My short stories of Black Butler will not be in order.
It was night time in London under a full moon, illuminating the black sky.
"Stop thief!" a small group of police chased after a robber in the streets.
Shit! They're catching up!
"Oh—"the robber tripped and stumbled on the ground, "-bloody hell"
A medium-size box fell in the river sailing away, afloat.
"You're under arrest", one of the cops handcuffed the fallen robber.
"Where are they?!" another cop demanded.
"Figure it out yourself", the robber responded.
"Take him away!"
"This is no good. First he steals them; then he loses them. How are we gonna explain this to the queen?"
Meanwhile in a dark alley…
Meow. Meow.
"Here you go," a girl in a black hooded cloak unties a small sheet of white cloth.
Meow. Meow.
"There's no need to rush, there's plenty of cat treats for everyone," the girl giggles and pets one of the cats.
She then pours a bowl of milk and smiles.
"I must go now, I'll see you guys tomorrow," the girl left the alley.
On her way back home (in secret), the hooded girl hears soft mews crying in the river. She quickly leaps on the river to retrieve a box full of Siamese kittens.
12:00 AM
Hiding her black cloak in her walk-in closet, Marceline opens the box and pulls out all six kittens one-by-one on her bed. Judging by their appearance, they were very sick.
"Kido, Miu, I need you guys to look after the kittens, while I get something," she closes the door leading to her private, personal kitchen in her room.
The opens one of the cabinets and grabs a glass bottle with a cork containing a strange colorless liquid, labeling Healing Potion.
This should do the trick. She measures one tablespoon of the solution into the bowl of milk.
Soon after the kittens had their midnight snack, the young mistress puts the sleeping kittens back in the box and hides them in a small, sound-proof closet in her room.
"Good-night," she turns off the lamp on her nightstand.
Xxx
1:00 AM
The butler opens the door to his mistress's room with a devious smile. He sat on the bed next to her without waking the cats up who are sleeping on the opposite side of the Phantomhive girl's bed.
He carefully brushes her fringes away and slowly slides his hands on her right cheek.
Such soft, white skin. Sebastian thought, kissing her to enjoy the irresistible taste that was more delicious than his master's soul.
"Sweet dreams, my dear," he takes his candelabra off the nightstand before closing the door silently.
xxx
Every night, Sebastian would always sneak into Marceline's room to give her [unrequested] "good-night kisses" without making a sound. Fortunately, for the butler, his lady does not notice a bit of his routine. She always would fall into a deep sleep as if she were in a coma.
Luckily, for Sebastian, he does not need to do almost everything for her since Ciel talked and mentioned a lot of things about his sister prior of her arrival. One of them is her independency.
Although he also serves Marceline under his master's order, she rarely commands him unless it is necessary for her to do so; much to his relief. Unlike his master, his lady is capable of doing even the simplest routines such as waking up early and changing clothes [by herself].
Every day, she volunteers to help Sebastian prepare for breakfast, lunch, or dinner; they always turn out very well if you compare them to Bardroy's. Sometimes, she helps the other servants who are having trouble getting their work done right.
In fact, there was this one time where she had to do all the chores around the manor:
Flashback:
"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Ciel said before leaving the manor with Sebastian. It was the first time his sister deciding to stay behind. Whenever the queen requested her guard dog to investigate a case, Marceline would always follow them.
This was her reason:
"We do have an important guest coming this afternoon at dinner. I want to make sure everything is in perfect order while you're gone."
"Very well, I'll leave you in charge of the manor. Sebastian, let's go."
"Right away, my lord," the butler smiles at his mistress before closing the door. He instantly trusts her, knowing that she will take care of everything.
Yes, everything.
She turns around, facing towards her servants:
"Everyone, as I may recall, we have an important guest coming this afternoon. I want you guys to do very well before he arrives," she glances at her black watch, "it's 9:00 AM right now, so we have plenty of time to prepare. Ciel and Sebastian will not return until approximately fifteen minutes before dinner time at 6:00 PM. We can't waste any more time. Understand?"
"Yes, my lady!" the servants said in confidence.
"Before we get started, I'll assign each of you a task: Finny, decorate the garden with white rose bushes and sweep the walkways. In addition, I want you to decorate the ponds with rose-shaped paper lanterns and the trees with lanterns hanging on the branches. Here's the money you need to go the gardening store."
