I hated this even though I did love the baby blue knee length dress I was wearing. My dark navy blue hair that I had inherited from my father never seemed to straighten no matter how hard I tried. My mother didn't exactly like that it was a tad wavy near the end because she thought it looked like I didn't care for it as well as the fact that it reached passed my waist... My eyes, however, I had gotten from her. They were large and blue and I looked cute but people said my faternal twin was beautiful. I scoffed because she was a total blonde and had green eyes and even though we had different things in mind for the future, she only had two things in common with me: video games and anime. I mean, this was 21st century England
My little sister, Alice, doesn't have to worry about what Marisa and I were about to deal with. She was already married. She was also blonde but wasn't stupid like Marisa. Alice had made a perfect choice when marrying Alan...
Our mother shoved me forward harshly as we reached the door to the Michaelis home. I hadn't been the least bit shocked at her attitude towards me. Mother had been treating me that way ever since I could remember and Father never cared one bit. They had even forced me to learn how to be a butler (yes, women can be butlers) by training under our last one who just recently died. Now I wasn't just the daughter of the famous Phantomhives, I was also the Phantomhive butler. No one seemed to care who I was unless I was able to serve them in one way or another...and we always only had male guests...
Feeling a sharp pain in the back of my head, I knew I had kept my so called family waiting too long. I knocked on the dark maple door and stood straight.
We didn't even have to wait more than a few seconds before the door was thrown open. "W - we're here to see Master Michaelis about some business?" I cringed inwardly at the major mistake I had made. I was never supposed to call anyone outside of home 'Master' or 'Lady'.
"Awe, you don't need to be so formal here! We all just call him Sebastian!" I didn't have time to study the woman. She had immediately ushered us in and closed the door before leaving us in the front entrance, with me worrying for my life and my family glaring at me.
I tried ignoring them by studying the layout of the first floor. Everything seemed so perfect. The light brown floor shined brilliantly as the bright sun flowed in from the many windows in front of us. The walls, a blue that matched my eyes, made the dark furniture around me stick out. I got lost in the beauty of the room that I didn't even notice the man standing before us until Marisa tapped me.
He was grinning. I was speechless as my sapphire eyes widened. I knew I was in trouble the moment my heart sped and I felt my cheeks burning. He was... divine in every way possible. His ruby eyes seemed to glow as he bowed, his glove covered hand placed over his chest. His raven colored hair parted down his right side and slightly covering his left eye. 'Wait. This perfect gentleman... Could he be Sebastian?'
"Good afternoon," his deep voice made my breath catch in my throat. "I am Sebastian." He glanced over at me before standing straight once more.
"We are honored to meet you. I am Lady Phantomhive, my husband Lord Phantomhive and our twin daughters, Marisa and Ciel." I again cringed at the distaste in my mother's voice when she spoke my name.
Marisa was a major flirt and from her tone it was quite obvious she was flirting with Sebastian. But when I looked up at him, he was completely ignoring her and was staring at me. "Shall we head to the parlor?"
Our host turned away, forcing me out of my slight daze. "The house unfortunately still belongs to my older brother but will belong to me once I marry. Our parents always did favor him more though I was the one with perfect etiquette. Perhaps it is because I had acted more like a butler." His mesmorizing eyes focused on me once again. I wanted to reach out and touch him, letting him know how much it hurt to be treated like one every day. But we reached our destination before I could do so. I bent my head down to keep my tears from showing but it seemed that it didn't work at all. Sebastian saw through me and just as I was passing him, he took hold of my wrist, the feel of his covered hands moving up my arm froze me as I wondered what they felt like without gloves.
"I'm going to ask them something but do not take offense."
I looked back at him, my tears glistening with curiosity.
"Excuse me," Sebastian began "I have a request of you that will end up ruining our plans for some time."
My mother glared slightly at me as my arm continued to be held while Marisa just stared at Sebastian and my father had no care in the world. It all changed when the host said "May I borrow Ciel for a few months?"
Everyone was in shock, except for me as I calmly recalled his words. 'Why does he want to borrow me? I know he said not to take offense, but still. What could he be planning?'
"We need her!" My father angrily stood, causing me to back up until I accidentally bumped into Sebastian's chest. Anger in his voice was something I rarely heard. Father grit his teeth as mother continued to speak for him but as calmly as possible. "Why on Earth would you want to 'borrow' one of my children? Why don't we just continue with the arrangement?"
My heart stopped when arms wrapped around from behind me and I heard a gentle voice whisper to me "You don't need to hold in your tears any longer." He pulled away, gently pushing me out the room and shutting the door.
