I had decided not to kill him as a reward for his efforts to anger me. Love had nothing to do with it. I had no desire to return to hell, but if it was what was going to happen then I might as well make my stay on earth as long as I possibly could. My young master was to be getting married when he was eighteen. The young mistress love him deeply. I figured I'd let him die of his own accord. Granted, he had fulfilled his goal but, being in that sappy world, I had gone soft. There was one strange occurrence, however. We had been getting letters addressed to Romeo. I had been replying to them behind the young master's back, though. He was not to know of them since he was engaged to Lady Elizabeth Esel Cordelia Midford. Her father was the Earl of Scotoni. It was only right for a noble to have a noble as a wife, was it not?

"Sebastian!" a young male called from up the stairs just as I was going to answer the door.

"Just a moment, Young Master," I called back to him.

There was a messenger at the door. He handed me a small box. I bid him good day and gently closed the door. I placed the box on a table in the entrance hall and hurried up the stairs, past Meirin, Bard, and Finnian, and into Young Master Ciel's lounge.

"Sebastian," Ciel said.

"Yes, my lord?" I asked.

"Lizzy is on her way here," he replied, looking up at me. "Please make a suitable dinner for us."

"I understand," I sighed, bowing. "I shall set up dinner in the garden. Candlelit for just you two."

Ciel nodded and sent me away. I walked down the spiraling stairs of the Phantomhive mansion.

"Sebastian," Meirin said when she saw me.

I had an angry glare in my eyes, but I softened them when I looked at her. "Yes?"

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"The young master continues to treat me as a piece in one of his plans," I snapped and continued down the stairs. "When, in fact, he is one of mine."

I strode out to the road and followed the path to where I first found the letters and pulled one out of the wall in which they were. I opened it and it was in their handwriting. I began wondering if it was from anyone I knew. It was one from the mystery person that I was calling Juliet.

Dear Romeo,

I am struggling. My young mistress is treating me differently now that she is older. She has gone from being the nicest person I had known to being the worst. I need to know what to do.

How are you doing? The last time I'd heard from you was almost two months ago. You'd been doing well then with your young master. How old is he now? I hope that we can someday meet.

Sincerely,

Juliet

I ran back to the mansion to reply, but Bard, Finnian, and Meirin met me at the front doors.

"Where were you?" Bard demanded.

"I needed to take a walk and blow off some steam," I replied as I pushed them aside and walked to the kitchen, holding the letter tightly in my hand.

I began the dinner for two. Luckily, with my impressive skills, I finished in enough time to run to my study and write my reply letter.

Dear Juliet,

I am so dearly sorry to hear that your mistress is treating you like that. Masters and mistresses have the tendency to change over time. What you should do is try your best to bite back your emotions and not say anything stupid.

I could be better. I missed writing to you in those two moths, but I found ways to keep myself busy. My young master has become worse than he was last week. He is turning eighteen this December. I would love to meet you. Tell me when and where and I'll be there.

Yours truly,

Romeo

I thought I'd done fairly well with that. I folded the paper and slid it into the envelope. I managed to get the letter in my pocket without damaging it too much. I hurried down to the entrance hall to find that Lady Elizabeth and her most recent butler, Grell Sutcliffe, had just stepped out of their carriage. I opened the door and welcomed them. Grell was a shinigami with long red hair, a red coat that had belonged to Madam Red before he killed her, squared red glasses with bands that had skulls on them hanging from the earpieces, and golden yellow eyes. He had come to believe that he was a woman. Well, that is what I thought at least. He continuously called himself a great actress when fighting me while entertaining Lady Elizabeth and Young Master Ciel.

"Lady Elizabeth," I said. "The young master is waiting for you in his study. I shall escort you to him."

"I shall escort myself, Sebastian," she snapped as she began walking up the stairs after throwing her coat at me.

I looked at her angrily as she strolled away. "She's become horrible, hasn't she, Sebas-chan?" Grell asked me.

"Just as my young master," I sighed. I turned to him and asked, "Would you please help me set up dinner, Grell-san?"

"Absolutely!" Grell exclaimed. "As long as I get my kiss with tongue that the young earl promised me four years ago."

"Never!" I growled. "I might hug you, but that is as far as it goes. Understand?"

"That's good enough for me, but I'll be holding that kiss against you," Grell smiled.

I rolled my eyes and he followed me to the kitchen. Everything was gone. I immediately panicked. Grell seemed to feel my worry, so he followed me as we ran outside to find Meirin, Bard, and Finnian. The table was set almost as perfectly as if I had set it. Meirin wasn't looking where she was going as she ran toward the house. She was holding some of the young master's fine china. She ran into me. I was holding her as I also caught the plates and bowls. She scrambled backward with a blush. I smiled.

"Meirin," I chuckled. "Please be a little more careful."

"Yes, Mister Sebastian!" she exclaimed as she took the china from me.

"Just call me Sebastian," I sighed.

She blushed even more and smiled. "You're so kind. For a demon."