"Thank you so much my lady!" Finny catches the purse happily.
"Mey-Rin, prepare our special silverware, plates, and tea set. Make sure they shine like brand-new. Wash the table cloth as well."
"Of course, yes mam," the maid rushes.
"Bardroy, tonight's dinner will be Clam Chowder with deviled eggs and blini with caviar. For dessert, chocolate mousse, garnished with ground cinnamon with blueberries on top. Everything you need is all in the kitchen including the recipes."
"I'll get started right away! Watch, I'll make the best dinner our guest will never forget!" Bardroy smiles, while holding a pan behind his head.
"Tanaka, do what you need to do."
"Ho-ho," the old man sips his tea.
Several hours later, the garden was ignited in flames. The bushes and trees were destroyed and all the white roses are bruised and ruined, scattered across the area like a fiasco. Unfortunately, there were cracks and hole in the walkways as well.
First of all, this is a complete disaster. Second, for some ridiculous reason, he annihilated the walkways even though I told him to sweep them. He must have swept them too hard. The mistress thought and was unimpressed.
"Waahhh!" Finnian cried.
Inside the manor, shards of broken tea sets and plates were everywhere. The windows and furniture were broken. As for the silverware, they were too, scattered across the room. Some of them were stuck on the roof!
I don't think her glasses are the problem around here… Marceline thought with a dull expression on her face.
Suddenly, the door bursts open of laundry soap bubbles flooding the hallway.
It was no surprise to Lady Phantomhive to realize that her maid put excessive amount of laundry soap.
"I'm so sorry my lady! I don't know what went wrong! I know I did it right this time!" she gave the instructions to Marceline.
"Mey-Rin, it says three cups, not thirty."
BOOM!
"What the hell?!" Marceline walks directly to the kitchen.
Like the garden, the kitchen was also on fire.
"Bardroy, did you use your flamethrower again?"
"Well, I had to speed up the cooking process. I followed all instructions; it's just that it takes too long."
Sebastian was right; they are indeed useless when it comes to chores. More like idiots.
"We're so sorry my lady!" they apologized and whined.
We only have one hour left… That's not good.
Because of their poor performance of doing their tasks, the young mistress hatched an idea.
"Calm down, I know exactly how we can save this dinner."
"Really?" the servant awed.
5:45 PM
"Ho-ho-ho."
"Marceline, why are you in a maid costume?" Ciel wondered.
"I had to do what I had to do in an instant. I'll get change immediately."
Her brother examines the entire manor.
"I'm impressed. You took care of the mansion and preparations professionally. Of course, I would have ordered Sebastian to do the same, but I guess there's no need," the young lord smiles at his older sister.
"Say, Marceline, where are all the servants?"
"I took care of them, professionally."
When she means "professionally", after witnessing the disastrous faults the staff has caused to the Phantomhive estate. To protect the family's reputation, Lady Phantomhive grabs a long piece of rope (not even Finny will break) and ties the three together, tapes their mouths shut, and throws them into a closet in the hallway of the servant's quarters.
It was up to Marceline to fix everything in which she completed in just one minute.
"I'll get them right away," Sebastian follows the muffling sound he heard from a great distance.
Just as he opened the closet, the servants collapsed on him with dizzy eyes.
Everything went smoothly as the 17-year-old had planned. In the aftermath, Finny, Mey-Rin, and Bardroy all feared Marceline in a slightly lesser degree compared to Sebastian who wished he could have done the same to them in the first place.
No one knows exactly how Marceline did it in such a short period of time. No one, not even Tanaka, witnessed her extreme abilities. All of this remains currently unknown. For one thing, Sebastian suspects that she may not be human after all.
End of flashback.
Xxx
"Master, we have a letter from her majesty, the Queen. I believe this is urgent."
As soon as Ciel started reading, the young lord expressed his dismay:
To my cute little boy,
A few days ago, a robber broke into my palace and stole my eldest daughter's prized Siamese kittens while she was visiting. The police and Scotland Yard are unable to recover them after arresting the thief the on same night the kittens were lost; it's up to you to find them, safely returned to my daughter. Her cat has exactly six kittens who are very ill. She will be dreadfully upset if she loses even one or all. However, I do understand your severe allergy to felines, but you are my only hope. Remember, you're not alone; you have your butler and sister to support you to the best of their ability. I must get going now, my daughter, Victoria, is very upset and I don't think Albert can cheer her up. Oh Albert!
