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'Arrogant bastard... Who does he think he is anyway?'
It was almost 8 o'clock in the morning and the Phantomhive mistress was wide awake, right about to tie her sleek, black brogues' laces when three knocks on the door disturbed her silent thoughts.
"What?"
"Good morning, my lady. I have prepared your meal. You will be served french breakfast delights from which you can choose: pain suisse and a cup of cafe au lait, sprinkled with a spray of cinnamon puff or you might be interested in some light, buttery chouquettes and apple tea with vanilla-"
"I'm not hungry." she eyed him viciously, but he replied with a pretty annoying simper, in a very sarcastic tone.
"Oh? We have some delicious brioches a-"
"Are you deaf?"
"Would you rather not have sweets this morning, mistress?"
"Stop mocking me this instant."
"I would never."
"Get... out..."
"As you wish, my lady." he bowed elegantly, before turning away.
The moment the door was shut, all her weight was left entirely on the bed, kicking off her shoes, falling back, with her head on the still warm pillows. It felt so good, she couldn't think of a better way to spend that dull, cloudy day than in her cozy room, no one bothering her. Maybe it was for the best to just slack off for once, no duties, no requests, no paperwork, just rest and idling. Truth be told, after last night's events, she felt really awful for allowing that further so much and found herself ridiculed by her own butler, which was preposterous! Letting one servant actually take advantage of her in that miserable way was bitterly unacceptable. But there was something, a confusion in the young countess's heart, which, in fact, told her that didn't sound too nasty, like making Sebastian teach her stuff he couldn't when his mistress was just a kid and he didn't look half bad after all... even though he resembled her father, but she fairly knew they were not the same person. The late Phantomhive Earl was a kindhearted, elegant, intelligent, powerful man, as she reminisced, whilst her butler was... a butler... and an asshole for pushing so far last night. All in all she didn't know what to think about first, slapping his head off for jumping her or slitting his throat open for actually listening to his lady and not continuing with his dirty actions that made her temperature rise, having a tingling sense of excitement, letting the girl feel enticed and good, wondering what would have been his next move? What was he about to do before she entered her asthmatic crisis... That was a question she was willing to ask him, hopefully with nothing perverted on her mind.
It would, indeed, be a bold move considering she grew into quite the exquisitely indifferent person towards her valet, using his power for almost anything, especially at torturing criminals and accomplices, making him feel like an utter object of destruction. Of course, he didn't care as long as the contract was intact and she didn't either if he complied with her orders. But there was something, an atmosphere between them, which, seen from the outside, made their relationship seem more like a friendship. The If I couldn't do this or that for my master, what kind of butler would I be? rhetorical questions where starting to get the awfully wrong turn, as he took care of the girl, showing concern for her more than enough, trying to please her more and more each and every time she asked something of him. Who was there to blame for her confusion, if not the demon, for being such a good servant to her? She even felt the need to go apologize for having such a behavior earlier, but it was way to comfy how she snuggled the pillows, thinking of some romantic scenarios between mistresses and their valets. Her skin flushed at the insolent pictures her mind was projecting, only because her body craved for the feeling she had yesterday. Then the images shifted to how she found out from others and how other women claimed Sebastian was so good in bed and, if it weren't for the many romantic novels she read secretly, the innocent young lady thought it might have only been about a sleepover.
The girl clearly remembered the first from this kind of stories, letting out a loud sigh, bringing back every single detail from her memory, of how a young prince fell in love with a poor little girl, following her everywhere, until one day when she was caught stealing and had her hand cut off for it; he couldn't bear the weight of seeing her like that so she was called to be his servant at his palace; her mother died of a rare illness a few months before, her father was a drunkard and she always had herself beaten by her brothers for bringing too little to eat, so the best option was for the girl to leave that kind of life behind and followed the noble back to his castle, where after a few years, he confessed an unchanging, burning love for her for a very long time and the story ended with a happily ever after, them married to each other, with two beautiful children. But what troubled her a bit, was that the two main characters resembled Sebastian and herself... the young, tall, handsome, dark haired prince, with a unique shade of red in his bright eyes and the poor girl with a thin frail body, glimmering, big, sky blue eyes and a medium long, straight, velvety, cerulean hair. It was hard for a girl at such an age to refrain from loving, not only that, but she didn't allow even the most subtle sign to escape her. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask something of him... more like an order. If she makes it like that, his mistress will not look weak in front of him and she just might get whatever she wants. Has all this time of control really gotten to her, the weird sensation in her stomach being the loss eating her from the inside little by little, or where those the so called butterflies so many authors were defining them in their stories... if so, that could only mean one thing...
A blinding lighting bolt and a loud thunder clap made her instantaneously dash under the thick blankets, with enough uncovered to slightly see what was going on outside. Suddenly a strong storm broke, wind rowdily howling, making the tree branches violently hit the windows, seeming, by the sound of it, like almost cracking at how hard they were thumped. She hid her face in the white sheets, covering her ears so she would not see nor hear the awful noises coming from the rain. Surprisingly, standing like that for more than half an hour now, she was almost asleep from all the grogginess the weather was causing her, but something woke her from the drowsy state she fell in, as the girl felt a light weight on her back from above the covers. Her heart raced when feeling the blankets slowly fall to the side, as that weight was dragging them away and for a moment there, she started shivering limb from limb. The child thought of all the easy ways to run, as her eyes widened in suspense, but couldn't take it anymore, so, after a few seconds, she kicked off the blankets and jumped out the bed in a blink of an eye, unfortunately stumbling when running towards the door.
