Kuroshitsuji
Chapter 1 - Lady Lynette Blake
A/N: I do not own Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler.
I do however own Lady Lynette Blake, Mr. Winson and any other OCs mentioned.
Please ask permission before using them.
WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY CONTAIN DARK THEMES, DUE TO THE DARK ANIME, I WILL PLACE A WARNING ON EACH CHAPTER THAT CONTAINS DARK THEMES, THESE WARNINGS ALSO CONTAIN SPOILERS, PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION.
Also, this chapter is nothing more than a prologue basically, please bear with me for more interesting chapters.
Also the chapters will vary in length, some will be short, and some will be long.
Enjoy.
The sun rose slowly over the countryside in which the Blake family mansion stood, tall and proud, however unkept and slightly ragged.
The roses were wilting, with only several still holding beautiful buds, the hedges were dry, leaves brown, and the grass matted and patchy, as if left to rot.
There were spider webs around the manor, but unlike how some kept them there for decoration, they hung because no one had cleaned them. The floors were grubby, but there were clean patches showing someone's effort to remove the grime.
However despite the attempts of the person living here, the house was in major need of redecorating, cleaning and repairing in some parts, as several of the appliances in the kitchen had been reduced to burned metal.
In one of the dishivelled rooms in the house, a woman, wrapped tightly in thin blankets, slept soundly, unaware of the rising sun and the life bristling in the city, far from her once beautiful home.
She stirred slowly, but didn't wake as she rolled over, her messy, blood red hair fanning over the pillows as she grew comfortable once more.
No other noise filled the house but her gentle breathing, the entire mansion void of all life but her own, as if she lived alone, even in this vast building, no servants, no friends, not even family.
That would explain the state of dire repair.
The woman finally stirred and her smokey grey eyes opened slowly, a blurry white ceiling meeting her gaze as she blinked until it became clear.
She looked towards the window and squinted when the light bombarded her stinging eyes. "Wh-" She croaked, clearing her hoarse throat as she ran her fingers through her fringe. "What time is it?"
She slowly sat up and raised her arms to stretch, feeling all the stiffness that came with sleep slowly melting away, before she dropped her arms and let out a content sigh.
It was morning, she knew that much. However without anyone to wake her, she knew not what time is was exactly.
She opened her eyes with hesitation and looked at the grandfather clock in front of her, those kind eyes widening as she realized how late it actually was.
It was eleven o'clock in the morning.
"Oh no!" She gasped, quickly scrambling to get out of bed, her legs getting caught in the blankets and sending her tumbling onto the grubby floor below.
She hissed as she got to her feet, ignoring the searing pain in her wrist, the one she had landed on, and scrambled to change into something more presentable.
She had a meeting at 12:15pm, followed by a dance lesson with her only teacher, Mr. Winson at 3:30pm, then another meeting at 5:15pm and finally a ball to attend to from 6:30pm onwards.
Oh the life of Lady of the Household was never going to be fun.
She opened her wardrobe and pulled out a beautiful pale, royal blue with watered down puffy sleeves of the same shade, with a matching underlayer under the collar of the dress. The cuffs, collars and waist band decorated a vibrant royal blue essentuating the whole outfit and causing her hair and eyes to stand out even more.
She gulped as she pulled out her corset and grimaced at it, knowing this was going to be a pain, in both the ass and the arms.
It had taken her a long time to master putting a corset on by herself.
~Kuroshitsuji~
The first meeting started without any problems as Lady Lynette sat at the head of the table in the dining room, several different company heads around her, awaiting her words.
"So...Let me understand this perfectly well before I decide..." She said, leaning back her fingers drumming the table with a slight edge of irritation. "All of you, are offering to buy my company from me?"
The older males nodded and one spoke up, his voice hoarse, gravelly. "We believe a lady such as yourself is unfit for this role..." He said, not sparing her feelings in the slightest.
A woman of her stature needed some words of common sense, otherwise she will drive herself into the dirt.
"What?" Lady Lynette growled, her eye twitching as she listened to the strong words of the man sat at her left several seats down, looking strong and defiant of her role.
"A woman has no right as a company head..." Another agreed, taking over where the first man stopped. "Perhaps if you were to marry and allow your husband to take the reins, then it would be another story, however that doesn't appear to be the case, Lady Blake..."
Lady Lynette forced herself to keep composed as the other company heads nodded and murmured words of agreement with the others before offering selling prices for her company.
"Stop..."
The men stopped speaking, all of them blinking before looking at Lady Lynette in disbelief as she slowly stood, glaring at them with a strong and stubborn tone in her voice. "There is no need for further negociation..."
"Oh? So you're willing to sell?" The first man asked, the one who had started all of this.
Lady Lynette smiled kindly, but when she spoke her words were full of anger and venom. "Who in their right minds would sell to a sexist bunch of old farts like you?"
They all stood, their expressions painted with offense, but Lady Lynette paid them no mind, walking out of the room and beconed for them to follow.
