Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Yana Toboso. If They belonged to me, SebxGrell would have LOTS more fanservice.

Hello, all! I'm sorry I haven't been updating my stories recently- I just got a DeviantArt account(hence my change of penname. I was previously MadamGrellSutcliff) and have been busy working on artwork for the past month and a half. So in apology, here is a new story to read while I update the other ones. This one will have several pairings. Ship what you like. Naturally by the end, there will be a few defined pairings, but if you want to see it as a false relationship, be my guest. Part of my goal in writing this was to create a scenario in which SebCiel doesn't completely disgust me, and makes sense/isn't completely disgusting in other people who dislike the pairing.

Well, I like how I made it work in some of this.

Once again, there are going to be LOTS of shippings going on here, so take what you want.


It had been a disaster of grand proportion, annihilating all traces of what had once been the wealth of the Phantomhive family. Not a ten-pound note had managed to escape the angry flames that devoured the costly manor, a five star dinner for a hungry fire indeed. Now the Phantomhives, once the richest and snobbiest of nobles, were quite nearly penniless. Naturally, this was completely unacceptable to not only them, but all the other nobles in London. It would damage the image that the nobles built for themselves in the eyes of the middle and lower-classes. Nobles were above those people! They must remain rich and untouchable in their eyes, lest they get foolish ideas of being equal.

Thus, in response to the cataclysmic disaster, five noble families, including the Phantomhives, joined as a council to discuss the issue and resolve it before the information could be leaked. The Phantomhives were the first to arrive at the hospitable Faustus household, where the meeting was to be held. Following soon after were the Sutcliff family, the Spears family, and then finally the Michaelis family. The children and young adults were shepherded into a separate room and given run of the house while the heads of each family gathered in the dining room for dinner and discussion.

As it was Lord Faustus who was hosting the meeting, the other families waited politely for him to commence the discussion.

"As we know, we are here to discuss the Phantomhive family crisis. It is unacceptable for a noble family to be poor. We have all previously agreed to do everything in our power to assist hiding the situation from the public, but this is only a short term fix. In the future they will need to accumulate their wealth again. It would take far too long to earn up to their previous status."

There were murmurs of approval around the room, quickly replaced by whispered bickering of how exactly that would be to happen. Finally, Lord Spears announced, "How exactly will this be accomplished? I agree that it must be done, but we are not charities-"

"Nor do we ask charity of you," Vincent Phantomhive cut him off a tad coldly, "We would deny any such offer."

"Then how do you propose you get the money? Thievery?"

"I do not know," he admitted, "One of the only possible ways would be for a daughter to marry into another rich family. Unfortunately, our daughter did not escape the fire and only our son is left."

Perhaps it was not all of a surprise what Lord Sutcliff suggested next. However, it remained to be a shocking revelation.

"As you know, my closely trusted friends, our most closely kept secret is our 'daughter's' true identity. Ever since he was a little boy, he has shamefully acted as a member of the opposite sex and no amount of counselling was able to change him. To protect the honour of our family, we had to forge documents to make him seem to be the female he claims to be, and Lord Spears agreed to have his oldest son betrothed to him, as his is one of the only families I trust with this secret," he announced in his heavy German accent, "I propose that you do similar. Make it so Ciel Phantomhive perished in the fire, and young Robin Phantomhive lives as her brother. Robin can then marry into a rich family."

Of course, the suggestion was highly a highly controversial one, but the arguments did not last long- it was clear to all of them that this was the only solution.

"Very well," Vincent finally agreed, "It would seem that this is the only way. But I do not trust any families but yours to hold these secrets. Are any of you willing to connect our families through marriage?"

There were more murmured exchanges. The Spears family had only two sons, both betrothed. The Sutcliffs only had one, disgraceful child. The Fausts were the youngest family and did not yet have any children. Only the Michaelis Family, the oldest family, was left. They had six children, three of whom were boys.

Lord Michaelis spoke up.

"Our youngest son is not yet betrothed. All the other noble women had been taken and so he has remained without a fiancée. He is a dutiful, kind young boy, if not a bit quiet. If this is how it must be, no choice would be better than he."

And so, Sebastian learned he was to marry a girl he thought was dead, but apparently wasn't. He didn't ask questions- it was his duty to obey his parents. So he did what they expected of him. He treated delicate little Robin with care. He was a perfect gentleman for her.

Ciel, meanwhile, was very confused by the whole ordeal. He was suddenly taken from his free life of play to be tutored every day on how to act and think and sit and eat... And he had to wear his sister's clothes. And he had to be called by his sister's name. He couldn't tell anyone either- according to his parents it was a very very fun Game. The Game had easy rules. He had to pretend he was his sister. If he told someone, or someone found out, he would lose the Game and be in big, big trouble. But every week if he was good and acted right, he would get to play in the centre of their new, big garden and eat any chocolate he wanted. At first the Game was annoying, but he soon got used to it. He needed a Game since his sister wasn't there to play with him anymore. He began to even enjoy how people always believed him. He kept score.


Thus ends Chapter 1.

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