"My Lord, Sir Smith and his daughter have arrived for their appointment with you today." Sebastian stated from the door to Ciel's office, the young Earl glanced up from his desk and paper work blankly. The butler had been quite surprised at the sight of the expected visitor who was nothing at all like Sebastian had anticipated from what Ciel had told him. He had been informed that a respected associate of Funtom Toy Company was coming to discuss business with Ciel. And instead met a rather eccentric looking older gentleman who looked like he had just returned from exploring a jungle.
Ceil waved his hand dismissively, he had honestly forgotten his meeting with the eccentric business tycoon, "See them in to the drawing room I will be with them shortly, I just have to finish what I am reviewing here." He stated watching Sebastian silently glide away to obey his orders. He sighed once he was alone in his office.
Eccentric Edward Smith, or Sir Smith was a long time business associate for the Phantomhive family-he had attended Weston College with the late Vincent Phantomhive and the two were quite close. The eccentric Lord frequently traveled throughout Asia, establishing key business relationships for the Funtom Company and also frequently discovering new materials to trade and sell in England. He was an avid adventurist and philanthropist as well, known for starting and funding orphanages throughout the world prioritizing the education of the youth. Though he hadn't been so charitable or adventurous in his own youth, he used to be an extremely arrogant and selfish man who wouldn't dare step outside of England. But after his wife died and he was utterly grief stricken a doctor recommended he take a short trip out to see his business and once there he found a love of adventure and was rarely seen from again. And when he came for his short returns home he was always a different man. This time around Sir Smith had just returned from a full year expedition in Cambodia with his young daughter at his side. There he had collected several specimens for museums in England, as well as auction, and found new trading routes and areas for Phantomhive to expand business.
Ceil sighed and pushed up from his desk heading to his drawing room not prepared for the exhausting meeting waiting for him. The second he stepped through the door he was greeted by the eccentric Lord himself, "Earl Phantomhive, a pleasure as always to see you!" the man cheerfully boomed stalking across the room and offering an embrace that quickly changed into a handshake when he could see it would not be well received by Ciel, "My how can I see how much of a man you are becoming-and a fine man at that Earl!" he exclaimed happily, Ciel looked up to the red faced man with greying hair and a friendly face. When Ciel was younger he was rather fond of Edward Smith who was like an over affectionate uncle, who was constantly smothering Ciel with gifts and affection, not to mention the wild tales of his adventures and Ciel happily drank it all in. He recalled that Edward had volunteered to dress as Santa Claus the few Christmases he was at home to give children gifts at balls and parties.
Ciel still very much liked and respected the man, but the death of his parents had put a rift between the two of them that simply couldn't be mended. Perhaps if Edward had been in England or simply held better respect from the other Aristocrats Ciel would be his ward-but he had been busy venturing through the countryside of China and hadn't returned until months after the great tragedy. Edward had meet the changed Ciel and respected the fact that Ciel needed a business partner rather than a parent and stuck to that to the best of his ability and for that Ciel was thankful.
Sir Smith smiled as he began to report on business, "Currently I have my team unloading several toys and games I collected just for you Earl Phantomhive, though feel free to use them as references for new products to put on the market in that special manner you always do. I've also found several new routes for your company to take for trading and many people willing to offer their services in transporting your goods. I've also met with several textile companies there as well- I figured they would be useful for the production of your toys and have brought with me the means of contacting them if you would be interested." He explained eagerly a large smile stretched across his face, "And I met several sources for spice though I suppose those wouldn't be useful… but I believe you'll be wanting those letters, now where did I put them?" the eccentric Lord pondered aloud and Ciel watched as he began to rummage around in his several pockets searching for the letters, "No I don't believe I put it there, ah my lucky rabbit's foot, my pipe-oh an invitation to my auction." The Lord chuckled, "Would you like to attend Earl Phantomhive? There are many beautiful specimens for sale, Ivory billiard balls made from an elephant I hunted, a tiger skin rug caught by my little protégée, several statues and carvings and many elegant pieces of jewellery. Even more toys and goodies." He listed off happily his eyes sparkling brightly.
