With Alois Trancy around, it's possible that the party will not end well. Since Hurricane Irma is coming soon, the chapter might be seen as a rushed and a bit messy so if there are any mistakes so sorry.

The party has already started. The servants serve champagne and wine to all the guests present. Although, they seem to try to avoid Commissioner Randall and his partner Inspector Frederick Abberline. This party was something Ciel was urged to do, by both Queen Victoria and Elizabeth Midford. Elizabeth simply wants to spend more time with Ciel. However, Queen Victoria has a different reason and its name is Earl Alois Trancy, the head of the Trancy household and son of Former Trancy Head. The party was arranged as a welcoming gift for the Trancy Earl who returned after being kidnapped at a young age from his home. His mother, in her grief, committed suicide and left his father to search for him alone. Apparently, he was found in a village in Scotland that was unfortunately burned down with most of the villagers. Only he and a few other children survived.

Ciel and Alois greet each other by shaking hands. "You must be the Spider the queen has been talking about. Welcome to Phantomhive Manor. I hope you had a safe trip. I am Earl Ciel Phantomhive."

Alois smiles warmly and nods. "I know. You're the queen's Watchdog. It's an honour to meet you, Lord Phantomhive. She spoke a lot about you. I am Alois Trancy and this is my butler Claude Faustus."

Taking a closer look, Ciel realizes that Alois Trancy is about his age but taller and more well-built. Blond-haired and blue-eyes, the appearance of many charming princes from those ridiculous fairy tales he used to read when smaller. In simple words, Alois is physically superior than Ciel. His butler Claude Faustus looks almost exactly like Sebastian but with shorter hair, golden eyes and is wearing rectangular-framed spectacles that make him look sharper.

Sebastian bows politely to the other butler in front of him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Faustus. I am Sebastian Michaelis."

"Likewise," Claude says.

"Your mansion is quite lovely," Alois compliments while looking the adornments of the mansion. "Father would have loved it."

"This party is a way of welcoming you to London and to express our condolences for your father's untimely death," Ciel laments.

Just a year after his return, Alois' father fell ill and perished. At least it was a peaceful death and didn't end up engulfed in flames like Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive.

"Yes, thank you," Alois says with a smile but with also a sad look in his eyes, "I appreciate it."

Ciel continues looking around the ballroom for any signs of their final guest but he's not here. He's not coming.

"Expecting someone?" Alois asks.

Ciel shakes his head. "No. Just making sure the guests are accounted for."

He won't come. Probably never will.

"What on earth is that man wearing?" Diederich asks Klaus while glaring bitterly at Grell who's dressed as a woman.

Klaus simply laughs in amusement. "Clearly the work of Elizabeth Midford. It's just for fun. Let it be."

Diederich makes an irritating grumbling sound. Grell approaches the two men with a tray of two champagne glass. However, Diederich immediately rejects the champagne, much to Grell's dismay.

"I'll take them off your hands," Klaus laughs and takes the two glasses of champagne from the tray. "Thank you, my dear."

Grell nods sadly and leaves.

Mey-Rin serves red Hungarian wine to Madam Red and Nina Hopkins. Ciel made it very clear that it's preferable to sit Madam Red next to Nina Hopkins rather than sit her next to Francis Midford since they don't get along very well. Apparently, they always bicker with one another and Ciel prefers not to have family drama when they have a new guest this evening. Nina Hopkins is the tailor of the Phantomhive household. She's the one who makes Ciel's clothes as well as Elizabeth's. She even tailored Mey-Rin's maid uniform.

"How was your trip, Miss Nina?" Mey-Rin asks while serving the wine to the two women. Nina Hopkins has insisted to always be called by her first name instead of her last name and Mey-Rin does so respectively.

"Fine dear," Nina grins at the young maid. "It's been far too long since I've been here. You look very beautiful tonight. But wait, didn't I make that dress for Lady Elizabeth?"

"I'm letting her borrow it," Elizabeth says as she approaches the three women in her jittery and excited way. "Doesn't she look absolutely adorable?"

"Huh, we'll just have to see about that," Nina smirks. Mey-Rin closes her eyes and sighs, knowing where this is going. Her eyes fly open the moment she feels Nina's hand grabbing her right breast. Mey-Rin and Elizabeth gasp in complete shock. Nina turns the young maid around and smacks her hand on the rear. Mey-Rin squeals and quickly jumps back. She always does this. "You're right, Lizzie, she does feel lovely."

"Nina!" Elizabeth exclaims in shock.

"Nina, that's inappropriate. There are men here," Madam Red says.

"So?"

"Oh dear," Madam Red sighs before looking over at Mey-Rin. "And then she asks why I don't hire her as my tailor."

"You still hire me, you liar," Nina laughs, "Who makes your red coats? Me. Who makes your dresses? Me. Who makes your hats -?"

"All right, I get it. I was only joking," Madam Red drinks her glass of wine before turning to Mey-Rin again. "Anyways, don't be ashamed of what you wear, girls. That goes for you as well, Mey-Rin. If you think your beautiful, share your beauty with everyone. Don't hide it. Trust me when I say this from experience."

Elizabeth giggles innocently. "I know I'm beautiful and I'm not ashamed to show it. What of you, Mey-Rin? Do you think yourself as beautiful?"

"I, um, I guess so," she stammers awkwardly, "At least I think I am."

"That settles it then," Nina says, "We are all beautiful!"