Your Majesty,
Queen Victoria
P.S. "It's alright my dear, Albert's here" (says John Brown with a King Albert puppet)
"This case is even lamer than the other one." ***
It may be the worst case Ciel had to do under the queen's order, but for Sebastian, this is something he would enjoy considering the fact that he favors cats.
"How strange, the young mistress hasn't come down for breakfast."
"Sebastian, check to see if she's ready. It's not like her to be tardy."
"Yes, my lord."
Knock Knock
"I'm coming!" the Lady Phantomhive shuts the door to her bed. ***
She opens the other door where her butler can see her face.
"Yes?"
"Oh dear, my lady, you're still in your pajamas. Please change immediately," he looks at his pocket watch, "there's still plenty of time to meet downstairs with your brother."
"Can you bring my breakfast to my room instead?"
"Certainly," Sebastian left.
Now what could she be up to? He thought.
After the morning routine, Marceline puts her usual black dress with a single medium, white cravat sticking out from her dark purple, oval shaped broach that lies close to her neck. She then puts black tights finishing off by wearing her medium-heeled boots.
Knock Knock
"Yes?"
"Today's breakfast is oatmeal with raisins and a dash of cinnamon, orange juice, and hash browns."
"Thanks Sebastian," Marcey quickly takes the tray and closes the door.
My lady, what are you hiding?
"Here," she hands him the empty tray, "Let me finish making my bed. Tell Ciel that I will be arriving to his office shortly,"
"Alright," he leaves her room.
Xxx
"Where have you been? I was waiting for you all morning."
"Sorry Ciel, I had to do something. Anyway, is there anything from the queen?"
"There was, the princess's Siamese kittens went missing a few days ago. The last person who saw them was none other than the thief himself. Sebastian will negotiate. Once we have the information, we'll start looking."
"Alright."
Stopping at London's police station, the three were led by two men to a room where they kept their prisoner.
"He's a bloody fool," Lord Randall said in disdain, "We could have solved this case ourselves."
"It seems like the queen has already given up on the Scotland Yard," Ciel barged in, "Sebastian, get the truth out of him."
"Yes, my Lord," the butler entered the room.
"The Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police Service of London, couldn't even find a bunch of missing cats in the streets."
"You're as arrogant as always, Earl."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"We tried to get that low-life to talk, but he still says that he lost them in the river."
Creak.
"Did you get what we need?"
"Yes, my Lord. You might find this surprising: He did, indeed, lose them in the river. There's no doubt he's hiding anything. He stole those kittens from the princess for money considering how much they are worth. Each of them cost £597."
"We searched the river many times! There's still no sign of that box!" Officer Abberline replied.
"Very well, Sebastian, I want you to find the kittens, search everywhere."
"As you wish my Lord," the butler quickly exits the building.
The butler searches right, left, up, and deep down. He followed the scented running from the river. The trail ends. There's still no sign of the litter.
"Master, I could not find it. Someone must have found the box."
"Someone you say?" Lord Randall said, "Fred!"
"Yes sir."
"Tell everyone in the station to ask each individual in London."
"Right!" the Officer leaves the conversation.
"You're wasting your time, let's go."
"Certainly."
"A bunch of spoiled children; giving up so easily on such a simple case?" Lord Randall insulted.
"Who said we were giving up?" the Earl grinned before entering the carriage.
Xxx
Mew. Mew.
The Lady Phantomhive pets one of the kittens.
"It's such a shame that I can't keep all of you."
Mew. Mew.
"I would have kept all of Sebby's kitties to myself. He has thirteen of them in his closet while I only have two. Oh well, I can always steal them back if I want to."
Mew. Mew.
"I'm glad you two helped me," she pets her own cats, "dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
Meow.
Xxx
"This case should not be that hard. Whoever retrieved the box might still have them."
The young lord looks out the window.
"The Scotland Yard… Sebastian."
"Yes, my lord."
"Welcome to the Phantomhive manor, please why don't you take a seat in the guest room, my Lord will be arriving soon."
"What bring you here?"
"We asked everyone in town and found nothing. No one else was on the streets a few nights ago. Damn it!"
"Giving up already?" the Ciel teased.
"Not a chance," Lord Randall replied.
"Hey Earl, where is your sister?" Fred asked.
