Chapter 116 - Dressing Up

Anuva eyed her summoner with a hint of mockery in her gaze. This may be important to him but what did it have to do with her other that she was bound to him. She didn't wish to ruin the event for Jien mainly because it would likely cause trouble for her in many facets. This however did not mean that she had to participate in it at all. Couldn't she just stay behind and rest? She was still feeling weak after all, did he expect her to sit down and be friendly with those demons that she felt were less than the dirt outside?Almost as if reading her thoughts Jien gave a chilly look to the demon before adding another line to help her understand her situation. "I just summoned you, fainted, woke up and have formed a contract with you. Won't the others be curious about my summon? In order for this event to go smoothly I need you to play your part."He turned to Runa who was carefully circling him to check the details of his outfit, smoothing out slight wrinkles in the fabric and straightening his accessories. "I need you to ensure that Anuva is presentable before we meet with the others. It is an unheard-of case that a demon would take a human form so at the very least she must look to be of the highest standard." He didn't look at Anuva during this statement at all, simply explaining what he needed done to his handmaiden.Runa acknowledged is request after ensuring his outfit was just so and that he looked presentable. She then turned to look at Anuva and sized her up properly to figure out how best to present this demon in a way befitting Jien's status. If Jien's look was chilly then the look that Runa gave the woman before her was almost like she was a prisoner about to be dragged to the execution grounds. She had no respect for the woman that had tried to kill Jien and whether this summoned demon wished it or not she would make sure that she wouldn't mess things up."I will need to take her to wash, find her appropriate clothing, ensure she has been styled properly." Runa had turned to Jien to say all this without even trying to direct it at Anuva, given what had been previously explained the demon wouldn't understand her anyway. "Preparing a lady for an event takes time so as long as you can convince her to cooperate with me then I will do what I can. However, I suggest that in the meantime you go attend to the guests as best you can."Jien quickly acknowledged what Runa had mentioned, translated for her so that Anuva could understand what was being asked of her. What he didn't expect was that Anuva's reaction would be rather visceral. She didn't want to attend the event in the first place but was willing to put up with it at least in part. Being told that she would have to spend time getting ready and wasting energy to get ready for the event made her want to go back to killing the boy in front of her, a thought that ended up causing her quite literal pain.It was only after several long minutes of arguing and a few more bouts of pain resonating from her soul that Anuva finally gave in. She knew that she was locked into some level of compromise with the boy in front of her but that didn't mean she liked it or agreed to it willingly. At the end of the day, it became a question of whether obstructing him would still be considered as serving him if she were to refuse some things and agree to others. The answer to which ended up being that Jien was the final decision maker by the contract, something that Jien himself didn't expect.The contract itself was not formed by him that he was aware of so he felt like he would spend his time in an endless cycle of arguments with this demon. It was only after this argument that it became rather clear that what he said would go in terms of the contract. That being said Jien wasn't a slave driver. For the most part he just wanted to go back to his daily routine, so rather than forcing this on Anuva he negotiated with a bit, letting her know that as long as he didn't need her for official duties, and she didn't cause any issues she would be free to do what she wanted within the bounds of the contract.Though Anuva still didn't want to be a part of whatever festivities this was she eventually gave up. It wasn't like she could refuse since the green-eyed boy before her essentially made the rules. She turned to Runa and nodded in her direction to let her know that she accepted the assistance in getting ready.With that decision Jien made his way out to greet his guests once again. Though Runa and Anuva couldn't understand each other in terms of language Runa was confident that she could communicate in one form or another. She led Anuva out of Jien's room and toward one in a different area to start preparing her for her own social debut of sorts.Meanwhile Jien made his way to the lounge where the guests were all discussing varying topics, once more split into a group of adults and children. Nobody was surprised when Jien entered the room due to the forewarning of Mark and Lord Losler. As he entered, they all greeted him with welcoming smiles, asking him if he was alright and wanting to know the details of what had happened since only the adults that had been in his room knew the truth.