"Young Master." Sebastian went to wake up his master for the day. "Time to get up." Sebastian scooped out two spoon-full's of the Earl Grey and put it in the teapot. He put the lid on the top, and allowed it to steep while he dressed Ciel.
When Sebastian opened the curtains, Ciel pulled the covers over his head. Sebastian smiled to himself and gently pulled off the sheets.
"Young Master, you need to wake up."
"Hmm…Fine…" Ciel sat up. He had no choice. Sebastian was persistent when it came to being on time for the day.
Sebastian began to pull off his master's night shirt and put on his shirt and shorts. Then the vest. When Sebastian was finished tying Ciel's bow, he got up and poured a cup of tea for his master.
"Today we have a mint salad with a rich raspberry sauce. The sides are toast, scones, and muffins. Which would you prefer, Young Master?"
"Muffins."
"Very well, Young Master." Sebastian handed the cup to Ciel and began to put on his socks and shoes.
Ciel put the teacup down on the nightstand. As soon as Sebastian had buckled both of his shoes, he stood up. Sebastian put Ciel's ring on his finger and then tied his eye-patch on. Ciel was then led downstairs by Sebastian.
When Ciel had finished his breakfast, he received a visit from Lau and Ran-Mao. They headed to the drawing room for tea.
"Lau…Why do you just appear without an invitation?" Ciel was not amused. But he tried to strike up a conversation with Lau.
"I figured that the urgent message I had to bring to you was just too important to wait for." Lau sat on a chair an Ran-Mao sat on his lap, as usual.
"What message?" Ciel, eager to hear the rest, attentively listened to Lau. "Sebastian, please give us some privacy."
"Yes, My Lord." Sebastian bowed and left.
"Now, what was you urgent message, Lau?"
"It is a warning, Earl." Lau was still as calm as he was when he came, but his tone darkened. "A warning that could very well save your life."
"Go on." Ciel sat and stared at Lau. He was surprised that Lau was actually being useful.
"Today, I saw a man in an alley in town who looked like he was a tourist. He kept repeating your name. 'Phantomhive. Ciel Phantomhive. Phantomhive.' Then, he had pulled out a knife from his sleeve. He held it up to a man's throat. 'Where is Phantomhive?' he hissed. When the man didn't answer, he slit his throat, and continued on. He still chanted your name, 'Phantomhive. Ciel Phantomhive.' I believe that he wishes to kill you, Earl."
"That's ridiculous." Ciel tried to laugh it off. Surely, this was one of Lau's cruel jokes.
"I can assure you, Earl, it is not ridiculous."
"Lau…Go."
"Earl?"
"Go! Get out!" Ciel was angry now. He was almost positive that Lau was lying.
Lau was confused. But he took Ran-Mao and left. Sebastian then entered the room.
"Young Master? What happened?"
"Nothing." Ciel looked at Sebastian. "Lau tells many lies."
"Should I be concerned, Young Master?"
"No. I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Alright." Sebastian handed Ciel the newspaper. "The post came late today."
Ciel took the paper out of his butler's hand. He skimmed through the pages, only to find nothing of particular interest. Ciel sighed.
"Is something troubling you, Young Master?"
"Not really." Ciel wasn't lying. He had nothing to do. All of his paperwork was done and there were no meetings with anyone. Ciel was bored.
"Do you want to do something?"
"Yes." Ciel stood up. "I'm going to have Meyrin fetch my art canvas." With that, Ciel left the room.
Ciel was halfway down the stairs when he saw Meyrin dusting the railing.
"Meyrin."
"Oh! Y-Yes, Young Master?" Ciel startled her.
"My art canvas is still in the study, correct?"
"Yes, Young Master."
"Good. I will be in the study for a while. If Sebastian asks where I am, tell him I am in the study. You may continue."
"Yes, Young Master." she curtsied, and turned back to the railing.
When Ciel reached his study, he almost immediately saw the canvas. He grabbed it along with the colored paints next to it. Ciel sat at the desk and began to think of what to paint. Then, he turned to the window. Ciel set up the canvas so he could still see out the window. He dipped his brush into the green and painted the grass. Then his green got darker for the hedges. Ciel was drawing for hours. By the time he got to the sky, the sun was setting. Not long after that, Sebastian knocked on the door to the study.
"Young Master." he still hadn't opened the door. "Dinner is ready."
Ciel got up. He was famished. He opened the door and as he left, Sebastian walked behind him to the dining room.
Ciel ate almost all of the servings that he had gotten. All that was left was the bones of the turkey. After the large meal, Sebastian led him upstairs to his bed.
Sebastian changed Ciel's clothes into his night shirt. Ciel yawned. Once he was ready for bed, Ciel got under the covers.
Sebastian then picked up the candles and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Ciel woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of his window opening.
"Pluto?" That stupid dog wanted to come in because he was too cold in his human form. The human Pluto was sitting on the window-sill.
"Pluto! Don't scare me like that!" Ciel was trying to keep his voice down so he didn't wake anyone up. Ciel got out of his bed and walked over to Pluto. He petted his head and spoke to him quietly.
"You need to stay outside, Pluto." The human Pluto looked at Ciel with a sad face. Then, he jumped back outside. "Stupid dog."
Ciel climbed into his bed and fell back asleep. When he woke up, Sebastian was opening the curtains. Ciel sat up, rather than having Sebastian talk him into it. Sebastian got him dressed after making the tea.
"Sebastian."
"Yes, Young Master?"
"You need to keep Pluto on a better leash at night."
"Did he wake you, Young Master?"
