Eve all but ran out of Dimitri's room despite his calling after her. She couldn't stand to be in that room, in that situation, a moment longer. It was all too much for her, the idea that Dimitri would think he was in love with her. He knew next to nothing about her, he couldn't possibly love her.
It wasn't as if Eve were opposed to the idea of being loved- in general or by Dimitri. She just knew that now wasn't the time, especially not for the kind of love Dimitri thought he had for her. They still had parts to play, lies to live, and any complications to their relationship would make doing that even harder.
Not to mention Eve still had to figure out what was going on with Felix. Dimitri was right about one thing that she hadn't pushed Felix away when he kissed her even though she should have. Regardless of her own feelings, she was still engaged to marry Dimitri and kissing anyone else didn't look good for any of the parties involved. She hadn't wanted to push Felix away, though, and that was worrisome in and of itself. Eve didn't subscribe to the same brand of foolishness as Dimitri to think she was in love with Felix, but she did certainly take a liking to the Fraldarius heir.
Felix had always been rough around the edges, sometimes downright rude and dismissive. In fact, it had been because of that that Eve had been confident he wouldn't recognise her when she came to the Academy. He never would have taken the time to memorise the face of a servant, of this she had been sure. But in this past month he had taken more notice of her than he had in all his previous seventeen years combined. And though he was still the same crude boy who didn't worry about hurting anyone's feelings, something was different now.
For one, Felix respected Eve. Even before he knew the truth, even before he kissed her, Eve could tell that he had some level of respect for her. He wouldn't speak with her, but he would spar with her. Anyone who knew anything about Felix knew that he traded blows much more often than he traded words, and that if he found you to be a worthy sparring partner that was as close as you'd get to him liking you.
But it was so much more than that, especially now after she had told him about her connection to his house. He had started to open up to her. Sure, he was still abrasive and seemed to get very easily angry with her, but Eve found herself valuing the few words he'd share with her. And she was the only one who could mention Glenn around him without getting a tongue lashing; anyone else would never be able to get a word in edgewise about his brother.
"Get it together." Eve shook her head as she chastised herself.
Thoughts like that had no place in her mind. She didn't need to figure out how she felt about Felix because it didn't matter. At the end of the day she only had two options: disappear from Fodlan or marry Dimitri. There was no space for Felix in either of those options. She had a duty to fulfil. And Eve knew better than anyone the importance of fulfilling one's duty, she had already paid the price once before for turning her back on her designated path.
"I hope you're a good cook 'cause I'm not gonna be much help here." Eve was snapped out of her thoughts by a jovial voice just over her shoulder.
"Sylvain." She started. Deep in thought, she hadn't realised she made it to the kitchen where she was to report for kitchen duty. "Wasn't Ingrid supposed to have kitchen duty today?"
"Yeah," Sylvain laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "but Ingrid said something or another about owing her, so I'm taking over today."
"Why's that?" Eve quirked an eyebrow up, happy for the distraction from her own thoughts.
"I guess it's not uncommon for girls to think Ingrid's my girlfriend or something." Sylvain shrugged. "She said she's had to put up with one too many jealous girls from town squabbling about whose man I am, so… kitchen duty."
Sylvain gestured noncommittally to punctuate his point before throwing a lopsided grin in Eve's direction. She snorted in response, the hints of a smile tugging the corners of her mouth upwards.
"Come on." Sylvain goaded as he rolled up his sleeves to help with the prep work. "Don't be shy, give us a smile. I bet you'd look so much prettier."
"Then it's a good thing I'm not concerned with looking any prettier." Eve said before adding with a mischievous grin, "I've got to give the other girls around here a fighting chance, haven't I?"
"You know, you're not so bad." Sylvain mused, peeling carrots over a bucket of other food scraps.
"Funny how that happens." Eve replied sarcastically. "When you give people a chance rather than judging them on your own preconceptions, sometimes they turn out to not be so bad. I thought you of all people would understand that."
"Okay, yeah, I owe you an apology." Sylvain watched Eve carefully out of the corner of his eye, fully expecting her to be angry with him. But he was instead surprised to see that her demeanour held an air of amusement.
"Perhaps you can apologise by taking over my kitchen duty." Eve suggested, not looking up from the herbs she was mincing though her lips formed a playful smirk.
"Oh, come on!" Sylvain cried out, stopping his peeling to look at Eve. "Triple kitchen duty? That's absolute torture. Not just for me but imagine all the poor people who will have to eat food I made!"
"I'm joking." Eve let out a hearty laugh, one only Dimitri had been privy to before now. "I've got an idea how you can apologise to me. And we can kill two birds with one stone."
"I like the way that sounds." Sylvain grinned at her. He was amazed how easy Eve was to talk to. Sylvain had expected her to be solemn and closed off. But talking to her now he realised she was mischievous and dare he even say playful.
"You can take me for dinner on the town sometime." Eve offered. "Somewhere nice, though. I won't let you cheap me out on an apology date."
"Only the best for the future Queen of Faerghus." Sylvain grinned cheekily.
"I get a nice meal as an apology," Eve gestured with a wave of her hand, "and while we're out maybe some girls in town will see us together. And they can start bothering me instead of Ingrid, so you don't have to take Ingrid's kitchen duty anymore."
"Sounds like you've got a deal on your hands." Sylvain wiped his hand on his trouser leg before extending it towards Eve. She glanced at it before taking his hand in her own and shaking firmly.
The two returned quietly to their work side by side, a newfound camaraderie between them. While they worked, Eve fought to keep her thoughts from wandering. She focused her everything on seasoning the food, stirring the pot, washing dishes. But it wasn't enough. Even the most raging battle wouldn't have stopped Eve from thinking about what Dimitri had said earlier.
