It was an early morning in the heat of July, and the Earl of the Phantomhive household was too comfortable in his bed to wake up. However, his pesky butler, of course, would not let him rest in. Even if it was summer, there were still duties to attend to.

Sebastian walked over to the window, opening the curtains to allow the sunlight in. He turned around to his master. "Rise and shine, my young lord; you have many things to focus on today." All he got in response was a groan as the boy covered himself with more of the blanket. The butler smirked. "The Earl of the Trancy household appears to have sent a letter to you. By the looks of it, I believe it may be for a ball."

Ciel immediately rose up from under the covers and was now sitting up and glaring at the butler, as if he had personally offended him.

"What do you mean he wants to invite me to a ball?" He asked, already knowing the answer. That piece of rubbish was always trying to get closer to him. It was repulsive. The bluenette frowned at the thought of the blond before realizing something. "Wait. Did you look at the letter?" His voice was firm as he now crossed his arms.

Sebastian shook his head. "Of course not, my lord. However, when I was glancing through the mail, one with a formal look caught my eye. I cannot see it being anything else," he added.

Ciel pursed his lips. "How do you know it was from him? What if it was from someone else? You know many people send ball invitations in formal envelopes, Sebastian. If you made a mistake, I swear-"

"My lord," he interrupted, before the boy blew a fuse. "You'll know it was from him when you see it. I would respect that you do not doubt me." The butler smiled kindly at the earl, not letting himself voice that he was certainly overreacting and ridiculous.

The boy sighed, his eyes no longer narrowed or aimed at his butler, but instead his hands. "Get me dressed, Sebastian. I want to see this letter now."

Ciel sat at his desk, drinking his morning tea. He flipped through letters, ignoring most, until he spotted an oddly colored one. It was most likely the one that Sebastian mentioned earlier.

The bluenette eyed the envelope carefully. It was purple, the same color as that wretched boy's jacket. To make it even more obvious, the sticker holding it down was the color of a green olive. This certainly wasn't your everyday letter.

"Damn Sebastian. Of course he was right." He slowly and carefully opened the letter as to not rip it. It was made of quality; to ruin it would be, in a way, shameful. When he pulled out the letter, neat handwriting had sent a clear message. Specifically, a message that he wished he was not seeing.

"Dear Mr. Phantomhive,

You have been cordially invited to a ball being hosted by the Earl of the Trancy family. This ball will occur on Saturday, July 13th. The time for this event is from 7pm to 10pm. We hope for your attendance.

P. S. We would wish for you to come earlier to discuss important matters. An appropriate time for your arrival would be at 6pm sharp. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Alois Trancy"

Ciel grimaced. What "important matters" were there to possibly discuss? Land? Tea? What was so meaningful that it required his attention a whole hour prior to the actual ball? If only he had more important things to do that time as to avoid going so early. Being alone with Trancy was always interesting.

And by interesting he meant it was atrocious.

The young earl sighed. All of this thinking was getting to his head. Alois was getting to his head. Which wasn't good; it was best to just avoid the boy and pay him no mind. He tried to take calming breaths to relax himself. That blond was just so irritating to the point where it frustrated Ciel.

As he shut his eyes and took one last "calming" breath, he called for his butler. Said man arrived within seconds, opening the door and striding in. Ciel took a sip of his tea, watching the man come in.

"How may I help you, my lord?" Sebastian took note of the look on his master's face. While it was common to see the boy with an unamused look on his face, this one looked angrier than usual. He grinned at that.

"You were right," the bluenette replied through grit teeth. "Trancy invited me to some ball they are having on Saturday." He paused, glancing as his butler's unchanging face. Noticing that the expression was the same, he looked back down at the letter. "They wanted me to arrive an hour earlier to discuss 'important matters,' whatever that means," he said, scoffing. "Still, I can only imagine what these matters must be. Considering that they want me there an exact hour earlier, it has to have meaning."

Ciel once again led his eyes to his butler. "I want you to prepare a ride for Saturday so we arrive there at '6pm sharp.' I will need a nice outfit ready, presumably one of brighter clothing than my usual day to day attire. I predict that Elizabeth will be there, and you know how much she can complain about how my clothes are 'not cute.' It's highly irksome." With that, Ciel locked eyes with Sebastian, waiting for a response.

Of course, the usual words came out of said man's mouth. "Yes, my lord." The butler turned around and began to walk out. For a moment, though he paused to speak. "Lunch will be ready soon. I will be back shortly to bring you down." With that, he left and shut the door behind him.

Ciel sighed and put his palm on his face. Saturday was only a short four days from now. He knew that the time would go by quickly and unpleasantly.

The blunette took finished off his tea, turning his chair around and looking out the window. All he really saw was a large forest, but even still, it was something to look at and, hopefully, take his mind off the ball.

It didn't.

.

.

.

Hi everyone! WADD here! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this fanfiction! I will try to plan for more to come! But, to be honest, I'm not really sure where this story is even going after I have the next couple of chapters. If you see any spelling mistakes or have a suggestion for anything, let me know! Anyways, I'll see you in the next one.

-WADD