Of course they did, after all, even pigs like them had manners.
Lady Lynette stopped in the hall, at the double doors and swung them open, stepping out of the way and smiling with false kindness as she raised her hand and gestured to the courtyard. "Have a nice day, gentleman...I hope we can do business again soon~!"
The men glared at her, but left as they were told, knowing that she would call Scotland Yard otherwise. They would not let this wench win however.
They would sully her family name with word of this meeting, they would not allow her business to bloom once more.
If they couldn't have it, no one could.
Lady Lynette slammed the doors shut the moment they stepped outside and leaned against one of the wooden verticle surfaces, running her fingers through her fringe as a sorrowful expression dorned her features.
"Mother...Father..." She sighed, looking up at the large protrait of her family standing proud on the top of the stairs, filthy at the top, but the bottom showed recent signs of being cleaned.
She could only do so much alone.
She sighed, tears pricking her eyes, before she shook her head and pushed away from the door, walking towards the stairs and ascending to the second floor slowly, her memories clouding her eyes, as if in a trance.
It had only been two years since the murder of her parents, she had managed just fine for the first year, despite tackling her grief at the same time.
However it was during the second year that her staff started to abandon her, one at a time, seeing as at this point, her sales had began to decrease and they thought that meant they would be paid less.
For that split second, she cursed the man who killed her beloved family, for that split second, she craved revenge, she craved that man's death.
Realizing how her daydreams had taken a dark edge, she shook her head and continued walking up the stairs. She didn't have time to run herself a bath before the meeting. However since this meeting ended only half an hour after it began, she could finally allow herself a nice long soak to calm her nerves and rid herself of her stress.
So much stress, so early in the day.
It was a surprise she had even coped this long.
~Kuroshitsuji~
Lady Lynette sat in the bath, her arms crossed over the slightly dirty, ceramic edge as she leaned against the bare flesh of her forearm, staring at the wall, her mind once again in the clouds above.
She sighed as she thought back to the last year, a year since she had been forced to clean alone and do everything by herself.
"Is this what people without the noble title go through?" She asked herself, closing her eyes and nuzzling her lips into her arm, her nose just poking over her flesh. "No...I have a mansion, some people are forced to live in a box...I'm still lucky, even after all this..."
She had found one good point in her struggle, having little money left and a filthy house with no servants and a failing company.
She had started to respect those who did not have what she took for granted.
Lady Lynette glanced at the grandfather clock and her eyes widened as she realized she had been in this bath for quite a while, in an hour she had a lesson with Mr. Winson!
"Oh hell!" She ground out as she quickly got out of the bath, only to slip on the wet floor and land hard on her cheek.
She groaned and slowly lifted herself to her knees, holding the bruised cheek. "Ow, ow, ow..." She whimpered, before getting to her feet and walking over to the towel she had placed on the side.
It was one of the few towels she had found time to wash.
Out of all the others, Winson was the only one who believed in her abilities, even if she herself didn't see them.
It was because of Winson that she was alive, and he had always been her tutor, even from a young age. He was such a kind and considerate old man.
With that thought, Lady Lynette dried and changed in peace, looking forward to her dance instruction with her former professor, the one who had taught her everything.
~Kuroshitsuji~
"One, two, three...One, two, three..."
Lady Lynette stared at her feet with concentration as she kept her hand linked with Mr. Winson's, the other on his shoulder while his was on her waist.
He was a tall man with grey, slicked back hair and a pair of strong rectangular glasses, his face was clean, shaven and sculpted, only decorated with wrinkles because of his age, and he wore a black suit, much like many other men did in this day and age.
"My Lady, I ask that you keep eye contact with the leader at all times..." Mr. Winson said, as he spun her, causing her to trip over her own feet before regaining her balance. "Dear me, I thought you would have mastered these steps by now..."
"I-I'm a little out of practice..." She said, blushing brightly with embarrassment as she trained her smoke grey eyes onto his deep green ones, making sure to keep eye contact, as he instructed.
"Yes, that is because you have been cancelling my lessons for over a month now..." Mr. Winson sighed, and shook his head, helping her remember the basic steps without having to speak of them. "If you are having trouble, why not hire help?"
Lady Lynette's own sigh filled the air and she frowned, her eyes soft and solemn. "You know that my reputation is not what is was...No one will accept my offers in fear that my company will go bankrupt and they will lose their jobs..."
"I see..." Mr. Winson's expression softened also, his next words spoke with a sharp tone. "Stop tripping over my feet and consentrate..."
Lady Lynette nodded, her attention focused on the task at hand, glad for the distraction from sad topics. She knew she was failing her family name.
She didn't need constant reminders.
"I heard you were to attend a ball tonight, My Lady..." Mr. Winson said, twirling her and scolding her when she lost her balance for a moment. "A ball founded by one of your rival companies, I assume..."
"Yes..." Lady Lynette grumbled, her eyes narrowing with irritation as she continued to follow Mr. Winson's steps. "I have a feeling this ball will be a royal disaster, however if I don't go, that will only drag my name further through the dirt..."
