Swapped Fate

12: An Agreeable Fiend is a Suspicious Fiend.

Mr. Adrian emphasized that we were to keep mum about the goblin incident. I believe his exact words were, “Not a word of this incident to my family. No need to cause worry for something that has been handled.”

That was yesterday, and yesterday’s problem. Today produced another problem. A problem that unlike yesterday’s, was not the Devereux family’s burden to carry, but mine. That problem was Jennifer’s demand to meet Tristan Devereux as a condition to her accepting the trial period deal.

Madam. Bloody. Felicity.

While Lea and I ran around hunting goblins, Madam Felicity paid a visit to dear old Jennifer and somehow convinced her that I was better off staying in a luxurious home with the wealthy. How did she manage to convince her, you ask? With her health and our house, I answer.

I knew wealth was power, but I hadn’t dreamed it would affect me to this extent! The bright side was that if Jennifer agreed to the deal, we wouldn’t have to pay rent anymore, for Madam Felicity would buy us the bungalow and have the title transferred in our names.

Plus, she offered Jennifer a three-month stay at Olive Centre—a rehabilitation centre in Gauren, one of the Elven Isles. It was highly famous for its top-notch physicians with great healing prowess, and thus, it was renowned for being able to cure all kinds of injuries and ailments. If Jennifer underwent treatment there for three months, her wrists and back would be healed—courtesy of the Devereux bill.

As the Madam told me this with cheer and triumph yesterday, shock was the only emotion I could register. She had answers for every ‘what if’ scenario I came up with until I was dehydrated for questions. My suspicions about the goblin attack were long forgotten as I was faced with a new bigger, more dreadful problem.

If Jennifer approved of Tristan Devereux, my fate was sealed.

And that explained my grumpiness today. Madam Felicity, Lea, the fiend and I were all going to meet Jennifer at a high-end cafe known as Tall Glass, and I couldn’t have had a heavier premonition befall me about the situation; more so because something was terribly off with the fiend today. He was being...agreeable.

It all started when we met in the dining room for breakfast, and he said words which set off warning bells in my head. The words were ‘Good morning.’

Good morning.

Good morning?

Good morning from a man who was seconds away from blowing my head off two nights ago! Good morning, my foot! All he got in return was my guard shooting up instantly.

The next eerie thing he did that screamed ‘ALERT’ was agree to share a carriage with me on our way to Tall Glass. That one made me stumble back and nearly collapse from shock. He loathed me as much as I loathed him, and could not stand the sight of me, yet he accepted his mother’s request to share a carriage with me? What a load of horsepoo. I was having none of it.

“You must be deranged if you think I’m sharing a carriage with you,” I asserted, scowling at my enemy. He stood beside me with his hands clasped behind his back, his dodgy face packed with mischief. That impish look told me he was up to no good.

“I’m not the one who requested we share, fraudster,” was his calm smug reply. His eyes trailed towards the cloudy sunless sky, and the brightness in them was a contrast to the dull melancholy weather this morning.

I turned away from him to face the real culprit. “Madam Felicity, I cannot share a coach with this--” I held my tongue before I spat out colourful nicknames. “—person who is your son.”

Beside me, the fiend chuckled.

“Oh dear, it’s only a carriage ride,” Madam Felicity said in a dismissive tone. Her arm was linked with Lea’s, who smiled at me.