84. We Can All Pronounce Quiche Now
226 5 15
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

The story went something like this: I had been looking for her this entire time, and the moment I hadn't been looking for her, we'd met coincidentally. "I'll act like I'm just as confused and incredulous about it as she is," I'd mused aloud to Rosa as we were planning up on the balcony. If I was flustered about this unbelievable coincidence with her, I could make her think she could see right through me, and also throw me off her scent. We were both confused. Both flustered. No way I machinated this from the very beginning, right?

Besides, if she was underestimating me (like I hoped she was), that plan would work all the better. 

The game wasn't over yet-- if anything, it was just getting started-- but we were off to a great beginning.

Okay. Step number one was thankfully over; time for step number two, introducing Rosa to Lemon Quiche as my so-called 'superior,' my subtly obvious way of calling her a noble.

I was now pretty far from where I'd met the lady, and I wasn't sure if the lady could still see me through the crowd. But if she was as meticulous and cautious as I thought her to be, she would definitely be trying her best to, which meant we needed to keep acting even when we were supposedly out of sight.

"I did it," I announced excitedly as soon as I got there, carefully angling myself so that Lemon Quiche would only see my back. I gave her a brief bow, just for show. From her perspective, it would hopefully look like I was reporting something to someone else, one she could only barely see as I blocked her from sight. She wouldn't be able to see the ecstatic grin on my face, at the very least.

Rosa nodded imperiously, her eyes glittering along with me. "I knew you could do it! Good job, Fi!"

"Okay, now I escort you over to her, right? And you don't say a single thing and just look the part."

Rosa opened her mouth, probably to say something snarky from the way her eyebrows were raised, but I widened my eyes into a warning look, and she pressed her mouth closed again and nodded. Her eyes, though, were giving me an exasperated look.

I raised my eyebrow at her, too. "Well, do you want to go through this alive or not?"

"Yes, yes, go on ahead, Filly," Rosa sighed, and I gave her a wry grin before I turned around to face where the lady was.

"If you ever do need to speak to me, call me Turkey Sandwich," I said, as I began 'escorting' Rosa through the crowd towards the lady. At Rosa's left, my left arm was pointed outwards and my right arm was behind Rosa, almost like I was a bodyguard. "But please, if possible, please just don't say anything. At all. Please."

"But what if I need to tell you something?"

"Then tap me with your fan." Yes, Rosa had a fan now, to cover her face. It was a pretty fancy, noble-y fan, which Rosa had brought in case she needed to 'use her womanly wiles to get her way if anything went wrong.' (Her maid apparently stole it from the Duchess's room.)

I didn't know how to feel about that, or the fact that Rosa thought a peacock-feather-colored fancy fan would give her the womanly wiles needed to get out of a problem, but hey, it was helping us now. In fact, I'd snorted when Rosa had explained her backup plan about her 'womanly wiles,' because Rosa? Womanly wiles? She'd probably beat people down with that fan and scream 'ohoho' at a high pitch to their terror, then say she'd solved the problem with her womanly wiles.

Which, I mean, that worked too. It wasn't exactly womanly wiles, but she'd solved the problem.

My shawl was also wrapped around her head to cover her hair, too, as sort of dingy as it was-- it would add to the image that Rosa was a 'noble in disguise, trying to blend in with the commoners'. Her always silky hair peeping out of the corners would help with that image. Hopefully.

"Oh right," I murmured as we neared the lady, "Her name is Lemon Quiche."

"Lemon Keys?"

"Quiche. Quiche. Lemon Quiche."

"I got it, geez. Lemon Quiche. Sheesh." Then Rosa did a little snort from behind her fan. "Haha, did you see what I did there?"

"Huh?"

"Quiche. Sheesh. I rhymed!"

I really, really wanted to roll my eyes right now, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay calm. I was a servant now, for goodness sake-- I couldn't be seen being annoyed at her so obviously, and not when I could see Lemon Quiche staring holes into me as we got closer.

We reached Lemon Quiche in no time, who still had her arms crossed looking aloof, though definitely a lot more tense than she had been.

"Thank you for waiting, Lemon Quiche," I said, in a more serious voice. I made sure to show rub my fingers together like a nervous tic, then cleared my throat. "Let me introduce you to my--" I coughed here once. "My superior. Shepherd's Pie."

Rosa flapped her fan once.

"We've been looking for you, though... I didn't expect to find you like that." Cue awkward chuckle, scratch head. "Um. Anyways," I continued, growing serious here, "I understand you're working under a certain baron, whom I suspect should better go unnamed for the moment."

Mm, was that worded perfectly or was that worded perfectly?! Since we hadn't been sure whether the baron really was Baron Brenton or not, we'd decided to phrase my reference to him this way so we wouldn't raise any more suspicions. But man, I sounded like one of those butlers from Mother Lily's high society romance novels! Last time I'd conjured my inner high society chaperone; this time, I was the butler with those smooth ankles just slidin' past the heroine and her lover, completely unruffled by anything. Yes. This was going great.

Meanwhile, Lemon Quiche seemed to be digesting my words.

I forged on after a deliberate pause. "I hope we didn't startle you. My... superior here is very interested in your... trade," I said, emphasizing trade. "We--"

"How did you hear of me? And how did you hear of our... trade?" Lemon Quiche cut in, her eyes narrowed.

