As the Demon Demands ✔️

Chapter Twelve

The next four days had probably been some of the longest of Evangeline's life. Like clockwork, she would wake up, have breakfast, have lessons all day long, have supper, head to bed, wait for Marak to have his way with her, and then fall asleep. And she didn't know what was more overwhelming: the intense lessons or Marak's merciless affections.

Somehow though, she had found time to write a letter to Claude. It had been a longer letter than she had intended, but she had to let him know everything. That she was stuck in the capital, that Marak wanted to marry her, that she didn't really have a choice... She apologized many times, but she formally rejected his feelings, telling him that as things were now, it would be impossible.

She wished she could have told him in person, but she highly doubted Marak would let her leave. He was adamant about making sure she didn't "run away" again. And if he did let go back to Oakenfort, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back by herself. He would probably send her with an escort, and she definitely didn't want to cause that much of a stir back home.

She hoped that Sebastian had been able to write to their mother before she had sent her letter to Claude. Rosa needed to be the first one to know what had happened, and she needed to hear it from her kin. If she heard it from anyone else, Evangeline feared her mother would just faint. Or storm the capital herself demanding answers.

"My Lady, please focus."

Evangeline snapped out of her thoughts, looking up at Priscilla. It was yet another etiquette lesson, this time about her table manners. According to Priscilla, they weren't horrible, but "they need much fine-tuning." She was currently sitting in the dining room with a formal table setting placed right in front of her. For the past hour now, she had been instructing her on which forks to use at certain times, which glasses were meant for which drinks, and how to properly dine in front of guests.

After a while, it all started to just mesh together, and the thought of failure made her stress out. It was honestly a wonder why nobles even bothered eating at all. Priscilla made it seem like a single mistake was social suicide. The few times she had had a meal with Marak, he never said anything about her table manners. 

"Remember, my lady, you must spoon your soup away from you. And do not drink from the point of it. Only the edge."

The critique had her head spinning as she looked at the spoon. She was supposed to be having lunch, but she was constantly being checked for proper table manners. Priscilla had explained more than once how to properly use each utensil, but her head was starting to hurt, and she was honestly just tired and wanted to stop.

A heavy sigh came from her left, causing her to turn to see Skylar standing up and walking over to them. "How about we take a break first?"

Priscilla frowned. "Lady Skylar, this is important for her to learn. If her table manners aren't up to par, then the other nobles will use it as another excuse to ridicule her."

"I understand that, but it's nearly one," she pointed out, gesturing to the grandfather clock in the room. "And she's barely got to even enjoy her food. Besides, we have another appointment to go to anyway."

"She's right," Lehiri said, also rising from her seat. "We can't afford to miss this one."

"Wait." Evangeline looked between the ladies, confused. "I have an appointment?"

Lehiri nodded. "I apologize, my lady, I was only informed about it this morning. I meant to tell you earlier, but it slipped my mind."

"Oh..." She slowly rose to her feet as well. She had no idea what this appointment could even be about, but it was certainly better than being forced to eat soup properly over and over again. "What's the appointment?"