"My lady? Are you alright?"
"Jesus Christ!"
"You can call me Sebastian, my lady." her butler smiled sweetly, holding out a hand for her to grab.
"That's not funny! I almost died here!"
"But mistress, I didn't do anything." his expression shifted from a lovely simper to a startled look.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"I didn't see you get out of the room in the past three hours, so, when the rain started, I took the liberty to come check if everything was in order, my lady. You seemed quite spiteful this morning, but I didn't want to enter a conversation about what was bothering you, if you weren't willing to talk."
"And what makes you think I'm not in the same mood?"
"The fact that your panic made you unconsciously call out for me, my lady." Seeing her still not grabbing onto him, Sebastian leaned forward to pick his mistress up and placed her back on the bed, thoroughly covering her like before.
"Would you like me to stay here, my lady?"
"And do what?"
"Keep you company, maybe?"
"Do what you want."
"Certainly, my lady."
An awkward moment of silence fell in the dark room, only lit by the flashes of lightning from time to time, where the girl felt too shy to speak, for a brief moment appearing like she didn't know her own butler, even though he's been serving her for almost eight years now... Glancing to one side, she noticed Sebastian watching the rain outside, looking so concentrated, peaceful and it seemed intriguing how his momentary stance piqued her interest quite profoundly. Remarking he was being gazed upon, the man turned his head, to find her still staring at him. Brutally shaking her head, she writhed in bed, trying not to pay attention at the unwanted presence, continuously eyeing her.
"What is your name, my lady."
"Why do you care?"
"I swore I would never lie to you, but still you did."
"I never said I wouldn't lie to you..."
"Of course, mistress, you are not obliged to answer my question."
"It's Celia..."
"And mine is Sebastian."
"Go screw yourself."
"If you make it an order, my lady, I will."
The girl flushed in an instant, firing up, flaring her nostrils in anger, at the improper answer she was given, thinking how she spent some years of her childhood with such a depraved demon and not only that, but entrusting her life, entirely, to him. Remembering the question she wanted to ask him, the girl thought there was no better time to do it than now... at least start a little conversation, despite how weird it might sound... it was way too quiet and the tension was growing heavier between them, fortunately her butler really had the guts to make jokes, helping her detach a bit. Was it always like this, such a fierce atmosphere when the both of them where in the same room, but she didn't notice since there were better things to do, or maybe now it was a different situation, however, his behavior didn't change due to last night's events... he didn't care...
"Sebastian..."
"Yes, my lady?"
"What... were you about to do... yesterday..." she whispered sheepishly.
"What's that? You'd like a cup of tea? I'll make you one right now. Earl Grey? Certainly!" the demon butler rushed towards the door.
"You heard me. Get back in here!"
"Well, mistress, wouldn't you rather have me show you?" he masked his guilty look with a charming smile, like the expert in deception he was.
"You try it again, and I'll pluck out your eyeballs."
"I wouldn't mind, my lady."
"What's wrong with you? All these years you were a professional butler, an elite demon and all of a sudden you act like... THIS! You're pitiful." she gesticulated disgusted, with her hand at him. In only a fraction his mood changed radically, approaching her, with the most dreadful look on his face, shoving his hand in the girl's throat pinning her above the bed and up against the wall, leaning forward to her ear, loudly licking his lips with a slurping sound. She was endlessly kicking, but her efforts were futile, as she couldn't reach the ground.
"You remember what happened to Alois Trancy and Claude, my lady."
"Why are you bringing that up?" she ground her teeth in pain, air barely making it to her lungs.
"Stop being a pitiful mistress and I'll stop being a pitiful butler." He loosened his grip, letting her fall back on the bed and continued: "If our masters don't prove to us they have worthy souls, we cannot fulfill our duties. You do your job good and I'll do mine."
Sebastian climbed off the bed, heading towards the hall, but, before exiting, he turned to her once more, with an unexpected simper, asking cheerfully:
"How about a cup of tea, my lady?"
"It felt good." she smiled to his surprise.
"I'm sorry, mistress?"
"I really liked what happened last night."
"Tsk, Tsk." he shook his head, placing a gentle hand on her forehead. "You're burning, my lady. I should have taken better care of you. I'll be back with a hot pot of soup."
"Say what you will, Sebastian. I may seem weak to you, but at least I know what I want."
"Enlighten me, my lady."
"You'd never understand. Your kind doesn't get this type of things. " she snorted, shrugging.
"Try me."
"...you..." the girl mumbled coyly, looking down at her lap, preparing herself for another one of her butler's outbreaks, but when she rose her eyes, he was still and unmoved, astonished by what passed through her lips. When seeing his startled expression, she couldn't help but smirk softly, before she fell to the side, being caught by Sebastian's trustworthy arms.
"My lady!"
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