Sun filtered through tall window panes, the checkered iron covering of the windows casting shadows across the young earl's desk as he slowly filled in much needed paperwork. His brain hazy with boredom as his pen flew with practiced ease across the sheet of paper.
There was a faint knock and the door clicked open. He looked up, setting down his pen.
"I brought you lunch my lord" Sebastian announced as he wheeled a trolley filled with light sandwiches, tea and some puff pastries for dessert. "Today we have light, cucumber sandwiches with earl grey tea and choux à la crème for dessert" Sebastian named off with flourish. He saw how the young earl's eye seemed to directly go to the dessert. He never failed to please his master's sweet tooth. The demon set a few sandwiches onto a fine piece of china before setting it in front of the boy before turning around to fill him a cup of tea.
"Is our guest awake yet?" Ciel questioned before biting into the sandwich, letting the fresh flavor of the cucumber coat his tongue before swallowing. Sebastian made a curious noise before setting the steaming cup of tea beside the plate.
"I believe not young master, I shall check on her at once if you wish me to" Sebastian said, putting his right hand onto his left shoulder, his signature move.
It has been a total of three days since they brought the woman back to the mansion and she showed no sign of waking up and Ciel was getting impatient.
"Do so and report back to me afterwards" The earl said waving a hand dismissively with his free hand, the other busy with a sandwich triangle. The butler bowed as he said his customary 'my lord' and left.
The demon's finely tuned ears picked up the sound of crying and fastened his gait some before stopping in front of their guest room. He knocked briskly onto the door.
"Milady?" He called loud enough for her to hear. As soon as he spoke up, the crying ceased immediately. He clicked his tongue in an annoyed manner as he slowly pushed the door open, the light of the hallway casting some light in the otherwise dark room.
"Milady?" He called again, his head jerking to the side as he heard the sound of water violently sloshing about in the tub in the adjoined bathroom. He closed the door behind him, the room completely dark aside from the solitary candle that was on the bed side table and by the looks of it, they were some candles in the bathroom as well.
Her eyes must be sensitive to the light if she spent a large amount of time in that wretched place. Sebastian thought to himself as he slowly made his way to the bathroom, keeping his steps light.
"Mila-uh" He was interrupted in mid-call when something hit him in the chest. He looked down at the ground and saw a bar of soap. He noted with a grimaced that the bar of soap had left a white, bubbly mark on the lapel of his tailcoat. Truly outrageous. His blood red eyes scanned the room for the offender and soon enough, he saw two green eyes peek over the lid of the bathtub.
"Ah there you are milady" He said in a honey sweet tone tilting his head, trying to seem as defenseless as possible. The woman proceeded to hiss at him and grabbed the closest thing to her, which appeared to be a bottle of essential oils and threw it at him. He deftly caught it with his hand and threw her an annoyed look, thin brows furrowed.
"My, this is not how a lady should behave, I can understand you being frightened but no need to be ungrateful by assaulting us into our own household milady" Sebastian scolded. True enough, his words seemed to have struck a chord in the young woman for she disappeared out of view behind the bathtub. He started to make his way to the tub but noticed that the nightgown was neatly draped over the back of a chair. That meant…Sebastian smirked despise himself. He grabbed the bathrobe that hung onto a hook on the wall and held it out, turning his head to the side and closing his eyes to offer her some modesty.
"Come milady, before you get cold, surely going around naked won't help your already weakened health" He held back a smirk as he practically felt her blush. The tiny patter of feet could be heard, the steps hesitant.
"No need to be afraid you are safe here" He reassured sweetly. At least for now, her life all depended on what she had to do with the children's kidnappings. The petite woman or perhaps she was a teenager, slowly slipped into the bathrobe before yanking away from him as if burned. The butler heard the silk sash being hastily fastened and assumed that she was decent before slowly opening his eyes. The candles on the edge of the bath casted ominous shadows across the woman's far too thin face. Her eyes sunken in with heavy bags, her cheekbones prominent due to her cheeks being slightly hollow, her collarbones sticking out under her smooth ivory skin. The only thing that stuck out to him was the luminescence of her eyes. The same glow they had back in the manor. Sebastian saw the shadows dance across the wall out of the corner of his eye. So the woman was indeed special…Interesting.
