Growing up as the daughter of a nobleman in London was harder than most would admit to. We must never speak unless spoken to. A Lady must never raise her voice. She must always act cute and weak around her Lord. And she must never fall in love with a man of a different social standing. It seemed that we were never to act like ourselves unless around close friends in a private setting. I despised the rules I was forced to follow, but i was never able to say so in front of my father. That was, until the day I met HIM.
Shortly after my second brothers birth, my mother had come down with an unknown illness and unfortunately passed away. Being that I was the oldest child, I had taken it upon myself to care for my two younger brothers instead of finding a suitor. My father didn't take kindly to it either. Whenever we received an invitation to attend a gala or social event, I was forced to go in place of my father. His hopes being that I would find my future husband there. I never bothered to argue with him, and out of respect I attended the gatherings without a word.
The latest gala my father had been invited to was hosted by the Phantomhive family. He had been doing business with the head of the family for a few months now and decided that both of us would attend. To be honest, I was nervous about attending this gathering. I heard the rumors that spread around about this particular Earl, and quite frankly, some of them weren't pleasant at all. I tried not to think much of it, being that rumors tended to cause a great deal of trouble for anyone who believes them.
A few nights before the gala, my father sent me and a servant of my choosing to a renowned tailor shop in Central London to get my dress. Being that it was so close to Halloween, the Earl requested that the attendee's dress up. "Have you decided on what you wish to go as, Miss?" I looked at the servant I let come with me. Avangelina was almost like a sister to my brother's and I. Growing up, we would always tell each other our secret crushes and what not. Avangelina was actually the only friend I had. Her dirty blonde hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. Her amber eyes always filled with excitement and a longing for adventure. I smiled."No not yet. It's hard to think of something when half the time someone else also shows up in the exact same attire. That's why I'm not too fond of costume galas." "If I may be so bold as to suggest that you create your own costume. If you are allowed to, Miss." Avangelina said. I thought about it briefly. Father probably wouldn't be too happy about it, but it guaranteed that no one else would show up in the same thing. "That may prove to be quite a bit of fun actually." I mused. "By the way, Avangelina... What was it my father spoke to you about yesterday? Maria said that you were quite depressed afterwards." Avangelina's gaze was to the floor of the carriage. Her head lowered as if she was too afraid to tell me. "Master Alexander said that if you could not find a suitor by the time of your next birthday, I would no longer be able to serve the family." She said solemnly. My heart sank. I knew my father wanted me to find a suitor, but never did I imagine him to take it that far.
I leaned over a placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I would never allow him to do such a thing. If my mother were still alive she would tell you the very same thing." "Thank you Miss Claire." Avangelina and I were both silent the rest of the way into London. The carriage eventually came to a stop and both of us stepped out. The streets of Central London were as crowed as ever. People rushing to either get to the pub or just to get home. Pretty sad if you asked me. These day's people took for granted everything that they had. Never appreciating any of it. Avangelina opened the door of the tailor shop and I walked in with her following closely behind.
The front of the shoppe was filled with sample fabrics and mannequins that had on some of the latest fashions for nobles. An older woman came out from behind one of the curtain's that hid the doorway to the back of the store. Her chestnut coloured hair was pulled back into a bun. Her hazel green eyes widening after she spots us. "My goodness, is that you Claire? I can't believe how much you resemble Lady Rocwell! It's no wonder all 'em boys are chasin' after you!" The women laughed as she approached us. "It's been a while Aunt Anna." I smiled and hugged her. "Far too long my dear. It feels like just yesterday my sister-in-law was bringing you in for you first ball gown. My how time has flown by." Anna chuckled. I nodded. My mother wished she could have stayed a bit longer to see me marry, and I told her the day she passed away that I would find my husband before my next birthday. "Aunt Anna, by chance, would I be able to make a custom dress. Father was invite to a costume ball at the Phantomhive estate and he asked me to get a dress for the event." I said, seeing her face light up as soon as I mentioned the word 'custom'. Aunt Anna was never one who liked to see people wear 'simple' clothing. She preferred a challenge most of the time.
"Of course dear. You and Avangelina go in back and choose whatever fabric you like. I have another client comin' in shortly so once I'm finished with them, I'll help you make your dream come true." She mused. I couldn't help but smile and at the same time, I could feel the excitement roll off of Avangelina's body. We made our way towards the back of the shoppe when the front door opened again. "Ah, Lord Phantomhive. Right on time." Anna said, welcoming her client. Avangelina and I both turned. Until now, I hadn't seen the Earl of Phantomhive. To my great surprise, the Earl was actually a young boy no older than thirteen. From the way he wore an eye patch over his right eye, it was safe to assume that he had been injured.
From behind me, I heard Avangelina gasp. That's when my gaze landed on HIM. Standing next to the boy was a tall man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, clad in black. His hair was as black as the feather of a raven, his long bangs framing his angelic face. His reddish brown eyes seemed to be able to look into the soul of another. A strange feeling overcame me at that moment. I wanted to know more about that mysterious man. I HAD to know more about him.
Avangelina and I would later learn that the man clad in black was actually the Earl's butler. Curse the man who said noblewomen could only marry other nobles. As much as I desperately wanted to go up and talk to him, I knew that Aunt Anna would probably scold me for it. I sighed internally and turned my back towards the two before walking into the back room, Avangelina following closely behind. For the most part, I was quiet the entire time we looked though the different colored fabrics while Avangelina would randomly bring up the subject of Lord Phantomhive's butler. She had a better chance of getting with him than I did. The thought quickly soured my mood. We hadn't been in the back for long when Aunt Anna came in with Lord Phantomhive and his butler following behind. I couldn't help but giggle when Avangelina quickly stopped mid sentence.