"Agreed..." Mr. Winson said, nodding his head and twirling them again, praising her when she managed to keep up. "Remember to act like the lady you are, do not fall victim to their gossip, I'm sure if you do that, tonight will end on a good note..."
"Whatever you say, Mr. Winson..." Lady Lynette said, not even slightly convinced, but her tutor's words were comforting and she was grateful for them.
"Now, about your dance steps..."
Sometimes she wished he would end a conversation there though.
~Kuroshitsuji~
Another meeting dawned, but this time it was with her own company employees, the ones in charge of shipping and packing, production and design.
"I believe we shouldn't follow such a delicate method anymore, it's taking too long to pack them up and send them to shipping!" Her packing manager said, a strong man with black hair and silver eyes, pointing to the document in front of him that he had prepared for this meeting.
Lady Lynette listened with her elbows on the table and her lips pressed against her entwined fingers, hiding the boredom she was feeling.
"If we take less time with the packing, the designs will merely fall apart before they reach shipping, we're not trying to win a race here!" Her designer countered, a shorter man with brown hair and purple eyes. He lifted his own document and slapped the back of his hand against the part he was referring to. "What we should be doing is making the designs more everlasting, stronger, then we can talk about packing!"
"What about shipping!" Her shipping manager added, an older man with grey hair and green eyes, looking rather irritated. "After all, we're not nearly getting enough pay for any of this, and we're the main part of this company!"
"Producing the goods is the most important part..." Her producer said, a tall man with white hair and brown eyes, his cheek resting against his fist as he scribbled on the side of his document, looking rather bored. "I must ask that we conclude these petty arguements soon and speak as proper adults..."
"You're fine, you have the easiest job!" The packing manager said, glaring at the production manager, who shrugged.
"You wouldn't last a day making the goods we strive to sell..." He said, angering the packing manager quite easily. "After all, you just have to box it and send it off..."
"How dare you!" The packing manager snarled, standing and slamming his hands on the beautiful wooden table in Lady Lynette's large dining room.
"Alright, that's enough!" Lynette barked, getting the four men's attention as she glared at them with angry smoke eyes. "I believe we can discuss these topics like adults, now please take your seats and calm down..."
The men hesitated for a moment before the packing manager took a seat, the four of them staying silent for a moment until Lady Lynette spoke again.
"Now that's much better..." She lifted a handwritten copy of the designer's proposal first, knowing there were several things they would have to discuss.
Lady Lynette was now the head of a failing clothing company that worked on both noble and common clothing for the public, however in recent years, since her ownership of the company came into effect, business has dropped dangerously low and they had yet to find a way to bring it back up to it's pedastal.
"So, I see you want to completely renew the designs pallet we have set up..." She said, her eyes scanning the page, easily understanding half of the words scribbled on the parchment.
She was still rather new to all this, even with two years of experience, sometimes she felt clueless.
"That's correct..." The designer said, as the others lifted their copy of the document and read in synch with Lady Lynette. "I was thinking something that was both elegant, and brand new, set a new style for Victorian England!"
Lady Lynette's eyes snapped up to meet the designer's eyes, one eyebrow raising delicately at the idea. "I believe with our company on the teetering edge it's currently hanging onto, that would be a bad idea, after all, not many radical ideas are taken kindly in this day and age..."
"I agree..." The producer said, looking at one of the sketches the designer had come up with. "It's rather difficult to find these materials too, especially with our current budget..."
The designer glared at the producer, as if he had insulted his every word. "These materials are top of the line, the best! If that doesn't get this company back on top, nothing will!"
"We cannot afford them!" The producer said with a small edge of venom, finally irritated, his brown eyes meeting the purple eyes of the designer. "Until you come up with something solid and affordable, I believe your designs should be put on the shelf...Am I mistaken, My Lady?"
The producer looked at Lady Lynette who sighed and placed the document to one side, avoiding the hurt expression of her designer. "Indeed, we can't risk going over our budget and going into bankrupsy...On the next meeting, bring me more simple and less expensive designs..."
The designer glared at her for a moment before nodding and taking up the same position the producer had when the group her arguing.
"Now that we've cleared that up, we'll move onto packing..." Lady Lynette lifted the packing manager's document and read it.
The entire meeting was a failure in the end, as none of them came up with a way to save the company, and the shipping manager only came to complain about his low pay.
What a hell she had been forced into.
Worst of all, tonight she had a ball to attend and she knew her name was not taken well by others. It was just one hell after another.
If she was lucky, maybe she would have a nice, quiet night.
As if life was that fair.
A/N: What did you think? I had to research women's rights for that day and age and that's why Lady Lynette is seen as a scandal, because women don't usually, if ever, take over the family company in that time.
Please review, all comments and advice are appreciated and welcome! I take reviews with a stiff upper lip and I am grateful for any advice or praise I may receive.
Thank you for reading.