Their staring contest was interrupted when the woman's stomach gave an angry growl, making her flush in embarrassment. Sebastian let out a small chuckle.
"Please Milady; allow me to bring you something to eat and maybe perhaps something to drink as well?" He questioned, her eyes never leaving him. She didn't offer a vocal answer but she did give a firm nod of her head, her hands fiddling anxiously with the silk sash.
"Then I shall return" He bowed with a hand on his shoulder and slowly walked out.
Soon enough he came back with a trolley filled with lighter foods, he figure that she had to start small for her stomach to get used to food again. He knocked out of curtesy and wasn't surprised when the female on the other side didn't respond.
He froze as he felt a light breeze whisper under the door and assumed the worse.
"Milady!" He called, yanking the door open but stopped in mid track as he saw the petite female perched onto the window sill, the window opening just a tiny bit. The woman jumped with a faint squeak and pulled comforter closer to herself. The demon put a hand over his heart, feigning relief. Oh how his master would have been angry if he let her escape…
"You gave me quite a scare there, I though you ran away" He said, relief colouring his voice.
"My apologies… I just wanted some air, I know it's kind of cold outside but please allow me to take it in a little more please" Her soft voice filled his ears, slightly muffled by the comforter she held close to herself, everything hidden except her eyes. He smiled, clearly pleased, so she could speak.
"Feeling talkative now aren't we?" He jested as he reached for the trolley into the hallway and wheeled it in, closing the door with his foot gently. The woman blushed up to her ears and adverted her gaze to outside.
"My apologies milady, it was a displaced comment, please forgive me" He said, opening the pot, which contained a light broth, letting the aroma fill the room. He filled up a bowl and held it up as a peace offering. The woman seemed to sniff in the aroma and he saw her eyes flash hungrily. She gently closed the window and slipped off the windowsill. She left the curtains open, letting in a small sliver of light peek into the room. She made her way over with her make shift cocoon, in which Sebastian honestly found adorable. He motioned her to the bed and she followed his instruction but kept a certain distance between the two of them, her eyes flashing wearily as she eyed the butler intently. She crawled with her blanket cocoon on the bed and settled down against the head board with a light sigh, burying her tiny nose into the blanket as if to seek comfort. Sebastian offered the steaming bowl, feeling it's heat soak into his glove. Two small, dainty, if not a bit shaky, hands made their way out of the cocoon, their host refusing to quit her blanket fort anytime soon. Sebastian watched as her shaking hands went to grab onto the bowl. They were shaking too badly; she would most likely spill the scalding soup onto herself and the bedding. He suddenly held it out of her reach, a forlorn expression appearing on her face as her tiny hands retracted back into the warmth of the cocoon.
"Allow me milady, I've noticed how your hands are shaking, for your own safety, allow me to feed you" She eyed him wearily once again, her head ducking into the folds of the blanket. The demon waited patiently until her doe eyes peeked up at him again.
"Ok" she murmured weakly and the butler offered a closed eye smile, seemingly pleased.
"May I?" The butler asked, motioning to the spot beside her on the bed. She offered a small nod before shifting to the side to give him room. There was plenty of room if you asked him; she took so little place on the bed that she could get lost in it. Sebastian took a seat beside the woman, sitting in a way that he would be facing her. He gently filled the small spoon with soup and held it out to her, a hand under the spoon in case some of its content spilled. She obediently opened her mouth and took the offered spoon. She hummed in surprise at the flavours that exploded into her mouth. The dark haired male seemed pleased with her reaction, pale lips stretched into a smile. She had to admit, the man was really handsome. His red eyes stuck out to her the most. They held a certain glint that she couldn't quite place.