I glanced out of the corner of my eye just in time to catch the butler glancing over at me. My eyes quickly darted back to the shiny blue fabric that I had been look at. It had become a normal reflex after attending so many of those galas and social events. If I spotted a noble that did look cute, his fiancée was never far behind. I always had to dart my eyes away quickly so that no one would ever notice, and so that it wouldn't cause problems for myself or the other noble. It seemed that all the cute ones were already involved with another and all that was left for me were the older nobles who had already let themselves go. The thought sickened me that I would ultimately end up marrying one of THOSE men. Well, there was the Viscount Druitt, Aleister Chamber. But that man was never looking for an actual relationship with any women. I was doomed to marry a man twice my age and I knew it too. "Please forgive me Lord Phantomhive. I normally don't have to scold my seamstresses for not completing a task. I'll have this fixed in no time." Aunt Anna said, taking a seat at one of the sewing machines. Somehow, it didn't surprise me that part of Lord Phantomhive's costume hadn't been completely sewn together.
From the way my aunt spoke, it sounded like Cleo hadn't finished sewing the costume. Poor girl had to work two jobs in order to help support her mother and three siblings. I had met her a few times in the past. A very shy girl with blond hair that was always done in a braid and her nut brown eyes always seemed to be filled with sadness. It was only on those rare occasions of seeing her, that she ever looked truly happy. But the young girl always had a tendency to not finish a task completely on time. Never her fault of course seeing as how she would get so caught up in her work here and completely lose track of time that she would end up rushing out of the shoppe in order to make it to her next job on time, leaving many of her works unfinished till the next morning. Aunt Anna never did scold her though. She always said that to any of the nobles who had the audacity to actually say something about how untrustworthy her workers were.
The room fell silent again, except for the squeaking of the pedal and sound of the needle hitting the metal plate under the fabric. "Ah~ Miss Claire what about this one?" Avangelina asked me. I turned my head in her direction and my gaze landed on the silk like purple fabric she had pulled down from one of the shelves. I'll admit, it did look beautiful, but it didn't seem like what I wanted to go with. "Hold onto that one for now Avangelina. We'll keep looking a bit longer." I smiled. I didn't want to make her feel bad. Avangelina smiled happily and folded the fabric over her arm before looking again. I sighed internally. I had decided on going with a Celtic look since for the longest time, although unknown to everyone except Avangelina and my mother when she was alive, I had been obsessed with the old Celtic occults. Mainly because I envied some of the dresses that the High Priestess usually wore in their ceremonies. This would actually be my one and only chance to get away with wearing something such as that. I chose two other fabrics before walking over to Avangelina. She seemed fixated on all the purple fabrics. Normally I like purple, but I had fallen in love with two of the blue fabrics I had in my hands.
Avangelina hadn't been paying attention and grabbed a red fabric that had a vase on top of it. When she pulled on it, the vase toppled over and fell towards us. Instead of trying to catch it, I grabbed my servants arm and quickly pulled her away. Her eyes widened in surprise as the vase hit the floor, shattering on impact. Everyone's gaze quickly snapped towards us. "Wha~ I-I'm soo sorry My Lady!" She panicked. I sighed in relief. At least she didn't get hurt. That was actually my only concern. "Are you girls alright?" Aunt Anna asked; panic slightly raising in her voice. I turned my head towards her and nodded. Lord Phantomhive didn't seem fazed by the sound of shattering porcelain. He sighed, not bothering to look towards us. His butler on the other hand was watching us intently. I could feel the blush spread across my checks from under my skin. "L-let me help you, Avangelina." I stuttered, quickly turning my attention to the shattered vase. Avangelina was already trying to pick up some of the pieces and I carefully kneeled next to her, making sure not to cut my hand on any of the pieces as I picked them up.
"Th-thank you for your concern My Lady, but please don't worry about—" I cut her off. "It's partially my fault to. I didn't tell you the vase was there when you went to grab the fabric." Avangelina smiled and nodded, silently thanking me for the help. I tried to ignore the pair of eyes that were burning holes into the side of my head as I helped my clumsy servant. I kept my eyes on the floor knowing that the Phantomhive butler was watching me, probably confused why a noble would be helping their servant clean up a mess they made themselves. "Sebastian, why don't you go help them." Lord Phantomhive said, the smile that was most likely now on his face was apparent in his voice. "Of course." He replied. I almost fainted when I heard his velveteen voice. 'Wha~!' I internally panicked. My face heated up as a blush spread across under my skin. Not because he wasn't hot, because he was the very definition of the word, but I didn't want him to see the blush on my face. This actually made it worse, and even more apparent than before. My heart was pounding in my chest as I heard him approach us and stop right next to me. Damn it all! This is so embarrassing. A Lady should never show her feelings in public. It was considered disrespectful by many in this day and age. I was very much a social outcast. From the corner of my eye, I saw the grin plastered on Avangelina's face. She was actually enjoying this now. I groaned internally. I went to reach for another piece of porcelain and Sebastian's hand brushed over mine, even though he was wearing gloves. I reacted a bit too quickly and cut the palm of my hand as I pulled away from the sharp porcelain edge in the same moment.
Blood quickly began to flow from the fresh cut almost immediately…