"I think Nina has had too much wine, don't you think?" Elizabeth whispers to Mey-Rin and the young maid nods in agreement. This is Nina's third glass of wine though.

Mey-Rin then sees Grell standing in a dark corner behind the curtains by himself, looking rather sad. Why is he hiding? She hears Lord Diederich talking bitterly about Grell to Klaus, how a man-woman like Grell has no place in high society and that Madam Red letting him dress like that is inconsiderate, disrespectful and distasteful. However, he doesn't know that it was actually Lady Elizabeth who dressed him as a lady. Mey-Rin simply used a bit of make-up to make her look like a lady. Ciel is greeting and talking to the young lord Alois Trancy so he's oblivious about what's happening. The same thing with Madam Red as she's talking and laughing with the tailor Nina Hopkins.

Mey-Rin puts the empty tray on the food table near the ballroom door and quickly walks over to where Grell is hiding. "Why such a sad face?"

"Lord Diederich despised me after seeing me as a woman," he says with such as sad tone, Mey-Rin is surprised he hasn't tried killing himself again. Thank God.

"So? Lord Diederich knows nothing of you," Mey-Rin tells him firmly. "Don't let him shame you like that. You're a lady tonight. Act like one...Would this lady care to dance with me?"

Grell smiles. It's a small smile but still a smile. "Two ladies dancing together? That will certainly anger Lord Diederich."

Mey-Rin smiles back. "I'm sure it will." She takes Grell by the hand and leads him out of hiding to the ballroom.

Mey-Rin doesn't know how to dance the waltz like Sebastian so she might need to improvise. Instead of doing that absurd back and forth step Sebastian tried to teach her and Ciel, it's preferable to do side steps, that way they won't step on each other's feet. Grell puts his hand around Mey-Rin's waist and holds her hand. Mey-Rin puts her other hand on Grell's shoulder. And they begin to dance.

There's a bit of laughter going on. Ciel turns his head and sees Mey-Rin dancing with Grell in the middle of the ballroom. The two are using side steps instead of the ones Sebastian tried teaching him. They are both clumsy with their dancing, with Mey-Rin nearly stumbling and Grell stepping on his own dress. It looks like they're dancing Baroque, a popular dance used in France during the 18th century, probably before the French Revolution even began. The Baroque dance Ciel is witnessing right now is messy and similar to folk dance but it looks like Mey-Rin and Grell are having fun as they're both smiling and laughing. It seems that Ciel is not the only one watching. Madam Red, Nina, Lau, Klaus, Pitt, Elizabeth, Baldroy and Finnian are watching as well as clapping rhythmically and laughing. Diederich and Aunt Francis are the only two people that do not seem amused one bit. Francis probably sees this as rude and distasteful. You're the one who allowed your daughter to dress him as woman in the first place so why so bitter about it?

"Hehe, the servants are making a fool of themselves," Alois chuckles.

"They're simply having fun," Ciel states. He then see Baldroy drag Finnian to dance. Two men and two women (sort of) dancing non-sensical movements that makes even the stern butler Claude Faustus laugh. "I think that's the point of a dance."

"Indeed and it looks like a lot of fun. Oley!" Alois exclaims while lifting a leg back and clapping his hand twice. He then turns his attention to Claude. "Let's dance together, shall we?"

Claude bows down to the blonde earl. "Yes, your Highness." He grabs Alois by the hand as if he were a lady and leads him to dance the waltz (or whatever it is they're dancing) together. Despite Claude being incredibly taller than Alois, they're dancing exceptionally well, unlike Ciel with Sebastian or Mey-Rin. He will never dance as good as them. It won't stop him from trying though.

"Will you join the dance, my lord?" Sebastian asks.

"As head of the Phantomhive estate, I am obligated to participate in activities that will maintain my social status and reputation stable. Not participating in a dance will prove to be inconvenient. So yes, I will join the dance."

Sebastian smiles proudly. "That's good to hear, sir. Shall I set the mood with some music?"

"Yes, you shall."

Sebastian immediately takes out a violin and bow from the inside of his coat and starts playing it, much to Ciel's surprise. Was he actually keeping a violin in there the entire time?

Leaving that a mystery, Ciel heads over to the table where Madam Red and Nina are sitting. He watches Uncle Klaus ask Nina to dance and she gratefully accepts. Elizabeth walks over to Ciel and asks him to dance with her.

"Such lovely music shouldn't be wasted by us standing around, now should it?" she says.

It looks like Diederich, Commissioner Randall, Inspector Abberline and Aunt Francis are letting it go to waste as they're sitting there with sour looks on their faces. Pitt is also sitting there but looks more eager to dance than sour.

"Lizzie, do me a favour and dance with Pitt for awhile," he tells her.

Elizabeth gives him a confused look. "But I wanted to dance with you."

"I know. But..." He points at Madam Red who is now sitting alone drinking wine, "There's someone else I'd like to dance with tonight."

"Oh." She nods in understanding. "All right then. I'll leave you to it. Promise you'll dance with me later, won't you?"

Ciel nods. "Yes, of course." Elizabeth smiles before running over to where Pitt is sitting and pulls him up from his chair to the dance. Ciel chuckles in amusement as he sees Pitt's face turning red as a tomate. He's slightly taller but Elizabeth has no problem dancing with him. Ciel walks over to his aunt Madam Red and bows his head, offering his hand to her. "Aunt Ann."