"In her room. Why?"
"It's funny though, I would see her right beside you whenever there is a case involved."
"It's not always true, but she has been acting unusual today."
"Unusual you say? Could the lady—no, no, forget it."
"May I join in?" Sebastian approached the conversation.
"Lady Phantomhive's activity been, shall I say, off earlier. This morning, she did not arrive before the Lord, and then requested that I bring her breakfast to her room. She only opened the door where I can see her face instead of wide open…"
"What does this had to do with the case?"
"Shut up. Go on," Ciel ordered.
"Arriving to the Lord's office later than usual, she's hiding something."
"Earl, does your sister like cats?"
"She two cats in her room, but doesn't let them out for obvious reasons. Her obsessions with felines are worse than Sebastian's…" Ciel's voice faded.
There was a long pause. Recalling his memories in the Phantomhive murder case, even though Marceline has two cats already; her obsession has gotten the better of her when she stole Sebastian's cats…
"It's Marceline."
"What?!" the Scotland Yard was confused.
"There's no way I could have figured it out!" the Earl runs to his sister's room. The men followed along.
Xxx
Bang! Bang!
"Marceline!" Ciel opened the door in surprised to see his sister carrying the litter of the princess's precious kittens while standing on the edge of her balcony. Her wide angular eyes met his.
"So she's the one!" Lord Randall shouted.
Mew. Mew.
"Under the queen's order, I demand that you surrender at once!"
Instead, Lady Phantomhive jumps off the balcony and disappears.
"What the blazes?" Lord Randall couldn't believe his eyes when he looked down from the balcony.
"Sebastian, your order, I want you to find Marceline."
"Yes, my lord," the butler jumps out of the balcony to search for his beloved mistress.
The officer rushes to Randall's side.
"Looks like there's gonna be a storm."
"I don't care," Ciel exits the room.
"We're coming too," the Scotland Yard barged into the carriage.
Finding Marceline was very difficult for the butler: she naturally has no scent and blocks off her unattainable soul where he cannot detect her presence.
Xxx
The young mistress ran away from people's eyes especially eluding the queen's carriage. On the empty street, she slowly walks while searching the area until she bumped into someone who was no other than Sebastian.
With a hurt look on her face, she instantly relinquishes.
"Here, take them."
The butler was surprised.
"Give them to the princess already. She's in the queen's carriage," she looks down gloomy.
"My lady…"
"That's an order. I'll want to be alone."
"As you wish," the butler left immediately.
Rain poured down from the sky while a boy in a black cloak appeared from an alley watching as the mistress slowly collapse, crying from afar.
Xxx
The butler arrived just in time where Ciel, Randall, and Fred were standing near the queen's carriage.
"Have you found them?" the princess steps out while John Brown holds her umbrella above.
"Yes, your majesty."
The princess opens the box and shed tears of joy. Judging by their appearance, they were healthy and well-taken cared of.
"Thank you, Earl Phantomhive."
"Don't thank me, your majesty. I believe there is someone who deserves your hospitality," the lord faces his butler, "Sebastian, where is she?"
"The lady has ordered me to give the kittens back to the princess and wanted to be alone."
"Go get her."
"Certainly."
In the same street, the butler approaches and keels down for his mistress.
"I adore those kittens as much as I do," he wipes the tears from her eyes with one gloved hand on each cheek, "it will be alright."
The boy disappears.
"It's not proper for a young lady to sit on the ground in an empty street," he brushes her fringes and smiles sweetly.
She didn't return the smile.
He helps Marceline up and pulls her to an embrace while running his fingers down her long curly hair. Sebastian then raises her chin up with two fingers where his eyes met hers.
"We must get going now, my dear," he carried Marceline in a bridal-style fashion.
She held onto his shoulder and blushed, looking down.
When they finally arrived, the butler gently sets her down.
"Don't be shy, Lady Phantomhive" the princess called.
Marceline followed.
"Let me take a good at you for a moment," the princess puts the box in the carriage and examines Marceline face with her hands.
"So this is the Lady Phantomhive, my mother has told me about," the princess smiled, "you're so young and pretty."
There was a short silence.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for taking good care of them," the princess hugged while the mistress returns the embrace.
"I don't understand," the-18-year-old whispered in the princess's ear.
"What's wrong dear?" Princess Victoria whispered back.