Ohh no. I was hoping she wouldn't ask that, though I guess it was inevitable. (I mean, I would've asked that, too.)

Still, explaining this convincingly was going to be a bit hard. You see, truths had a firm backstory. I mean, they were truths, after all. Lies, however, were as wobbly and as insecure as the bubbles in a pitcher of beer. In order to have a convincing backstory, you needed to have sources, which meant people-- and the more people that you included into your lie, the bigger the possibility that you could be found out.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I've gotten your name from one of your men, I believe." I held up my hand to indicate his height, which was a little above my eye level. "About this tall, has a mohawk, an upturned nose? Caught him right outside the warehouse." I jerked my thumb towards the part of the warehouse where we'd seen the two men-- one of them with a mohawk and an upturned nose, as I'd described-- leave their conversation (scolding session?) with Lemon Quiche.

Her frown deepened, but she didn't call me out on it. Yet.

"And how did you know about the trade?" she asked again, sharply.

I locked eyes with her, and the air seemed to strain around us, Lemon Quiche's gaze cutting through the small bit of space between us, staring straight into my soul. For a second, the noise around us seemed to die down-- and then I shrugged. "I'm sorry, but you're not privy to that information."

She paused, and I continued on like cold sweat wasn't running down my back. "Just know that we have our sources," I said, shrugging again, making sure I wasn't tense or holding my breath or anything. "And, as you can see, our sources are accurate."

This was another gamble-- the more detailed my lie got, the more easily I might get caught. Details made good lies, but too much made them vulnerable, and sometimes too obvious. If we really had a noble's backing, then we wouldn't be afraid of this lady. We needed to show that confidence.

But would she still let us in without any other credible sources to vouch for us?

Before she could ask more questions, I began talking again. "Anyways, my superior here is interested in your trade. In particular, she'd like to know more about it so that she can decide whether she is willing to take part in it as well."

"Take part in it?" Lemon Quiche asked, her eyes narrowing even more. At this rate, they were going to be permanent slits the entire time we were talking.

I nodded, swallowing as subtly as I could. "Financially."

This time, Lemon Quiche's eyes widened a fraction (finally), and her eyebrows rose slowly up her forehead. "By which you mean...?"

Ha, as Rosa had suspected, the moment I'd brought up financial support, her entire demeanor seemed to change. Soften, in a way.

I nodded emphatically. "Mila-- my, my superior is very financially wise. She believes that this trade can be enlarged upon in a way that it could bring more profit for all that are involved, and she wants to see if she wants to be involved in it." From the way her eyebrow twitched ever so slightly, she'd definitely heard my 'mistake' of almost calling Rosa 'milady.'

She only responded with "I see," but anyone with eyes would be able to see that her defenses were now considerably lowered. I gradually felt myself relaxing as well. After a pause (which I spent trying to let my relief not show), her piercing gaze returned to mine. "And so?"

I blinked. "And so?"

"So what are you trying to say?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, and then was very glad I'd set up my fake character to be the bumbling type, instead of the super I'm-on-top-of-everything type. I was very in-character. "Right. We would like a tour."

"A tour?" she repeated, looking a bit incredulous.

I nodded. "My l-- superior is very hands-on with her investments. She prefers to scout out everything herself to ensure the best possible success, which is why we are here today," I said, gesturing to Rosa with her impatient, flapping fan. I then stepped closer, lowering my voice. "We have bodyguards hidden among the crowd. In case you or your people think you can do something to her, consider yourself warned."

That was an absolute bluff, of course. But hey, I could always pull in Cook-- he was a pretty large man, though he probably would be down quick in a fight, and he was good at being intimidating-- if we were ever questioned. We needed to be credible here, though, and no noble in their right mind would actually come to gambling ring with no bodyguards. 

...wait a minute. Wasn't, wasn't Rosa a noble who'd come to a gambling ring with no bodyguards..?

Wait, no, but this was Rosa. Rosa was never in her right mind. So yup, that statement still checked out. Phew!

Shrugging to myself and stepping back, I looked at Lemon Quiche expectantly. When she didn't make any responses, I prompted, "We've been informed that you would be able to give us that tour?", which was a way to kind of imply that we considered her pretty high up on the ladder when it came to authority. A bit of flattery, in other words. It might not work on her, but it never hurt to try. 

"...I will need to talk to my own superiors, you'll have to understand, but I'm sure we could arrange for that," Lemon Quiche finally said, not looking displeased. In fact, she looked positively delighted, but trying to hide it. It reminded me of Ryan's expression when Mother Lily told him he was a good boy and he'd tried not to look happy about it, except this felt more... malicious? Cynical?

I wasn't sure what to call it, but man, Lemon Quiche sure picked a good fake name for herself. She had that quiche-like weight that made her daunting, and the sharp tartness that made her scary to deal with.

Oh boy. Let's just hope that she wasn't our enemy now.


A/N: Yay! I'm updating! Also, would you believe me if I said that until I wrote this chapter, I didn't know how to pronounce quiche? So yes, the "we all" in the title of this chapter ("We Can All Pronounce Quiche Now") is me. Me Can Pronounce Quiche Now. Okay bye now haha *dies*

15