Madam Red smiles gratefully at her dear nephew and takes his hand, putting down her glass of wine in the process. They both dance. It's been awhile since he has done anything with Madam Red. As her nephew, he should find his time to be around his family more often but almost never does. He never seemed to care about making time for family, not since his parents died. His trust in adults diminished during the time he spent imprisoned and tortured by the cultists. Ciel really does love his aunt Madam Red but his love for her grew less. It's not her fault though.

"You always wanted to dance with me, Aunt Ann," he says as he tries to step on her feet or stumble himself. "Now you're getting a chance."

Madam Red smiles sadly. "Ever since you came back, all I wanted to do is to hold you in my arms forever," she says. "I thought I lost everything in that fire."

"I'm still here, aren't I?" he says in a tone that clearly states that he doesn't like talking about the subject. He always tries to avoid but with Madam Red, it's almost impossible.

She nods in agreement. However, there's still doubt on her face. "Most of you is still here. Yet, I feel like some part of you died in the fire along with your mother and father."

Ciel still remembers it. His parents were already dead when the fire started. He saw their corpses sitting there while being engulfed by the raging flames. He knew he was too late to save them. But it wasn't too late to save those who were still alive. He went to get Tanaka. When he found Tanaka, he was lying wounded on the floor. Despite being stabbed in the neck, Tanaka was still alive. And with very little strength Ciel had, he dragged Tanaka out of the mansion to safety. That's when Ciel was snatched by his parents' murderers, leaving Tanaka there on the gravel ground, and sold to the cultists. "Maybe it's because a part of me did die in that fire. Once something is truly lost, one can never get it back."

"You're probably right," she says, "But what if you can get it back? It wouldn't hurt to fight to get back what you lost."

Ciel smiles softly. He did fight and lost. Perhaps I should have fought harder. "That's why I love you so much, Aunt Ann. You seem to be the only one who actually cares about my well-being and not my reputation. You always check to make sure I'm still in one piece."

"Because Ciel, what's worth of having a good reputation if it's only going end up hurting you?"

He blinks, taking in at what Madam Red's words. He knows she has good intentions for him but he feels like her intentions are no longer worth it. "...Aunt Ann, I really don't want to talk about this anymore."

"I know you don't. Let's leave it for another time then, shall we?" she says and they continue dancing without saying another word to each other.

After dancing with her nephew, Madam Red leaves him to dance with his cousin/fiancé Elizabeth while she gets another glass of wine instead of asking one of her servants to get her one. As much as she adores Elizabeth, she feels it's not the right time for Ciel to get married to her. His parents just died and now he is obligated to take his father's place as the Queen's Watchdog instead of trying to recuperate from his trauma. He doesn't need this: parties, balls, marriage and work. He needs help. Professional help.

She sees Francis Midford approaching her in her cold yet calm demeanor. Madam Red knows where this is going. "What are you playing at, Angelina?" As expected, another attempt to start a fight with her. She and Francis never got along, not even when Madam Red's sister Rachel and Francis' brother Vincent got married. Francis always disliked Madam Red's eccentric way of acting and dressing, especially the colour red. Always found it scandalous and inappropriate which is one of the reasons Francis rarely lets Madam Red near Elizabeth.

She frowns at Francis when this question was asked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ciel," Francis says, "Your nephew. What sort of game your playing at here?"

"I'm not playing any game," Madam Red shakes her head, "But what of you? What kind of game you're playing at?"

"What do you mean?"

Madam Red suddenly starts ranting. "This entire Earl thing, being the queen's Watchdog, dealing with the underworld and being engaged to Elizabeth when he's only thirteen years old. That's what I mean."

"He's the head of the Phantomhive now -."

"He's a boy, Francis. I lost my sister in that fire -."

"And I lost my brother, Angelina," Francis reminds her. "Do you think I don't understand? Do I look like I want this for Ciel? I don't and it looks like you don't either. But this is his life so the decisions he makes are his and his alone -."

"It shouldn't. Ciel may old enough to be Queen Victoria's Watchdog but he's certainly young enough to have someone looking after him -."

"We are looking after him -."

"Only on visits. But we don't know what he does once we leave."

"Let's be honest here, Angelina. As much as I respect your job as a doctor, you haven't done a decent job as an aunt either. If you care about our nephew, why don't you move to Phantomhive Manor or is your job at the hospital more important than our nephew's well-being?"

"You know that Ciel is the most important thing in my life -."

"If he is important to you, why not be here everyday. Wake him up in the mornings, take him to school, train him to be a better person and help him recuperate from the trauma he experienced. That's a job for both doctor and aunt. But let's be honest, you can't take care of him. You're blinded by the death of Rachel, your husband and child. You work day and night nonstop yet you grieve when you should be taking care of Ciel like you said you wanted to. How do you expect to take care of him if you can't even take care of yourself? Really, Angelina, it's pathetic."

With that, Madam Red slaps Francis hard in the face. Francis looks at the red woman in complete shock. Madam Red has never laid a hand Francis before in her entire life.

"That goes to show that you don't know anything about me, Francis. You never lost a husband and an unborn child in a carriage accident. But I did," Madam Red wipes away the tears that threatened to come out of her eyes. "I shall be taking my leave tonight. Let's pretend this never happened. I'll see you around, Francis."

Madam Red walks away, leaving Francis still in shock. She returns to the ballroom and walks towards Grell who is still dancing with Mey-Rin. She taps him on the shoulder to get his attention.

Grell and Mey-Rin stop dancing and he looks at his mistress in confusion. "What is it, my lady?"

