Mark of The Demon

Of Tears and Dinner

Jacques P. O. V. 

"My lady!  You insult me. I shall prepare you a fine dinner."

His mind was working a mile a minute, but he did not leave, instead he watched and waited knowing she would need his help yet again. Quickly and efficiently he slipped on her shoes for her then stepped back to look his prey over. She appeared to be done with him as she was moving to fix her hair. Silently he then left, leaving the young mistress to her own devices to begin the conquest of the world. 

Yet, he made certain he could hear her, it wouldn't do for her to fall and break her neck. Humans, he snorted under his breath, so fragile. So he kept the door to the kitchen open and worked in near silence as he started a pot of water to boil, then in a flash cut the vegetables. In no time at all the noodles were simmering, vegetables cut and cooling in a bowl of water, and meat was in the office. He went to the office he had been setting up for himself and grabbed said meat. He brought it to the kitchen, tenderize it and then glazed it with a thick honey layer. She was young, he had a feeling she would be inclined to the sweeter tastes. Her two cubes of sugar showed he was most likely on the right track. This he left to slow cook in the oven as he went into his office yet again.

Taking a seat he began to figure out the number of staff they needed and the number of guards he wanted on site. They would all be demons of course. Friends of his that he knew were as  bored as he was down in the city of hell. A lively life up in the human world grooming a queen was guaranteed to be mighty entertaining and of course they could eat any souls that dared betray them or enter the property with ill intent. 

He was still working on the contracts he would set up with each of them as he heard her vague call to him. He glanced up, but continued to finish writing out the last details. Now we just need to sign-

He was off, his eyes narrowed. What was it, then? Did someone already break in? As the door to the room flew open, him expecting to see some horrible sight, he sighed.

"I swear. So dramatic."

His prey had gotten itself tangled in a mess of strings trying to remove her corset. It was a terribly sad sight. He knew she would need some time to grow but he almost wished she were past all the growing already. Sharp fingernails plucked at the corset, loosening it almost immediately. The moment he had loosened the garment she ripped it off her body and began a childish tempertatrum. He narrowed his eyes at the girl when he noticed tears well up at her eyes. She went to wipe them away but the scent of her weakness made him want to gag. Waiting for her to grow up more hard then he expected. So many raw emotions that needed to harden. She darted past him and into the privacy of her bathroom. 

"Foolish child."

No compulsion tore at him to help her, and he would resist lest it was a direct order. Helping her would just sow weakness, and weakness was not something he would tolerate in his prey. No, she would be forced to handle this herself, she would be forced to harden her heart against emotion, learn to be strong. Otherwise, death would come far too swiftly for her. He left, disappearing in an instant, back to the kitchen. He pulled out the meat from the oven, cutting it into sized pieces, the noodles taken off the burner and mixed with a pasty sauce, the vegetables dried, stirring it all together in a dish that filled the house with an absolutely amazing smell. Served on a silver tray, with a glass of fine wine, he knocked on her study door.

"Mistress. Dinner is served. Shall you take it at your desk? And, when the time is amenable to you, I have dossiers for staff for you to review."

There was a pause before he heard the shuffling of papers being set down. 

"No. I would like to take dinner in the dining room." came her gentle call. 

He immediately turned on his heels and went to the dining room arranging the tray of food on the table for the young girl. He hadn't expected her to want this room and so he quickly, quicker than any human could, went to the garden cut some fresh flowers and arranged them in a vase and set them on the table before her. 

She came down not too much later, a tired look on her face, she sat at the table and looked over the meal in front of her. She made no comments but a distant look came over her eyes. She silently began to eat. The house was very silent, not a single noise but the click of her fork on the porcelain plate. 

Jacques didn't care much and wouldn't even begin to understand why the silence would be problematic to the girl. He slipped to his office, finished signing the last few pages and then brought the dossier back to the dining room, laying them down on the table beside her. 

She immediately turned her attention to the stack of papers and began flipping through them. 

The Dossier were arranged by order of importance:

On top, Sakaya Kuchiki, "Tutor/Strategist" a beautiful woman with silver hair;

Then, Takashi Madarame, "Doctor/Tutor", a handsome Oriental man with glasses;

Tina Madarame was next, "Chamberlain" next to it, a green-haired girl with a smile as large as her breasts;

Under her, Kubi Tsuru, "Captain of the Guard", a massive mountain of the man with mischevious eyes;

Luna Baker, "Head Maid", a blue-haired girl who looked almost confused;

Marissa Gonzalez, "Assistant Head Maid", what appeared to be a ... cat-girl?

And the final two were Daru and Darrien Kasumi'oji, one long haired the other short, both red and glaring at each other, "Guards"

As she finished flipping the pages over a second time to ensure she remembered what everything was, she gave a soft smile to him that didn't quite reach her eyes. 

"This looks all very well and accurate. You must have some background in manor staffing, though some of it seems more fit for a king, Do we really need a head guard? I can't remember I'd my father had one of those."

"I'm glad you approve. Each a master in their field, they will be the core of our staff that ensures everything runs as smooth as silk. Do not fret, mistress, a head guard will ensure no more manor burning happens again."

Sapphire's face tightened a bit at the remark. Most likely thinking about the logistics of her being the head now not her father. It was good she needed to learn she was not any old man taking the family and eventual throne. She was a woman and guaranteed to be resisted. 

She dropped her eyes down to her food. She had eaten a small portion of the dish. He had seen her pick up her fork and take a micro bit nearly a dozen times. 

"I believe I should get to bed now. I'm tired more than anything, the food is delicious. I am simply exhausted." She said with a sigh. 

"If you want to start tomorrow off strong you should eat at least a few pieces of the meat. You humans rely heavily on the chemical protein in it." There he was again. Mothering the girl like he was her parent. She had best become worth it. Mothering was not in his job description. 

She frowned at him, took her fork and ate a chunk of meat, chewing it slowly. Then taking another bite she chewed a bit faster and then looked up at him. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the girl and instead nodded. It was good enough. She wiped her mouth and then pushed her chair out. 

"Goodnight." she called to him as she spun on her heel and practically ran from the room and her meal.

A razor of a smile appeared on his face; were he human, he might be upset that she did not eat his food. A demon's feelings weren't so easily injured. Rather, he wondered at the waste this was. How could it be that humans ruled this world when they wasted so damn much? Hmm. With a little hindsight, perhaps this was his fault. s**t. As her steward, he should have known she was upset, then stayed with something light. 

Oh, well. She's human, if she were hungry, she would eat.

He put aside such thoughts and prepared for the arrival of the new staff. Heading back to his office with the approved dossier.