"Thank you," I said. I turned to Grell and said, "Set up the dinner for me? I'll repay you with a swift kiss on the hand."

Grell lighted up and nodded. I took some of the plates and bowls from the young redheaded sharpshooter and walked beside her inside. The young master and his fiancée were heading out as I was walking in.

"Is the dinner ready, Sebastian?" Ciel demanded of me.

"Yes, my lord," I replied, biting my tongue to keep from saying what I really wanted to.

Ciel nodded and led Lady Elizabeth out. I rolled my eyes and continued toward the kitchen. Meirin was still blushing. Upon entry of the kitchen, I took the rest of the china from Meirin and set them in the cupboard. She continued to blush, so I approached her.

"Miss Meirin," I whispered. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"N-n-no," she stuttered.

I gently removed her glasses, so she began to freak out because they were a gift given by the young master himself. Supposedly. As she began to grab for the glasses, I cupped my hand over her cheek. She opened her eyes.

Large.

Inviting.

Golden.

Beautiful.

I began moving closer to her. She began inhaling deeply. Our lips met. I slid my hand from her cheek to her chin. She wrapped her arms around my neck. Then, we heard someone coming. We instantly jumped away from one another. Meirin slipped her glasses back on as Finnian and Bard entered.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Bard demanded.

"Nothing!" we both exclaimed at the same time.

"Why are you both so nervous all of a sudden?" Finnian asked. "The young master wants to see you, Sebastian."

I nodded and hurried out to the garden. I hit my heel against my head and muttered to myself, "Stupid. Kissing the maid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

I hurried to the young master's side and bowed.

"You did not set this table," Ciel said, standing. He had grown frightfully fast.

"Finny, Meirin, and Bard beat me to it," I replied, taking a step back as he stepped out from his chair. "I then had to help Meirin carry the china inside before she broke any more and Grell-san placed the food."

"I gave you an order to set the table," Ciel growled. "You did not follow that order. The contract states that you must obey my every order in order to get what you were promised."

"Please, sir," Bard, Finnian, and Meirin pleaded as they came out of the mansion.

"Don't blame him!" Finnian spoke up.

"It was us!" Meirin followed.

"He made the food, he just didn't set it up," Finny said.

"We didn't know that he needed to do everything you ordered!" Bard snapped.

"Fine," Ciel sighed in annoyance. "I'll let it slip yet again Sebastian Michaelis, but the next time, I won't be so kind."

He reseated himself and began eating. I bowed, hand on my chest, across what would be my heart, and said, "Yes, my lord."

Meirin, Bard, and Finnian followed me back in and to my study. I took my butler's coat off, brushed my hair behind just one ear, and slid my glasses on before sitting at my desk and beginning the plans for the young master's next private lesson along with deciding on which piece of music he was to learn on the violin. Bard and Finnian got bored and left, but Meirin stayed.

"What is it, Meirin?" I asked.

"What came over us when we kissed?" she wondered of me as she stood in front of the desk.

"Desire, passion, longing…" I shrugged. "I am only one hell of a butler. I do not have the answers for everything."

"You can stop using that line, Sebastian," Meirin snapped.

"What?" I asked as I looked at her.

She was balancing on my desk with the heels of her hands with a snarl. "I know you're a demon. Stop using that line! You've been using it ever since you were summoned by the young master. Just shut up!"

"Well," I sighed as I stood and removed my glasses. "That was impressive, Nike." She gasped and began backing toward the closed door as I moved closer to her. "You sharpshooters are all the same. You all have temperamental issues and those big, alluring golden eyes." She blushed as I ran my fingertips along her jaw, moving them up to remove her glasses once again. "Those golden eyes." She opened her eyes and stared at me shyly. "Do you really want to see a real part of the young master's demonic butler?"

"As in…?" she wondered.

"As in what I am hiding under my gloves," I replied.

She nodded and I stood straight. I took the tip of the middle finger part of my left glove in my mouth and pulled, revealing my seal and black nails. I simply took the other one off. I lifted my left hand, back to Meirin, to my right eye as they began glowing a bright pinkish red and the pupils turned to slits.

"What in the world?" she gasped.

"Seem a bit familiar?" I asked as I let my hands drop to my sides and my eyes returned to normal.

"Is that what's under the young master's eye patch?" Meirin breathed.

"Tell no one of this," I whispered in her ear after placing my newly re-gloved hand on the wall beside her and moving closer. "Another thing you should know about me that is not to leave this room is that I am writing letters to a mystery person somewhere near here."

"I understand, Sebastian," she whispered back as she wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you for everything."

I was honestly stunned. "What have I done?"

"You've poured out your heart to the likes of me," she sighed quietly. "That makes me feel special."

I thought about what she had said and figured that she thought she was no good because I had to come to find her because she could not fulfill her duty as an assassin. What else could possibly go wrong at this point? My young master was getting married in no less than four months. I still hadn't taken his soul as the contract stated. Grell was still pressuring me for that kiss that the young master had promised him. By this time, I was excited to return to hell…