He opened his mouth to continue but Ciel was quick to interrupt him, "How about we finish discussing business first?" he suggested trying to reign in his impatience with Smith who had an extremely short attention span.
"Father I believe the papers are in your other pocket." A female voice chirped from the other side of the room, Ciel shifted to glance behind Smith to see a young girl of about seventeen, her wispy blond hair trapped into a messy bun behind her head. She was extremely tall and thin but athletically so, it was apparent she was fit and strong from how her exposed arms were toned. She wore brown sable brushed cotton trousers held up by matching brown y-back braces paired with a crisp white collar shirt with the sleeves rolled up about half way up her biceps and black boots. She looked like a rugged version of the late Lady Smith.
Her back was to them as she was politely examining the drawing room, walking with her hands clasped behind her back. She straightened up from examining the books resting on the lowest shelf sensing Ciel's stare on her back and turning to face him with a smile on her face, "Ada Smith pleasure to meet you Earl Phantomhive." She introduced herself politely striding forwards with her hand extended like her father's. Her skin was darkly tanned an unusual trait in England, especially for ladies who did as much as they could to remain pale. Her soft yellow hair was escaping in curls around her face and she had friendly grey eyes with a dash of light freckles on her nose.
Ciel took her hand and shook her hand, impressed with her confident firm shake that only experienced business men had. He had heard much about Adaline Smith who had been raised single handily by her father which was quite scandalous among the aristocrats of England. Sir Smith had wanted a son and did not let the fact his child was born a girl to stop him from raising one. Adaline was brought along on his ventures and was regarded by most to be as eccentric as her father-she was a girl who was more interested in hunting big game and exploring the depths of a jungle rather than hosting tea parties and balls. Supposedly there had been much outcry from her relatives demanding she be sent to a boarding school in England to be raised as a fine lady but Ada politely declined them saying she'd rather an education by experience than books.
Ciel rarely saw her as she did not often partake in her father's business dealings but knew she was the more reasonable of the two of them often acting as a parent for her childish father, "This pocket here father has your letter." She chided softly withdrawing the letter her father had been searching for and passing it to him, she then glanced down at the young Earl, "I suppose I should excuse myself from the business discussions as they are private. Would it be alright Earl if I were to take a stroll through your gardens? I'm quite interested in what gardens in England are like-the flora and fauna are quite different here." She asked him quite politely.
"Of course allow my butler to escort you there." Ceil stated turning towards Sebastian, "Sebastian escort Miss Smith to the gardens." He instructed his butler who bowed, the young girl smiled and trotted down after Sebastian.
Ada stared around herself in amazement, she had very few memories of England, she and her father only ever stayed for short visits, long enough for him to deliver all the goods he collected and discuss business before they set off again. This time her father wanted to shift his sites from Asia to Africa, which somewhat upset Ada-she liked Cambodia, the jungles were beautiful and the people fantastic. But England was also fascinating to her, it was after all her country of birth and where her father had spent his life before she had been born but it was completely foreign to her. She couldn't understand how this odd land worked, when she was with her father, he and his team always saw her as an equal her advice and input heard and respected. But whenever she returned home she could only ever listen to everyone and was forced to wear bulky and uncomfortable dresses and attend stuffy balls. The people here acted so different from what she was used to and the atmosphere was so different.
The Earl's house was elegant and beautiful with all of its intricate details and extravagant furnishings, she stared from the carpet beneath her feet to the wall paper on the walls to the enormous paintings hanging on the walls. The Phantomhive family had always warmly welcomed the Smith family and their eccentricities and for that Ada was thankful. She always adored Ciel's parents and had felt horrible at his loss. Part of her hoped that her father would take in Ciel and he could be her little brother for her to tend to but it was not to be.