"We're leaving, Grell," she says. "Now."

"Right now?"

"Am I speaking in a different language? Yes, right now."

"Are you sure you can't stay a little longer, Madam Red? It's a bit early." Mey-Rin asks, her eyes pleading her and Grell to stay.

Madam Red smiles and brushes her knuckles against the young maid's face. "I'm afraid so. Unfortunately, I have some work to do at the hospital. I'll still be checking on Ciel and your health. If there's anything you need, just give the hospital a call and ask for me. All right?"

Mey-Rin nods. "Yes, Dr. Dalles."

"Let's go, Grell." Madam Red goes to say goodbye to Ciel; Grell lingers a little longer to say goodbye to Mey-Rin, Sebastian, Baldroy and Finnian. Ciel is actually surprised to hear that she and Grell are leaving. "The hospital requires my attention," she tells him.

"I'm sure they can wait," Ciel insists sternly. He wants her to stay.

"Unfortunately they can't. I'll see you later," Madam Red kisses Ciel on the cheek. She finally leaves Phantomhive Manor with Grell Sutcliff.

5 minutes ago...

"Are you sure you can't stay a little longer?" Mey-Rin asks Grell while Madam Red says her goodbyes to Ciel and Elizabeth.

"Oh, I wish I could," Grell sighs, "But I'm Madam Red's butler. Wherever she goes, I follow."

Baldroy and Finnian approach the two after hearing what Grell just said. "So you're really leaving?" Baldroy asks. Grell nods in disappointment. Baldroy scratches the back of his head awkward. "Gosh, I know that you're not the best butler in the world, but that doesn't mean you have to leave. You can stay a little longer if you want."

"You have no idea how much I want to stay, especially now that I made friends, but I have to make sure Madam Red returns home safely. If I can't do that, what kind of butler would I be?" The same thing Sebastian says to a lot of people.

"You took the words out of my mouth, Grell," Sebastian says as he is now standing behind them while playing the violin, much to everyone's surprise. He just appeared out of nowhere like a ghost. "Are you sure you can handle this on your own?"

Grell nods. "Indeed. Trust me, I'm more efficient than I appear." He smiles at the handsome butler. "Thank you so much, Sebastian. I am in your debt. You've taught me so much in what it means to be a butler. They say that when a person dies, their lives flashes before their lives. And when I die, I shall be seeing this momentous evening in my dying vision."

Sebastian frowns at Grell strangely. "Funny you would say that."

Finnian chuckles in amusement. "That's true. He hasn't been good at dying, now hasn't he?"

Grell then turns his attention to Mey-Rin and embraces her. "Thank you, for showing me a good time. You're actually the first friend I've ever had."

"Well, you have four now, Grell," she says, referring to her, Baldroy, Finnian and Sebastian, "And don't worry, if you need anything, let us know or come visit us whenever you like."

"I would like that very much, thank you. And don't worry about the necklace, I'll make sure to return it to you soon" he says and releases her. He can keep it if he wanted, Mey-Rin thought. She never wore it anyways."Have a goodnight everyone."

Grell leaves with Madam Red that night. Mey-Rin actually feels a bad for him. She really wishes he had stayed. Despite not being a well-trained butler, he has shown to be a good man. It's a pity he had to leave so soon.

When the carriage is finally far from Phantomhive Manor, Madam Red removes her hat and pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing in frustration. A habit Ciel inherited from her. Her face and body are burning with anger.

"I should kill Francis," she growls to herself. "I could strangle her."

"You know can't do that, right?" Grell says as he's sitting across her, his fingers playing with the pearl necklace around his neck, "She is still aunt to your nephew, remember?"

She huffs and sits upright. "I suppose your right. She is still family, no matter how much I despise her. Besides, we have more important things to attend to back in London."

Mey-Rin sees Commissioner Randall and Inspector Frederick Abberline glaring at them suspiciously. How long have they been watching us like that? Those two are still suspicious of Baldroy and Finnian. Ciel invited them to ease the odds between them. However, their cold presence is only making Mey-Rin and the others uncomfortable. What to do?

"Bard. Finny. Give Commissioner Randall and Inspector Abberline some champagne," she instructs them. Sebastian should be the one giving orders but he's too busy playing the violin for the guests. The two don't seem to like the idea of going anywhere near the Scotland Yard police.

"Surely you must be joking," Baldroy scoffs, "Those two think we're murderers. And we didn't do anything wrong."

"And as long as you keep avoiding them, they'll continue suspecting the lot of you unless you face them like the men you are," she says. "Or are you actually going to let them scare you?" Neither of them respond to that question. Good. Because it was a rhetorical question. "That's what I thought. Now, please, do this for the three of us and serve those two gentlemen some wine. Don't worry. I'll be right with you guys. However, we can't be serving them all at the same time. Baldroy, you serve Commissioner Randall and Inspector Abberline. Finnian, serve Nina champagne since she's the closest to the Scotland Yard police. I'll be serving the guest of honour. He and his butler are sitting behind Scotland Yard."

The three finally got into an agreement and they do as instructed. Sebastian is not the only person that can give out orders. Baldroy and Mey-Rin grab a bottle of wine while Finnian grabs a bottle of champagne.

Mey-Rin walks over to Alois and his butler Claude who are now sitting after dancing. "Would you like some wine, Lord Trancy?"

