Author's Notes: I know you're probably waiting for an update on my other stories and I promise I will update them soon. Still, I'm having a huge Julia Quinn phase at the moment and needed to start this story. Please R&R :D
Thank you!
I do not own anything...
Chapter 1: A season's early end…
Miss Kazuha Toyama was a firm believer in true love. She had seen it happen multiple times, even though one could argue she had seen many a marriage without love, as well. Still, she yearned for true love in her own life, especially after her best friend, Ran Mouri – now Lady Kudo- had married a duke she had known her whole life and loved for the better part of it just last month.
Yet, Kazuha must have danced with every suitable gentleman in this ballroom at least four times in the last few weeks and still felt no spark. Ran had described the feeling of love to her once as a tingling sensation. A feeling of knowing when her now husband, Shinichi, was watching her or standing close, comforting and thrilling at once. Kazuha sighed. If love felt like that for everyone, she certainly never felt it before. She only knew when a gentleman drew near because of a cloud of heavy cologne or the foul smell of his breath (even though this particular detail only applied to one certain gentleman who loved to chew raw onions).
Looking around, Kazuha slowly stepped towards the refreshment tables, slyly taking an éclair in her hand, biting her lip. If her aunt, who had taken her in for the season, would catch her eating at a ball, Kazuha would be done for. Turning towards a potted plant, as if admiring its bright colours, she closed her lips around the heavenly dessert, tasting the chocolate filling on her tongue. A small moan escaped Kazuha's lips. She'd either have to get married this season or become a spinster. It just wouldn't do to be banned from those pastries for another season just because a gentleman should not know about a lady's appetite.
"Caught you!" a dark voice whispered next to her ear and Kazuha spun around, a huge smudge of chocolate cream landing on the floor between her and a gentleman, who was currently grinning from ear to ear.
Both of their gazes flew to the stain on the probably expensive carpet before meeting again, silent for a moment. Then they both started giggling. "Good Lord, if Lady Tremaine finds out about this she'll have a fit!" Kazuha laughed, putting the rest of the éclair back onto a small plate on the table. The gentleman next to her grinned again, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Let's vacate the scene and she'll never know it was us!" Kaito Koruba, whispered, offering her his arm and together they strolled towards the dance floor, leaving the chocolaty mess behind them.
Kaito and Kazuha had met in Kazuha's previous season and courted for some time, before realizing they would kill each other in a marriage, at the same time becoming close friends in the process. Kazuha's aunt had visibly breathed a sigh of relief when Kazuha had declared Kaito to be the best friend a lady could have in London – but nothing more. While Kaito was a good- looking man, who was favoured by the ladies for his wit and humour, he was unlikely to inherit a title anytime soon and Kazuha's aunt was aiming higher for her niece.
Kazuha, on the other hand, knew for a fact that she wasn't considered a 'Diamond of the first Water' (since she didn't have golden locks and deep blue eyes like Elizabeth Fearwater) and therefore tended not to aim as high as her aunt wanted her to. She would have been perfectly happy with Kaito or any gentleman lacking in title, fortune or looks – if their match contained love.
"Would you do me the honour of giving me this dance?" Kaito asked, bowing perhaps a little lower than necessary to make Kazuha smile, and offering her his hand.
"I'd be delighted," she told him with a courtesy, putting her hand into his.
As they walked onto the dance floor, however, Kazuha regretted this decision. A waltz started to play and while Kaito surely was charming and handsome, he was nothing short of a catastrophe while waltzing. Glancing at him she realized his mouth setting into a firm line for a moment, before forcing a smile back onto his face.
"Well, at least you already know my lack of skills when it comes to waltzing," he told her, nervously glancing at the other dance pairs around them.
"It won't be worse than at Lady Hillstein's house party last summer," Kazuha tried to cheer him up, but he only grimaced remembering how he had accidentally caused Ran to pour punch over their hostesses' dress. Unfortunately, Kazuha was wrong. The music started and it took Kaito about thirty seconds to bump into another dancer, causing a chain reaction of stumbles and cries, in the end leading to Kazuha unceremoniously crashing into the floor, her ankle twisted in a very uncomfortable way. And 'uncomfortable' was the word her aunt told her to use so she would stop swearing like a sailor, since it hurt so badly.
As they were sitting in a small salon next to the ballroom, Kaito was apologizing for what felt like the hundredth time and Kazuha could hear her aunt muttering to Lady Tremaine, who had taken it upon herself to take care of 'her injured, if clumsy, guest'.
"I believe she won't be able to attend any more balls this season! This will ruin her chances of marrying!" her aunt whispered unhappily, shaking her head in rage and glancing at Kaito, who was holding a cooling cloth to Kazuha's swollen ankle. Lady Tremaine, an unlikable and vain woman in her early forties, nodded her head gravely.
"Even if she could attend the festivities," she told Kazuha's aunt, "who would want to marry her after this? She will be known as inelegant!" Kazuha was sure to hear a hint of satisfaction in the woman's voice, who delighted in the distress of others. Kazuha's aunt sighed and turned towards Kazuha, who ushered Kaito away from her legs before Lady Tremaine could declare his touch to be indecent and make them marry.
"Well, it can't be helped, my dear," her aunt spoke up, looking at Kazuha pityingly. "We'll have to retire to the country. The doctor said your ankle will need about a month to heal and you certainly cannot be seen on crutches around London. We'll leave in the morning! Your season is officially over."
Kazuha sighed. She had not wanted to marry any of the man of the ton anyway, but still felt bereaved of opportunities to make a man want her. She looked at Kaito, who – again- apologized for what happened and waved him off.
"Just come to visit," she told him as he helped her up to get to her carriage.
This could possibly become the most boring summer of her life.