LTSV - Side Stories - 4 - The Fete (Patreon)

Technically, Cecily wasn’t supposed to be at this party.

The Breckenridge Graduation Fete was supposed to be for graduating seniors and their families, but the students were allowed to bring an escort and sometimes those escorts were from a lower year. The faculty turned a blind eye towards it. As often as not, it was an older sibling being ‘escorted’ by one of their younger siblings. According to Alan, parents in high society liked to use low stakes social events like the Fete as practice for their children or tests to see if they could behave in public.

Cecily was going as Andrei’s partner. She’d been of mixed feelings about that because he didn’t ask her so much as he’d announced it by way of telling her when her dress fitting was. On the one hand, she was grateful that he hadn’t put her in a position where she had to decline citing her lack of funds for a party dress or accessories. On the other hand, what if she’d already had plans that evening? She also didn’t think it was in the best taste for him to have a companion other than his fiance, but at this point Cecily couldn’t imagine there was a soul left on campus who would actually expect him to show up with Violet on his arm. 

Viola had laughed at her when she complained and said that if her worst problem was a boy buying her a pretty dress and taking her to a party then her life wasn’t so bad. Cecily’s feelings were still smarting when she later made the same complaint to the girls in her homeroom. Julia clucked sympathetically, but Annette was the one who said, “Go to the Fete. You need to let people start seeing your face in society and I think we can all safely say that you won’t be doing that anytime soon on your stepfather’s timeline. If the Fourth Prince is willing to soft launch your debut, then you cannot afford to not accept his investment.”

Between Annette’s practical advice and Viola’s reaction, Cecily realized she was being too proud for her budget. Annette was right, after all, she did need to start building a network for after she graduated. She couldn’t spend her entire life as her stepfather’s unpaid housekeeper and she had a feeling that was what his plans for her looked like.

Cecily at least got some say in the dress. She’d been worried when the seamstress visited her at the dorm, that he would have already picked out her dress and the seamstress was only there for a fitting. The seamstress arrived with several catalogues and spent an hour carefully going over what was in vogue, what would flatter Cecily’s figure and complexion, and where those two realms overlapped. It had been the first time Cecily ever had to think about what colors she liked and what colors liked her back. If nothing else, it was a useful experience for her to have since Mama wasn’t in a position where she could be of help—although Cecily remembered that her mother had always dressed very well before her step-father had her sent away. 

That had been around midterm and, by the end of the year, Cecily had another reason for wanting to go to the Fete. Senior Coventry had vanished from classes. Some people said that she’d been quietly expelled, but other people said that the administration wouldn’t have hushed it up. Breckenridge had famously expelled a princess just thirty years prior and they’d posted a picture of her face on all the announcement boards with a vicious screed underneath detailing her offenses. Senior Coventry’s background wasn’t as lofty as a princess, even if she was the second daughter of the Lord Warden.

Cecily knew she hadn’t fully disappeared because Randall received student council paperwork with her signature on it every so often. Her duties as Head Girl had prevented her from taking a seat on the student council, but the council and the prefects worked closely together; the prefects oversaw student safety and discipline while the student council oversaw the budgets and administration for student organizations. Periodically, the council needed authorization from the Head Girl and it sounded like they were still getting it. 

That sounded to Cecily like Senior Coventry was still a student in good standing at Breckenridge. There were procedures in the student handbook to replace the Head Girl and it didn’t seem like the school had done that. 

Andrei wouldn’t hear a word of that when she brought it up. All he cared about was the fact that his fiancee had been cleared out of his sight and he could only imagine one scenario where that happened. It was frustrating, but Cecily didn’t have any solid proof one way or the other to sway him with—not to mention, she still had to be wary of Archie and Fergie. If they caught any wind of a rumor that she was arguing with Andrei and spoiling their chance to have a connection with one of the princes and princesses then they’d snitch straight to their father and Cecily would end up bearing the consequences. 

She just had to make it through the summer. Her application for early graduation was in good shape and she’d had an interview with one of the recruiters at Compton University, which was the university that Breckenridge fed into. They had reviewed her application, her schoolwork, and her scholarship for her and seemed positive that the admissions committee would be pleased with her application.

Once she had her exit plan in place, she could pin Andrei down and force his ears open.

In the meantime, she needed to finally talk face-to-face with Senior Coventry. It was clear to her now that this mess would not blow over or peter out if she ignored it and Senior Coventry was the one person whose motivations she couldn’t be sure of. 

She still didn’t think that Senior Coventry wanted to hurt her, but there weren’t many people with the means or motivation to harm Cecily. So far, no one had ever given Senior Coventry an opportunity to defend herself and Cecily didn’t think that she would have bothered to try when Andrei was the one accusing her. She probably wouldn’t have gotten a word in edgewise, so Cecily had to find an opportunity for them to speak privately. If she couldn’t find one then she’d have to make one—which is what had brought her to the Fete.

Andrei had warned her that he couldn’t be at her side for the entire party. It was apparently considered tacky for someone to be stuck to their date the entire time. According to him, it made men look insecure and women look overly dependent. Cecily wasn’t sure what the point of taking someone to a party if you weren’t going to be with them there, but she didn’t make the rules. 

Though her motivations for attending the Fete were practical, even mercenary if she was looking at it from Annette’s perspective, it was hard to feel entirely unmoved about attending a fancy party in a beautiful gown.

