When Mey-Rin signed the contract, scrubbing floors had not been what she had in mind. She was a creature of darkness. She had single handedly started revolutions. She had brought down dynasties in only a night.
But now here she was, sweeping floors and doing dishes for a spoiled brat that she didn't even like that much.
Mey-Rin had been around for centuries. She was one of the earliest demons to walk the planet. However, Mey-Rin was one of three. Young Master Phantomhive had summoned a demon that had terrible sight. Her other two siblings both had their own problems. One could not hear, and the other could not feel, but Mey-Rin could not see very clearly without her glasses. She did, however, have some of the sharpest ears and a very could sense of smell. Both of which were things that most demons had. Mey-Rin was special, though, for not only her disability, but her origins.
"Mey-Rin," She heard the Earl mutter somewhere within the Phantomhive Mansion. She had finished the floors within a minutes time. Yes, she had taken her time with the floor. But she was hard of sight, so it wasn't that surprising. She had still finished all her chores for the day in quick succession. She took a step back into the shadows, and traveled to the Earl's side.
"Yes, Young Master," Mey-Rin said, curtsying at the Earl's side.
"Where is my afternoon tea?" Ciel asked, looking up at Mey-Rin expectantly.
"I'll have it finished it just a moment," Mey-Rin said. "Anything else you need while I'm here?"
"Fetch the mail, please," Ciel said. Mey-Rin nodded. As she walked towards the door, an thought occurred to the demon.
"You know, Young Master," She said, turning her head to look at him. Ciel looked up with annoyance. "These are all the duties of a Butler. Being but a humble maid, people may begin to suspect a lack in fortune if we don't hire one soon enough. We don't want people to start suspecting us, now do we?"
Ciel sighed. "A butler is just an extra mouth to feed and an extra mess for you to clean up. Why on earth do you want one?" Ciel asked.
"Oh, I never said I wanted one. I just believe it would be the wisest decision for you. When the Maid answers the door and acts as both the Butler and the Maid, your guests start to question things. When they question things, they get curious. You don't want people to get far too curious about you, Earl. It's never good when people start to suspect when you have things you want to hide," Mey-Rin said, with a smirk on her face.
"Yes, yes, alright. Do what you must. But you will continue your duties as butler and maid, and give this new butler trivial duties. Our contract has us bound together, and I do not want another person taking care of me. You are mine, after all," Ciel said.
"But of course, Young Master," Mey-Rin said. She closed the door behind her. It was cute, that Ciel really thought that she belonged to him. Yes, she did the trivial tasks for him, but these were things Mey-Rin could do in her sleep. She had been in contract with much worse people. The tasks the Queen gave him were challenging at times, yes, but that was mostly because Mey-Rin didn't put too much thought into it. She was a demon, and she had been to Hell. Now, that was hard work.
She went quickly into the kitchen, and started the kettle. She used a bit of her own magic to make the pot boil faster by heating it up with fire, and then let it steep for about ten minutes. While that happened, she looked for the cake that she left Bard to make. Cooking was not in her contract, and she couldn't read the ingredients, anyway.
"Bard!" She called. Around the servants, she liked to keep up the appearance of being just as dim witted and unintelligent as the rest of them. It was mainly for her own amusement, and partly so they didn't suspect anything. However, they did question why Mey-Rin of all people had such a close relationship with the Earl. Finny thought it was because Mey-Rin reminded the Earl of his deceased Mother. Bard disagreed, saying it was because the Earl fancied the maid and was having an affair. Tanaka told them to be quiet, because that thought was very disrespectful to both the Maid and the Earl. He told them that he imagined it was because Mey-Rin was the first person who found the Earl, and she had saved him, thus making him trust her. None of these were correct. Though Mey-Rin had picked up a few mannerisms to Rachel Phantomhive, she and Ciel did not have a parental relationship. Mey-Rin would never baby the boy, and Ciel would never love Mey-Rin like a Mother. Good. Mey-Rin did not want any kind of softness in the soul she desired. She also did not have a relationship with the Earl in that way. The thought disgusted the Maid. She would never have a sexual relationship with a person she had a contract with, especially one so young and so bratty. Then of course, was Tanaka saying that they trusted each other. Not as far as Mey-Rin could see, which was not very far. They were in contract, and bound to each other, but if they weren't, Mey-Rin would not be a trustworthy person. Not to anyone.
But, Mey-Rin liked them speculating about her. That kept them busy. It also made her laugh at how ridiculous their theories were.
"Yes, Miss Mey-Rin?" Bard asked, walking into the room with a joint hanging from his mouth. Mey-Rin took the joint and crushed it in her hand, and through it into the trash.
"Please avoid getting any tobacco smoke into the kitchen, it makes the Young Master cough. I also needed to know whether or not you made the cinnamon rolls for the Earl's tea."
Bard found Mey-Rin intimidating at times, especially when she did things like that. His cheeks were bright red. "I, uh, yeah," Bard said, walking to a cupboard and pulling out a box full of cinnamon rolls. "Uh, sorry about that."
"Quite alright. Just be sure not to do it again," Mey-Rin said. "Thanks a bunch!"
She took the cinnamon roll and placed it on a smaller plate, before putting them all on a tray. She waited for Bard to leave the room, before she faded into the shadows and to the mail slot. There were several letters this morning, one addressed from the Queen. She sighed. Another one?
She faded once again, putting the notes on the tray beside the tea for the Earl. She walked up the stairs and to his office, knocking on the door before letting herself it.
"Your morning tea, Young Master," She said, putting it on his desk. She stood with her hands clasped, as he took a sip. He nodded approvingly, before he began to sort through his letters. "Any news from the Queen?"
"Yes, I'm reading it now," Ciel said, giving a small wave of the hand to shut her up. Mey-Rin stayed quiet for a minute. He read slowly. She needed to get in more tutoring sessions. This was just plain annoying. "There's need a series of murders recently. Prostitutes, all victims of who they are now calling 'Jack the Ripper.' Interesting."
"The Queen wishes for us to investigate it, I presume," Mey-Rin said.
"Correct," Ciel said, looking up at her. "We should seek help from someone who lives in London, who has more information."
"Perhaps we should visit the Undertaker," Mey-Rin mused, pouring more tea into his now empty cup. "See what's happened to the corpses."
Ciel nodded his head. "Mey-Rin, contact Madam Red. She lives right in the city. She should have some information we don't. We can get her to accompany us."
"Smashing idea," Mey-Rin said. "I'll get right to it, My Lord."
"Good. Now, I'll be expecting more cinnamon rolls in an hour. Attend to your chores," Ciel said. Mey-Rin nodded her head, and began to exit the room. "Wait." Mey-Rin turned to look at him. "Elizabeth's birthday is coming up very soon. I'd like to buy her a present. While we're in town, search for something suitable for her."
"Yes, my lord."
AN. My god, did a lot of people want me to continue this. I kind of fell out of the Black Butler fandom for awhile there, but I decided to continue this story, anyway. I was going to write word-for-word chapters of the Manga but with Mey-Rin instead of Sebastian, but I decided against it. I'll go through the arcs like this. I'll probably give each ark 3-6 chapters, but go at a quicker pace.
However, this story isn't one of my highest priorities at the moment. My Until Dawn fanfiction is currently at the top of my list. I'm also writing my own stories, which are quite important to me, not to mention that I have a job and schoolwork. So, don't expect this story to update fast. But here is the first real chapter of Black Maid. Thanks for reading.
-Mystery.