She took a moment to regard the new butler who oddly enough looked like Vincent Phantomhive, and if she recalled correctly was named Sebastian. Ada had to stifle a giggle as she knew Ciel used to own a dog by that name. But she could sense something odd about the butler though she couldn't put a finger on it-he reminded her of the big cats that would stalk the dense jungles she ventured into. They would walk about in the daylight hours delicately and gracefully gliding about and at times would look absolutely harmless but in the air around them was always a bit of tension-like a spring wound up to tightly, coiled and ready to strike at a seconds notice. And there was a primal sense of danger and wrath that would be sensed from them in the dark hours of the night when the cats ruled the jungle. There was something about the butler that reminded her of that.
But he turned and flashed her a smile and she forgot about that thought as she found herself at the doors to the garden, "Here you are Ms. Smith." He said to her cheerfully and she wondered why she had ever found him dangerous at all.
She smiled at the butler cheerfully, "Thank you very much sir." She said extremely politely to him and stepped outside into the bright green landscape, "Ah so magnificent." She breathed as she took in the hedges and the flowers which were different from the enormous trees, tall grasses and numerous shrubs she usually found herself surrounded by.
Sebastian closed the door behind her leaving her alone, but could still see her through the windows walking around observing everything like an eager scientist dissecting a subject. Ada was examining the delicate roses that required constant tending to and careful care to thrive unlike the wild beautiful flowers she typically encountered.
She waited and when she was growing more assured that she was alone she straightened up before glancing around to be certain no one was there. She felt squirming in her trousers pockets, she jumped and pulled out the squirming bundle, "Sorry! Sorry Malis I know you don't like being in my pocket." She apologised as she stared down at the stripped kitten in her hand that mewled grumpily at her.
She cuddled and played with the small kitten, whose mewling soon changed to purring, Ada smiled at the small tiger kitten that she had taken in under her father's nose and had been looking after since they left Cambodia. She knew it wouldn't live on its own and tried to pass it off somewhere in Cambodia but the only people who would take it in would torture it for entertainment or kill it for the fur. So Ada had slipped the kitten among her luggage and had been feeding it snacks the entire voyage home. She named it Malis affectionately for the flowers she found it by, and found the kitten liked the taste of the lemon candies her Aunt would send her-though Ada knew they weren't the best thing for a growing cat but couldn't stop herself from slipping one occasionally to see the tiger cub happily suck and gnaw on the yellow candy.
"Alright now don't run away." She chided setting Malis down on the grass and watching the small little kit venture around happily swatting and batting at the grass meowing happily. Ada crouched down smiling watching the precious little creature. "Pretty kitty" she cooed wagging her finger for Malis to chase, the kitten happily swatting at her finger with its paws before nibbling on it.
"This is England Malis, this is where I came from. It's a very safe place here but tigers don't live here-instead of jungles we have forests. And we have very pretty gardens here like this one. I wish I could leave you here because it's safe here but I think you'll have to stay with me." Ada explained, "But that's alright-I promised to find you someplace safe." Suddenly Malis' ears pricked up and the kitten hissed and dashed off, "No bad kitty come back!" Ada cried dashing off after the kitten that jumped into the thick shrubbery.
Ada dug around trying to find her kitten, "Malis! Malis! Come back!" she cried jumping to her feet and rounding the bush, suddenly the bushes shook behind her and Ada turned in surprise for an enormous dog to jump out at her. She squealed in surprise and was tackled to the ground the wind knocked out of her, she wrestled to keep the dog's head away from her afraid it was going to bite her to find it only wanted to lick her. She giggled as the large dog wrestled to lick her face, "Okay, okay I love you too mister puppy!" she cried, "My what a friendly fellow you are!" she exclaimed happily, Finnian meanwhile was rounding the corner of the hedge maze to see Pluto on top of someone who was madly flailing.
"Plu Plu!" Finnian cried out worriedly and rushed forwards to pick up the enormous demon dog, to see a flushed girl in trousers staring up at him with an enormous smile on her face.
She sat up onto her elbows giving a look of gratitude to Finnian, "Thank you I wasn't sure how much longer I could last." She chirped jumping up to her feet and putting her hands on her hips, "But don't worry he was being a good boy-just a little over affectionate." She assured him, her gaze swept over the dog and she smiled at Pluto warmly. She honestly adored the dog and would love to play with him but knew that her time at the Phantomhive manor was drawing short and she had to find Malis.
