The other busy day began when Sebastian entered the young master's room, waking him up by opening the curtain and let the morning sunlight passed through the window. Ciel Phantomhive, as the young Earl who had a duty to dismiss every single Queen's distresses must be ready for everything which could happen at anytime. And today, Sebastian entered his room, not only bringing the breakfast, but also a piece of letter from Her Majesty.
Glancing up ever so slightly, the young Earl letting out a sigh when he saw the tray with the letter on it, he took it and read it silently. As always expected, there was something happening lately, which the young Earl had put his suspicion already, but yet did not make any move until the Queen ordered him to do so. And today, the letter brought him a small hope to play.
The game must be fun.
"So..." Ciel yawned, handing the letter back to his butler. "It seems interesting, as I expected before." The young Earl was ready; he had changed his clothes and had his breakfast. He took a small sip of his morning tea, while eyeing at his butler with a smirk decorating his face.
"Hm," Sebastian placed his finger on his chin, reading the letter. It was the case of the lost pearl. It wasn't stated on the letter what kind of pearl was lost, but there were already a dozen pearls which had been lost in a week. The butler's eyebrows twitched slightly, looking back at his master with a slight excitement. He was wondering what the young Earl would do this time.
"We'll go to London by the noon, go arrange my schedule, Sebastian." Ciel stood up, took the letter back from his butler and slipped it inside his pocket.
"Yes, My Lord." Sebastian bowed slightly. "My, my," Sebastian smiled, tapping the tip of his fingers together. "It seems very interesting, does it not, Bocchan?" Sebastian followed his master from behind, his eyes glittered with excitement.
"Yeah," Ciel answered shortly. "I wonder what's this pearl that Her Majesty was talking about. Seemingly, it is the most crucial case, isn't it?" The young Earl seemed to be preoccupied by his thoughts. "And this must be something related to the underworld, that is why Her Majesty asked me to solve this case."
Sebastian tilted his head, stopping his step few inches behind Ciel. He furrowed his eyebrows while eyeing at his master. "Indeed, Bocchan. Her Majesty mentioned about 'a dozen of pearls which had been stolen in a week' but yet Her Majesty did not mention its details. Do you not think that Her Majesty also wants you to figure out what pearls she was talking about... yourself?"
The young master stopped his pace, turning around and narrowed his eyes slightly. Sebastian was right, even though he had a special order to investigate this case, he himself was in the darkness. He had no idea what case he was in. What kind of movement, and where he should start to move, everything was still in the darkness. No clue was left from Her Majesty.
"You're right. So here's the conclusion; there are two cases we're investigating now. The first is to figure out what are these pearls, and the second one is to find them and bring them back to Her Majesty, correct?"
"Mhm..." Sebastian hummed lowly, tapping his finger on his lips lightly before smiled at his master. "Perhaps, it's correct, Bocchan. Now if you excuse me, I would re-arrange all the schedule we had today, and prepare the carriage."
"Yeah, I'll wait."
While Sebastian doing his job, Ciel walked to the garden, seeing his servants were playing around there. They never changed, but Ciel never bothered himself to warn them. There was always Sebastian who could take care of everything, therefore the young master was never once feeling worried about his house being burnt again.
"Ah, good morning, Bocchan!" Finny, Meyrin and Bard waved at the young Master. Finny grinned happily while watering the flowers.
"Yeah, good morning." Ciel walked down from the manor to get closer to them. "Look, I will be in London for few days. While I'm not home, I believed the three of you can take care of the manor well." He cleared his throat, ignoring Tanaka who hoho-ed while the other nodded at him. "And I believe all of you do grasp the meaning of 'take care of the manor', do you not?"
"Yes, yes, Bocchan! I'll take care of the garden well! I promise it will look more beautiful when you come back from London!" Finny grinned, exciting.
"And Bocchan should not worry about the manor. I'll clean it everyday!" Meyrin said happily.
"I'll do my best as the Phantomhive chef, Bocchan!" Bard followed after the other's comment.