Harmony let out a content sigh as her belly felt full. She leaned back against the headboard, nestling herself in her cocoon, feeling warm all over. The broth had been amazing and so did the tea. It warmed her up to her soul. Of course she wished she had more soup but the butler insisted that she didn't, so she wouldn't upset her fragile stomach by eating too much in one go. Said butler glanced at her from over his shoulder as he rolled the trolley to the door.
"t-thank you!" She suddenly bleated, hiding into the confines of the comforter. Since when was she THIS shy. The dark haired man looked surprised for a second then pleased, an easy smirk slipping onto his lips.
"You're welcome milady, I shall come back at dinner, ring if you need anything" He said, pointing to the cord near the bed. "Rest for now and gain some strength" with that, the butler gently closed the door behind him.
-Intermission-
Ciel felt like nodding off when Sebastian allowed himself in with afternoon tea. He rubbed his eye tiredly as he pushed the papers away with his free hand. Some sugar would do him good.
" For afternoon tea; we have blueberry crumpets accompanied with Darjeeling tea' Sebastian announced, setting the plate of crumpets in front of his master, noticing that the earl looked a bit sleepy, his eye blinking heavily. He set the freshly brewed tea in front of the young earl.
" So is our guest awake?" He asked as he sipped the tea carefully, it's warmth waking him up instantly.
" Yes indeed, in fact, she even attempted to assault me with a bar of soap my lord" Ciel promptly choked on his mouthful of tea as he snorted unattractively. He coughed and cleared his throat, trying to fight the smile that threatened to show on his face. Oh that must have been quite the site. " I hope it didn't hurt too much" The earl jested, amusement dancing in his eye. The butler felt slightly miffed at his master's amusement.
"Oh what type of a butler would I be if I allowed myself to be injured by a mere bar of soap my lord" The butler jested right back. The young boy cleared his throat, regaining his serious demeanor.
"Will she be able to come to my office so we can discuss?" The earl asked as he bit onto a crumpet carefully, some crumbs falling onto his lap, earning him a look of disapproval from Sebastian.
" I doubt it young master, she seemed a bit…unstable, when I first met her this morning, she didn't hesitate to attack whoever she deems a threat to her well-being" Sebastian explained, clearing off the crumbs on his master's trousers with a small duster. The young teen tsked, clearly annoyed.
"What a huge amount of bother, fine, I give her till tomorrow afternoon tea to come to me or I'll go to her myself" Ciel announced firmly but the demon gave a disapproving look. "that wouldn't be wise my young master, she could very well hurt you" The butler countered, ignoring the young earl's icy glare.
" oh please Sebastian, I hardly look threatening, I'm only a child after all" The young teen smirked, fluttering his eyelashes innocently, making Sebastian smirk proudly. Such a deceiving master.
" very well my lord" The butler agreed
-Intermission-
True enough, the woman didn't show up to his office and Ciel had to go and see her himself. His cane tapped softly against the ground as Sebastian walked ahead, rolling a tray filled with pastries and a pot of tea for afternoon tea. They reached their guest door and halted infront of it. A slight breeze whispered from under the door. Ciel frowned as he felt it brush his ankles.
"She must of opened the window for some air" Sebastian explained, raising a hand to knock on the door. Ciel looked up at the demon " If she escaped, you will be held personally responsible Sebastian" The young teen said, glaring at the tall man who was in no way phased by the icy display.
"Come in" a faint voice came from the other side. The butler opened the door enough for his master to go through.
"Good afternoon Miss?" Ciel greeted, trying to plaster a smile onto his face. He saw the woman perched onto the windowsill, swaddled in blankets.
"Harmony" She answered softly, her eyes clearly assessing him.
He nearly tsked in annoyance at her disrespect.
"I'm Ciel Earl Phantomhive" He introduced with a slight bow. Her eyes were unwavering as they nearly pinned him down with their intensity. It seemed like she was no fool, she trusted nobody, not even a 'child'.