Finnian nodded his head and tried to let go of Pluto only for the dog to try and rush forwards again, he scrambled and caught the dog a second time that proceeded to whine and try to struggle free, "That's good to hear, you must be a guest if he greeted you playfully." Finnian chirped, he'd been afraid when Pluto had suddenly dashed off that there were intruders in the garden.
Ada dusted of her trousers and approached the young boy who had to be about her age extending her hand out in polite introduction the way her father had taught her, "Ada Smith, explorer and you would be?" she asked kindly.
Finnian took her hand, "I'm the gardener." He responded and went to shake for her to wince. He jumped in surprise, "My bad! I'm so sorry I'm not any good with my strength!" he apologised as he realised he must have grabbed her hand too tightly.
She smiled and laughed not at all offended or angry, "Quite alright, a nice firm grip was all. Now how about a name?" She asked him politely as his introduction had been cut off.
Finnian blushed bright red, "It's Finnian." He stated, most of the Earl's guests wouldn't give him the time of day. He was quite flattered that she hadn't turned him away when she found out he was just a lowly servant or run away at his strength.
The blonde girl smiled at him cheerfully, "Quite a lovely name, really it suits you so beautifully." She complimented him, "Those hair clips you have are simply splendid, may I ask where you got them?" Finnian opened his mouth to respond when Ada quickly looked around worriedly, "Oh dear would you mind telling me alter, my precious Malis's gone missing I can't believe I forgot!" she exclaimed.
Finnian glanced around, "Malis? Is she a sister of yours?" he asked her glancing around worriedly as well, he hadn't seen anyone else.
Ada glanced down at her boots guilty as her feet shuffled around, "Well actually she's my tiger cub… father doesn't know I have her and I simply can't leave her behind, I'm all she has." She glanced up at Finnian and took his hands in hers, "Would it be too much trouble to ask for your help? You know this garden inside and out-I can pay you for your troubles." She pleaded with him.
"You don't have to pay me at all miss-I'll help you out." Finnian answered her, she smiled gratefully and squeezed his hands, Finnian glanced down at Pluto, "Plu Plu I need your help, can you help me?" he asked the enormous demon hound. Pluto sprang up excitedly barking and yipping, his tail wagging energetically, Finnian cheered and hugged the enormous hound, "Good boy Plu Plu!" he cried and sent the hound running down the hedge maze in front of them.
"I'll take this route Finnian if you would take that one." Ada suggested, Finnian nodded and the two took off running calling out frantically to the missing tiger cub. As Finnian rounded the next corner Pluto suddenly jumped out at him with an orange squirming bundle in his mouth.
"Good boy Plu Plu!" Finnian cried rushing forwards, the hound was obedient and dropped the squirming kit into Finnian's arms. Finnian stared down in awe, he was so happy to hold something so cute and furry in his arms but was also immensely terrified because if he weren't careful he may hurt the tiny thing. He glanced around, "Miss Smith! Miss Smith!" he exclaimed, "Plu Plu find Miss Smith!"
Suddenly the bushes behind him shook and Ada climbed her way through the dense green foliage, "Don't worry Finnian dear I'm right here, and you may call me Ada as well." Her eyes light up brightly, "Oh Malis! My precious, precious Malis! Thank you Finnian good sir! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed rushing forwards and taking the kit from his hands, "I swear I won't let you out of my sight again Malis!" she said in a rush as she held the kit tightly, "Now go back where you belong you naughty kitty!" she stated as she slid the kitten back into her trouser pocket, "Thank you Finnian really I don't know what I would have done."
At Finnian's side Pluto whined loudly, Ada smiled and patted his head, "Sorry Plu Plu dear, thank you as well you did a fine job boy." Pluto's tail swung wildly and he yipped happily, "I've got a lemon candy somewhere for you, ah right here. It's a bit sour but it's my way of saying thanks." She said as she withdrew the lemon candy presenting it to the large canine.