"I sure would, thank you," Alois says with a smile. He seems like a nice boy. It makes Mey-Rin wonder why he is dubbed the Spider by Queen Victoria and what his involvement would be. Ciel Phantomhive is the Watchdog and he cleans up the streets of London from crime lords and other gruesome phenomenon from the underworld under the queen's orders. What role does Alois Trancy have?

As she thinks of this while pouring the wine into the glass, the bottle nearly slips from her hands. She catches it. However, the wine pours onto the table and spills on Alois' lap. Mey-Rin gasps and sets the bottle upright on the table as quickly as possible.

"I'm so sorry, sir," she apologizes and grabs a napkin to help clean up the wine. Alois Trancy pushes her away, however, and back-hands her in the face, knocking her to the floor.

The music stops and everyone gasps upon seeing the sudden and unexpected event.

Mey-Rin is now curled up on the floor, holding a shaky hand to her throbbing face as she processes what just happened. One moment Earl Alois Trancy was acting kind, next thing she knew she was hit in the face for spilling the wine on his lap. She swears it was an accident. She didn't mean to spill the wine. Why did the young earl resort to violence?

This did not go down she thought it would. She hears Baldroy yell out angrily after seeing Mey-Rin getting smacked in the face by the blonde earl. "What the bloody hell was that for!?"

"Mey-Rin, are you all right?" Finnian asks as he runs over to her and carefully pulls her back on her feet. Mey-Rin puts her hand on her temple as her mind becomes fuzzy. "Your nosy is all bloody."

Yes, she can feel it on her nose. However, it smells more like wine than blood. She looks at the blonde earl's hands. They're covered with the red wine she accidentally spilled on his lap. It's not blood that she has on her nose, it's wine. It still hurt. Despite getting punched in the face many times by enemies, getting slapped is just as painful. And why is it always in the face?

"It's wine, Finny," she says, "It's nothing."

"Nothing!? You call that nothing!?" Baldroy snaps angrily and confronts the blonde earl, despite Mey-Rin trying to tug him back by the arm. "Listen you ─!'

"I suggest you step away from my lord," Claude immediately gets in the way in order to keep Baldroy from getting closer to Lord Trancy. He is taller than Baldroy. Despite his military skills, Mey-Rin has a feeling Baldroy will lose if he gets into a fight with Claude Faustus.

"You going to allow that ─!?"

"Bard!"

Everyone turns their attention to Ciel Phantomhive who was standing behind them with an almost appalled Elizabeth by his side, his face clearly showing signs of anger. In fact, he looks furious. He walks towards Mey-Rin to examine her face. Her right cheek is beginning to bruise. It was a very harsh blow to the face, and simply because she accidentally spilled wine on Lord Trancy's lap.

"Are you all right, Mey-Rin?" he asks. She nods. Ciel is not convinced though. She looks like she's about to pass out. "No, you're not. Baldroy. Finnian. Get her out of here."

Baldroy glares at the golden-eyed butler for another moment before obeying the young master and he and Finnian take Mey-Rin out of the ballroom, leaving Ciel to confront Lord Trancy on his own while everyone watches in complete shock. First he has to get passed Claude Faustus.

"As head of the Phantomhive, I command you to step aside so I can speak with your master," he says.

"Claude only listens to me," Alois says as he steps out of hiding and gently pushes the butler aside. "It wasn't my intention to strike your maid."

"Perhaps it's my fault for not warning you of Mey-Rin's clumsiness. She is quite far-sighted and the proportions of her feet don't allow her to walk properly. However, it's not an excuse for you to strike her," Ciel says. The many times she broke the dishes, the many times she spilled drinks and food on the floor and carpet, he never laid a hand on Mey-Rin even he did get angry with her for her constant recklessness. He never hit her.

"Forgive me, Lord Phantomhive. As I said before, it wasn't my intention to hit her," Alois repeats.

But there's something in that boy's tone that doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound like he actually means it. It sounded like he actually enjoyed hitting Mey-Rin. Ciel does not like it one bit. Violent behaviour is not accepted in the Phantomhive Manor. If he allows Lord Trancy to stay, there's no telling if he might hurt someone else.

"For the sake of the other guests, Lord Trancy, I'll have to ask you to leave my estate," Ciel says.

Alois glares at Ciel with those icy blue eyes of his, his expression full of anger and abhor. Eventually, his expression softens and smiles softly at Ciel. "It's getting late anyways. After all, I'm still a child. Can't be up all night. I have other important things to do." He pats Ciel on the shoulder firmly and continues smiling as he and his butler Claude leave the ballroom. "We'll be seeing each other again, Lord Phantomhive. I bid you all a good night."

The moment they leave the ballroom, the air becomes lighter again. The other guests will be mumbling about this to each other, however. This will not be good for Ciel's reputation. Neither will it be for Alois Trancy once he writes a complaint to the queen.

"I will have to ask for forgiveness from all of you!" Ciel says to the remaining guests: Diederich, Klaus, Nina, Pitt, Commissioner Randall, Inspector Abberline, Francis and Elizabeth. "I did not expect for Lord Alois Trancy to behave so violently. It's my fault for inviting him under the queen's command. In an hour or two, I expect you all to return home safely after tonight's unpleasant event. Sebastian?"

His butler nods and he starts playing the violin again. At this point, no one seems to be in a pleasant mood to dance, not even Elizabeth herself. They remain chatting among each other though. This party has turned sour. Not even Sebastian can fix it since the event was sudden. Ciel knows that everyone will go home eventually. He won't stop them.