"Hey, Sylvain." Eve piped up as they were taking out the food scraps to be given to the horses.
"What's up?" He looked over at the raven-haired girl beside him.
"You've known Dimitri all his life." She said slowly. "Has he ever been in love before?"
"His Highness?" Sylvain half laughed. "I think the closest he's ever gotten to love is a childhood crush he had when he was little. Which is why I was so surprised he was able to act like he was in love with you so convincingly."
"Well, that might be because it wasn't an act…" Eve trailed off, biting her lip. "At least not after the beginning."
"What makes you say that?" Sylvain cocked his head.
"Call it a hunch." Eve half laughed. "Or call it Dimitri proclaiming he's in love with me about an hour ago in his quarters."
"Well, that would do it." Sylvain's eyes widened in shock. "Do I dare ask if you feel the same way?"
"Probably best if you don't." Eve winced as if the prospect physically pained her.
"Oh boy, that's, ah, that's…" Sylvain clicked his tongue in place of a coherent thought, arms locked behind his head as the two of them made their way back to the dining hall.
"Yeah." Eve nodded in agreement.
Neither of them said anything; neither of them even knew what they could say. They walked back in silence, the dilemma now weighing heavy on both of them rather than just Eve. Both of them knew that, in the long run, it didn't matter who loved who. At the end of it all, Dimitri and Eve would get married regardless. But both of them also knew that if Dimitri continued to be in love with Eve, he would only live a life of pain which neither of them wanted for him.
"I'm gonna suggest something," Sylvain started as they returned to the kitchen, "and it's gonna make me sound like a terrible person."
"Uh-huh." Eve folded her arms, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"His Highness is my friend." Sylvain gestured aimlessly with his hands. "And I'd never want to hurt him."
"I know this, Sylvain." Eve interrupted. "Get to the point."
"What if you broke his heart now?" The redhead suggested tentatively. "Do it now so he falls out of love with you and doesn't live a life of pain and unrequited love."
"You want me to break your childhood friend's heart?" Eve asked.
"I know, it sounds bad." Sylvain sighed. "But I do it all the time. I break girls' hearts so they can move on without any hang-ups or lingering feelings for me."
"Your support for your argument is 'I do it all the time'?" Eve smirked, half laughing. "It's not a terrible idea, though."
"Look at it this way, it's like treating a wound." Sylvain offered. "You could leave it alone and let it fester and become much worse in the long run, or you could endure a lot of pain now and cauterise the wound. Both suck, but one sucks for way less time."
"I do suppose you have a point, Sylvain." Eve sighed. It was something she had already thought of to be honest, but she had hoped that there would be a way around it—some way where Dimitri didn't get hurt at all.
"Not often I hear that." Sylvain laughed. "Anyways, looks like we're all done with kitchen duty, so I'm gonna go wash up before we enjoy the fruits of our labours."
"Sylvain." Eve called out before he could get too far. She had an idea—a terrible, selfish idea—that would solve both of her problems at once.
"Yep." He stopped in his tracks, waiting as Eve walked up to him.
"Do you want to help me?" Eve asked.
"Depends." Sylvain shrugged. "I'm pretty much useless with things unless you want me to flirt for you."
"Oh, I think this falls under your area of expertise." Eve smirked, inspecting her cuticles casually. "I hear you know your way around the female form."
"I might have had some hands-on experience." Sylvain winked with a smirk and a laugh. "But, ah, what's that got to do with helping you?"
"You were gracious enough to suggest breaking Dimitri's heart." Eve said, watching Sylvain out of the corner of her eye. "I thought maybe you could help me do it."
"Help you how?" Sylvain frowned slightly.
"How do you think Dimitri would react if he found out his fiancée and his childhood friend had, how you said, 'hands-on experience' with each other?" Eve quirked an eyebrow up at Sylvain, trying to gauge his reaction.
"I…" Sylvain swallowed thickly. "I don't want to be an ass and assume what we're talking about."
"Sex, Sylvain." Eve said plainly, though her voice was low so as not to be overheard. "I'm asking you to sleep with me. Purely physical, no strings attached. We both get to have our fun and I get to break Dimitri's heart to cauterise the wound as you suggested."
"You sure you're fine with that?" Sylvain asked. Eve was shocked that that was the only question he asked. She had half expected more resistance, even from Sylvain. "Lots of girls say they want no strings attached, but they don't actually mean it."
"Believe me, I've got no time for feelings and I've already got plenty of other strings." Eve said with a shake of her head, still bewildered that Sylvain would go along with this so easily.
"Well, I've got no complaints." Sylvain shrugged before adding with a laugh, "just don't go quarrelling with Ingrid about whose man I am so I have to take her kitchen duty again."
"Deal." Eve laughed, reaching out to shake Sylvain's hand for the second time that evening.
With that, she could not only solve her Dimitri problem, but she could also get Felix out of her mind. It was terrible and selfish, but it was also effective. She could have just as easily gone to Yuri, given the two of them already knew each other intimately. But being with Sylvain was sure to have a bigger impact on Dimitri. He was already left feeling betrayed by a simple kiss, Eve knew bedding one of his closest friends would definitely break his heart. And if she was lucky and Felix found out about her being with Sylvain too he would go back to hating her and she wouldn't have to worry about any complex feelings between them.
"I'll come by your quarters after supper, then." Eve said with a small nod. "We'll be discreet enough that no one else finds out, but not so discreet that Dimitri won't notice."
"I'm at your service."
(A/N: Welcome to my new followers! And thank you so much to my reviewers for the kind words :) I hope this story continues to be entertaining for you all!)