And again, Ciel nodded at them—while Tanaka only hoho-ed at him. "Good, that's what I expected from you. Now, I'll prepare myself. See you soon, everyone."
Ciel Phantomhive backed inside the manor and found his butler smiled at him on the corridor. Everything was ready and the young Master walked before the butler, silently ordered Sebastian to follow him. It was already the time to take care of the case. Placing anything else aside, Ciel's mind was focused on the pearls' case.
"Is everything ready, Sebastian?"
"Yes, Bocchan. We can leave by now, if you want. I have packed your things." Sebastian said clamly.
"Good, let's go, Sebastian."
The Phantomhive's house in London seemed so quiet—at least when the first time Ciel arrived there. But it was a surprise to see that actually Lau and Ran Mao was there, sitting calmly while sipping a cup of tea. Ciel's eyes narrowed dangerously at them and Sebastian just tried forcing a smile to them, even though he was all surprised by their presence.
"Ah my my, young Earl, I know you will come today, that's why I manage to pay a visit to your house in London." Lau smiled slyly at him, hiding his hands under his sleeves. "I wonder what's the young Earl is investigating right now~"
"Lau," Ciel sniffed. "It's something interesting, of course." He smirked, sitting before him. "Are you interested to play, Lau?"
"Hm? Sure I am, young Earl." Lau smiled at him. It had already months since the last time they play together, investigating a serious case. And now the moment had come to him, as a good game's piece, Lau would not pass on this one.
Ciel sighed. "Right, Sebastian, I need few informations about this. You can go to Scotland Yard to borrow some documents, can't you? I am not really sure if there is a data about this case, yet it's not a bad idea to check on them, don't you think it is?"
Sebastian nodded thoughtfully. The young master seemed to be right. Perhaps there was no data about this case, but checking on them to make sure was a good idea. But however, it seemed to be impossible to find anything there, inasmuch as Her Majesty seemed to hide this case from Scotland Yard.
This case seemed to be more mysterious than it seems.
"I do think so, Bocchan." He finally answered. "I will be going now, Bocchan. I will make it as fast as possible." He smiled, bowing slightly at the young master.
While Sebastian leaving the room, Ciel looked back at Lau and Ran Mao. He leaned his back at the sofa, crossing his legs and let his mind being drifted to somewhere. The pearls, what was Her Majesty implying to him? He didn't have any idea how precious these pearls are. The young Earl furrowed his eyebrows, his ego telling him to feed his curiosity as soon as possible.
"This must be a serious one, young Earl. Do you think you can solve this in a short time?" Lau smiled again, finally cracking the silence.
"I do think so, Lau. I can finish this in less than a week." Ciel was determined. He didn't have any intention to waste his time to solve this case. It was just as easy as usual, 'find the man behind the scene and castrate him whatever it takes'.
"Alright," he clapped his hands together. "So, what is this case?"
"..." Ciel looked at him in disbelief. He didn't know how Lau could detect that there was a case, yet he didn't even know what kind of case that the young Earl was investigate. "Geez, so you don't even have any clue of what this is about?"
Lau shook his head, smiling as usual. "No, no, I haven't any idea ~"
"Geez... It's about the lost pearls. Her Majesty only told me that there is a dozen of pearls which has been stolen in a week. That is. Nothing more and nothing less. In the time being, I've asked Sebastian to look for any documents about whatever case happened during the week in Scotland Yard. There must be at least a very small clue, or else-"
"Or else?"
"We will need Undertaker's help." He shrugged. It would be the worst thing ever to encounter, even it ws worse than the case itself. The finest laugh, the finest laugh, they should pay him with the finest laugh!
"Ah ya, that weird man and his shop, eh?" Lau tried to remember Undertaker. "Ah, my my, it seems to be more interesting to ask his help. I mean, young Earl, Scotland Yard won't have any datas about this case."
"Yeah, I think so. That's why this would be even more complicated than what we expected."
Meanwhile, in Scotland Yard...
