Devils' Banquet

Martin silently glared at his guest, his eyes were hidden under bags, however, Eugene could feel the pressure that forced him to act. Eugene, though, did not say a thing, instead he tried to avert his gaze, which provoked a dissatisfied snort from the house owner. Martin gave up on the man and titled his head to the right. The man reached towards his pocket and took out a cigar and a lighter, that glimmered in silver under the light of the chandelier. The lighter contained a small knife hidden in its corpus. With this knife, Martin cut the cap off and finally made the tobacco infused inhale.

"Perhaps, art does not interest you, young man. Where do you work?" suddenly asked Martin, to which Eugene carefully replied, "At a café, sir."

Martin snorted once again and walked away from Eugene, puffing the cigar without any coughs. Before departing the corridor he came from, he faced Sylvia once again and said, "You are free to entertain yourself as you like outside this household, however, better keep your toys away from here."

Upon hearing his words, both Sylvia and Eugene narrowed their brows, although their spoken words differed.

Eugene said, "Hey, what do you mean by toy!?" and Sylvia added, "You are the last person I would like to hear it from, go away at once!"

Martin stopped, skipped over Sylvia with his glare, and faced Eugene. After taking a puff while shaking his head, Martin smiled faintly and said, "Do not think you are special, boy. You are nothing but a mean to entertain the beast. I would recommend you departing at once before it mauled you."

The scenery blooming in front of Eugene took him aback. Martin's words were just mildly annoying for the man, in the end, Arnold contained a much fouler mouth than the nobleman in front of him. But the one who surprised him was Sylvia, for the first time, he witnessed her biting her own lip. She was gazing at her own father with contempt and fury, but kept her lousy mouth shut. Never before he saw her that powerless. At one point, he realized that the one Martin called "beast" was Sylvia, which further confused him. How could a father describe his daughter so indecently? Their family dynamic was far from what he witnessed throughout his life. Even the words Arnold called him occasionally, such as "idiot" or "moron", although offensive, but were used in the heat of argument or discipline, not so casually and cynically, as in this situation.

Sylvia's fury at this point was understandable to Eugene, and he was about to reveal his own opinion regarding this prejudice, however, they were disturbed by a sudden appearance of another person. The voice of a woman, soft like feathers of a peacock, with a slight hint of maturity and mystery, stated, "Seems like the lost lamb is still present here, I wonder which path brought it to such a place."

All three turned their heads towards the dim hallway, from where a silhouette was slowly moving towards the room. Shadows slowly slid away from the woman, revealing her extravagant dress of gold and white, reminiscent of her hair and skin. The light odour of her perfume was able to battle on an equal footing against the reek of Martin's cigar and her green eyes shined with dim light either from the chandelier or her own essence of life. Her presence overpowered even that of their maid Cossette, who stood beside her lady, bowing lightly.

It was a bizarre sight, she looked like Sylvia. Like droplets of water, these two women were standing in front of him and glaring at each other. One could mistake this woman for another daughter of the la Avise household, however, her status was made clear by words Sylvia murmured upon the arrival of this gal.

"Victoria…"

Indeed, the woman who barged into their conversation was the lady of the la Avise household and mother of Sylvia, Victoria la Avise. She ignored her daughter's call and instead peculiarly observed Eugene.

"Why are you keeping silence, dear visitor? Is it not a bit rude to not present yourself to the housekeeper?" She wondered with a smile that was formed only by the lips but nothing else.

Eugene instinctively bowed his head like the maid did earlier and finally spoke, "My apologies, madame Victoria, my name is Eugene Dagaz. I am Sylvias friend-"

"Friend?" she interrupted him while giggling, "Thats an interesting word to describe an acquaintance of our family. May I ask you what kind of friendship are you two practising?"

"That's enough!" suddenly exclaimed Sylvia, who stood in between Eugene and Victoria. She was first facing her mother, but then immediately turned to Eugene with an expression shining with desperation. "You should leave, Eugene. Now!"

"My, my, look at how ringing your voice can be, young lady. Why being so secretive about your "friends"? Also, is it not natural for a mother to be worried about her daughter? I would not want you to partake in nefarious circles" Answered Victoria with a mocking smile.

Now though, it was Martin who spoke and supported Sylvia's idea, "We were not ready for the guests today indeed. I am flustered by your visit, young fellow, but you must leave."

Eugene looked at Sylvia, but his eyes were blocked by Martin's body, who was already holding the man's shoulder, trying to escort him out of the house. But Eugene was stiff and moved only when Martin applied force. Eugene heard him snorting, however, it was the least of his problem. He did not lie when he said that Sylvia is a friend of his. Their relationship had been rough as of recently, but there still was a word he could describe them. Finally, the man opened his mouth and proudly said, "Me and Sylvia… are rivals."

