The butler had been gone for several days, now. He would be returning by the end of the week. Nothing much had happened in his absence; the young Master had gotten ill and was still attempting to recover. Eleanora was sitting in her room, staring moodily at her left arm. It had started to heal and the symbol of the contract was coming back. She wondered if she could ever somehow manage to get it off. Probably not.
She sighed and wrapped her arms around her head. She was not looking forward to seeing the demon again. She still couldn't forget what the priest had told her—that demons were horrible, unfeeling monsters who sullied young women for fun…Naturally she could assume all that on her own, but just hearing it from a real expert made it worse.
Her eye fell on the big black book that the Undertaker had given her. She hadn't even opened it yet. Maybe it could help her—give her some information on how to assuage a lustful demon or something; maybe teach her how to properly beg for mercy when the demon would come and kill her…which it would undoubtedly try to do at some point.
She picked up the book and opened it to a random page. It was blank. She flipped to another page—blank as well.
"What the hell?" she thought, turning to the very first page. "Who gives someone a perfectly blank book?"
But she vaguely recalled seeing printed pages when she flipped through it the first time. Where did it all go?
The first page had answers:
How to use (it said): This volume contains everything a recently-married human woman might need or want to know about demons. Say out loud what you want to know to the book, or whisper it into its spine. The book can also read questions, but usually too many thoughts go through a person's mind for the book to clearly distinguish them. It's safer to ask the question out loud. This book contains information only about demons and will not answer any questions that might not in any way relate to them.
"Is this a joke?" Eleanora thought. "How can a book possibly read minds?"
She thought about demons—what she knew about them, what she feared about them, what question she should ask the book and turned the page.
She was sure that it was blank, but now it had something written on it: Demonical Consent.
"I guess that that was what was mostly on my mind," she thought and read the page:
Demons, like all of the unholy, consider intimacy to be one of the purest ways to show affection for another person. Therefore, it is a very important, sacred act that both members need to agree to beforehand in order to make the experience as wonderful and as loving as it is considered to be. Forcing intimacy is incredibly taboo and is one of the very few approved reasons for divorce. Demons who force intimacy on another person—no matter the relation—are usually ostracized, if not killed.
"I can't believe I'm believing an unholy book," Eleanora thought, but as much as she hated to admit it, she felt comforted. She turned the page, thinking that maybe it would give her some more insight, but it was blank. Maybe she had too many questions for the book to read her thoughts.
The book mentioned divorce. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe she could still divorce the demon!
"D-Divorce," she whispered to the book and turned the page. Sure enough, the page's content was all about breaking a marriage.
Divorce is considered shameful in all the unholy races, but probably none more so than the demon. Marriage is a contractual arrangement, and the demons hate nothing more than breaking a contract. Divorce is rarely pardonable, and most people who successfully have a divorce are social exiles. However, there are some scenarios where divorce is allowed:
Forcing intimacy: this is never allowed.
Adultery: Adultery is usually a vampiric issue, as demons consider infidelity as breaking the marriage contract, but on the off-chance that it does happen, after the preliminary tortures, a wronged spouse can pursue divorce.
"Preliminary tortures? These unholies don't screw around, do they?"
Before the appointed Matri Verum date: occasionally, a lovesick contracted master will order their demon to marry them. The demon, naturally, has no choice but to agree. However, the marriage is not considered absolutely legal until the Matri Verum, so divorce is still possible and far easier to accomplish. Some demons have been married more than once to humans, but have easily gotten out of it because they have divorced their spouses before the Matri Verum.
"What the hell's the Matri Verum?" Eleanora thought. "Could I use it as an excuse to get out of this sham?" She was just about to ask the book when she heard the servants downstairs screaming for her; Madam Red had called a doctor for Ciel and he had just arrived.