"I heard from a reliable source that one of your daughters was being treated like a slave. She said she was ready for me to give the order of killing all of you but I decided to lie to you instead." Sebastian smirked with pride. "I didn't lie about everything I said, of course. This house really does belong to my brother, but if you had known more about the Michaelis family you would have found out that he and I aren't full brothers. We treated each other like we were but we knew from the beginning that we have different mothers."
"Who told you how we treat Ciel?" Marisa demanded.
The Lord of the house only smiled before continuing. "I also didn't lie when I said I had acted like a butler or our parents favored Claude more." He bowed mockingly. "I'm doing what I must to save Ciel from being further harmed by you."
'Why did he spy on us? What did he lie about? And why does he want to save me?' Those questions circled in my head until the door flew open, knocking me down in the process. I stole a glance as I rubbed my forehead lightly, seeing that it had been Marisa who had stormed out and was now heading towards the door. I knew why my family was pissed at Sebastian. They were losing me - their butler. I quickly stood and backed as far as I could, not wanting to endure my parent's wrath.
He watched as the front door slammed behind in his face. He sighed with relief before he nearly fell forward when a body slammed into him.
"Thank you, S - Sebastian." I whispered softly. "I never thought this day would come." The grip tightened on the coat before the gentleman turned in the young woman's arms and gently soothed her.
"You'll be safe now." He whispered. "No one... Not even I... can order you around." Sebastian stayed like that while letting Ciel sob uncontrollably into his chest until she finally pulled away, eyes red.
Sniffling a bit, I heard him clear his throat and speak. "Since you'll be staying for quite some time, I will show you to your room."
"My... room?" I stared in confusion.
My perfect savior just smiled back at me before moving forward to the stairs. "I knew if you were going to be staying with us, you needed a proper room to sleep in." He explained as we reached the second floor. "I'll warn you right now though - there is only one bathroom!" We stopped at the fourth door on the right side of the stairwell.
'Only one bathroom...' I thought strangely. I watched as Sebastian began turning the doorknob to my new room but a small explosion from somewhere in the house made him stop.
I realized I was clinging tightly to his firmly pressed suit when he sighed and took hold of my hand. "I'm sorry!" I shouted and removed myself from him.
"It seems you'll be meeting the rest of the members now..." He lead me back the way we had came and towards a door that was in a corner to the left of the first floor. There was a much larger door in the middle but I didn't ask. Instead I asked about the people I would be living with.
"Well..." Sebastian started as we stopped in front of the door. "They all have dark pasts just like you. It isn't wise to ask them about it unless they're up to telling you. I'm sure you wouldn't speak of yours if somebody asked."
I shook my head as my past experiences filled me with fear. Rough hands pinning me down as I cry for help; the smell of alcohol breath filling my nose; an old man lifting up skirt. I breathed heavily as the thought of it happening again caused Sebastian to take my hand and begin running his fingers through my hair. "You'll be safe here. I promise. No one can reach you as long as you're with us." He smiled and I just nodded.
I blinked and the next thing I know, three people stood in front of us. "These three are Mey-Rin, Bard and Finny. Mey-Rin is the maid, Bard, the cook, and Finny the gardener." Sebastian spoke as each servant smiled at me. I studied each one carefully; noting how they dressed like their the occupation required them. Mey-Rin's uniform was a typical maid's outfit; a midnight blue dress with matching buttons and white pinafore with ruffles around the shoulders. Additionally, she was wearing brown, knee-high boots, a white, frilly cap, and long, black stockings, which was held up by a garter belt. Somehow her red hair complimented her maid's outfit nicely as did the large glasses she was wearing.
Bard was wearing a standard's chef outfit, which included a long white apron. He had goggles hanging around his neck and a cigarette hanging from his mouth.
Finny was wearing a plain top with red piping around the collar and plaid pants along with black knee-high boots. He also sported a straw hat.
"Hi," I whispered, a bit nervous about talking to them in person when the time came. "I'm Ciel."
Bard grinned and saluted which confused me. "It's a pleasure to meet you, little lady! If you ever get hungry, I'll cook you up a five star meal!" I smiled before Mey-Rin and Finny stepped forward next.
"Just let me know if you ever want flowers in your room! I'm the best gardener around!"
"And if you need some cleaning done, let me know! I'd be happy to do it!"
I thanked them just before Sebastian told them to get back to work. He sounded a bit commanding but that was to be expected of every master of the house. He turned to me and smiled again. "Shall we continue to your room?" We turned to the stairs but were interrupted again by a knock on the front door. Sebastian sighed annoyingly, seeming to already know who it was.