She did seem to snap out of it when he said Earl. She sputtered and suddenly stood and did a semblance of curtesy with her mountain of blankets.
"My deepest apology my lord, if only I've known that you held such an important title, I would of showed some respect, please forgive me" She bowed deeply and the Earl felt pleased.
"It's no problem" He reassured, waving a hand. "Now how about we discuss over afternoon tea, I believe you are familiar with my butler's culinary confections are you not?" Her eyes were back to being weary, her emerald gaze fixated on the door behind him. She knew that Sebastian was there. Interesting.
"He shall not harm you" Unless I tell him to. The young lord thought to himself. "Come, we can have tea in the drawing room, or perhaps in the gazebo outside?" Her eyes lit up at the concept of outside. How long has she been confined in that manor. He had so many questions and he would get his answers today.
"Outside would be lovely my lord" She said respectfully, her old habits falling back into place.
" Excellent, I'll let you get dressed and Sebastian will escort you to the gazebo" Ciel said, his voice clearly leaving no room for arguing. The young woman had no other choice but to consent, not wanting to show any disrespect towards the young Earl, even though she felt like his butler couldn't be trusted. Perhaps he wouldn't do awful things like the Doctor did, but she felt that he wasn't white as snow either. Her stomach churned at the memories, her loins aching dully in reminiscence of his actions. Ciel left the room, the distant tapping of his cane slowly fading away the further he got. Sebastian peeked his head in the room, seeing the female gazing into nothingness, her face devoid of emotions.
"shall I assist you in getting dressed milady?" Sebastian asked, holding up a dress that seemed to have appeared out of thin air. "No, I'd rather dress myself thank you" She finally answered, carefully grabbing the dress that the demon was holding out.
"I shall wait for you outside the door then Lady Harmony" The man bowed at the waist before slipping out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Harmony held out the dress in front of her, the comforter that had been wrapped around her shoulders falling to the floor with a soft plop, leaving her standing in the thin nightgown she had been wearing ever since she's been here. The dress seemed intricate in itself, Harmony started to wonder if she would need the butler's aid in the end. No, she could do it herself. She didn't want any wandering hands on her body. She gently set the dress down carefully and pulled the nightgown over her head, folding it and setting it on the foot of the bed. She grabbed the dress and proceeded to put it on a best as she could, almost getting lost in the many layers of fabric. Her head finally popped out and she let out a sigh of relief. She blew away the strands of hair that were in her face. She patted down her dual-coloured hair with one hand while the other grasped the skirt of the dress and walked over to the vanity to look at herself in the mirror. She grabbed the pearl ornated brush that sat upon the vanity and brushed her tangled locks, wincing as the brush got stuck in the knots that littered the ends of her hair. She sighed in disappointment, those split ends had to go. She rummaged into the vanity's drawers to see if there were any scissors or maybe razor blades at best. She made a sound of success and held up the sharp scissors, the metal glinting wearily in the pale light as it filtered through the curtains. She then began to cut, each snip felt freeing, hair slowly gathering at her feet. She cut them just below her chin, making into a fashionable bob. She sat the scissors back down and finally took a good look at herself.
She looked way too thin for one. Her being thin always had been normal but now, she looked sickly. Her eyes sunken in, her cheeks hollow, her elbows had gotten sharper and her wrists looked like twigs. The dress was off-the-shoulders with a pigeon breast type front in the color of peach. The dress draped carefully, if not comfortably along her body and flared into an elegant train. It seemed to be made almost entirely of ecru netting and was intricately embroided with floral and leaf motifs in tambour style. Everything was enhanced with appliqued lace and cut-work.
A knock interrupted her scrutiny of herself, her head snapping towards the door. Right, the butler. She quickly padded over to the door and opened the door, peeking her head out, fearful emerald meeting unnerving ruby.
Sebastian looked at his pocket watch, trying to be patient with the young lady inside the room. He turned to knock on the door, the sound of tiny footsteps and swishing of fabric meeting his ears. The door opened and she peeked her head out, look up at him with her wide, weary doe eyes.
