^^ Eve

"Eve, I am glad you have returned," says the Duke, with almost no warmth in his eyes, "You are just in time for my announcement that your debut into society has been moved up. It will occur in six months, so that we can begin looking for marriage candidates."

The hall erupts in chatter among the nobles. Even though I'm eight, it is not uncommon in this society for nobles to get engaged, although often the engagements are often broken off as the children grow up and find other candidates. The Callistos have a lot of power, almost enough to rival the imperial family, so an opportunity to engage their child to the Callisto princess must be what's exciting the nobles right now.

"Thank you father," I reply. If I make a scene now, I can't guarantee how he'll treat Finn and Nyx. He must have planned to announce this in front of everyone so I can't reject it.

"And Eve, who are these children you have returned with during your travels?" questions my father.

Murmurs ripple throughout the crowd.

My travels? I look into my father's eyes, and I can see he doesn't want me to be truthful about what really happened in front of the whole court.

"While traveling, I came across these talented children. Although they are poor, they have exceptional abilities," I say.

"Still, you are getting engaged soon. You can't be in the company of strange boys," he responds.

"It's not like that your excellency!" declares Nyx, my father looks almost surprised Nyx spoke. Oh god, he's going to get himself killed! Let me do the talking! He continues, "We are simply humble disciples of our Master, the glorious Princess of Darkness! I am a demon that has formed a contract with her!"

Disciples? It's not like I have anything to teach them, but I guess that's a good excuse. 

"A DEMON!?!?!" my father shouts, jumping up from his throne. The crowd erupts in conversation.

"My god! A real demon!" someone exclaims.

"Is it really true?" another courtier asks.

"A contract with a demon? If that's really true, her highness is even more extraordinary!!!" a noble declares.

"That can't be true! There hasn't been a demon in the mortal world for centuries!" cries out my mother.

"If you'd like proof then I will show you," retorts Nyx. Black bat-like wings sprout from his back, and two flames burst from his hands. His red eyes almost look as though they are glowing as they reflect the light of the fire.

The whole room seems to rise in temperature as heat radiates from him. Some courtiers faint, and the others at least crumple to the ground. Finn and my father seem to be the only ones unaffected. 

A red splotch appears on the ground. I touch my nose. It's bleeding. 

The temperature rises again, and it feels like a suffocating pressure is placed on the room. I try to gasp for air, but I end up coughing up blood. More courtiers are passing out, and I think the only reason I'm not is because of my healing factor. Even my father buckles, making him kneel in front of Nyx.

This must be pure mana flowing out of him! The sheer power of the mana leaking out of him is enough to subdue the entire court.

I collapse on the ground. Finn rushes over to me, who still seems unaffected. Must be nice to be a male lead.

"Nyx stop it! You're hurting Eve!" he shouts. Nyx looks at me, and seems to snap out of whatever state he was in. His flames and wings go away, as well as the mana flowing out of him.

Some of the courtiers get up, and murmurs ripple through the crowd. Others still seem out cold. My mother gets up from the floor and back onto her throne, looking frazzled. She looks at Nyx with wide eyes, and he smirks back at her.

I almost laugh, I don't think she's had a surprise like this in over a century. The old hag looks absolutely terrified.

"Are you okay?" frantically asks Finn wiping away the blood on my mouth with his sleeve. 

"I'm fine," I reply smiling, and ruffling his pink hair.

I get up, and bow to my father, "Apologies for the disturbance your excellency. As you can see, my disciple is a demon who I've formed a contract with. I hope I have your permission that they can stay. Although, regardless of your decision you don't have the force to remove him," I tell him.

Enough courtiers are either passed out or wounded for them to really care what I'm saying right now, so I can be a little rebellious. I stare back at him defiantly. 

He chuckles, "Very well, I'll let you take on these two as your disciples," he pauses, "Well done Eve. A queen may be a powerful piece on the chessboard, but you are sure to lose the game without the other pieces backing her. You and your disciples are dismissed," he says.

We leave the court, walking down the red carpet, and out of room.

I don't know what game my father is playing at, but I am not going to be a queen. I'll make sure of that.

A group of healers run past us toward the throne room. Many of the courtiers were wounded, so they're probably going in to heal them.

I can't believe the power Nyx has. Is he even stronger than the male leads?

"Where are we going?" questions Nyx.

"To get food! I'm starving!" I announce.

"Shouldn't you see a doctor?" asks Finn.

"I'm fine, I'm already healed," I say. He has a concerned look on his face. "Don't worry, I've had much worse injuries than this," I reassure him.

His brows furrow, almost as if he's angry. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. It seems to upset him more.

He doesn't understand that this is actually much better than in my past life. At least now, my injuries only last for a few seconds before they heal. When my father used to beat me, those ones would take several painful weeks to heal.

Still, he's a beggar on the streets. He should at least know the pain of starvation. Shouldn't he think this temporary pain is better?

We go into the dining hall, which has several large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and tables with red tablecloths. 

We sit down at one of the tables, and I start rattling off food to bring out, to a maid. 

"Don't you not need to eat food since you're a vampire?" asks Nyx.

"Well I don't technically need food, but I definitely want food!" I say.

"You're a vampire? Does that mean you're super old?" inquires Finn.

"Hey! It's rude to ask people their age! I'm eight years old!" I respond. Technically that's a lie since I lived to 17 years old in my past life. But, I can't tell him that without explaining the whole confusing situation.

Servants bring out platters of food, and set it on the table. Another perk of this world is that food can be cooked really fast because of magic.

Even after five years of having delicious food, I'm still amazed at how I can get food so easily now. I look over at Finn, who's eyes are widened at the sight of all the food in front of him. 

Delicate pastries and decadent tarts lay on the table before us. I pick up a cookie and take a bite. It's still warm and buttery with a crispy outside and soft inside.

"Have some! It's super tasty," I exclaim. Finn digs in, stuffing his face with food. However, Nyx just sits there.

"I don't really eat food," says Nyx.

"What?" I ask in disbelief, "Is it that demons can't eat food?"

That would be so tragic!

"No, a lot of demons eat food in Hell, but we don't have to. What if someone were to poison your food? Seems like a risk that's not worth to take," he replies.

Whaaaat?!?!?! No food! But what would be the point of life without delicious food???

"But food is so good the risk is worth it!" I protest, "You can't live your life in fear. You'll miss out on all the awesome things like tasty food!"

I stab a strawberry cake, break a piece off, and stuff it in Nyx's mouth. In hindsight that was a bit aggressive, but I get passionate about food!

"See it's good!" I say. Nyx, still busy chewing the rather large piece of cake I stuffed in his mouth, gives a thumbs up. I smile triumphantly. I knew it! I've unlocked his inner foodie!

"Hey, that's not fair! I want to be fed too!" pouts Finn. He gives me puppy dog eyes, and I feel like my heart has stopped he's so adorable.

I start feeding him the rest of the strawberry cake. He's so cute when he's eating it reminds me of a little rabbit chewing on a carrot.

"Food tastes better when Evee feeds me!" he declares. 

(A/N: pronounced Eve-E)

AHHHH!!! SO CUTE!!! Cuteness overload!

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