat extremely loose and was unbuttoned at the chest, so she had a good view of it.
Even his hair was slightly messed up, but it still looked stunning. I want to bury my hands in that mane and kiss him right now.
"Do I look that bad?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She just shook her head, but couldn't get a word out in fear of saying what she just thought.
Meanwhile, Ramas poked her fiancé in the side. Alek gave him a nasty look and then took Celia's hand to place a fleeting kiss on it. "Celia, my dear, you look stunning."
Satisfied, Ramas nodded and Alek offered her his arm, which she gratefully accepted. Quickly her maid pressed a parasol into her hand and then they went off.