"Milady" He breathed, seeing that she had cut her hair short" Whatever happened to your hair" He questioned, eyeing her handiwork. She flushed her cheeks colouring as she ducked her head.
"They were so horribly knotted that I felt the need to cut them" She explained briefly, moving to duck back into the room but the man gently grasped her hand, keeping her from doing so.
"Now that you are ready Lady Harmony, we mustn't keep my master waiting" Sebastian said, gently letting go of her hand, afraid that if he squeezed too hard, he would shatter her poor delicate hand.
"Yes, my apologies for taking this much time, I almost got lost into the dress" She joked, attempting to lighten the mood, even if she almost felt terrified of the crow like butler. The man offered her a closed eye smile.
" You look stunning, the color suits you perfectly" The demon complimented and her cheeks and ears got warmer as she cupped her cheeks in effort to cover her blush.
They made their way through the manor,twisting and turning into different hallways, Hamony's photographic memory taking in every detail so she wouldn't get lost, her eyes taking in the magnificence of the manor.
"Perhaps after your meeting with master, I can offer you a full visit of the manor if you'd like" The butler suggested, as if reading her mind. The butler offered her a shawl to cover herself from the cold. They stepped out, briskly walking up to a grand gazebo, the butler fast pace made it a hard time for her shorter legs to keep up. The man opened the door and stepped aside to let her in. She slipped into the much warmer gazebo, the young earl sitting at a table, leaning his cheek on his fist, his foot tapping impatiently on the ground.
"Pardon me my lord if I kept you waiting" Harmony bleated her apology, the young earl's cobalt eye pining her in place as he looked up at her. She took a seat in front of the young boy, smoothing down the skirt of the dress nervously, her hands skimming along the soft fabric.
"You look radiant Lady Harmony" Ciel complimented once he gave her a once over. The woman blushed, covering her flaming cheeks. She was a bit too thin for his taste however.
" w-why thank you my lord" Harmony giggled nervously, her eyes looking at her folded hands in her lap.
" Today we have éclair au chocolat and earl grey tea" The butler introduced, pouring two cups of tea and setting the pastries onto small plates.
" So, tell me about yourself Lady Harmony, how did you come to join the circus?" The young earl said after he took his first sip of tea. The woman suddenly felt weighted down by their stares. The young teen's cobalt blue eye watching her in a calculating manner while the butler seemed to be staring right into her soul…
Little did Harmony know that he actually see her soul? Her soul was something akin to a butterfly. The butterfly was white, which indicated the purity of her soul. Tiny glimpses of black that seemed to fleet over the calm, peaceful butterfly had him curious. Yet the butterfly remained fluttering in its invisible confines, letting the splashes of black greet it like it was an old friend. The woman had something to hide it seemed, he and his master would soon find out.
Harmony took a sip of tea to ease the dryness in her throat. She gulped, pursing her lips. The way the teen looked at her, as if he dared her to lie to his face, made her heart thud painfully against her ribcage. If she told the truth, he would think she was a head case and if she lied, he would eventually find out and she didn't want to know what he would do if he eventually saw through her lies.
She took a deep breath before starting on her tale. The truth was the best way to go, besides she hated lying, she always felt this tiny pinprick sensation in her brain, even when she told a white lie. The element of honesty probably had something to do with this.
The young earl assessed the woman as she told her tale, her face and eyes completely honest. Any normal person would think that the woman was a head case and would immediately intern her in a mad house but Ciel wasn't exactly a normal person. He had a demon butler, who had a grim reaper pinning after him and he used to have a hell hound as a pet. So maybe, just maybe Ciel felt generous when he tried to believe her story.
For the demon, the land she spoke of sounded vaguely familiar but he didn't give it much thoughts, it was up to his master to decide if she was a head case or telling the truth. He watched as the woman told her life story, her eyes open, open in a way he could see if she was lying or not.