Ciel watches the carriage containing Lord Alois Trancy leave the Phantomhive estate through the bay window of his study. The carriage disappears into the night. Ciel prefers not to meet with the blonde earl again, not for a long time. How could the queen herself insist inviting this bastard to my mansion? If he had knew this would happen, he would have never invited Lord Trancy in the first place. How come the father saw past this issue? How was he able to allow a child like Alois Trancy to become so impulse and aggressive? And then Sebastian calls Ciel a brat. This event is going to cause a lot of problems in the future, not just for Ciel but for Lord Trancy and the Queen of England for allowing herself to be allied with such an impulsive creature. Spiders attack and eat whatever gets caught in their web. They don't care if the fangs hurt them. They don't think of the pain they cause to their prey. Alois didn't care when he struck Mey-Rin in the face. He didn't care how much it hurt her nor did he care how much it could damage his reputation of being a respectful Trancy lord. That moment when Mey-Rin accidentally spilled the wine, pain is the only thing Lord Trancy wanted to inflict on her. Just like the people that took Ciel and other children as slaves. All they wanted was to cause him and the other children pain and humiliation. Despite his irritation towards Mey-Rin, Ciel would never allow anyone to hurt and humiliate her or Finnian or Baldroy or Tanaka. Basically anyone close to him. However…

There's a knock on the door. They're here. Right on time.

"Come in," he says.

Sebastian enters the study with Commissioner Randall and Inspector Frederick Abberline following behind him. "I've brought Scotland Yard as you requested, Master."

"Good," Ciel nods in approval, "I'll handle this on my own, Sebastian."

"Will there be anything else, Master?" the butler asks.

"Yes. Take Pitt to the kitchen and have him take pictures of Mey-Rin's injury," he instructs, "I want to send them to the queen along with a complaint letter. Do it now."

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian allows the commissioner and the inspector to enter the study. Afterwards, he leaves and shuts the door behind him.

Let's get this over with. "Have a seat, gentlemen. It was an honour to have you at my party, Sir Randall as well as your partner. What is name again? Underline?"

"It's Abberline!" the inspector says as they both take a seat.

"Anyways, I hope you and the others can forgive the earlier mishap. It won't happen again," Ciel says.

"Something tells me you didn't bring us here for an apology," Commissioner Randall says, "The same thing goes for the invitation I received."

Ciel huffs. The commissioner is not as foolish as he thought. "I'll be brief about it then. I need you and the rest of Scotland Yard police to stop pursuing and pestering my servants. I've already told you many times that Baldroy Gibbons and Finnian Bornemann are not involved in Lord Damian's death."

"Then who killed Lord Damian?" Inspector Abberline asks.

Ciel simply shrugs. "Does it look like I know the name of our killer? If so, I would have told you already. However, I don't have the name of Lord Damian's killer. Still, this is not about Lord Damian's killer. This is about you and Scotland harassing my servants. And when they feel threatened, so do I. So I'm politely asking for you two to hold off your dogs."

"And if we say no?" Inspector Abberline asks sternly. Commissioner Randall says nothing. He just lets the young inspector to ramble words that have no meaning to the young earl.

Ciel smirks. "How much money would you ask in order to keep this case between the three of us, Sir Randall?"

Inspector Abberline gasps in astonishment. "If you think you can simply buy our silence ─."

"60,000 pounds," Commissioner Randall interrupts. The young inspector stares at the commissioner in disbelief. He's letting himself be manipulated by a thirteen-year-old.

"That's quite a lot of money," Ciel chuckles, "Wouldn't fifty thousand do just fine?"

"Sixty thousand and tonight's incident will not be mentioned to anyone. Not even the press will know about it."

Ciel smirks and shrugs, pretending to be defeated when he's actually winning. Killing two birds in one shot, just as like he wanted. "Sixty thousand will do just fine then. I'll make sure the payment is delivered by morning. I thank you both for your cooperation. I bid you a good night."

"Wait a second now! Sir Randall, you can't be agreeing to ─."

"Abberline!" Commissioner Randall snaps at the young inspector, "That's enough out of you. We will accept Earl Phantomhive's request. Unless you wish to lose your job as inspector, you will keep quiet about this. Understand?"

The inspector sighs in defeat. Ciel knows that the inspector has no choice but to side with the commissioner in order to maintain his job with Scotland Yard and that satisfies the young master greatly. They finally come to an agreement to maintain silent and not speak a word of the party's incident nor will they continue pursuing Baldroy and Finnian. The moment the inspector and commissioner leave the study, Ciel takes out his handgun and aims it at the door. He makes a popping sound with his mouth and smirks in amusement. Killing two birds in one shot.

Mey-Rin hisses as Tanaka applies a cloth damped in hot water on her bruised cheek. "Ow, ow, Tanaka, that hurts, ow," she complains. She feels Tanaka is lucky not to have witness that horrible moment. It would have made him physically ill.

"You were right, Mey-Rin," Finnian says he helps wipe off the wine stain from her nose. "This isn't blood. But that blow was enough force to break your nose. How are you not bleeding?"

She shrugs. She doesn't know why she's not bleeding through her nose after getting hit. She even heard it crack when the back of Lord Trancy's hand came in contact with her face. Just like the cut in her hand, she didn't bleed. Why? She doesn't know.

"Good thing we have a doctor in the house," Baldroy says as he pours himself a glass of wine he managed to smuggle from the party. Sebastian might get angry about it but Baldroy doesn't really care. He prefers to drink his anger away with a nice bottle of red wine. He looks at the bowl of white water on the table Tanaka is using for the bruise on Mey-Rin's face. "What is that, anyway?"

