Sara did not feel prepared for a meeting with Liliana’s fiance. She had zero context for the relationship and zero desire to learn it from the diary. She might have been stuck in this nightmare, but she would be damned if it made her do homework. She would play along as best she could with improvisation. Maybe she would wake up the next morning and it would all be a dream.

She was guided by a primly uniformed maid through gilded corridors to a large tea room with tall windows. The sunlight streaming across leafy house plants and delicate wrought iron garden furniture gave the illusion of a greenhouse. She wondered why they didn’t just have the tea party in an actual greenhouse or out in a courtyard. The air hadn’t been that chilly when she had disembarked from the carriage, but maybe spring in this country was more fickle than she thought.

Sara, or rather Liliana, was seated among a half-dozen other young ladies of similar dress. None of their outfits looked quite as gloomy as Sara’s, but maybe that was Lily’s original taste and not the usual fashion. Some girls had maids with them. Sara was grateful Nanny had stayed home but wondered why she was allowed in the palace unchaperoned.

After a while, a few young men strode into the room. It was a painfully choreographed affair and Sara struggled to keep a polite face while they all exchanged formal greetings. The men ranged from barely adolescent to late twenties. They all had an air of soft wetness, like they had never worked a day in their life, and she cringed when their lips touched her knuckles.

To her surprise, one of the other women in the room was an actual princess, which saved Sara from being the first person to be greeted whenever someone entered the room. Duchies were high ranked, apparently, so she was always the second stop for each new guest that entered. She mimicked the graceful Princess Celia’s manner as best she could and stumbled through a never-ending stream of pleasantries. Finally, the doors opened and the butler announced, “Crown Prince Henry of Veridia has arrived.”

Sara was expecting a handsome young man. She looked forward to judging Liliana’s fiance, as he was one of the few ‘characters’ she knew from the diary’s brief mentions. Based on the H from the future pages, she was expected to stay with him if the nightmare continued as written in the diary.

However, when Prince Henry stepped through the door, all eyes were not on the admittedly handsome heir to the throne. The room’s collective gaze was fixed upon the unannounced guest that clung to the prince’s elbow as they stepped into the tea room.

Sara got the foreboding sense that she should know the blonde woman and react appropriately. She chose the silent and stone-faced approach again, allowing others to fill the silence with their greetings, bows, and curtsies.

The princess was warm to both parties, but did not continue conversation with them at any length. Sara saw the wide eyes and raised eyebrows of the less composed attendees as the prince led his partner from the princess straight toward his fiancee. She felt a rush of pity for Lily, who had probably suffered a million small humiliations for it to build to this point.

While the couple made their way through the tea room, Sara decided she had the license to judge their silly costumes. The prince was wearing something reminiscent of a military officer’s outfit. The coat and pants were bright blue with silver piping and his dress shirt was frilly and burst forth from the jacket like a cravat. He looked like a toy soldier playing dress-up despite perfect tailoring.

His partner’s dress was soft and delicate, like a cake topper. She looked like a bride in white until the sun revealed that the dress was in fact a pale silver. It was oddly complementary to Lily’s black-with-silver silk and the prince’s blue and silver theme.

Was the wardrobe planned to humiliate me? Sara mused to herself. If so, who got into Lily’s household?

She shook her head when she realized she was falling too easily into murder mystery mode. Sara had to remind herself that she did not care about these fictional people on this contrived stage.

The prince saw her small head shake and looked at his betrothed with such contempt it almost made her recoil. She suppressed her shudder and remained silent, refusing to greet the prince first as was probably proper. The meek little thing on his elbow seemed to actually shrink back at Sara’s silent strategy, causing the prince to frown.

“Lily,” he said. His voice was flat, but she could see how he clenched his jaw in anticipation of her reply.

Sara copied the princess’s curtsy and replied, “Your highness.”

His eyebrow raised slightly, but she seemed to have passed at first glance. He didn’t immediately point at her and shout that she was an imposter, which gave her a little confidence. “You know Lady Katrina, don’t you?” He looked down at the blonde woman with loving eyes, causing her to blush.

Sara just nodded and gave the same curtsy as before. People audibly gasped in the tea room, making her suppress an eye roll. It was like a soap opera, exaggerated to the point of being profane. The prince seemed like he was about to say something nasty based on the sour expression on his face. The woman continued to blush, hiding her mouth behind doll-like fingers. Sara honestly could not tell if Katrina was enjoying the attention or if the whole scenario mortified her.

The princess saved Sara by clapping her hands, commencing the tea service with cakes and sandwiches. The rest of the event passed relatively smoothly despite the obvious tension. None of the girls at Sara’s table dared to speak to the jilted fiancee, and she had little interest in speaking to them, so the rounds of tea and snacks passed in silence.

The others seemed very uncomfortable with Sara’s lack of conversation, and she wondered if perhaps there was a hierarchy to who could speak when at a noble’s tea party. She enjoyed their discomfort more than she liked to admit, especially since they hadn’t actually done anything wrong to her (or Lily, as far as she knew).

Princess Celia, who had organized the event and clearly regretted it, rushed through the service and ushered her guests out the door as soon as she could. Even Sara, with no knowledge of etiquette, could see that the servants were befuddled by the quick pace. Several carriages were not quite ready to take the guests home, and Sara was left standing at the grand entrance of the crown prince’s mansion with a few other guests.

A young woman with a cheerful face and an even more cheerful yellow dress gave her a pat on the arm. Her luscious brown hair shone in the spring sunlight and overall she had a cute charm that endeared her to Sara quite a lot.

“I know we haven’t spoken much before, but if you’ll allow me…”

Before Sara could respond positively, another young woman hissed, “Isabella!”

“No, it’s okay.” Sara placed Lily’s long and delicate fingers over Lady Isabella’s hand and smiled. “Please, go ahead.”

The other woman looked a bit abashed at having been silenced by Lady Liliana. The first woman, Isabella, smiled even more brightly. “I hope that you stay strong. I have always admired you, Lady Liliana.”

Again, before Sara could respond, she was interrupted. As she turned in annoyance to face the person interrupting her, she realized it was the same butler who announced the prince earlier.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has summoned you to join him while you wait for your carriage to be prepared.”

With no choice but to agree, Sara followed the butler back into the ostentatious mansion. Isabella and the unnamed other woman waved as she retreated.