" Then I joined the circus, it was actually fun for a while, until I noticed the others of the group disappearing at night and then suddenly reappearing the next morning as if nothing happened" The woman explained, growing more comfortable, using hands gestures as she spoke." Eventually I grew curious and followed them on their outing… maybe I should of stayed behind…" She trailed off, playing with her fingers.
"I saw what they did to the police officers, I really tried to stop them but, I was clearly outnumbered" Harmony said, giving a self-deprecating smile, her eyes growing hazy as she clutched the fabric of her dress. "They brought me to baron Kelvin's manor and kept me there, they didn't want to dispose of me since they thought of me as a valuable friend…even once there I tried to protect the children, clawing, scratching, trying everything to keep that awful doctor away from them but they started to sedate me so everything grew hazy" Harmony's grip on her dress tightened even more, her knuckles going white. It was getting difficult to breathe all of the sudden, as if a vice was squeezing her lungs, her breaths coming out in petrified wheezes as she started to tremble.
"t-then the doctor, he…he always had that weird glint in his eye whenever I saw him in his tent when I got injured, I didn't put much thought into it but…I saw what it meant when I was under sedation and that he would approach with the same glint in his eye…" Harmony shook like a leaf, reaching for her cup of tea to allivate her parched throat but she ended up knocking it over with her jerky motions.
Ciel watched as the woman started to breathe heavily, her breath coming out in wheezes, her pupils only terrified pinpricks in her eyes. The young earl assumed that the doctor had sexual abused her, which explained why he had such a tight grip on her back at the manor. He took her as his own once she couldn't fight back, mind numb with drugs. Ciel's lip twitched in disgust. Good thing the woman killed him herself, took revenge for defiling her body against his will.
Harmony suddenly turned her head and vomited, her emotions getting the best of her. Broken sobs escape her lips as she buried her face into her hands, trying to hide her shame from the young earl unwavering gaze. She flinched as a hand delicately lifted her chin and proceeded to wipe her mouth with a cloth. She felt ashamed at the way she became undone in front of the noble.
"Hush now my lady, calm yourself, no need to overwork yourself like this" The soothing voice of the butler cut through her haze. She licked her dry lips, wincing at the taste of acidic vomit on her lips. She grabbed the offered cup that Sebastian refilled for her, the wet spot that the spill had left already gone. She drunk deeply from the cup and settled back into her chair.
"With that said, I believe that you will be free to leave the mansion once your better Miss Harmony" Ciel finally said, glancing at her over the rim of his cup. She couldn't believe it… He believed her entire story…How come he didn't think she was a psycho?
She didn't feel like going back into this world, deeming it far too dangerous for her well-being. What if there still was angry mobs looking for her with their pitch forks and torches, ready to be-head her on a whim.
"Please let me remain here my lord, I'll do anything" She blurted in a moment of desperation. This world was too painful and cold already, with her weak magic and unsettling shadows; she didn't know how she was to survive. She swallowed her pride as she stood, her hands clenched at her sides. She kneeled on one knee in front of the young lord, making him jerk in his seat, staring her with one wide eye. She pressed her fist to her heart" Allow me to offer you my services"
She couldn't possibly mean…Right, she did tell him that she had been a knight. He almost expected her to offer her body to him in order for him to keep her in his manor.
"Right, you were a knight of the royal court were you not?" The young lord inquired and the woman nodded positively " Perhaps I could take you in as my body guard then" The boy consented, watching as relief flashed in relief.
" Repeat after me, I, Harmony, will give my sole loyalty to the Phantomhives" The boy demanded, voice gone firm.
"I, Harmony, will give my sole loyalty to the Phantomhives" She parroted, bowing her head "and I will protect you and everyone that lives within this vicinity with my life" She swore seriously, her voice losing its melodious lilt, replaced with a more serious tone. The young earl smirked, pleased with her answer.
" Excellent, you shall call me young master, master or my lord from now on, Am I understood" The boy asked seriously, the emerald eyes of the female looking up to meet his.
"Yes, My Lord"