Page 41 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating

I shot her a parting smirk. “Cleanup duty suits know-it-alls, don’t you think?”

She didn’t dignify my remark with a response.

As I stepped into the corridor, my mind buzzed with half-formed plans—an unstoppable swirl of strategies for coaxing, cornering, and captivating Arabella Evenfall without admitting I needed anything more from her.

That, at least, was the plan. It was going to be a very interesting morning.

19

ASSESS YOUR WIFE’S MAGIC (WITH ULTERIOR MOTIVES)

ARABELLA

I woke to the mournful howl of wind circling the tower. After blinking away the haze of sleep, I peered over my pillow barricade, only to find rumpled sheets where Kazimir should have been.

A cluster of black roses waited on the bedside table—a sign that I was still a valuable prisoner-bride after the fiasco with the Heirloom? Or a prelude to ritual sacrifice? When I poked one, it snapped at my fingertip.

“Charming,” I grumbled. “Even your apology flowers have teeth.”

I splashed my face with cold water until I was awake enough to attempt the stairs. Then, I wrapped a silk robe around my shoulders and left Kazimir’s chamber. He’d allowed me to keep my personal rooms for daytime use, and I had no intention of lingering in his domain one second longer than necessary.

My bare feet froze on the stone steps, but I didn’t dare bring up more clothes. It would only encourage him.

By the time I reached my chambers, Pip was arranging breakfast on a side table. He jumped at my entrance. “My lady! I didn’t expect you so early.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Relax, Pip, you’re not going to the dungeons for seeing me in my nightclothes… not today, anyway.”

His face turned ghostly pale, suggesting my attempt at dark humor might need refinement. “I—I brought extra pastries. The kitchen staff said you barely ate anything yesterday.”

“The kitchen is keeping tabs on my appetite?” I asked, picking up a pastry that oozed sweet fruit filling.

“They’re worried you’ll weaken,” Pip said in a hushed rush, “especially with your magical training starting today.”

A flicker of anticipation ran through me. I was about to unlock my power under the tutelage of the most nightmarishly talented sorcerer in the realm. It wasalmostworth being kidnapped for.

Pip’s hands shook as he poured tea. “Thorne says it’s the first time he’s seen the Dark Lord so focused since the Midnight Drought incident.”

“The what incident?” I slipped behind the dressing screen, where I’d already laid out clothes.

“Years ago, he redirected an entire kingdom’s river system overnight—dried up lakes, left thousands starving. Fantastic, right?” Pip fidgeted with a napkin. “But people who swore fealty got their water back, so there’s that.”

I poked my head around the screen. “How magnanimous. So geographical rearrangement is just another weekday for him?”

“The Dark Lord rarely sleeps,” Pip replied. “Cook swears he’s part demon. Thorne threatened to gag her if she kept spreading rumors. Of course, no one truly knows what happened during the so-called Incident That Shall Not Be Named.”

I tugged my tunic into place and stepped out from behind the screen. “Oh, a forbidden event. I like a little mystery before breakfast.”

He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. “It’s just servant gossip, my lady.”

I bit into another pastry and perched on a chair’s edge, giving Pip a pointed look. “How long have you worked for him?”

“Almost two years,” he said. “I was apprenticed to a carpenter before that, until my master was killed when Lord Blackrose’s forces arrived.”

I set down my pastry. “I’m sorry.”

He quickly shook his head. “It wasn’t Lord Blackrose. It was a guardsman who accused my master of hiding weapons when he only had tools. After that, the Dark Lord had orphaned apprentices brought here to fill positions. Said skilled labor shouldn’t be wasted.”

My chewing slowed. “He did?” I couldn’t quite picture him as a savior of orphans, but apparently even wicked overlords had layers.

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