Infernal Academia

Chapter 30 - Suyas' Big Day: Part 5 (Maternal Ruminations)

It was six in the morning, and yet Cobalt lay wide-awake, staring at the darkened ceiling.  He had been at the Sulfur Blood compound - Inferno, as Lorenzo had so aptly named it - and yet he still couldn't get to grips with his situation.

Marriage.  To his student.

It was completely and utterly ridiculous.  How could it not be?  He had known Izzbelle for all of three months; he was barely just on a first name basis with her.  Yes, they had been through some rather unique circumstances together, but that still wasn't reason enough for him to be seen as marriage material.  

Another thing that bothered him was Lorenzo Suyas' reasoning for choosing Cobalt as a suitable husband for his daughter.  Traditionally, Oni spouses were chosen by merit of their strength alone; everything else came second.  In that regard, the Incubus definitely wasn't qualified.  He was far from a confrontational man, forever preferring to fight with his words rather than his fists.  He was fairly short and scrawny for a man his age as well.  Lorenzo's talk of a "strong bloodline" just made no sense.

The third thing that worried Cobalt was Izzbelle herself.  It was clear to anyone around that she was far from happy with this arrangement - even less so than he was - and she made no effort to hide it.  The Oni was doing everything in her power to disrupt the preparations for the wedding, and seemed to spend most of her free time out in the training ring or down in the common room, drinking herself senseless.

"She really doesn't like me, does she...?" he mumbled miserably, sitting up in his bed.

Well, to call it a bed was a bit of an overstatement.  Lorenzo had initially intended for Cobalt to share a bed with Izzbelle, but that idea obviously went up in flames.  Literally.

After a night spent freezing half to death in the hallway, it was Corris who suggested that he take some spare sheets and pillows in order to form a makeshift bed on the floor.  Though the young heiress still wasn't happy about him being in her room, she allowed it, so long as he didn't look at her, make a noise, or even breathe.

Perfectly reasonable demands.

When Izzbelle finally fell asleep, however - fists still clenched as she snored - the Incubus was finally afforded the opportunity to look around her bedroom.  He was of course curious to know more about her, but he mostly used the time to try and calm himself down, and hopefully think of a way out of this predicament.

"Can't just run..." Cobalt murmured to himself, tugging at his collar as he slowly padded around the darkened bedroom.

It was a large chamber, one that took up a sizable chunk of the main hall's second floor.  The floor was covered in soft straw mats, and a smouldering fireplace was set into the far wall.  All around the room, shelves had been hand-crafted from rough wood, each full to bursting with Izzbelle's belongings.  One entire shelf was filled with athletic trophies from various martial arts and shotput competitions, while another displayed an impressive collection of handmade hatchets.  Over by a desk covered in ripped paper and empty bottles, a complete encyclopedia stood proudly, covered in a dust and completely unread.

"Can't cut the collar, either..."

The far side of the room - where Cobalt had set up his meagre sleeping area - seemed to be almost entirely dedicated to personal training, complete with weights, a punching bag and a bench.  Though he had slept fairly well for the most part, there was something about having so many pieces of heavy iron surrounding his bed that terrified him.

As the Incubus took in his surroundings, a thunderous snore rumbled from the huge double bed, across the room.  It was a mess of blankets, pillows and what appeared to be a bear pelt, upon which slept the unceremonious form of Izzbelle Suyas, his unwilling bride-to-be.  Dressed in sweat stained nightclothes, she growled and grunted in her sleep, fists balled and brow furrowed.  Even as she slumbered, she was furious.