The White Dragon's file lay forgotten on Ciel's bedside table. After coming home horrendously late, the young earl had been required to go straight to bed by Sebastian, leaving no time to look through it. In spite of his late return, Ciel was up in the morning at his usual time, as he rarely allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in. He really wanted to look through the file, but instead made himself go through his morning routine first; he got dressed and sat through yet another irritating breakfast with Soma and Agni. Ciel briefly considered getting to know the visiting prince better, but that thought left him as soon as the two indians left for school. Who had the time for that? Certainly not an earl as busy as he.

Excitedly, Ciel hopped up the stairs to his bedroom two at a time. That file seemed to be burning a hole in his mind with all his desire to open it. Upon entering his room, however, Ciel was greeted by the familiar sight of Sebastian lounging over the arm of one of the mahogany chairs. With the little black file open in his hands. "This.." Sebastian tapped the file with a slender finger. "...contains some very interesting information." Ciel's face tightened into a glare. "Sebastian." He forced himself to remain calm. "I didn't tell you to open that." The earl's voice had a note of warning in it. "You didn't tell me not to, either." Sebastian shrugged, dark red eyes returning to whatever was inside the file. "Tch." Ciel scoffed. Sebastian straightened. "Oh, come on. You just wanted to read it first, isn't that right?" He grinned teasingly. "Here, it's all yours." Sebastian waved it in Ciel's direction. Ciel swiped the file grudgingly from his bodyguard's grip, his brow wrinkled in annoyance. "Shut up." The earl perched crossly on the edge of an indigo velvet settee and finally examined the contents of the directions from the White Dragon. There was a thin leather wallet that dropped into Ciel's lap as soon as he reopened it. Setting that aside, Ciel quickly read the first sheet of paper in the file.

"Greetings, agent. The task you have before you is not an easy one, but it is necessary. You and your partner were chosen for your particular capability to blend seamlessly with any crowd. There is a plane ticket in the wallet; your final destination is Weston College, which I am sure you are familiar with. Please note that Weston College is an all-boys academy, so you will be required to go undercover as a male. Make arrangements for that yourself."

Ciel smirked as he read it. Conditions like this made his job that much easier.

"A relative of Queen Elizabeth II attends this school, James, Viscount Severn. I have it on good authority that young James is privy to the foreign policies Her Majesty is planning with respect to German trade routes. I would like you to become close with him, and extract as much information as is possible during your time there. You will have two weeks, which is less time than it sounds, considering that as students of Weston, you will be expected to attend classes. Know that while this task would be insurmountable to the common layman, with the cooperation of the two of you and your knowledge of social class, you are indeed quite suited to the mission. Return to Séduire Royal upon completion of this job and you will be recompensed generously. The Serpent does not bite the hand that feeds it.

White Dragon."

Ciel carefully folded the paper in two and set it next to the wallet. Returning to the file, he found a profile of James, complete with photos and a long biography. This, Ciel also set aside, as he already knew James personally and there was no reason to waste time reading about him. Also contained in the file was paperwork for Weston, mostly completed. All that was necessary was a current photo and a name, both of which would be easily made up once Ciel had planned out the character he was to play in this game. Upon examination of the wallet, it was clear that most everything had been provided for; there was a plane ticket to the city nearest the school, as well as some pocket money. "Sebastian, I assume you already took a look everything here?" Ciel questioned thoughtfully, all earlier displeasure forgotten at the prospect of this exciting new game. "Yeah, I did. I already contacted your tailor with instructions to be here at 2:00." Sebastian replied. "Good, then. We're already on our way. This ticket is for tomorrow morning, it's a good thing there's time to prepare." Ciel grinned with the fervor of a dog on the scent of a fox. "The only trouble is in how you intent to deal with James, seeing as how you already know him." Sebastian pointed out while picking through the wallet once more. "Agreed." Ciel crossed his legs and laced his fingers together upon his knee. "I'll think of something. In the meantime, let's celebrate. With cake." He shooed Sebastian off to the kitchen to cook something up while he re-read the letter from the White Dragon. 'Working together, eh?' Ciel much preferred working alone. Alone besides Sebastian, of course, the two of them came as a set. Which set Ciel thinking on how Sebastian would be able to follow him to Weston. The bodyguard certainly looked young enough to be a student, albeit a senior, yet that didn't feel right to the young earl. Perhaps a private tutor? Or better yet, a teacher? It was time to make some calls. Surely there was an opening at Weston somewhere that Sebastian could fill.

