Chapter 4: The Carriage Ride

As soon as I realized where I was, I quickly sat up and began to inspect my surroundings. How did I get here? I was just in my bed a moment ago. But before I had time to ponder over that question, a voice interrupted my thoughts.

''Awake, Lady Cynthia?''

I looked towards my left and realized I was not alone. Sebastian himself was sitting right next me. How did I not see him there before?

''Um, yes.'' I replied, trying not to get flustered. ''H-how exactly did I get here?''

Sebastian chuckled and said, ''What do you mean? You were always here. You must have had a tiring day since you fell asleep so quickly like that.''

Unsure of how to answer that, I stammered ''Oh, yeah, I must have. Uh…sorry about dozing off like that.''

''No need to apologize Lady Cynthia.'' Sebastian said, smiling.

I stared down at my feet, trying to get my thoughts together. What did he mean when he said I was always here? I had been in my room just a little while ago. I had fallen asleep in my bed…right?

I glanced back up at Sebastian. ''Do you know what time it is?'' I asked him.

Sebastian pulled out his pocket watch. ''5:15p.m.'' he answered. ''It's a little later than I would have liked, but we should still arrive at the ball on time."

As Sebastian put his pocket watch away, I couldn't help but examine features. He had soft, raven black hair, crimson red eyes, and was wearing a very nice tie and fancy black tailcoat. I felt my heart begin to race. Staring at Sebastian from a computer screen was one thing, but sitting less than a foot away from him made me feel slightly nervous. He took the phrase ''Hot Damn'' to a whole new level.

''Is something wrong, Lady Cynthia?'' Sebastian inquired.

''N-no, nothing's wrong,'' I said quickly, immediately snapping out of my thoughts.

''You seem a bit nervous.'' He continued.

''Well, it's just…I've never been to one of these things before.''

''Really?'' he exclaimed. ''I would have assumed a lovely lady like yourself would have been invited to many balls like these.''

I felt my face get warm. ''Oh, um, thank you.'' I stuttered. I couldn't believe Sebastian had just given me a compliment.

''But come to think of it,'' Sebastian continued. ''I've never heard my young master mention your name before up until a few days ago. He normally informs me when he meets with new acquaintances.

I wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. So Ciel found out about me…but how? He was supposed to be a fictional character. This was supposed to be a fictional world. Yet, here I was, sitting right next to Sebastian!

''Well, I have been to parties before…just none as elaborate as this. I've never had transportation provided to me in this manner either.'' I said.

''All the guests of honor get personal transportation sent their way.'' Sebastian stated.

''G-guest of honor?'' I repeated skeptically.

''Why, of course Lady Cynthia. As the guest of honor, we feel you must not go through the trouble of ordering a carriage for yourself. Perhaps you were unaware that this was one of the Phantomhive policies.''

I sat there dumbstruck. I was the guest of honor? And what was this Phantomhive policy Sebastian was talking about? It was never mention in the anime before.

''Oh, I guess I wasn't,'' was I all I managed to say. I looked out my window and saw the Phantomhive estate pulling up into view. Is it possible this is all just a dream, I wondered. It just seems so…surreal. When the carriage stopped, Sebastian got out first. Before I could even lay a hand on the door handle, Sebastian was already outside pulling the door open for me. He gave me his hand and helped me out. A warm feeling bubbled up inside me as I put my hand in his and stepped out of the carriage.

''Please follow me Lady Cynthia,'' he said as he let go of my hand and started guiding me towards the mansion. ''The Phantomhive manor is right this way.''

I stepped beside him as he led me down a path across the lawn towards the front of the mansion. I couldn't help but marvel at the scenery. The Phantomhive mansion was very impressive. Not only was it the biggest house I had ever seen, but it was the fanciest one as well. It was decorated very elegantly, and there were a variety of different plants placed all over the yard. Everything looked so much more vivid up close. But as I passed one of the plants, my cardigan got caught on it. I didn't even notice until I heard a ripping sound and felt a wince of pain on my arm. I stopped walking and looked down at my sleeve. Oh shit, I thought as I realized what happened. My cardigan tore slightly, and blood was beginning to pour out from the scratch on my arm. And that's when it hit me: I felt pain. Which meant I couldn't be dreaming. This was real.