7

As they approached the enormous doors of the castle, they slowly creaked open by themselves. Grace started and looked at Lucien, but he was already walking through them as though it was an everyday occurrence. She gulped and followed him inside.

The interior of the castle was not unlike what Grace had expected it to be; it somehow managed to look majestic and shabby at the same time; like the residence of a bankrupt king who had been overthrown long ago. The rooms were large and the ceilings high, and the floors were made of marble. There wasn't much to adorn them, though; hardly any furnishings and only a handful of objects that could be counted by hand: a large wooden table with some empty plates set out on it, a stone fireplace with a matching mantelpiece, an hourglass on top of it along with an assortment of objects, two wooden chairs, a rug.... and that seemed to be it.

'That's the parlour,' said Lucien, and Grace raised her eyebrows. 'You know, what you call the living-room, I suppose; but I like to eat there too instead of going all the way to the depressing dining-hall – I'm not going to bother showing it to you.'

'Oh, I see,' said Grace. 'It looks nice.'

'Yeah, that's where I spend most of my evenings,' said Lucien. 'Eating, reading, getting bored, stuff like that. Kuro likes it too.'

'Kuro the black cat?' said Grace, frowning. 'I met him, and I don't like him one bit!'

'Oh? What did he do?'

'He's so demotivating and sarcastic and just plain depressing!' said Grace. 'AND he's an accomplice to getting me here!'

'He's always like that, don't mind him,' said Lucien with a dry laugh. 'But he's not a bad sort, really; and since he got you here just for my sake, blame it on me, not him.'

'Whatever, I'd rather not have anything to do with him,' said Grace, shaking her head.

'That's going to be awfully hard,' said a velvety purr that made her look around in surprise. 'Since I live here too, you know.'

Kuro the black cat emerged from a shadowy corner Grace hadn't noticed and appeared in front of her before jumping to the top of the mantlepiece and staring down at her with solemn, piercing eyes.

'Do you have to always appear out of nowhere and creep everyone out, Kuro?!' said Lucien, his green horns gleaming in the sunlight that streamed in through the tall, narrow windows. 'Really!'

'It's not my fault if you're all half-deaf and have zero reflexes,' scorned Kuro.

'There he goes again,' laughed Lucien, turning to Grace. 'See? He's like that with me, too. But he can be almost fun when he wants to be. He plays a killer game of cards, do you know?'

'Cards?' said Grace, intrigued in spite of herself.

'He knows every game there is, and wins at them, too,' said Lucien proudly. 'I lose almost every night, haha!'

'I only know how to play snap,' said Grace.

'Ha! Of course you do,' said Kuro, turning away from her as though she was a disgrace to the gaming world.

'What's wrong with that?!'

'It's not a real game – except for seven-year-olds maybe!'

'Excuse me?'

'Excused! I'll teach you whist or bridge or at least rummy, and then you'll be qualified to sit with me at the card table,' said Kuro reluctantly.

'I wasn't – okay – erm...'

'Before all that, folks,' intercepted Lucien, 'we must have something to eat! Poor Grace here hasn't had anything since we called her here so rudely, and it's time to make up for that!'

'Oh, yes,' said Grace, suddenly feeling a pang in her stomach as she realised how hungry she was. 'I'm starving!'

'I'll have a bowl of creamy milk with a side of rare steak, please,' announced Kuro, his whiskers turned upwards as he looked haughtily at Lucien, as smoothly as though it was his birthright to command the demon this way for his food.

'You never change,' said Lucien, rolling his eyes. 'Coming up, Your Highness! And you, Princess Grace? What would you like?'

'Anything is fine, really,' said Grace modestly.

'Will rare steak do?' grinned Lucien, before laughing at Grace's changed expression. 'Don't worry! I'll get us something nice!' he said, and he walked away.

'Where's he gone?' said Grace after a while.

'Well, obviously, since we all make our breakfast in the bedroom...' started Kuro with a long, sarcastic sigh, but Grace cut him off.

'I meant, if there's a kitchen, I'd like to see it,' said Grace.

'No one's stopping you!' said Kuro, licking his paws one by one before looking at her again. 'Out that door, down the hall and through the left corridor, then turn to the right and you'll see it. And while you're at it, tell him to hurry up. I get grumpy without my meal!'

'Like you're so cheerful after it,' said Grace to herself as she walked to the door.

'Hey, I heard that!'

'Good!'

She followed the directions the cat had given her, and soon, as she turned right from the corridor, a delicious aroma mixed with a lot of smoke and the clear sign of something burning signalled she had found the kitchen – mid-attack by a very chaotic chef.

She peeped in and found Lucien holding a frying pan filled with a raging fire in one hand, and a lid in the other, which he appeared to be using as a shield from the retaliation of the food under siege. He then set it down abruptly and poured a kettle of hot water over it to put out the fire. Grace looked on, wondering what was more frightful, the banshee she had encountered or this demon's cooking methods, and she decided it was a draw.

'What in the world are you doing?' she said, entering the kitchen.

'Oh, you found your way here,' said Lucien cheerfully. 'I just finished! Take Kuro's food to him, will you, and I'll bring ours.'

He slid the charred, dripping meat from the pan and into a plate, and handed it to her along with a bowl of milk.

'All right,' said Grace, taking the two and walking back to the parlour and setting them down on the rug.

'Excuse me, but I will NOT eat over there!' said Kuro, looking crossly at her.

'Oh? Where then?' said Grace, confused.