The seamstress had come through with a ballgown that Cecily couldn’t even have dreamed into reality. The bodice was a heavily-boned off-the-shoulder design that hugged her waist and improved her slight bosom with pink silk scallops of fabric and tulle, since the Fete was an evening party. The skirt was made of a base of pink tulle with more embellished petals of pink silk fluffed around her hips and cascading down her back in a small, manageable train. The petals were decorated with pearls, aurora-borealis crystals, and sequins made of nacre that were shaped like sweeping feathers along the edges of the fabric. Anrei had gifted her a pink pearl parure set that consisted of a set of pearl drop earrings, a pearl choked with a rose-shaped clasp that sat at the back of her neck, and a pink pearl clasp for her hair. She was lucky and the seamstress had been happy to help her with her hair when she came to assist Cecily into the dress, which was not the sort of gown one could get into by oneself. They’d left her hair down in back and pinned the front back with the clasp to keep her face free when she danced. 

Apparently, people could get very sweaty at balls between the dancing and the crush of people in the venue so that was why the clothing was a little on the skimpy side and no one wanted their hair touching their faces. Who knew?

Andrei and Bryn came to collect her from the dormitory at seven on the dot. The Fete was held at Breckenridge Hall in the same grand auditorium where they’d held the graduation ceremony that morning. Cecily hadn’t been able to attend since that event was firmly closed to non-family members of the graduating class. Allegedly, Senior Coventry had received her diploma with the rest of her class and Andrei had been a little tetchy about that. 

His attitude had changed since. In fact, he was positively buoyant. Bryn was quiet as usual, but he seemed a little tense. He’d been like that a lot, lately, but wasn’t inclined to confide in Cecily. He was probably not looking forward to taking a leave of absence from his place at Andrei’s side so he could finish his own education. Cecily suspected he’d tried to graduate early too, but hadn’t managed it. His job as Andrei’s escort knight was too demanding and Andrei was the kind who could do well in classes without studying, so he tended to have a more active social life as a result.

The auditorium had been transformed in a magical fairy-realm when they arrived. A man at the door announced them to all the other attendees when they arrived, like it was a real Palace ball. 

“Announcing his Highness, Prince Andrei of Avenon, and his guest, Miss Cecily Rousseau!”

Everyone turned and Cecily suddenly felt like she was under a magnifying lens as they descended the grand staircase onto the main floor. Her gown dazzled under the fairy lights and she felt, just a second, like she was a princess like in a romance novel—not a real princess, mind you. A real princess would have been in a formal uniform-type gown, such as the one Crown Princess Millica was wearing, which was made with clean lines and a minimal silhouette in mind. Any sparkle on her person came from the military honors on her breast, the royal seal on her formal sash, and the small diadem on her brow.

“I thought your father meant to come,” she whispered to Andrei, feeling a little sad on his behalf. Andrei didn’t get to see his biological parent very often. The nature of the royal family meant that they didn’t get to form bonds with their birth parents. Like the eldest children and inheritors of most high ranked families, Princess Millica was in charge of her generation. Her stepfather was there to guide her, but she had final custody of her siblings. The rules got a little fuzzy, in Andrei’s case, because he wasn’t actually of the royal bloodline so his father had more say in his upbringing than was normal.

“There was a last minute change,” Andrei whispered back. “My sister stepped in for father as our family representative. Don’t worry. This is a good thing.”

A good thing?

“Here we go,” Andrei said, looking off in the distance. 

Cecily followed the line of his gaze and the blood in her veins suddenly turned to ice. 

Senior Coventry was standing by herself in a loose cloud of her fellow graduates and she looked as close to relaxed as Cecily had ever seen her. She had a pretty flush on her cheeks from the heat of the room and was chuckling lightly at a joke someone had just made. She was wearing a stunning pale silver gown with a structured silver bodice that was comparatively simple against her skirt, which was made of a cascade of petal-like flounces. The petals were encrusted with sequins and crystals that shaded from pale silver at the top to a deep amethyst at the edge that matched her visible eye exactly. The gown was stunning and could not have been made for any woman in the world other than Violet Coventry. It had a shimmering, dreamlike quality as she moved under the fairy lights—just like Cecily’s.

They weren’t wearing the same dress, but they were unmistakably from the same line and craftsperson; from the style of the bodices to the flounces on their skirts. The only difference was that Cecily’s dress was ever so slightly elevated than her senior’s gown. She had a more elaborate bodice and the suggestion of a train. The embellishments on her dress were subtly more elaborate and her dress seemed to glow brighter under the light. 

Too late, she realized what had happened. It was just as Julia and Annette had warned her in first year. She wasn’t here as Andrei’s companion. She wasn’t here to soft-launch her name in society. She was the stick that Andrei had used to beat his fiancee again.

What was worse was that everyone in the immediate vicinity could see it because they drew back in silent coordination, trying to get clear of whatever was about to happen. Cecily felt Andrei’s arm go tight around her waist as he pulled her into his side and leveled a finger at Senior Coventry’s face.

“Violet Coventry, today is the day when I will at last be free of you!” he announced to the entire room. “No matter what lows you stoop to, no matter who you hurt or harass, our engagement ends today!”

Cecily’s heart crashed into the floor as the room gasped collectively and any hope she ever had of salvaging an amicable relationship with her senior died before her eyes. 

-Fin | Cecily Side Story 4

AN:

Parure: a matching set of jewelry meant to be worn together.

Both Cecily and Violet’s party dresses are based off of two of the most famous gowns from Christian Dior’s 1949 Fall-Winter line, which was called ‘Milieu du siècle’ or ‘Mid Century.’ Violet’s dress is based off of the famous ‘Junon’ ballgown (Blue and White.) Cecily’s dress is based on the ‘Venus’ gown (Pink). Both gowns are shown in the picture on the bottom. Both can be considered exemplars of the Dior ‘New Look.’