Celestial Infatuation

Drie: Suspicions

Evelyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she bore the brunt of his stares. She continued to ignore him all the same, what she had been doing for the past few days as she helped Azurel with her painting. Blade had started monitoring the children's activities which inevitable included Evelyn to be subjected to his unwanted presence. She still remembered the conversation from a week ago.

" This is Mr. Blade Astemont, an important member of the council of HOI. He will be here for the next few days to monitor the progress of the children and make sure everything is in accordance with the regulations provided by the Education Board."

Evelyn had not been surprised with Blade's position. She was aware he would end up as an important member of the government like his father but she had no idea he would align himself with the education committee. She was awfully oblivious of his academic prowess. She tensed ever so slightly as she realized she would have to be within his vicinity as well. She fought to keep the rising annoyance and apprehension in check as she bowed politely. "Of course"

Evelyn knew for a fact it was not how the initiation process worked, there had been no monitoring of Sienna's activities before her induction. All she was aware of was the extensive questionnaire that children had to fill up. It revealed their strengths and weakness, aiding in determining their compatibility with the several divisions under the halls of ivy before they were sorted into one.

She was not sure what kind of 'appraisal' was taking place, if any at all. For all he seemed to do ever since he had started visiting them during the afternoon was study her. He rarely interacted with the children, preferring to sit in a secluded corner and stare at her. At first she had thought she was being paranoid but her suspicions had been confirmed when she caught his eyes one day. And he had not looked away. His gleaming eyes had challenged her to command him to look away. In the end Evelyn had looked away, gritting her teeth as a horrible thought had sinked in.

He was not there for the children at all.

He was there to mess with her head.

And so she had started ignoring his presence, something she was honorably commendable at. She could feel when his gaze intensified; it felt akin to someone burning a hole at the back of her head. She had caught him during one of his fervent staring sessions. He had been deep in thought, trying to assess something about her with a determined expression.

She wished to bring the matter into light before someone, anyone. But it seemed unlikely they would do anything about it. Technically, he wasn't doing anything wrong or hindering her regular activities. Nonetheless, it was distracting. She tried her luck one fine day, after almost a week of sitting through the same thing. Blade was in a conversation with Mr. Raystar, the father of the children, about something she particularly did not care about and that was when she found her opening

" Sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if I could review the reports of the appraisal. Stephen has been quite excited about it" She lied effortlessly, in the politest tone she could muster up. Stephen never got excited over anything that had to do with the halls of ivy and shared the aggravation she felt towards the brooding, blond man.

Not that the said man had to be aware of it.

Blade shot her a pointed look. He knew what she was doing. Even Mr. Raystar seemed interested. Evelyn only gave him a perfectly carved innocent look. Blade cleared his throat "The assessment results are incomplete at the moment. I will present them soon"

Evelyn did not get to celebrate her little victory. She had thought that she had hit the nail right on the head so when he actually slapped down a file on the dining table where she was helping Anna, she was taken aback.