The first victim
Because he was a Qin…
Cedric was dumbfounded. He did know that the Qin family and La Rose Noire were not friends—that was why he was getting close to Elena in the first place—but wasn't she being too damned honest?
After the initial shock, Cedric looked at Purple in awe. No, he was not awed by the woman beside him. He was awed by himself for being able to meet such a dumbo.
He took two small sips of his wine and took away the glass of strawberry juice that she was cradling so dearly. The rainbow colored straw that she was sucking remained between her lips; he pulled it off and shoved it back into the glass then replaced it with his stemglass. "Have some wine."
Purple was taken offguard by his sudden move and was hesitant. "B-but…"
"Just a small sip." He insisted. When he saw that she didn't seem to have any intention to sip it, he was almost unable to stop himself from throwing her out. He took a deep breath and coaxed her like he imagined a man would when in love. "Do you not trust me? But we're drinking for the same glass. If I did anything to the wine, I would be the first victim."
To stay in character, Purple took a sip from his stemglass. As a member of La Rose Noire and one close to Shera, she was not new to wine and her tolerance was pretty high. What could one little sip do?
After taking that one sip, Cedric once again convinced her to take another, and another, and before she realized it, she had taken a couple glasses.
Cedric glanced at the already half empty bottle of high-alcohol content wine then back at the almost empty stemglass in her hand. 'Give a woman wine and all her innocence disappears. It works every time.' He thought.
His hand traced her thigh in slow motion, sending jolts up her spine. When she did nothing about it, he pressed himself to her so they were now hugging closely. His hand reached down to trace her legs, then moved back up, sweeping upwards her skirt in the process. Purple knew that she shouldn't let him move any further but she couldn't seem to think of a way to make him stop.
Scratch that.
Although Purple had drunk a lot of wine, she was only slightly intoxicated. She was still sane enough to know that all she had to do was spill a few drops of wine on him, excuse herself to use the bathroom, or simply ask him to stop and he would. It was just that… she—as Purple—kinda liked the feeling of his hand against her skin.
She knew that she shouldn't feel such a thing but she selfishly wanted to feel it just for a tiny weany moment.
Come to think of it, Shera only told her what she should achieve and insisted on not actually falling for the man. But she said nothing against body contact.
Purple shook the nonsense off her head. Shera might be mad and the last thing she wanted was an early death.
"Cedric… I should go now." She pried off his hand that was now rubbing against the skin of her thigh and moving upwards.
"But we are having so much fun." Cedric slurred against her neck, his hand not slowing down in the slightest. On the contrary, he slid it almost to her waist, pinching at her underwear.
Purple swallowed and pushed his hand away. "Cedric Qin!"
___
The next day, 30th June.
Purple went to Shera's study as soon as she arrived in The Mansion of Black.
"Did you succeed?" Shera asked when she saw her.
"No. He started suspecting me of being a fraud for some reason so I could not make a move." Purple explained apologetically.
Shera scrutinized Purple for a while. As though coming to a conclusion, she averted her gaze back to the document she was reading.
Purple took that as a sign that she could go and sighed in relief. She had not lied to Shera. Indeed, Cedric had suspected her identity at some point last night and even mumbled, 'Elena Garcia, just who are you?'. It had taken a lot of wits for Purple to convince him again, feigning drunkenness to dispell his suspicions.
That was all.
As for what else happened last night, it was better if no one knew. Especially not her master.