****Important note at the end of the Chapter****
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji or anything affiliated with it. Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso. Original characters are mine.
Chapter 4
The silence between them was palpable as Ciel and Seraphine stood across the room from one another, their eyes sizing each other up.
The demoness was tracking the boy's every move, noting every twitch, every shift, every breath, every beat of his heart. He may not be an immediate threat at the moment, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to find out what made him tick. Her red orbs quickly darted down to his hands, noticing the subtle clench before he relaxed them. He took a deep breath and seemed to attempt to stand taller than what his short stature would allow, primly folding his hands behind his back, trying to appear as the fearless lord that this country's queen had named him. His seemingly unshaken appearance didn't stop the demoness from picking up the skipping beat in his heart.
How cute, Seraphine inwardly smirked, he's trying to be brave.
After what seemed like another minute that had passed in their battle of wills, Seraphine could see the struggle that the young earl was having in how to properly start this conversation. He was out of his depth with how to address her given she wasn't under his authority. Behind his serious façade, she could tell he was trying to word what he was going to say in a way that wouldn't insult her.
Despite how much fun she was having watching him squirm, she decided to take pity on him.
"Just to let you know, I have zero interest in your soul."
The sound of her voice shocked Ciel out of his quiet contemplation, and he whipped his eyes up to lock with her own. His brow furrowed at her words, but before he could voice anything, the demoness continued on.
"No matter how delicious it must taste, my loyalties belong to Sebastian and I wouldn't tarnish those loyalties by encroaching on the undeniable claim he has on your soul. The matter of fact is, the only reason I'm even having this conversation with you is because Sebastian desires that I remain by his side, and I will only remain with him here for as long as he has need of me."
The boy remained quiet, just staring at her, no doubt mulling over her words. She decided to take his silence as an opportunity to explain her expectations.
Clasping her fingers together in front of her, she gave him a small smile that was meant to be comforting, but from the look he gave her in return, she knew he could see the condescension beneath it. "You've been put in a difficult situation, I understand. A supernatural creature that you have no control over, wandering around your house and your grounds, does not sound like the most appealing idea. To be honest with you, I couldn't care less what you decide," she said, giving a nonchalant shrug, a small sigh following it, "but, it means a lot to Sebastian, and rather than explain these feelings given that they're far beyond your human comprehension, while the majority of me doesn't care, all I can say is that it matters to me too."
She crossed her arms and paused for a moment, analyzing the boy's reaction. His face was blank, but Seraphine could detect the calculating curiosity behind his eye. She had no doubt this boy was absorbing every word she said, no doubt attempting to find something he could use against her should he need it. She quirked her eyebrows at him.
"I assume despite knowing about the supernatural world, you still lack significant knowledge about demons." What she said wasn't phrased as a question, so she wasn't surprised when the boy didn't give an answer. "I'm sure you've seen bits of Sebastian's power, but that's probably the only point of demons that you've ever seen. I'm also positive you don't know anything about our world, it's history, customs, and creatures, how a demonic society works or anything of the like."
The boy's only reply was to shift on his feet and bring his arms in front of his own body to cross in front of his chest. He looked a bit put out at his lack of knowledge, the demoness thought amusedly.
"That's ok," Seraphine reassured, "I'd honestly be surprised if you did know anything about us, but just to give you a little insight into my world, much like every human country, demons have something of our own little hierarchy." Seraphine paused, her piercing eyes locked on the boy, making sure he understood the severity of what she was going to tell him.
She took a step towards him, "And in our world, I'm near the top of that hierarchy, so in a way when you addressed me earlier, it wasn't completely disrespectful." She breathed a laugh, "my lady. I've been called many things but never something so trivial… or human. The customs between demons and humans are so different, but the expectations of status remain the same. So, given that, I hope you understand that I will in no way lower myself to a position in your household where I am expected to clean up after you or worse, wipe your arse."
The boy narrowed his eye at the way she seemed to look down her nose at him, but wisely kept his mouth closed, knowing she wasn't finished.
Seraphine gave him one more challenging look, just waiting for him to pick a fight. Seeing he was smarter than what she had hoped, she gave up and slowly wandered over to his bookcase. "I assume that's what Sebastian had planned for me anyway; to have a position in your house. You'd be naïve to think though that it was only to help run your manor and bring it more prestige." Her fingers lightly traced the spines of the books. "While he is no doubt loyal to you by means of your contract, Sebastian's interests are still his own. His number one goal is to help you achieve yours in order to claim your soul and if he has to bring his mate in to help speed along the process, you can be assured that's the level he would go to."