"Soba," he says in a raspy wheezing tone as he continues to dab the young maid's cheek with the warm cloth.

"So– what now?" Baldroy says.

"Water from Buckwheat noodles. My mother used them to reduce bruises," Tanaka responds.

"How do you know it works?"

"Because I say so," Tanaka says almost sternly. Baldroy raises his hands in surrender and instantly backs off, knowing that you should never underestimate the power of Tanaka. If he says that water from Buckwheat noodles works, you are bound to listen because he's always right. Despite not having much energy to talk or walk, he knows when to put others in order and knows when to put his foot down. That's why he's in charge of Phantomhive Manor when Sebastian is not around. Never mess with Tanaka or you will regret it. He stops to cough for a few moments before continuing applying the noodle water to Mey-Rin's face. Indeed, it was best for Tanaka not to be at the party; he preferred to stay at the kitchen sipping his tea and listening to the music that was playing upstairs.

"I should have punched that little bastard in the face," Baldroy says.

"If you had, we would have been arrested," Finnian says, "We're already suspected for murder, attacking Lord Trancy would just make things even worse."

"Finny is right, Bard," Mey-Rin says, "It's my fault, anyways. I was the one who had the idea. I was the one who spilled the wine on the earl's lap and because of that, the party was ruined."

"The master blames himself, actually." Sebastian appears in the kitchen, again like a phantom, making Baldroy and Finnian jump. Mey-Rin (who knows he's not human) and Tanaka (who doesn't seem to care) are no longer surprise. "He did not expect for Lord Trancy to exhibit such violent behavior over a small mishap. However, Mey-Rin, tonight's event will be a reminder for you to be careful next time. Do you understand?" Mey-Rin nods in agreement. Next to Sebastian is a man in his mid-thirties of short height, dirty blonde hair and freckles. It's Pitt, the freelance reporter and former friend of Vincent Phantomhive. He's carrying a large camera in his arms as he follows Sebastian into the kitchen. Why is carrying a camera? "Baldroy. Finnian. Tanaka. I need you three to step aside. This will only take a moment," Sebastian instructs.

The three men move aside, only Mey-Rin remaining sitting, despite not knowing what is going on. Pitt positions the camera in front of her face, a little bit too close for her taste.

"Um, Sebastian, what is this?" she asks in confusion.

"Keep looking at the camera, dear," Pitt instructs. "And could you lift your chin up a bit so the camera can capture your face better?"

"The young master is going to send a complaint to Queen Victoria and needs a photograph of Mey-Rin's face to prove that he's not making false claims so we asked Mr. Pitt to take a picture before he takes his leave," Sebastian explains to all of them.

"It's the least I can do for Ciel, after everything his father's done for me when he was still alive," Pitt smiles softly as he glances at Mey-Rin, "I'm really sorry about what happened to you, Miss. I didn't think a child would have the strength to deliver such a blow."

Children can fight just as good as adults, that's much Mey-Rin knows from experience. As a child, she already broke a nose on one of the older students face and she was only ten. It simply takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. She wonders how many people Alois Trancy hit to deliver such a harsh blow. She rather not find out though. She prefers not to go near him again.

She remains still as Pitt takes a few pictures of her face, at least three pictures should do the trick. Once the pictures are taken, Pitt covers the camera with a brown blanket and carries it out of the kitchen. Mey-Rin blinks a few times to get rid of the white light that flashed in her eyes when Pitt was taking the photographs. He could have warned her about the flashing or at least told her to close her eyes but perhaps he wanted her to keep her eyes open.

After Pitt leaves, Sebastian speaks to the servants of the house. "Luckily for us, some of the guests decided to stay for a little while longer to enjoy the remaining hours of the party. Lord Alois Trancy took his leave with Claude Faustus already so none of you have to worry facing them again."

Baldroy sighs of relief after he swallowed a mouth full of wine. "That's good. I swear I'd punch the bastard's butler for getting in my face."

"Actually, Baldroy, you were getting in his face," Finnian reminds him.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Obviously your side."

"Baldroy, we will later talk about your unruly behavior towards our current situation, not to mention your habit of smuggling wine from parties without the master's permission," Sebastian tells him. Busted. "The next thing I wish to talk about is Scotland Yard."

The mention of Scotland Yard makes everything fall into dead eerie silence. Sebastian can see the distress in everyone's eyes, including Tanaka. Ever since Lord Damian's death, Scotland Yard have been pestering to the point where it's getting irritating. Simply saying the word Scotland Yard brings concern for the three servants and the former butler.

"I shall first mention the bad news," Sebastian continues.

"Which is…?" Baldroy asks.

"The bad news is that Scotland Yard still suspects you and Finnian to be the murderers of Lord Damian and the suspicion grew when you confronted Lord Trancy. Commissioner Randall believes that your protective behavior towards Mey-Rin is the motive for murder," he says. This causes for the three servants to groan in frustration. Tanaka doesn't even laugh; he remains silent. "There are some good news, however. The young master and the commissioner have come to an agreement. Scotland Yard will stop pursuing Baldroy and Finnian if the young master pays them a good amount of money -."

"Lord Phantomhive is paying Scotland Yard to keep them quiet for something we didn't do?" Finnian says in disbelief. "But that's unfair. He knows we didn't do it."