"I thought you were going to slap and punish me for running away with your cats…"
The princess broke the hug and responded in a sweet, calm voice: "You did the right thing. I'm not mad at all; you see my kittens were in very poor health. Their mother tried the best she can to nurse them, but the vet told me that they were going to die soon. If it weren't for that event and your medical skills, I would be more upset when they are found dead than stolen alive. I couldn't be anymore grateful."
"You're Welcome, your majesty," Marcey smiled.
"Please, call me Victoria."
John Brown checks the time in his pocket watch.
"Your highness, we need to go back to the palace and prepare for departure. The ship will be leaving first thing tomorrow."
"Give me one more moment," the princess said.
"Your high—"he slips on the slippery ground and accidentally bumps into Princess Victoria, "I'm so sorry your ma—"
Everyone was shocked when they saw the queen's daughter kissing the Earl's sister.
They broken off the kiss and blushed after that embarrassing moment they had.
"Let's get going!" John Brown immediately jumps in the seat, taking off while Victoria looks back on the girl that she accidently kissed.
Who knew that I would get a first kiss from a girl? At least I felt much better.
It was not long after everything return to normal—for now.
Facts about Marceline Phantomhive:
- She never wears a corset in her life. This is because she has a natural slim waist and petite, hourglass figure. Her adoptive father said that she didn't one.
- Many women adored her cute, doll-like appearance, particularly Angelina Dalles.
- Out of all the women and girls, she is Aleister Chamber's favorite, much to her dismay.
- According to Vincent, the reason why Marceline's middle name is named after him is because he predicted that she may "inherit" some of his traits which were proven true: her loving nature towards Ciel, the ability to manipulate individuals, and confidence. Rachel also mentions that Marceline also "inherited" traits from her as well: an awfully beautiful appearance and a playful personality. (It will explored in another short story)
- "Marcey" is her nickname.
-She and Lizzie formerly despised each other. Marcey views Lizzie as "annoying" and a "pest" while Lizzie sees her as an object of her fiancée's affection and a "witch" due to her gothic wardrobe and appearance she deems as "ugly". In return, Marcey finds Lizzie's arranged marriage with her brother utterly disgusting, saying that "Cousin Marriages are gross" even after they settled their funds after the Campania shipwreck.
- Frances highly respects Marceline despite her adoption into the family. The Marchioness was impressed of her skills in fencing that exceed all the members of the Midford family.
- Marceline is five years older than Ciel.
- She was originally Edward's fiancée until she called off the engagement as soon as her parents introduce her to the Head Knight's son.
- Ciel does not envision her as another pawn; instead he views her as someone by his side due to their close, loving relationship.
- She graduated from a girls' college at the age of eight and is still gifted in many subjects especially in the arts.
- Gregory Violet is in love with her.
- Marcey has a passion for anything strange. She finds them "normal" to her when she, for example, does not mind Snake's appearance.
- Grell Sutcliff is her best friend.
- She can see cinematic records and unlike most beings, her cinematic records are played in color and in high definition.
- When Vincent and Rachel were alive, the only thing young Marceline ever wanted on her birthday, Christmas, and gift was a cat. For years, a cat was the first and only thing she had on her list, but because of her brother's allergies, they denied her request. Little Marcey has tried many attempts to buy one at a pet store or save a stray in the streets.
- Before her brother was born, on her fifth birthday, her father gave her fake white cat ears.
- Her outfit from "His Butler, His Lady" is a white blouse with long sleeves that puffed up on her upper arms, a black bow, purple floral high-waist skirt with matching medium-heeled shoes, black tights, and a flower on her head with the same pattern. She was also wearing cat ears at that time.
- Despite growing up in England, Marcey does not have a British accent.
- Unlike her younger brother, she does not like sweets very much and loathes chocolate.
Important Notes:
*** Ciel is referring to the case in the Curry Contest Arc.
*** Marceline's bed is surrounded by glass walls with wooden frames, covered with black curtains inside. The walls are long, wide and rectangular that form a hexagon shape attached to the ceiling and has a door composed with the same materials with a glass doorknob. In addition, the space of the interior is fairly enough for Marceline to put small furniture in such as her night stands sitting on each side of her large bed. It also includes a switch to her lights hanging on the ceiling.
The flashback takes place before Snake was hired.
This case takes place before the Witch Forest Arc.