She looked over to see the young earl's eyes staring straight ahead, arms still crossed, but jaw nearly ticking. She grinned as she imagined the thoughts running through his head. Yes, Sebastian was loyal as that was a main component of the contract, but despite knowing better, the boy had willingly created a fantasy where his butler's loyalty was, in a way, true. It seemed her blunt reminder just brought him back to the reality of things.
She quickly turned back to the shelves she was perusing before he could see the nearly cruel smile on her face. "Honestly it would be incredibly simple and just as accommodating if I simply hid in the shadows without anyone knowing I was here and be with Sebastian. Him bringing me forward into the light and as a player is just his way of adding his own piece to the game."
She heard the small but sharp intake of breath from the boy and slowly turned to find his focus completely on her. "Isn't that what this is to you? …A game?" A wicked gleam showed in her eyes.
Ciel swallowed hard as he tried to maintain his composure. He felt exposed at this moment and he didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. She was right though, this was a game; they were playing the game this very moment just by having this conversation, so he had to play this right.
His only goal was revenge, and so far he had one of the most powerful pieces on his side in the form of Sebastian. That was one knight on the board.
Despite the reveal of Sebastian's secret desires though, which stabbed something inside of him that he didn't want to acknowledge, he had to admit that he couldn't overcome the strategical thoughts running through his mind. Sebastian had other motives, but in the end, those motives led them to them same goal. The end of it all.
He glanced over at the demoness to find her flipping through one of his many volumes, her nonchalance doing nothing to hide her obvious amusement.
He had one knight and it sure as hell wouldn't hurt to add another. Straightening up, Ciel rolled back his shoulders and rounded his desk, taking a seat in his chair.
"Yes," Ciel said, "this is a game." He watched the demoness roll her head almost lazily to look over at him, showing him that he had her attention. "This life, this world, is all just one big game that I'm sure the higher powers are all having a good time watching."
The demoness chuckled, putting away the book she was holding to replace it with another. "How amusing. I don't think I've ever met a human who was so self-aware."
"I'll take that as a complement." Ciel droned.
"Take it however you want," she replied tersely, "I'm still waiting for you to convince me of how much you need me and to what lengths you're willing to go to prove it."
Ciel flexed his hand on top of his desk, breathing in a deep sigh to compose himself. He would not let this female rile him up. "Yes, I will admit that your services would be much appreciated in my aim to achieve my goals. The main of which is revenge."
Seraphine paused her mindless flipping through the pages of a book to look over at the boy. Where there was once careful thought, his eye was now filled with cold steel as a memory seemed to take him away.
"I was humiliated. My family murdered, my home destroyed, my body dragged through hell and my name along with it." His voice was quiet, but the intensity was felt. His knuckles strained against his skin, turning the color a deathly white. "My goal is to find those who dared to drag me down and make them suffer the same pain and humiliation they put me through." He looked up at the woman, a fire blazing in his azure eye. "That is why I made a contract with Sebastian, and that is why I am asking for your help."
A slight pause, and then a small giggle filled the room. Ciel sat frozen in his chair, eyes angry at her blatant disrespect at his show of vulnerability.
"It often amuses me; the fickleness of humans," she quipped, "but I guess that's what makes you so interesting. Your wars, your fights, your affairs; you wouldn't be half as amusing nor worth our time without them. I don't know though," the demoness sighed, dragging her finger along the shelf, walking steadily closer to where he was sitting. "I still fail to see why I should bother to help you with your petty little problem.
"You never know," Ciel growled. "Helping me might be more amusing than your alternative with Sebastian. You might get bored hiding in the shadows, doing nothing but warming his bed," he replied mockingly.
The sharp look she gave him could have probably cut right through him if she wanted it too. He couldn't stop the comment though. Any type of demeaning of what was important to him set his blood aflame. He needed to be more careful though.
"If you agree to help me," Ciel continued quickly, "I promise I'll give you a respectable position. You won't have to be a maid, or clean up, or anything of the sort." He watched as she came closer to him, her skirts brushing the edge of his desk. "How would you feel about the position of head housekeeper?"
The demoness quirked an eyebrow, her eyes looking him up and down. "Head housekeeper, you say?"
"Yes," Ciel continued coolly, though excited that he seemed to have caught her interest. "You would run the technical sides of the household. You would be in charge of supplies for the house and oversee the servant's needs should problems arise. You would do things like control supply costs, take note of any maintenance issues, oversee budgets and other paperwork. You would also be in charge of calculating and distributing the servant's wages. You would help Sebastian run the manor but take over if I need his attention focused elsewhere. But like I said, just the technical side of things, no cleaning or dirty work involved." Ciel finished.
