A/N: Thank you to all those who have continued to support this story! I've been trying to make the story chapters longer, but I feel like if it's too long it might be a bit draggy. Any thoughts? Also, I might consider putting some lemon-y things in future chapters but it'll probably be an optional chapter so people can have a choice of reading it or not ;3. Please enjoy, and let me know your feedback! I actually enjoy criticism, both good and bad.

Ch. 3: History is written by the winners

"Could someone have falsified the feud between the Phantomhive and Vessalius household?" Sebastian theorized.

Break had appeared out of nowhere, with a piece of strawberry short cake, which too seemed to appear out of nowhere, and gave a playful response, "that is quite possible Mr. Phantomhive butler. In fact, I don't recall any records of how the Vessalius and Phantomhive family began their feud."

"That's because it was all through private exchanges," Gilbert tried to remember the events that happened a decade ago, the nights following Oz's coming-of-age ceremony, the day when Oz was dropped into Abyss by the Baskervilles…"oh, wait! The Baskervilles!"

"The Baskervilles?" Ciel questioned, "I thought their family was forever banished by the queen a century ago?"

"Heh, that's what the 'records' say, but can we really trust the records now?" Break's playful skepticism was an obvious sign that he knew more than he was entailing. Sebastian raised his eyebrow at Break's teasing manner; Break saw this and winked back at the impassive butler. Sebastian rolled his eyes in annoyance and sighed, "he's like another…Grell".

As everyone was discussing their theories about an unrecorded past event, Oz had heard enough for that evening and snuck away to head to his chambers. It had not even been a couple of days since escaping from Abyss and he did not want to be hearing more about the Baskervilles and other conspiracies against him. Little did he know that the young Earl Phantomhive was following him.

As Oz was about to change to his nightwear, he saw the door to his bedroom creak open. "You sure have a habit of coming in unannounced," Oz said listlessly as he glared at Ciel's one left eye, he wondered what had happened to his right eye. "Such a royal blue color, what a shame to only have one," Oz thought to himself.

"You don't see it, do you? The opportunity right in front of you to have your revenge on the people that stole ten years of your life," Ciel was the type to chase after any opportunity whenever it came around, nothing less expected from the president of the Funtom Co. Business.

"I don't care much for revenge," Oz said half-heartedly, he sensed where Ciel was coming from.

"That's not what you sounded like back there," Ciel cheekily replied.

Oz paused to have direct eye contact with his night visitor, "look, Alice was the one that brought me back to this world from Abyss. I owe it to her, and my main goal right now is finding her memories."

Ciel needed a moment to connect the dots and realize that he was referring to the rambunctious brown-haired girl in the red trench coat.

"As a heir of a noble dukedom, you sure don't know much about making negotiations," Ciel's teasing didn't hide his condescending tone, "I feel like whoever took you to this place called Abyss may also have something to do with my parent's death."

"So, you're the one in this for revenge."

"Well, if you really need another reason other than revenge, you may even find that girl's memories while we search for the real story behind our family feud."

There was a long pause before Oz rose up to meet with Ciel face-to-face. Oz didn't know much about the young Earl, but he knew trusting him wasn't very smart; unfortunately, Ciel had a point, Oz, too, felt like their past was somehow related.

Ciel hadn't realized how tall Oz was, even for someone only, physically, a couple years older than him. He felt a bit overpowered by Oz's huge emerald eyes piercing through him, searching for a glimpse of hope. Ciel smirked, knowing Oz's efforts were futile; he did sell his soul to a demon butler, after all.

"Has anyone told you, Ciel, that you almost look like a… girl?" Oz chuckled softly, breaking the somber silence, "a pretty cute girl, in fact."

This random comment had taken Ciel by complete surprise. Becoming flustered and embarrassed, Ciel reflexively shoved Oz away, but Oz didn't even flinch. As Ciel was about to argue against his supposed feminine looks, Oz smoothly placed his finger on top of Ciel's soft, quivering lips, and said, "I'll help you get your revenge, but I'm doing this solely for Alice. She's my only incentive and when we do get all her memories back, don't assume we'll still be sticking around."

