The Villainess Doesn't Want to Deal With This Shit

Chapter 5- The Impending Doom of a Family Visit

I took to wearing gloves after that day. I told anyone who asked that it was because I admired my mother's gloves so much, and they swallowed the lie with fond expressions.

My mother even took me out glove shopping, getting me almost every set in the shop. It was torture, but she looked so pleased that I couldn't stop her. I gifted a few sets of high quality gloves to Katherine, and told her they were a gift for how well she took care of me. I even made sure to include a pair that were water repelling to wear while she was helping me wash. She wore them proudly at all times, which meant she no longer came in contact with my bare skin at all, much to my immense relief.

Gloves actually became a trend in the manor. Butlers already wore them at all times, but the maids followed Katherine's example. Katherine informed me that they actually protected their hands from the daily damage that came with cleaning.

The reason for the gloves remained wrapped around my wrist, hidden under the sleeves of my dresses.

I briefly, very briefly, entertained the thought of killing Obsidian to reabsorb the power he contained, but even the brief flickering of the idea made me nauseous. It wasn't his fault that power resided in us. That night I snuck out to the garden to catch a fat mouse for him in silent apology. The snake ate it with gusto, and I hoped that meant I was forgiven.

I let the matter rest. There was no way for me to ethically test if I did have Creeping Vine, after all.

It would have been nice if there was someone around that I could talk about this with.

My days fell into a pattern after that, filled with lessons that were either on stuffy, upper class topics like etiquette and dancing, or things I already knew like mathematics and languages.

My lessons with Mr. Varen were a balm on my bored soul.

We weren't allowed to have practical lessons yet, as young children couldn't control their magic reliably and might cause untold damage. Of course, I was secretly an adult, so I practiced on my own. No one needed to know that, though.

But Mr. Varen kept it interesting anyway, lectures on the uses and ranks of magic interspersed with stories and legends about long dead magicians and their familiars. He had a talent for storytelling.

Each week, when we settled into our lessons, Katherine looked more and more reluctant to leave. I wondered what was more interesting to her, the forbidden knowledge, or the handsome young man it came from.

Well, either way it was up to them to figure that out. I had enough on my plate, I didn't want to deal with other people's romances.

"So dogs are both offensive and defensive?" I asked, glancing over at Ruger doubtfully. He was currently rolling around in the grass, tongue lolling. That seemed to be a lot of responsibility to put on his shoulders. Mr. Varen followed my gaze and laughed at the ridiculous pup. His own dog, Taro, just huffed from where he was laying in an almost pointedly dignified manner at our feet.

"You acted just like that when you were a puppy, don't pretend." Mr. Varen said, and I turned to him.

"What?"

"Sorry, I was talking to Taro. He was... being unkind." He nudged the small dog gently with his foot in recrimination. Taro shot him a pitifully wounded look.

Taro was being unkind? "Oh! Right, familiars can talk in our heads!" Mine were still a while away from being able to talk with me, but Mr. Varen and Taro had been together much longer.