One day, as Catarina is hard at work trying to avoid her own destruction flags, she's invited to a tea party hosted by the daughters of the marquis, the youngest of whom is Mary Hunt. While talking to Mary about her farming troubles, she finds out that Mary excels at gardening and quickly befriends her. Then Mary's betrothed, Alan Stuart, the fourth prince, suddenly shows up and demands a showdown with Catarina.

Catarina is immersed in a romance novel when she finds out she's been invited to a tea party hosted by Geordo and Alan at the palace. She's determined to find some fellow romance novel fans there to talk to. When she gets there, she meets Sophia, a beautiful girl scorned by others as a "cursed child" due to her unusual looks, and her brother Nicol, whose otherworldly beauty charms men and women alike.

Catarina finally meets Maria Campbell, the heroine of the otome game, and redoubles her efforts to avoid triggering her destruction flags. Maria's charming appeal leads Catarina to mistakenly believe that she's already conquered Geordo and Keith, so she calls for another of her now-habitual "mental meetings" to work out a strategy.