After dealing with the officer, Sebastian entered the documents' staff's room. He quickly looked for the data of cases which the Scotland Yard investigated during the week. There was nothing very interesting, nothing said about pearls—or jewels, anything like that. Before, the officer had told him that the Scotland Yard did not investigate anything interesting. Only the case of children's kidnapping, which usually happened before this.
Although the case of children's kidnapping would be interesting for the young master to investigate, but it wasn't the case he needed to investigate at the moment. Sebastian, however, still took a note about them in his notebook, writing them neatly in a very short time. There was nothing else left, no clue, and no evidence. Or it could be said, the Scotland Yard did not investigate the case that had been put on the young master's shoulder by Her Majesty.
"Oi Sebastian," Ciel stood up, looking at him expectantly. "What did you get?"
"Nothing, Bocchan." He smiled, handing him the notebook. "But there was a very interesting case happened during the same week. Few children had been kidnapped, and all of them were from the rich family in England. Do you not think it is interesting, Bocchan?"
The young Earl furrowed his eyebrows and read the notes. "Elaborate more, Sebastian."
"Sure, Bocchan." Sebastian sat, eyeing at the young master and Lau. "The first kid who had been kidnapped was lost from his house a week ago. His name is James Clarke. There was nothing special from him, but he was from a rich family. I continued reading all the documents, and I found something very interesting fact, Bocchan."
"What is it?"
"Ah ya ya, butler, you always pump my adrenalin, ya know~?"
"Shut it, Lau! Tell me Sebastian!" Ciel sounded even more demanding than before, throwing the notes back at his butler.
"Alright, Bocchan. All of them are males, and their age is about ten until thirteen. And the most interesting fact is that... they all have blue irishes. All of them have blue eyes." He smiled. "That you, Bocchan, the Queen's watchdog, a thirteen year old boy who is rich, and has blue eyes. I hardly say perhaps you can be the next victim."
Ciel sighed, throwing his back to the sofa. "When is the last kid got kidnapped?"
"Yesterday. "
"Mattaku..." Ciel shook his head. "Well, we can put that aside, I don't see any relation between this case and the pearls' case. Anything else you got?"
"Nothing."
"Good." He said sarcastically. "Then we have no choice. We have to ask a favour from Undertaker."
"My my," Lau clapped his hands happily. "It's just as we expected, right, Ran Mao?"
The Earl Phantomhive finally decided to pay a visit to the Undertaker's Shoppe. He went there with his loyal butler, Sebastian, and Lau. As always, Undertaker was found sleeping inside his coffin, and attempted to tease him with his scart jokes—which never worked for Sebastian and Ciel, but yet always attempted to do so.
"Huehehehehe~ welcome, young Earl~" Undertaker jumped out from one of his coffin. "Now, what can I do for you this time, young Earl?"
"Hey, Undertaker," Ciel greeted him shortly before tapping his palm on the desk. "I need few informations about the pearls, anything about it. I'm investigating about athe lost pearls."
"Huehehehe~" he laughed, poking Ciel's cheek with his nail. "Ya know what ya should do, don't ya, young Earl~? The finest laugh, and I'll tell you everything you want to know~"
"Mattaku..." Ciel patted his forehead. "I know, I know!" He tugged on his butler's coat, glaring at him. "Sebastian, this is an order. Give Undertaker the finest laugh!"
I know this would happened. "Yes, My Lord."
Ciel and Lau waited in front of the shop, it had already ten minutes but they did not hear anything. And the young Earl started to be bored, losing his patience. He almost walzted through the door when he heard the laugh of the white-haired man booming inside the shop. As always, Sebastian succeed making him laugh.
"Huehehehehehe~ young Earl~" he laid his head on the table, still chuckling. "Your butler is the best~"
"I know! Now tell me, what are these pearls? And why Scotland Yard doesn't know anything about this?"
"Huehehehehe~ pearls?" Undertaker looked at him, waving his hand in the air. "There are no pearls, young Earl~"
What. There were no pearls? The Earl Phantomhive narrowed hi eyes. It was even more mysterious than he thought before. It seemed like Her Majesty was fooling around with him, making up a case which actually nonexistent. If there were no pearls to begin with, then why Her Majesty asked him to look for these pearls?