"Finny, the young master doesn't give a fuck about who did it," Baldroy says, "He just wants the police to get off our backs."

"I'd watch your language if I were you, Bard," Sebastian warns, his features growing dark, "Now I know where the young master is getting his habit of cursing. Keep it up and I'll have to wash both of your mouths with soap and sulfuric acid."

With that, he leaves the kitchen. Baldroy gulps nervously. Soap and sulfuric acid. SULFURIC ACID!

Mey-Rin gets up from her seat and leaves the kitchen to go after Sebastian.

"Sebastian, wait!" she calls out to him. Luckily, he only manages to walk a few feet away from the kitchen. For a second, she thought he'd do that creepy disappearing act again. The moment she calls him out, he stops on his tracks and looks at her over his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she says.

His eyes suddenly turn red again and his pupils become slit, causing Mey-Rin to take a step back. "You're lucky the master is containing the situation. But if this happens again with any other guest, I shall punish you myself. Do you understand?"

Mey-Rin nods in understanding. She knows that Sebastian can't hurt her unless Ciel gives the order and possibly never will give the order. Would Sebastian actually disobey the master?

Once the party is over and all the guests have gone home, Ciel is prepared for bed. It's been a long day and a long night. He's not in the mood to talk about the situation to anyone. He already bid goodnight to Elizabeth and Aunt Francis as well as Nina and Uncle Klaus. Diederich left before he could say goodbye. Ciel finally got Scotland Yard to remain silent and Pitt gave him the developed photos of Mey-Rin's injury. The night could have certainly gotten much better if Alois Trancy hadn't attacked one of his servants.

"Tomorrow I want you to find out everything there is to know about Alois Trancy," he says to Sebastian while placing the covers over his body. The young master's eyepatch has already been removed, the pentagram in his right eye glowing a faint shade of purple. "I have a feeling that there's more to him than what the queen is letting us know. I don't like having secrets kept from me."

"Yes, my lord. Anything else?"

Ciel narrows his eyes at the butler. "No, that will be all for tonight. Get some rest."

Sebastian bows his head once more and leaves the chamber, closing the door behind him. Ciel huffs in annoyance and lies back on his bed, closing his eyes.

He opens his eyes as soon as he hears the door open. He sits up from his bed, believing it to be Sebastian. However, it turns out to be Mey-Rin standing by the chamber door. He grabs his patch and covers his marked eye. However, what would be the point of hiding it if she already saw it?

"What are you doing in here?" he asks while rubbing his other eye tiredly. The bruise Alois gave her on the cheek is still visible and took on a faint purple hue.

"I - I just wanted to see if you're all right," she says meekly while putting the lantern down on the nightstand. "I also wanted to apologize for what happened earlier. It's my fault the party ended terribly. I just wanted you to know how much I regret -."

Ciel scoffs, interrupting her. "For goodness sake, Mey-Rin, grow a backbone. You know it wasn't your fault. Why do you keep blaming yourself for something had no control of?"

"Well, it did happen with Lord Damian," she reminds him as she sits down on the edge of his bed, "I couldn't stop spilling the wine. I didn't expect to get slapped for it though."

"Exactly. You spilled wine on me many times and I never laid a hand on you," he tells her, "So, how could you have predicted that Alois Trancy would strike you? You didn't and neither did I so I don't blame you. I blame myself for not taking precautions."

"But as you said before, no one could have predicted Lord Trancy's action so I don't see why you blame yourself," she says. This makes Ciel roll his eye in annoyance. Mey-Rin, sometimes you can be such an idiot.

"It doesn't matter now. Not anymore," he sighs, "People will whisper about me now. I paid Scotland Yard to stay away from Baldroy and Finnian, and to not mention tonight's incident but that doesn't mean others will remain quiet."

"...Thank you, my lord," Mey-Rin says. Ciel simply stares at her. "You didn't have to do that for us but I'm glad you did -."

"The reason why I paid Scotland Yard to leave us alone is because their constant lingering bothered me as well," he interrupts her harshly, "It has nothing to do with Baldroy and Finnian. Do you understand?"

Mey-Rin nods, her eyelashes fluttering as she looks down sadly. "I - I don't believe you, Master."

"If you think I did all this out of generosity and kindness, you have another thing coming," he grits his teeth at her, making her jump slightly, "If you see me as a good man, then you're more blind than a bloody bat."

"I don't see you as a good man, Ciel Phantomhive," she smiles softly at him. "But I don't see you as bad either. You saved my life when you could have let me die from blood loss. Any man who prefers to bury his secrets would have done so without a second thought."

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a maid with your type of abilities?" he asks rhetorically, "It's quite difficult. I would probably never find another one like you. That's why I let you live."

She smiles again and hold his hand in a gentle squeeze. "Maybe. But I still want to thank you."

He looks down at his hand held in hers and sighs before pulling away. "You seem to be the only one who sees me as a good person."

"You are...At least, to me you are," she says.

They remain staring at each other, not having to say anything else. Ciel sighs and looks down in shame. Mey-Rin may not be the best maid but she has always been loyal and good. It almost make him feel like the evil one. Yet here she is, telling him that he's not a bad person he thinks himself to be, even after the little discovery.

Minutes go by of the two sitting there in silence. Mey-Rin reaches out and slowly removes the eyepatch from Ciel's eye, exposing the pentagram. However, she doesn't look afraid of it this time. She leans forward and kisses the young master on the forehead before getting up and leaving the chamber, leaving Ciel completely stunned. What just happened?