Chapter Three

Evan followed the maid's steps leading to the dining room. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop to marvel at each little detail the manor had to offer, he made out beautiful paintings by unknown artists hanging on the panel walls, exotic flowers and bushes planted in opulent ceramic vases every-which-way, impressive sculptures of renascent style at the end of each hallway and regal ottoman carpets. But as stated before, he would have liked to stop to contemplate them more carefully —he'd have time for that later on nonetheless; after all, he was going to be Lady Gabrielle's husband soon.

They arrived in the dining room. Four unfamiliar faces smiled at him. The fifth one was Gabrielle, who was sketching a stunning toothy grin. Her hair was tied into a braided updo and she was dressing a short rose gold chiffon dress. If Evan wasn't gay he'd have definitely fallen head over heels for her…

The man at the head seat was probably Lord Stefano, he had ash blonde hair fading into gray hair and it was combed backward with some strands of bangs standing out his forehead's sides, and a gray padlock beard adorned the surroundings of his smiley mouth. On his left and next to Gabrielle, a woman who he assumed was Lady Caterina was sitting; she had wavy auburn hair cut in a bob haircut and sun-kissed skin, almond eyes just like her daughter's, but hers were of a hazel shade of green, while Gabrielle's were honey brown, Evan thought she must have had inherited them from her father; nonetheless, she was smiling with pristine white teeth and politely waving at him. On Lord Stefano's right, his two oldest sons. If Evan remembered correctly, Gabrielle's oldest brother was called David, and the middle sibling was Pablo. David looked like a clone of his father, only that the color of his eyes was inherited from his mother. And Pablo had definitely inherited everything from Caterina, from his skin tone to the shape and color of his eyes, and even his wavy auburn hair nonchalantly tied into a short ponytail; he was certainly a male version of Caterina… There was something off about Pablo's smile, though, as if his smile were wicked or forced.

"Evan, son, please take a seat! You can pick the one you're the most comfortable with, we give little importance to etiquette here." Lord Stefano exclaimed with an affable voice.

Evan could have sworn he heard Pablo snorting.

"Thank you very much, My Lord." He managed to reply, his freckled face going beet red in anxiety.

"Oh, please, you're soon going to be my son-in-law, feel free to call me just Stefano!" The Lord said, making a gesture with his hand to try and make his title carry a bit less of weight.

He picked the seat at the other end of the table. Being a table for ten people, he'd have more space for himself that way (in other words, he'd have an easier time to calm down and breathe in case something went wrong).

"Have you ever tried Valencian paella, Evan? Of course, we don't have Valencian waters here so we can't make an exact replica, but Avevian paella is just as good if not better." Lady Caterina asked, her voice was clear and pleasant to hear.

"I haven't ever tried Valencian paella, My Lady, but I'm pretty sure any food from Avevia will taste good." He swallowed as a small group of maids came into the dining room with many feast plates.

"Oh, sweetie, I'll ask for the same as my husband, you can just call me Caterina. 'My Lady' makes me feel so old and I'm only fifty one." She giggled graciously.

A large stewpan was placed in the middle of the table. Then, four other plates were placed next to it in a vertical row, two by Evan's seat, two by Stefano's seat. Evan made out ham with honey glazed carrots and mashed potatoes, a large shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon accompanied with noisette fries and creamed spinach with cornbread. He wondered if what was in the stewpan was the famous Avevian paella.

"Now, Magalí, can you tell our guest of honour what the Avevian paella consists of?" Lady Caterina asked one of the maids.

The maid called Magalí stepped forward and began speaking.

"Of course, My Lady. The Avevian paella includes diced red catfish, hake and albacore tuna, aromatic long rice spiced with sweet paprika and laurel, a selection of vegetables such as onions, spring onions, bell peppers, beans, and lentils, carefully boiled with chopped garlic for just a bit more than an hour. Not close to the traditional paella everyone knows of, but a perfect taste can be guaranteed."

Lady Caterina nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well explained, Magalí." She said with a solemn voice. "Now, you may please serve us the food, ladies."