At once, Martin stopped pushing the man and took a few steps back to take a better look at the man's face. It was comical to see all those people of high status silently scratch their head in confusion from Eugene's words. Even though, childish, but he had his reasoning to call Sylvia a rival. It was not only due to their back and forth in coffee brewing they occasionally have at Monso Rooster. They used to be partners in solving crimes, but right now, their reasoning was split, making a perfect detective duo work separately. Of course, it was previously Sylvia who lead the investigations in both Paris and in his hometown, but Eugene felt that he had an edge regarding "Phantom Cormorant's" case with the information he received from his acquaintance. And thus he decided to declare Sylvia his rival. Although, this reasoning made perfect sense in his head, it was certainly a delirious thing to say for everyone else present.

"Rival!? Have you gone mad?" wondered Sylvia.

"Did you have a drink today, boy? Other way that's a peculiar word to describe friendship." raised his brow Martin.

"Peculiar you say?" giggled Victoria, "Amusing to say the least! So amusing! To think someone would call themselves a rival of the saint. So silly, so reckless! Yet… so classy… Very well, why do not you stay for lunch, young man?"

Eugene did not expect for them to be so stunned by his words, but his words sure left an impression, thus he accepted the offer with dignity. Sylvia sorrowfully gazed at him, took the book from the table that she was reading earlier and rushed into the hallway past her parents. Martin followed her, but Victoria remained in the room to observe the visitor. She did not ask any questions nor tried to start a dialogue, just stood there and smiled

Eugene gulped and timidly said, "Excuse me, but where can I put my jacket? I did not see the cupboard in the lobby."

Victoria nodded and silently pointed at the door that was hid behind a palm tree in a pot. He understood the gesture and swiftly left the room, thanking lady of the house. With him, however, in came the maid, Cossette. She was the one to open the door with her keys and let the man inside the room. He noticed how Victoria blankly followed him with her gaze all the way until the door was fully closed, which gave him shivers. 

What a strange woman - he thought and looked around inside the unfamiliar room. It was a wardrobe and quite spacious one, with some doors closed and some opened, revealing suits of many colours. Although Eugene was not knowledgeable about their branding, he could tell that quite a few of them must have been expensive. But then he noticed a collection of similar suits, like the one Vincent, their butler, was wearing. Cossette took the initiative and took off the jacket from the man. Eugene did not resist and let the woman do her job.

"How tiresome…" murmured Cossette, while opening a half-empty cupboard.

"I am sorry, can I help you anyhow?"

Cossette jumped up and turned to Eugene in horror, but after seeing a guest she sighed with relieve and mumbled, "Please, do not scare me like that…"

"I am sorry?" raised his brow Eugene, to which Cossette asked quietly, "Are you really a friend of the young lady?"

"I would say yes."

She closed the cupboard and smiled at the man, but soon enough, this smiled faded away, and she said, "The food will be served soon. Hopefully you will not regret this decision."

Eugene raised his brow, but was not able to ask any question, since the maid quickly departed from the room. He tried to follow her, but upon exiting the room was stopped by Sylvia, who waited for him.

"I will lead you to the dining room, the food is about to be set."

"Roger that!" giggled Eugene, whilst Sylvia sighed and turned her back to the man. Together they went deeper into the household in silence. Eugene was observing outstanding architecture and decorations of the hallways and rooms, but Sylvia was blankly going forward. Her head was slightly bowed and hands crossed until they reached the dining room. The centre of the dining room was occupied by a huge rectangular table. Each side of the table was occupied by the housekeepers, Martin and Victoria.

Eugene rubbed his chin, reasoning on whether he should sit closer to the lady or the man of the house, but Sylvia did not give him any option and sat him right in the middle. He was about to complain of the awkward positioning, but then noticed the gaze of Victoria, which was shortly after hidden by Sylvia's silhouette. She sat beside him.

"Keep your friends close, but rivals closer. Right, Sylvia?" cackled Victoria.

"Today we will have a meal with stuffed mussels, lobster mornay and crème brûlée for dessert. Hopefully you do not mind seafood, boy." said Martin with indifference in both tone and manner. He was not even looking at Eugene, who, though, was unshaken by such negligence.

"Not at all, in fact, I quite enjoy seafood." lied Eugene while holding his excitement back. He rarely had an opportunity to have a taste of gifts from the sea, thus he was quite eager to have a taste of it. He was not a peckish eater anyway as long as the meal did not include beetroot. This plant was the only food that disgusted him.

For a while, the table was empty of any dishes, which luckily did not last for long. In around 3 minutes after they had sat around the table, the chef arrived with his hands occupied with plates of food. The chef was quite chubby and old looking, Eugene was concerned that these plates were having a toll on his body. He nearly stood up to help the man, but was abruptly stopped by Sylvia, who pushed him back to the chair by his sleeve. His attempt, though, was noticed by both Martin and Victoria, they observed him like wolves, as if the man was some kind of deer. Moreover, Sylvia also squinted at him, putting even more pressure on the man, forcing him to overthink not twice but thrice his every move.