She then patted her pockets and saw a familiar charm on her wrist, she removed the hand woven bracelet from her hand, "A child in Cambodia gave this to me while I was visiting an orphanage, he made it for me, but I'll give it to you to say thanks." She said to Finnian taking his hand and placing it there, "The charm is a sun and it's meant to make sure good tidings will always find you."
Finnian stared down at the gift, "I couldn't take this from you miss, really you have to keep it." He insisted trying to pass it back to her. His cheeks were blazing red, no one had ever given him a gift like this before, his heart was racing and he couldn't think straight.
Ada closed his fingers around it, "Mister Finnian please accept it as a token of thanks for helping me find Malis, it's the least I could do." She said to him, "Any ways if you keep it you can always remember our acquaintanceship."
"Miss Smith!" Sebastian suddenly called out and the two blondes turned in the direction of his call, "Miss Smith your father requests you presence!" Sebastian called out again, suddenly from hedge maze Ada, Finnian and Pluto emerged, "Thank you Finnian for escorting Miss Smith." Sebastian stated with a wide smile.
Ada smiled up at Sebastian, "Why he's been ever so kind and helpful Mister Sebastian could you see to it that Earl Phantomhive hears about how wonderful his staff is?" she requested of him as she quickly rushed up the steps back to the mansion, she turned back to Finnian and waved, "It was a pleasure to meet you Mister Finnian, I pray that we meet again! And good bye Pluto I look forwards to seeing you again as well."
She stepped back into the enormous manor which if given the chance she would explore every nook and cranny of to study it fully. Again her eyes swept over everything they could with curious delight, she couldn't wait for her next visit to the enormous mansion to once again marvel at what she was missing on her many voyages, "Thank you Mister Sebastian for all of your help today." She said to him politely and he smiled down at her. All too soon she found herself waiting for her father and at the doors of the manor ready to be off again on another amazing and unforgettable adventure.
"Well Earl Phantomhive I believe that will be everything thank you so much for everything today." Sir Smith said happily as he walked towards the doors of the mansion with his young business partner who never ceased to amaze him with his calm, mature demeanor. He took his place next to his daughter who had been waiting for him patiently.
Sir Smith extended his hand out to Ciel and the two shook, "We'll be in our town house for the next month if you need us all you have to do is call." He assured Ciel, "As always you were an amazing host and generous associate. Thank you Ciel-have a splendid day." Smith turning and preparing to leave.
However, Ada was quick to jump to speak before she and her father departed, "Actually Earl Phantomhive my father and I were wondering if you would have any recommendations on skilled movers. Many of our goods for the auction tomorrow are quite large and heavy and we need movers who will handle things delicately and be able to lift very heavy objects without injury." Ada stated knowing her father would have been forgetful and forgotten about that. Ceil glanced over at the young lady who stood proudly with her chest puffed out who offered him a friendly smile. He had to admit that both father and daughter were ditzy and see the world quite differently than everyone-but Ada was also very thoughtful and observant which brought her closer down to earth than her father. His eyes slid to the side and regarded Sebastian, a sly smile stretching across his face.
"Well actually you'll find both my butler and gardener are quite strong and should be skilled well enough to accomplish what you desire." Ciel proposed.
Both father and daughter smiled identically, "Thank you Earl." They both stated merrily, Ada fished around in her pocket and withdrew a card handing it to Ciel, "You'll find the location and timing of the exhibition there-though please arrive three hours early for unpacking and moving-we are in your debt Earl." Ada informed him. He glanced down at the card and passed it to Sebastian.
"We will be there on time." He assured her and after a few more pleasantries the Eccentric Edward Smith and adorable Ada departed leaving Ciel feeling quite exhausted. Edward was kind as always but he was very childish and high maintenance.
Author's Note:
Please note that I don't agree with poaching at all, and that taking an animal like a tiger home with you is very bad for the tiger! However, at the time it was commonly practiced and wasn't frowned upon to go hunting big game, and until plastic was invented he use of Ivory was common for billard balls. Poaching is bad very, very bad! And please don't kidnap wild animals.