"Yes. And he's learned how to open windows. The stupid creature nearly scared me to death last night." As Ciel said that, Sebastian had finished putting on his shoes.
Sebastian stood. "Yes, My Lord." Ciel stood up with the teacup Sebastian had handed him, and walked out of the bedroom. Ciel was followed downstairs by Sebastian.
After Ciel had eaten his breakfast, he went to his study again to finish the painting from yesterday. It was still unfinished when Sebastian knocked on the door to tell him dinner was ready.
Ciel ate as much as he had the day before. Then, Sebastian led Ciel upstairs, where he was changed and put in bed.
Around the same time as yesterday, Ciel woke up to the sound of his window opening.
"Ugh. Pluto! You need to stay outside!" Ciel whispered. When he looked at the window, there was no one there. Ciel looked puzzled. "Maybe I was just hearing things." he laid back down on his pillow and tried to fall back asleep. Before he could fall asleep, though, Ciel felt something on top of his chest. "Pluto…" Ciel whispered.
He looked up to see someone holding a pillow. Then, that person forced the pillow on top of Ciel's face.
Ciel kicked and thrashed to try and escape. He was being suffocated to death. The person on top of him was chanting, "Phantomhive. Ciel Phantomhive." This was the person who Lau saw in town the other day.
"Se-Sebastian!" Though it was hard, Ciel called for the butler to save him. "SEBASTIAN!" Within a second, Ciel heard the door to his room swing open.
"Young Master!" Sebastian immediately pulled one of the knives out of his tailcoat and threw it into the man's head. The man collapsed onto the pillow that was on top of Ciel, holding it down even more. Sebastian ran to Ciel, who had almost stopped moving at this point, threw the man off of him and onto the floor, and then threw the pillow off to the side.
Ciel sat up and began to gasp for air. His heart was beating faster than it ever had. Sebastian sat on the bed in front of Ciel. He placed his hand on Ciel's shoulder.
"Young Master, are you alright?"
Ciel nodded, still breathing heavily. He looked at Sebastian, and hugged him. Tears were forming in Ciel's eyes.
"For a moment, I thought you weren't coming."
Sebastian hugged Ciel back. The thought of losing him was unbearable.
"Have I ever not come when you called?" Sebastian smiled a little.
"Please…Don't ever scare me like that ever again."
"…Is that an order?"
"Yes…Don't ever let me think you aren't coming when I call you."
"Yes, My Lord."
The hug went on for a few moments longer. Then, Sebastian broke the silence.
"Young Master, you should go back to sleep." there was a good five hours before Ciel needed to be woken up. Sebastian knew Ciel needed his rest.
"Stay here. Please, Sebastian? I'm…I'm scared…" Ciel looked Sebastian in his dark red eyes. He was reluctant to admit that he was scared.
"Yes, My Lord." Sebastian looked over to the window. It was wide open. "One moment, Young Master." Sebastian walked over to the window and locked it. When he turned around, he saw the body lying on the floor. There was no time to find a good place to dispose of it, so Sebastian took an extra sheet and wrapped the corpse in it. It was concealed a little bit more. After that, he turned to Ciel, who was getting nestled in his own sheets. Sebastian sat on the chair not that far from the bed. It was made of finished wood, and was not very comfortable. Ciel, being completely aware of that, spoke.
"You may lie on the bed if it is more to you liking, Sebastian. I don't mind if you do."
"Thank you, Young Master." Sebastian took the offer, and lay on top of the sheets next to Ciel.
Ciel was lying comfortably under the sheets. He was facing Sebastian when he fell asleep again.
In the morning, Sebastian (who didn't sleep on account of the fact that he is a demon) opened up the curtains and woke Ciel up. While he was getting Ciel dressed, Ciel spoke.
"…Who was he?"
"The man from last night?"
"Yes."
"I'm not sure. I can see if he looks familiar, if you'd like, Young Master."
"Please do."
Sebastian nodded. Ciel didn't have his socks or shoes on, but Sebastian decided to put that on hold until he had answered Ciel's question. He went over to the corpse and removed the blanket to look at his face. Sebastian had no idea who he was.
"Let me see." Ciel demanded.
"Are you sure, Young Master?"
"Yes. Show me his face."
Sebastian did as he was told. Ciel took one glance at the face. Ciel's own face had a puzzled look on it.
"Do you know him, Young Master?"
"Yes." Ciel explained. "He owned one of my toy factories in Germany. Not long ago, the factory burned down because of the new equipment I had recommended that they used. That man was one of the few who had escaped, but his son who was visiting that day wasn't as fortunate…he blamed me for the death of his child."
"Therefore, he came to avenge his son by taking your life, correct?"
"Yes." Ciel looked away for a moment and then looked back at Sebastian rather than the body.
"Young Master, if you're worried someone else will come, I am willing to protect you."
"There shouldn't be anyone else," Ciel said to Sebastian as he went to put on his socks and shoes. "But if there is, you promise to save me?" Ciel knew that Sebastian wasn't just saying that. He really meant it.
"Yes. I will always come to your rescue," Sebastian finished Ciel's shoes and got closer to his face. "No matter what the cost." Sebastian placed his lips on Ciel's forehead. He gave his master a gentle kiss. When Sebastian stood, Ciel looked up at him.
"Sebastian…what are you thinking?"
"What do you mean, Young Master?" Sebastian didn't understand why Ciel was so calm when he spoke.
"You missed." Ciel grabbed Sebastian's tie and pulled him down. "You idiot…my lips are down here." with that, Ciel kissed the demon on the lips this time. He knew that Sebastian was truly devoted to him, and Ciel loved that. Contract or no contract, Sebastian was going be there for Ciel.