In what seemed like no time at all, Sebastian returned with dessert for his charge, and Ciel was busying himself attending to the details that went along with going undercover at such a prominent and high-class school. One thing was for sure, he had to have an airtight persona, something that would be impossible to crack by even the shrewdest student. Sebastian was right, the biggest hurdle was the fact that Ciel and James actually knew each other quite well from the time Ciel spent in the Queen's company. They had been playmates as children, but had grown somewhat apart after the...incident that had taken Ciel's parents. Ciel cleared his mind of that thought; no need to go down that road right now. "Sebastian, have a look at this." Ciel motioned his bodyguard over to his laptop. Using a decoy identity and email, Ciel had been in communication with Weston College's vice principal, Johann Agares. Through carefully phrased questions and comments, Ciel had discovered a position that was yet to be filled for the coming semester: Dormitory warden for the exact dorm Ciel had been assigned to. "Charming, Ciel." Sebastian grimaced. Looking after a bunch of other brats didn't interest him in the least, but if it had to be done he would do it. Ciel grinned, knowing exactly what was on Sebastian's mind. "Not to worry, it's only for a couple weeks, and I doubt it will even take that long." Ciel assured him complacently, openly enjoying his bodyguard's discomfort. "I'm confident we can be in and out in under a week." Ciel informed Sebastian. He checked his watch. "Oh, I suppose Nina will be here shortly."

The two of them made their way down to the living area, where Ciel watched Sebastian assemble a makeshift fitting room. Back home at Phantomhive Manor in the country, they would have used the room outfitted specifically for Nina's visits, but as they were currently in London, it couldn't be helped. Seconds later, an obnoxiously loud knock sounded at the door. As soon as Sebastian opened it, a huge wooden trunk was thrust into his arms, which he staggered into the fitting room with. Bursting dramatically in after him came Nina Hopkins, tailor extraordinaire. "I swear, Miss Hopkins, this chest of yours gets bigger every time..." Sebastian grumbled. At that, the woman patted her ample bosom proudly. "I get that a lot. Now, out of my way!" Nina pushed past Sebastian. "Good afternoon, Earl Phantomhive! My my, but this is certainly short notice, good thing I work fast!" She threw open her trunk and withdrew a measuring tape, along with a paper and pencil. "Let's get right to it, then, you know the drill." She motioned Ciel up onto a squat little stool so she could measure him better. Ciel shed his button-up, retaining his undershirt. "Goodness, Earl. Your measurements haven't increased...in fact, your waist has become slightly slimmer!" Nina proclaimed loudly, much to Ciel's chagrin. It was no secret that his short stature bothered him to no end; as he was the head of the house of Phantomhive, he sometimes required a more imposing figure, however, his growth seemed to have all but halted in the past two years. Traumatic experiences have been shown to produce that effect...Ciel shook himself out of his reverie and forced a laugh. "Yes, well-" "That's absolutely fantastic!" Nina gushed, interrupting his excuse. "Couldn't be better for the silhouette I have in mind!"

Sebastian stifled a laugh behind his fist. The real reason for Ciel's smaller waist was, of course, the frequent use of that corset of late. Ciel glared at Sebastian. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" He inquired haughtily, a clear indication that he wished Sebastian to leave the room. Sebastian smirked knowingly before exiting to attend to his other duties. "Ugh, I'm glad he's gone..." Nina frowned as she began sketching a design on her pad of paper. "He's such a killjoy." She took one more measurement before kicking Ciel out as well while she constructed both his Weston uniform and a formal suit that would be required for the opening ceremony of the academy. Apparently, the earl had been on her mind lately, for she had also brought over another dress or two that she needed to fit to exactly his size. Nina was, after all, responsible for everything Ciel wore, including his disguises. She was fanatical about it when he had approached her about a possible design, and threw herself into it far more than was necessary. It was rare for a noble to have a 'passion for crossdressing', as she called it. By the time the rather theatrical tailor was gone, Ciel was the owner of two regular Weston College uniforms, a soft dove grey and white suit, and three dresses of various cuts and styles.

"Fortunate she knows to keep her mouth shut, isn't it?" Sebastian remarked as Ciel posed for the picture necessary for his student I.D. card. "Don't answer that, just hold still." Ciel almost frowned at Sebastian's order, but kept a straight face until the photo was taken. "Perfect." Sebastian showed Ciel the final picture. They had decided that Ciel wouldn't color his hair or make major changes to his appearance for the duration of his enrollment; if Sebastian weren't available to assist him in the morning with them he'd be absolutely helpless. So, they merely found color contacts for his discolored eye, combed his hair back with a bit of gel in it to make it stay, and removed the earrings. Ciel really did look quite different with his hair out of his eyes and no eyepatch. He had thought of wearing contacts all the time back when he first had to deal with heterochromatic eyes, but decided it was too much of a hassle, resorting instead to a plain leather eyepatch. This was a decision he was glad of, especially now, as the ability to change his appearance with something as simple as high-quality brown contact lenses came in handy. "That will do." Ciel approved the I.D. photo. He thought about Jemima from the night before, wondering how she was managing all of this. "Sebastian, what about a name? I can't very well use my own..." Both of them thought a long while.

"Émile. Émile Gaboriau. I'm to be a frenchman." Ciel decided. And with that, the transformation was complete.