Oz's adamant voice left Ciel amused, he was surprised by the way Oz could take control of the situation with much effortless strength. He had underestimated the young duke's abilities, his noble charisma. Ciel was a bit curious of who this Alice girl was to Oz, who seemed almost chained to her, like the way he was chained to Sebastian and vice versa.

But in the end, there's always someone pulling the chains.

"WHERE IS MY SLAVE!" Alice abruptly came barging in, bringing Gilbert by his ear into Oz's bedroom, but they didn't realize that their master had a guest.

"Were we intruding something?" Gilbert raised his eyebrow in skepticism and discomfort as he noticed how close his master and Earl Phantomhive were to each other. Catching Ciel off guard, his face became more flustered.

"No Gil, we were just making… noble negotiations," Oz densely smiled. "I believe this feud between the Vessalius and Phantomhive house is beyond us now, right Ciel?" he added with enthusiastic charm.

Ciel nodded in submission, a bit irritated how Oz had decided on his own upon addressing each other on a first-name bases. "He plays this game well," Ciel grinned, for he knew who the real game master was.

"Young Lord, shall we leave now?" Sebastian had appeared stealthy out of nowhere, giving Alice and Gilbert chills. "Sebastian, what took you so long," Ciel signaled for his butler to lead the way out of this foreign place.

"You'll be here tomorrow morning for breakfast, right Ciel-kun?" Oz playfully waved his guests goodbye, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day.

Ciel's agitation grew hearing Oz's coy voice. Sebastian snickered at his master's irritation, "my have we gotten that close to the Vessalius heir?" Ciel told his butler to shut it.

Ciel and Sebastian hadn't reached the Phantomhive residency until a little before midnight from coming back from the Vessalius mansion.

"How irritating it is for him to make me travel this much," Ciel tiresomely returned to his chambers and Sebastian followed closely to help his master change to his nightwear. "Did you discover anything interesting about the Vessalius family, Sebastian?"

"Not as much as I hoped to, my Lord," Sebastian said in an apologizing tone as he buttoned Ciel's nightgown, "but it seems to me that not everybody there is human."

Ciel raised his eyebrow at this butler, "what do you mean, like a demon or reaper of some sorts?"

"It's hard to tell, but that girl, Alice, is definitely not of human blood, and from what I inferred, there seems to be a contract between her and Oz Vessalius."

Ciel stared at Sebastian inquisitively, trying to make sense of his Butler's words. Sebastian untied Ciel's eyepatch to reveal his young master's imprinted right eye, the seal that was placed to epitomize the contract between human and demon, the greatest taboo.

"For demons, contracts are formed as a mutual exchange: the contractor's soul for the demon's services. However, the contract between Oz and Alice seem to involve more than just an exchange of services. It almost seems like Oz is obligated to Alice, unconditionally," Sebastian ran his fingers across Ciel's right cheek, licking his lips as Ciel's huge blue orbs glared at him, "there seems to be no forced date of termination, either."

Ciel looked away from Sebastian's hungry gaze. He completely understood the costs of making a deal with a demon, but he did not care. Ciel had lost his soul long ago, and his life did not mean much to him until he saw justice. Justice for what had happened to his family, justice for the pain he had suffered, justice for his own inner darkness, but Oz's complacent voice echoed in the back of Ciel's mind, "so you're the one in it for revenge".

"My lord, you should sleep now, we have to start the morning early if we're going to head back to the Vessalius estate for breakfast," Sebastian snapped Ciel out of his trance. Ciel hissed, blaming Oz for such inconsiderate timing.

As Sebastian left his young master to slumber, Ciel's restless thoughts prohibited him from even closing his eyes. Oz's voice, his face, his actions were forever being replayed like a broken record inside his mind, as if his unconscious were trying to interpret the occurrences of that day as something more significant. Ciel then felt his lips, as he remembered the soft touch of Oz's finger right after he had told him that he had feminine qualities.

"That bastard told me I looked like a girl," Ciel angrily murmured as he covered his face with his pillow in embarrassment, but he was more embarrassed by the fact that he was all choked up. Oz even saw his face flush with numerous shades of red. Oz's smug voice flooded his thoughts, almost mocking his current state of confusion.

The voice echoed like a tune, "~a pretty cute girl, in fact."