Chapter Text
Evangeline shifted the sizzling batter round the pan while Wolf stood over her shoulder, eyes narrowed at the stove.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t fix that?”
She shook her head no, smiling, “It’s not a bother.” One side of the pan burned hotter so there was always a pancake, or an egg, browner than the others. But that just meant Eva had to pay a little more attention.
When they were done, she dabbed off the extra oil, flipping their breakfast into the plates. Wolf carried them for her to the table where she already set out coffee and fruit, and a bowl of yogurt she had fretted over before deciding to bring it out, smoothing the table cloth as she did so. Sunlight streamed through the open blinds, casting a glow on their table and the man sitting down at it, a hand held out to her.
They always ate breakfast together when Wolf was home. Even if he had to rush out early, he’d wake her, and Eva would come along, yawning, so they’d have some coffee together. Today, they could take their time eating, talking about nothing but her garden and the coming peace. For the first time in a long while, she might have him with her.
She didn’t want to spoil this serenity, but Eva had been fretting about this idea since she saw the hoload on a modest counter at the supermarket. It wasn’t something she could ask Wolf via letter; she rarely asked him anything then, he had more important decisions on his mind. Then, afterwards, there were the preparations to stop the Alliance rebels once and for all. Now was the best time.
“Wolf,” she said, and her tone must have piqued his attention because he stopped eating his yoghurt. A strawberry seed was stuck in the back of her teeth, and she quickly swallowed it and asked,
“Can I go back to school?”
His eyes widened in surprise. “School?”
She nodded and brought out the holodex, the holograph hazing into view, shading Wolf’s face.
He read through, scrolling down, a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows. “It was started by a former noble.”
“Yes, but the Ministry of Education gave them a grant and permission to teach commoner women,” she had this rehearsed. “Because of Prince Lohengramm’s new policy.”
Wolf doesn’t say anything at first. Then he shakes his head.
Eva’s stomach twists.
“I do want you to go back to school, Eva,“ he starts.” I think it’s good that you want to. But school is better when you don’t have people lording things over you.” He turns the holodex back to her as if she hadn’t seen the teachers’ list and all the ‘vons’.
“We can find somebody else,” he says, ”they can’t be the only people in the Imperial City. Or,” the idea lights him up, “I could get you tutors. Anything you want to learn.”
Under the table, Eva bunches her robe together in her hands. It wasn’t just learning how to read better or the math she hadn’t gotten a chance to know. These were noblewomen; they all talked in precise, elegant tones, and they walked with their backs straight, hands graceful and always knowing what to do.
Wolf reaches across the table, cups her face. “My salary is the highest it’s ever been, and we live well already. The cost is nothing. Please let me do this for you.”
She should say yes. Not many husbands offer this to their wives. But she wouldn’t know how to ask for a tutor in Politeness and Etiquette. At her first officer’s ball, she had tried to walk the way the women did - gracefully - and her neck reddened in shame when she caught sight of herself in the mirror, awkward as a baby goat.
Eva collected herself. This is part of what she wanted to stop doing. Wolf was a man of solutions, and because he was smart and knowledgeable, Eva usually took his answers. But her inability to disagree with him, to say what she wanted, had once led to a spell of months-long misery.
“I want this school because they are noblewomen. They can teach me some of the things I don’t know.”
His mouth fell open. “None of those things are necessary anymore.”
“But there’s still a difference.”
“It’s not one that matters.”
“It matters to me.” She stands up from her seat, smooths her robe. “I think I do my job as your wife well, but there are parts I fail in. I am trying to represent you well in public. If I could have done this years ago, and believe you me I did try, I would have.” She heaves a breath.
Somewhere, in the middle of it, Wolf had gained a stricken look.
“Eva,” he starts, gently, slowly. “When you say 'fail', please, you’re not still trying to make up for -“
She immediately realizes and shakes her head. Perhaps she should have just taken the tutor offer.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
She nods her head.
Wolf leans back in his seat, his lips a tight line. He closes his eyes as he thinks, releasing tension with a huffed breath.
“I have two conditions,” he says. “There have to be more than five women in the school. Second, if anyone makes you miserable, you’ll leave.”
“If I leave,” Eva runs a finger over the hem of the tablecloth, “can I still get tutors?”
“Yes.”
She rounds the table and hugs him from the side, his chair shifting from the force. “Thank you,” she says.
Wolf runs a hand through her hair and kisses her cheek.