"Unless that dirty work involves your own personal dirty work, am I correct?" The demoness asked, a knowing look in her eye.
Ciel eyed her a bit warily as she slowly rounded his desk to stand before him. "All I ask for is your loyalty and protection; that you do everything in your power to keep me safe."
"And what, little lord, would I receive in return? Can't make a deal without both parties getting something they want." Seraphine grinned as Ciel rather unsubtly shifted in his seat, no doubt uncomfortable by her close proximity.
"What would you like?" He asked tightly.
Seraphine dramatically sighed as she crossed her arms and leaned back against his desk. "Well as your soul is already taken, I guess I can't ask for that." If she wasn't a demon, she would feel bad with how unsettled she was making him. As it was though, she didn't particularly care.
Seraphine almost laughed at the look of shock that crossed his face as she shifted backwards to take a seat onto his desk, crossing her legs and placing her weight onto her left hand. "I think I'm going to have to take a raincheck and call in my request at a later date," she told him, smirking as he swallowed and shifted back in his chair, his eye looking anywhere but at her form casually leaning on his desk, just a couple of inches away. "There's nothing you can give me at the moment that I particularly want. I accept your deal though."
As she held out her hand, Ciel took note of her black fingernails, wondering if all demons who took the form of a human had this trait. He would have to have Sebastian supply her with some gloves.
Closing his eyes tightly in preparation, Ciel placed his hand in hers, waiting for the sting of a contract seal to take form on his body.
A moment passed and the only thing that took form was the giggling snort that came from the demoness sitting on his desk.
"What exactly are you doing?" she asked amusedly.
Ciel opened his eyes and looked at their hands in confusion. "Isn't… isn't something supposed to happen? Aren't you supposed to put you mark on me?"
"I don't have to put my seal on you, but I can mark you if you want me to," she teased, giggling at his juvenile discomfort.
Ciel couldn't stop the flush that rose up his neck and covered his cheeks as he pulled his hand away from hers and attempted to distract himself by smoothing out his coat.
Seraphine looked at him in amusement. "A binding contract isn't the only form of oaths that demons can make with humans. There are levels to it, and what we just did was make a simple, supernatural deal," she explained. "There's a difference between a contract and a deal. Contracts are more binding; a deal can be easily broken, but both parties must be privy to the dissolution to prevent any betrayal from taking place."
Ciel sat quietly in thought as he absorbed the information. His eyes widened though, and he tried to scramble backwards as she started unbuttoning the buttons at the neck of her dress. "What are you doing?" He yelled.
"Relax, will you?" She laughed. She then pulled the gown away from the left side of her neck to show the bare expanse of skin underneath her collarbone, the dress covering anything beneath it.
Ciel watched in wary fascination as the nail of her right pointer finger sharpened and she drew a simple X into her skin above her heart. His eyes widened as the blood that she had drawn flashed a faint purple light, before it bubbled and burned into her skin, leaving a black X behind in the form of a simple tattoo.
"That is where our seal lies." She said, her face showing no signs of pain after cutting through her skin. "It will fade either when one or both of us wants to terminate the deal, or when the terms have been fulfilled. If there is any betrayal on either side, the betrayer will be met with a quick and unexplainable death."
Ciel swallowed.
Seraphine smiled something sinister. "Are we both in agreement?"
Ciel looked from the seal back to her cold, blood red eyes before cementing his resolve and giving her a curt nod.
"Very good." The demoness replied, the smile still on her lips as she redid the buttons of her dress.
Comfortable where she was sat, Seraphine didn't bother moving as her new "master" called for her mate. Sebastian entered the room so quickly that if she didn't know any better, she would have suspected him to have been eavesdropping this entire time. He hadn't though, because if he had, he would have been able to sense her every movement inside of the room, so his shocked look at where she was sitting was a dead giveaway to his loyalty in following orders.
Sebastian pulled his red gaze away from his brazen mate to focus on his young master.
"Sebastian, I've given your mate the position of head housekeeper here in the mansion."
Seraphine couldn't help the giddiness she felt at her mate's surprised look as she leaned on the desk. He was probably expecting she'd be stuck with a position where she would be placed under him (not that she wasn't already accustomed to being under him). She wondered if he was disappointed that he wouldn't have much power over her when it came to their work.
"She'll be taking care of the smaller yet important technicalities of the manor so I can have you focusing on more... prudent matters." Both master and butler gave each other a knowing look at the earl's words.