'At the table, of course,' said Kuro, setting himself on one of the chairs.

'I should have guessed,' laughed Grace, and she placed the dishes on the table in front of him.

'Move up, Kuro, no room for you there now that Grace is here,' said Lucien, coming through the door laden with two trays of covered dishes. 'Two chairs, remember?'

Kuro scowled at once. 'I'm not moving!'

'Well, where is she supposed to sit then, genius?'

'Isn't there another chair?' said Grace anxiously.

'Yeah, but it's all the way upstairs in the bedroom,' groaned Lucien. 'And I'm not lugging it all the way to fulfil a cat's whims! Go on the rug!'

Kuro hissed while glaring at them both, but before they could react, he began to lick his paws and roll about adorably.

'Seriously? Are you trying to be cute?' said Lucien, bewildered. 'I thought it was beneath you to act like a normal cat, let alone a little kitty!'

Kuro only mewled unintelligibly and rolled on his back with his paws in the air.

Grace laughed. 'Oh come on, it's all right, we'll get the third chair,' she said.

'I don't see why—'

'Lucien, please?'

'Oh, fine,' he resigned, and he signalled her to follow. 'This way, then!'

Grace followed him through different halls and passages before he began to climb a long, winding staircase.

'Is this it?' she said, when they had reached the top, and he stopped in front of a room.

'Yep. This is where I sleep,' said Lucien, opening the door and walking inside. 'And now you too, of course.'

'Me?' said Grace in alarm, as she followed him into the bedroom.

'Yeah – in the room next to mine,' grinned Lucien. 'Unless you'd like to join me, I don't mind! The bed is big enough for two—'

'Of course not!' said Grace at once. 'The other room is fine!'

'Haha, it's fun to tease you,' laughed Lucien.

Grace shook her head and looked around. The bed was large and rather luxurious, with silky coverings in rich colours. There was a big red rug beside it, and a sturdy bedside table with a pile of books on it. To the left was a wide shelf filled with more books, and in the corner of the room was a writing desk with papers spread all over it.

'There's the chair,' said Lucien, picking it up.

'Oh, I'll help you take it down,' said Grace, taking one end, but the demon brushed her hand away.

'I can do it myself, thanks. It's only a chair!'

'All right, then...' she agreed reluctantly, and she watched him go downstairs, chair in hand as though it had no weight at all. 'You did say you didn't want to lug it, so...'

'I'm just lazy,' said Lucien. 'Sometimes I lie in bed yearning for something to eat, but even reaching out to that bedside table feels so agonising I don't bother!'

Grace broke into a laugh.

'It's true!' said Lucien. 'Don't you ever feel that way?'

'I...' thought Grace aloud. 'I never really got the chance to take it easy... my aunt never allowed it. She'd say that idle hands are the Devil's tools.'

'She sounds like a prig already,' said Lucien in disgust, setting the chair down.

'Finally!' said Kuro with a satisfied sigh, wasting no time in leaping on it and dragging his plate closer.

'Ah, you waited for us!' said Lucien happily. 'Thanks, Kuro!'

'Well, it's only that I had to be properly seated first,' muttered the cat, as he began to rub his paws together before taking a sip of milk.

'He says that, but it's actually because he loves us,' said Lucien happily.

'I don't see how the "us" applies when I've barely known this young lady for half a day,' said Kuro.

'Fair point, but you will soon enough,' said Lucien. 'Besides, she's the one who insisted on your chair; I personally meant to toss you out to the rug for the timebeing.'

'Well, you have my thanks,' said Kuro, giving her a gentle bow with a milk mostache above his whiskers.

Grace couldn't help but giggle.

'What's so funny?' said Kuro solemnly, but Lucien only grinned and uncovered the dishes one by one.

'Oh, eggs!' exclaimed Grace, before she stared at the yolks. 'Red?'

'Yeah, that's why we call them sunny yolks,' said Lucien. 'They're red like the sun! And I fried us some meat to go with it! – oops, it's still dripping – guess I should add less water next time!'

'Is this what you made for the cat?!' said Grace, surprised.

'I have a name!' said the creature mentioned.

'Sorry! Is this what you made for Kuro?'

'Yeah,' blinked Lucien. 'But I cooked it more, I promise!'

'Okay...'

'And some toast – I nearly burnt it, but I scraped it, so we're good to go! And I even made some porridge for you in case you like that better – don't ask me how it got that way, I swear milk has a mind of its own sometimes!'

'Thanks...' said Grace, accepting the tray.

'Your cooking is unusually good today, Lucien,' said Kuro approvingly. 'Does it have anything to do with our new guest?'

Lucien went red. 'Well, after all, we did get her here, so... I thought I should do my best,' he said modestly.

Grace swallowed her morsel and tried to smile gratefully. So this was his best cooking. She tried not to imagine what his worst was.

'Do you like it?' said Lucien anxiously.

'Erm, yes,' nodded Grace convincingly. 'I'm so hungry, you see. And I really appreciate you making so many nice things for me.'

'You're welcome,' said Lucien proudly. 'I do have a knack for perfection whatever I do, you know.'

'Yeah, except getting yourself to Earth,' said Kuro.

Lucien sighed sadly. 'Yeah, except that.'

And cooking, Grace thought to herself. But she wouldn't say that to him. Despite the questionable quality of the food, she could tell that he really had made it with all his heart, and she wasn't going to turn down a kind and sincere gesture like that. Instead, she asked something else – the question that had been on her mind since she had met the demon.

'Why do you want to go to Earth so badly?'