As the Demon Demands ✔️

Chapter Six

Evangeline hadn't been able to stop herself from telling Rosa about Claude's offer. Originally, she had planned to see if his contacts would give him good news before telling her mother. She didn't want to get her hopes up unnecessarily.

But Rosa had noticed she had been excited about something, and she ended up telling her and Azgor during dinner. Rosa had been surprised, yet grateful. Azgor had basically exhausted most of his contacts both in the capital and outside of the city, and Rosa had been close to giving up finding him.

Even though she still wasn't sure if it would work out, she was just as grateful as Evangeline had been when Claude first told her he would do this. Of course, now Rosa was telling her to invite him over for dinner next Sunday. Even if his own search didn't lead anywhere, it was still kind of him to offer his help.

She and her mother were currently working on the dishes while Azgor was on the floor in the living room, sitting with Roxanne who was giggling and playing with some of her dolls. Evangeline was washing them while Rosa dried them before letting them finish air-drying on the small rack on the counter.

"Do you really think Claude's contacts may be able to find Sebastian?" Rosa said as she scrubbed one of the plates. "Azgor never had such luck..."

"Azgor's friends weren't mages, Mother." Not that she didn't understand her caution. After four years, it was hard to hold onto hope. But they couldn't give up yet. Not until they had some kind of confirmation about him. "They may be able to search places that Azgor's contacts couldn't."

"Perhaps..."

"We'll find him, Mother," Evangeline said. "One way or another."

Rosa let out a heavy sigh, but ultimately smiled. She leaned over and kiss her cheek before turning back to the dishes. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Evangeline laughed, shaking her head. "Well, you wouldn't have Claude offering to help."

"Maybe not," she mused, putting away a few of the dishes on the rack to dry. "I think he only offered to help because it's you."

Evangeline stopped mid-wash, though she didn't look at her mother. She probably should have expected her to bring this up again, but she was caught off guard every time.

She and Claude had known each other for over two years now, and met every Sunday. It was just for tutoring, nothing more. Yes, they had been friends over their time together, but it was nothing more than that. Of course, even in large towns like Oakenfort, people talked. Her mother was no exception.

She wasn't completely oblivious either. She knew that Claude tend to treat her with more kindness than other women, even ones that shamelessly flirted with him. Generally he would dismiss them or just ignore their advances completely. He certainly would never let them touch him either.

Then there was her, just a student of his, and she was allowed to hug him. She did it just today! And then sometimes he would pat her head, which he didn't do with anyone else. It wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to think that he might have had romantic feelings for her.

But she felt no such thing for him. Or any man. And at this rate, she probably never would.

"We're just friends, Mother," she said quietly, handing her a dish to dry.

"I know, darling, but..." Rosa spared a glance back to Azgor, who had lifted Roxanne up in the air as she squealed and giggled in delight. "Don't you want to start a family?"

Evangeline sighed. They had had this conversation more than once before. She knew Rosa was just concerned. After all, there she was, twenty-two years old and still unmarried. She wasn't even courting anyone. Meanwhile, most women her age were already married or even had a child by her age. Even Rosa had married her father at eighteen before giving birth to her not even a year later.