Luckily, Eugene's help was not necessary, and the experienced chef easily put all the plates at their reserved spots. But it was only two thirds of the dining table. After a second, right behind the chef, Cossette came forward with fewer plates. And despite her face being blank, Eugene could tell she is having troubles with carrying everything. The chef also noticed this problem and quickly took one of the hefts, and together they put the remaining dishes on the table. There were 3 large plates, 2 on both sides of the table and one in the middle, and 6 smaller plates, which were placed between them.

The chef opened all of them, one by one, revealing the sweet and salty odour of the sea along with glittering lobster carcass and its insides mixed with mushy and cheesy substance; reminiscent of a chess board, mussels in black shells and puffy and creamy, white insides; and last but not least, small cups filled with crème brûlée along with an assorty of berries. Afterwards, the chef slid away from the table and, without muttering a word, stood in the corner, just like Cossette but in an opposing one.

Martin was still staring at Eugene, not letting the man get loose on the meal. The one to save him from this torture of modesty was Sylvia, who snatched a few pieces of mussels and about half of the lobster. Eugene followed her and so did everyone else, taking their share from different plates.

Eugene was shying out a little which caused a misfortune, the creamy and salty taste of mussels were frighteningly classy! Their taste was further enhanced by garlic, olive oil and pleasant fish odour. Such an impression was set only after trying one scoop of it! Eugene wished he had taken more of them. Luckily, he still had a piece of lobster meat on his plate, which was lovely enough to compliment the chef!

"Excuse me, but this is delicious!" exclaimed Eugene, making the chef only blink in confusion and nod.

"You see, our servants are not too talkative, but I am glad you are enjoying the meal." noticed Victoria, her head was a slightly lilted to the side where chef was standing.

Eugene peeked at the chef one more time, and he witnessed the stone-cold grimace that was unwelcoming of any dialogue. Eugene shrugged and instead faced Victoria to further compliment the food.

"Lobster is especially great, I would never guess it had this rich flavour."

"I see, this is your first time having a taste of such shellfish," concluded Victoria and then added, "Seems like Arnold does not spoil you that much."

Eugene raised his brow along with Martin, who asked quietly, "Arnold?"

"Do not you remember this servant, Martin? He is an employer and pretty much a father figure for this fellow."

"Oh, that Arnold, I see." said Martin and glanced at Eugene, who now was staring in disbelief at Victoria. Sylvia noticed his state and was about to say something, but Eugene himself was faster to react.

"What do you mean by my father figure?"

"Is he not?" smirked Victoria, "If a person loses his parents and is raised by a third party, it is fair to consider him a father figure, right? Especially if you lack any good memories of your father by blood. He was quite a cruel lad."

"What are you-" yet again tried to intervene Sylvia, but she was shortly shut by a loudly fallen fork from Eugene's hand and his irritated voice.

"The hell are you talking about!?"

His was gritting his teeth at Victoria, whose smile was hid behind the palm, but was visible through her eyes. One thing was the knowledge of his parent's death, but right now, she violated the memory of his father who was a war veteran. No matter who is in front of him, Eugene will never tolerate the blasphemy towards his family.

Unfortunately, his resolve was shaken off by just one serious glare of a woman, who was certainly lacking both heart and soul. Victoria was looking at him with unusual menace, forcing the young man to sit down as an answer to his primal instincts which were screaming in distress. Immediately, Eugene fell to his most vulnerable state, which was utilised by the wolf, sitting on the left end of the table.

"What exactly are you not understanding, young man? How your dear father was turned into a barbarian? Well, this is fairly simple. War changes people, there are plenty of stories about individuals being violent and irrational as a result of PTSD. Though, you had been too small to remember anything about the cruelties your father committed against his older son and wife. Luckily, you still have your brother and are free to ask about bruises that were left on him from domestic conflicts. It must have been hard to hold in the own rage, when his little brother glorified the man who scared him this deeply. But I am not blaming you, young man. You were hopeful, prideful of your father upon hearing the war stories from Arnold. The stories of glorious battles, friendship on the battlefield as well as pride they had for their country. Alas, all this was sugar-coated farce. In the end, even Arnold turned from a decent fellow into an impulsive old man. Too much blood and tears were spilled at the western front. If you do not believe me, then you are free to ask Arnold himself. He would gladly accept your ear by a cup of coffee." After her monologue, Victoria scooped out the meat and stuffing out of the mussel and ate it in one go, while everyone else remained speechless, "How well did Arnold teach you to make coffee, I wonder? Would not you mind brewing a cup for me?"