Seraphine hopped from the desk and lightly skipped her way over to her mate's side. "Hear that Seb? I'll be taking over the load that you obviously can't handle," She teased, flicking a lock of his hair back.
Sebastian rolled his eyes before dutifully returning his attention back to his master, ignoring the female now stood at his side. Her playful nature sprung forth as she attempted to mimic his stance as they stood in front of their young master's desk.
"You'll be on the same level, working together when it comes to this household and the people within it." Ciel continued, ignoring the actions of his new housekeeper. He was feeling more at ease now that he had this demoness chained to him; the threat of her harming his person no longer looming over his head. "If any problems arise between you two, I expect you to resolve it between yourselves. I expect you both to act professional when it comes to the running of this house and to uphold my family name without fail."
"Yes, young master," Sebastian replied, lightly bowing with his hand over his heart.
Seraphine repeated his words, but instead gave a lazy salute. Sebastian sighed internally, knowing that she wasn't going to make anything about his job easy.
"Sebastian, I'll need you to get your mate the appropriate attire that is befitted for her position. We'll use today to get all the preparations for her arrival here ready, and then tomorrow morning we'll introduce her to the rest of the servants." Ciel commanded, elbows on his desk with his fingers casually interlocked in front of his face as he stared expectantly at the pair of demons. "You two can come up with an appropriate story of why she's here, and where she's been, and why none of us have heard about her until now. Just fill me in on the details before we meet with the servants. Now, I think we're done here. I expect that my breakfast is ready, so I'll head down in a moment. You two are dismissed."
"Very good, master." Sebastian said, giving another small bow. He gave Seraphine a pointed look who just stared back at him in return before she looked up to see an expectant look on the young lord's face.
Seraphine pursed her lips, arms coming to cross over her chest. "I hope you both know that that's not the way things are going to be. I'll show the proper respect that you're due when we're in front of the necessary people, but don't expect anything from me when it's just us."
Ciel raised a brow. He studied the demoness who was just daring him to challenge her, before he gave her a small nod. "Very well, as long as we can still act civil when it's just us."
The smile that Seraphine gave was nothing less than fake. "I'll do my best."
Sebastian just sighed once more, almost regretting the position that he'd put himself in before giving another small bow and turning to leave, his hand on the small of his mate's back.
"Oh, before you go," Ciel called out, causing both demons to pause and turn to look back at him. "What should I call you?" He asked the demoness. "Since we're not in a contract and I technically don't own you, I can't name you like I did Sebastian, so what would you like to be called?"
Ciel looked intensely at the female across the room, her smaller frame giving the perfect illusion of frailty and innocence when stood next to the towering form of the butler next to her. Ciel wasn't so naïve though. He knew there was a power that he'd never comprehend running through her body. He almost hesitated when asking his next question. Almost, but he had to ask.
"What's your real name?"
The slow grin that crawled over her red lips could be described by some as a beautiful nightmare.
"If I told you, your ears would start bleeding," was her only reply.
Ciel swallowed, largely intimidated yet slightly disappointed. "Then what name would you like to go by?"
The demoness looked to her mate, his eyes already studying her, curious as to what her reply would be. She gave him a small grin before turning back to her new master.
"Sera. Sera Michaelis."
I was so excited for this chapter. Writing Ciel and Sera (new nickname!) together is a blast. I totally took the housekeeper idea from Downton Abbey (sorry not sorry. Love you, Mrs. Hughes). Seraphine is too proud and conceited to be a maid, guys XD
As always, I apologize for the wait. My alter ego, the Queen of Procrastination, decided to come out and play and I got super behind in homework which murdered me because test time decided to come around, so I had to play catch up in order to know the material to pass the tests. It didn't help that I've been going through some emotional problems which is why the procrastination happened. (I passed all the tests, btw)
Thank you to everyone who sent reviews for the story and well wishes for school. Getting those messages always lifted my spirits. I try to send everyone a thank you if your private messaging allows. Thank you though!
I wanted to let everyone know. I've made a Twitter account that's completely dedicated to this story. It's so I can keep everyone up to date on progress of the chapters if you'd like to be updated. I'll also be creating and posting collages and story boards for the chapters, as well as sneak previews and quotes for upcoming chapters. It will be nothing but info about this story and Black Butler things. I just want a way to easily keep ya'll up to date.
Definitely check it out though, because I've made a story board for the next chapter which has pictures of what Seraphina's Phantomhive uniform will look like! It will be posted to Twitter when the next chapter is posted.
The twitter account name/username is Seraphine Michaelis/ His_Demoness. The profile picture is this story's cover photo if you're able to see it. You'll know it's me from the description. Feel free to message me on there as well!
