Ciel Phantomhive had always thought of his demon butler as invincible. On many occasions Ciel had seen his butler receive injuries that would kill any human, only to get straight back up again and smirk as if it hadn't hurt at all. Ciel had been so sure that no matter what happened; his butler would always, without fail, just get back up again. That was until that fateful night aboard the Campania.
The image of his butler lying in the middle of the small lifeboat, grimacing in pain and covered in his blood refused to leave Ciel's mind. For a brief moment Ciel had even thought that his butler might die.
He had learnt something incredibly important that night. His butler wasn't invincible. There were weapons that could kill him, and injuries that would cause him pain. But Ciel had also learnt something incredibly important about himself. Up until that point, Ciel had thought of their relationship as nothing more than a bond of convenience. Ciel wanted revenge and needed a servant to help him accomplish that goal. Sebastian needed a soul. That was it.
And yet Ciel had felt something he'd never felt before. Seeing his butler so severely wounded, he had been overwhelmed with concern and fear. No matter how much he tried to explain it away, the answer was clear. He was emotionally attached to him. He cared for him deeply, loved him even.
A few days had passed since then and Sebastian had assured his master he would be perfectly fine in time. All he needed was plenty of rest so his wounds could heal. Sebastian could never lie to his master so if he said he would recover, then he would. But even so Ciel decided to spend most of the day by his side.
Ciel pulled up a chair to the side of the bed and watched his butler sleeping. He looked incredibly peaceful lying on his back, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Demons didn't usually require sleep so this was the first time Ciel had seen him like this.
"He looks beautiful…" Ciel mumbled softly to himself as he watched him. He then averted his gaze from his butler's sleeping form and back to the various books he had brought with him. He hoped that his butler wouldn't wake any time soon. If he were caught reading those sorts of books it would be rather difficult to explain, and apparently an important aspect of romance was surprise.
Yes, Ciel Phantomhive was reading romance novels. He had fallen in love with his butler and couldn't deny it anymore. But if he was going to do anything about it he wanted to do things properly. He would do things, quite literally, by the book.
They were the sorts of books filled with clichés like flowers, love songs, dancing and overly dramatic proposals of marriage. The sorts of books that women would read and swoon over, thinking "one day, that will be me~".
Ciel started to make notes as he went along, taking as many practical ideas from the books as he could. He pushed the pile of novels to one side and held up the list, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Alright, this should be good enough" he said in a determined voice.
And so with that, Ciel knew what course of action he needed to take. As soon as Sebastian recovered, he would seduce him with the various things he had read. After all, if it was so easy in books then how hard could it be in real life?