The maids began walking around the dining room with haste. Evan's plate was the soup type, and so was everyone's apparently, so he assumed the main dish was going to be the paella.

"Evan, please feel free to tell the maid serving you what other dish you would fancy." Lord Stefano said as he put a napkin in his collared shirt to prevent it from getting stained.

"S-Sure, thank you very much, Sir." He stuttered, seeing so much hustle exasperated him. "Um… Miss?" He called the maid who was about to take his plate away and fill it with paella.

"Yes, My Lord?" She asked.

Evan flushed. He was still not a lord! Trying to fight back the urge to correct her, he replied:

"Can I have some shrimp as well?"

"Of course, My Lord, that's an excellent choice, by the way: shrimp go well with the paella's sweet paprika." She replied politely.

She moved to the center of the table and began serving the asked-for food. Evan tried his best to not cover up his face. Part of him still didn't want to accept he was going to marry a noblewoman, to give up on his actual preferences. But that wasn't everything: it would be a bit inappropriate to claim a title that is not entirely yours yet, right...?

The sound of cutlery and the scent of good food filled the environment. The Martís were a noble family, they had way more personnel than his family back in Derbyshire; while they had two maids and a gardener, Evan counted six maids here, and they must have had the same amount of butlers, maybe more than a gardener, and security staff as well. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to having even more luxuries than he already had before.

"So, Evan, have you heard there's going to be a gala party at the palace tomorrow night? To celebrate Prince André and Lady Madeline's engagement. We were expecting you to ask Gabrielle formally to be your date." David said.

Evan and Gabrielle crossed stares, both clearly embarrassed.

"David! We've talked about this already, don't pressure him so much!" She exclaimed. Her voice was sweet and delicate, not something Evan would like in all honesty…

But suddenly the ambience turned quite uncomfortable. Pablo chuckled, and the maids finished up placing the cutlery, disappearing quickly as lightning after subtle and nimble bows. Sepulchral silence invaded the room. All of the five pairs of eyes fixated on Evan expectantly. Evan wished the Earth could eat him whole more than ever.

Evan swallowed heavily.

"Lady Gabrielle…" He adjusted the collar of his shirt in excessive anxiety. "Would you like to… be my d-date for tomorrow's gala?" He finished his sentence holding his breath, his entire face going red.

Gabrielle smiled widely at him.

"Of course I would." She replied with shiny eyes, not loud enough to exclaim but cheerfully enough to make it clear she was glad that he asked in that specific way.

Evan let out a heavy yet surreptitious sigh, exhaling that awkward moment away.

The rest of the meal went normally, Lord Stefano and Lady Caterina asked him questions about life in Derbyshire, what he was studying before he got engaged with Gabrielle. Gabrielle and David highlighting things they knew of already and being curious about some other things they may have not known of yet. Pablo remained silent on the other hand. Evan wondered if he didn't like him or if he was simply a bit reluctant about being brothers-in-law still.

When most of the feast was gone (who would have thought that Lord and Lady Martí could eat that much!) and the maids returned, carefully picking everything up, Lord Stefano said something that somehow cheered Evan up:

"Listen, son, music is something that was part of Belle all throughout her life. We understand the importance it can have in some people's lives, and we want to make you feel sure that we won't take that passion of yours away." He asserted solemnly. "You can keep studying music distantly or in any place you want after the wedding, we support and encourage you in the path you chose." He smiled warmly at him.

Evan felt like bursting out in tears at that moment. His father was always too bossy, distant and disapproving, always expecting him to become a renowned politician, businessman or surgeon, only bragging about his artistic skills on formal dinners with colleagues or Christmas nights with the rest of the family… How he wished he could have parents like Lord and Lady Martí throughout his life… Maybe with parents like them coming out of the closet wouldn't have been that hard or scary as he had always thought it was.

"Thank you very much, Sir. I really don't know what to say about it, it'd be a dream come true to me." He smiled shyly, but politely enough to demonstrate gratitude.

"There is nothing to thank us for, Evan. Now, everyone, feel free to return to your chambers, tomorrow is certainly going to be a busy day."