The sun had just barely risen over the horizon, but I was already up and working in the kitchens of the vast Sans'Ame mansion. Ingredients for the day's breakfast were laid out neatly and fully accounted for. Glancing at the clock on the wall, ticking softly, I saw that I would have to be waking my Mistress soon. Wasting no time, I scooped two spoonfuls of tea leaves onto Lady Sans'Ame's favorite pure silver tea pot and filled it with water that had just come down from a boil. I carefully set it down on a silver tray along with a delicate white-and-blue china teacup and saucer. The dark blue tailcoat hanging by the door quickly flew over my vest, tie, and shirt, but remained only partially buttoned due to the fact that it didn't fit over my bust properly. It was a man's coat, after all.
Without further delay, I picked up the tray and made my way out of the kitchen, climbing several staircases and navigating through the winding hallways to the room where Lady Sans'Ame slept. The door opened without a single sound.
"My Lady, It is time for you to wake up," I said softly as I set the tray on the bedside table. There was no response from the young noble. "My Lady?" Still, not a single motion. "Oh dear. It seems Lady Sans'Ame plans to sleep all day!" I said with added drama, "I suppose I can't stop her if she wants to, but then she won't be able to drink her favorite tea," The figure under the covers twitched a little, making me grin. "And she won't get to eat any brioche," She flinched again. "And I won't be able to take her out to find a dress for the upcoming soiree." She finally shot up out of bed, her cold blonde hair in astonishing disarray.
"But you promised to take me out to look for a dress!" Lady Celestia protested, completely abandoning her attempt at appearing asleep.
"So the Young Mistress is awake after all?" I teased her, "Or is the word 'dress' so exciting to you that you had to wake up?"
The young noble's eyes narrowed. "Oh, shut up, Lin." I slipped a navy blue silk robe over her white nightgown.
I buttoned the top closed. "Is that an order?"
"What do you think?"
"What I think doesn't matter as long as I serve you, My Lady," I responded politely, "In any case, today's breakfast includes crepes with a sweet raspberry-strawberry filling, light cinnamon French toast, and an option of either mint salad or brioche with honey. Which would you like?"
"I want the brioche today. Once I've finished eating, I want to go out to look for a dress for that soiree."
"As you wish." I finished buttoning the robe I had draped over the small girl's slim shoulders and stood back up to my full height, just barely an inch below six feet. Turning back to the tray I had brought in, I poured a cup of tea for my Young Mistress. "Here is this morning's tea, My Lady."
She smelled the steam rising from the delicate cup, easily recognizing the scent. "Earl Grey, right?"
I smiled pleasantly at her. "That's right. That is a blend of leaves I ordered specially made to fit your tastes."
Lady Celestia's already large, bright blue eyes widened a bit. "You got this just for me? Really?"
"Yes, of course. If I couldn't do this much, I wouldn't be fit to be your butler."
After a fair amount of discussion over the dress Lady Celestia would wear for the day, I eventually decided to bring out a lovely dark blue dress embroidered with silver thread. As I laced up the back, Celestia asked me about her schedule for the day. I responded politely, as always, "Starting at 11:00, you have violin lessons with Mrs. Cambridge. At 12:15, Mrs. Rockfield will teach your piano lessons. Your French class starts at 1:30 with Mr. Begnoche, German at 2:45 with Mr. Freitag, and at 4:00, Mr. Tanaka from the Phantomhive household will be visiting to check in with you about continuing to have Funtom and your company work together."
"Ooh! Mr. Tanaka! I haven't seen him in quite some time!"
I sighed disheartedly at her lack of interest in anyone except Mr. Tanaka. "You really do enjoy working with Earl Phantomhive, don't you, My Lady?"
"Of course I do, Lin," she replied, "If I didn't like Ciel, I probably wouldn't have made a contract with you, would I?"
My eyes shifted from their bluish-violet color to bloody red. "No, probably not."
The rest of the day went very slowly for the Young Mistress. As usual, Lady Celestia struggled through her music theory and stammered through her languages, but, as always, was excited as Mr. Tanaka's expected time of arrival approached. Every ten minutes or so, the impatient young girl would call me to her study to ask if he had arrived yet.
"My Lady," I told her, "If you continually summon me, I won't be able to greet our guests promptly, which would begin to tarnish your reputation as a noble along with mine as a butler. Please try to be patient."
Lady Celestia groaned, "Why is he not here yet?!"
"I will assume that was rhetorical. Shall I wait in the foyer for our guest?" She dropped her head on the desk and simply waved me away. As I made my way back through the twisting hallways laden with paintings, I could clearly hear a series of whispers from around the corner.
"I heard there's a guest coming over," one voice said.
"That means Lin will probably be waiting in the foyer for them," another one pointed out.
"And we can get to our room free and clear!"
"Rose, Violet, Lavender! Where the hell have you been all day?!" The three redheads froze under my looming shadow. "You have duties here, so what on Earth were you doing?!"
Each of them pointed to the others and simultaneously declared, "It was their idea!"
I sighed and told them, "You know what, I don't care. Just go make yourselves useful in some place where you three won't get in the way." Leaving the idiot triplets to whatever it is they do, I continued to the empty foyer out to the equally vacant veranda where I found it to be raining, as I expected it to be. "I hope this rain hasn't proved problematic for Mr. Tanaka. If he didn't arrive safely, the Young Mistress would be quite displeased." As if on cue, a familiar carriage pulled out of the trees down the drive. "Ah, perfect." Four chestnut horses brought the handsome carriage to a full stop outside the fine manor. As any proper butler should do, I snatched up a black umbrella to shelter our guest from the chilling downpour and opened the door for him. "Welcome to the Sans'Ame estate," I said warmly with a bow, "Please, follow me." When I straightened myself out, I realized that there were not one, but three people filing from the carriage. There was Mr. Tanaka, who we had been expecting, but there was also a young boy with an eye patch followed by a tall, devilishly handsome butler. This child must be the Earl of Phantomhive. This butler… I think he's a demon. No, he's definitely a demon. Those red eyes…
"Are you a servant here?" The child earl asked bluntly.
"Yes, My Lord. I am Lady Celestia's butler, Lin Sans'Ame," I responded politely, as one did to a noble.
"Take me directly to her. I need to discuss business with her immediately."
"Yes, My Lord."