"But~" Undertaker walked closer to the young Earl. "Don't you think the case of lost children is interesting, young Earl?"
"What do you mean?"
"I bet you have heard from your butler, haven't you? They all have the similarities with you. Rich family, age, and even... the blue eyes~"
"Excuse me, Undertaker, can you please elaborate more about this? It seems that you have more informations than the Scotland Yard." Sebastian asked, being even more interested than the young master itself.
"You're so sharp, Mr. Butler. Indeed this case is interesting, and perhaps this is what the young Earl is looking for." He grinned. "This case is called 'The Blue Sphere' by the underworld's community."
"Oh ya ya, the Blue Sphere?" Sebastian smirked, glancing at the young master.
"Yes, the Blue Sphere; the term they use for this," Undertaker pointed at Ciel's eyes. "They take this out from their skull, and sell it. One eye of each kid, Mr. Butler. I heard each eye cost very expensive. But it is only sold for one person~"
"Who are they? And who wants those kids' eyes?" Ciel asked.
"They are a group of people who call themselves as 'The Eye'. And they sell it for someone called 'The Collector'. Of course you know this man, young Earl. He had known you as well~"
Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis were in the end of the case. They had already known everything. The pearls that Her Majesty was talking about were not the real pearls. Those pearls were eyes, eyes belonged to the children that had been kidnapped by a group of people called 'The Eye'. It seemed that they sold those eyes only for a single person who called himself 'The Collector'. It was a surprise that Ciel actually knew this man really good. He was a business colleague of the Phantom Company.
"It is surprise, isn't it, Sebastian?" Ciel asked. They were in a magnificent garden. It was the house of 'The Collector'.
"Indeed, Bocchan." He nodded. "Now, I am waiting for your order, Bocchan."
"Hn. Sebastian, it's an order, catch The Collector! Bring him to me, alive!"
"Yes, my Lo—"
"My, my, Earl Phantomhive, I don't know what you are doing on your collector's nest," someone cut Sebastian's words, reaching at the young Earl's shoulder, but Sebastian managed to catch his master before the man got him first.
"Refrain yourself from touching my Bocchan, Lord Alexander."
"Those beautiful eyes... nope, your beautiful blue navy eye will be mine, Ciel Phantomhive."
Sebastian placed the young master in a save place, few meters behind him. He fixed his glove, glaring at the man. "My apologies, Lord Alexander, but I shall dismiss all your desire to have my master's eye."
"Tch! Yo cocky bastard!" The man who was known as Lord Alexander, moved toward Sebastian, pointing his blade at the butler. "I will kill you first, then I'll take what should be mine! Hahahahahaha!"
Sebastian easily dodged him, gazing at the young master. "Your order, Bocchan."
Ciel quickly ripped off his eyepatch, yelling at him. "Kill him, Sebastian!"
"Yes, My Lord." Sebastian smirked. A satisfaction drawn on his face. For a demon like him, killing humans was not sins. Nope, it was a pleasure, moreover if he could taste their soul. But yet, Sebastian could not taste their soul as long as the contract with his young master was there.
"HAHAHAHAH! WHAT A BUTLER LIKE YOU CAN DO—"
A single stab with his hand, Sebastian tore Alexander's chest with his bare hand. A smirk appeared on his face while whispering, "I can do this even better than you, Lord Alexander." With that, Sebastian threw the body, crushing it against the wall.
Lord Alexander coughed, bloods spilled out from his chest and his mouth. "B-bastard— what the hell are y-you?"
"I am simply a hell of a butler."
No one will be able to touch my young master...
No one will be able to defeat my young master...
No one will be able to tear my young master...
No one will be able to get rid of my young master...
As long as I am here by his side,
My young master and I,
Are one.
And the blue sphere,
Will be mine...
"Bocchan, everything is over now."
"Right. Let's go home, Sebastian." Ciel tugged his small fingers on the butler's coat, dragging him away.
... when I devour your soul... Bocchan.