Next chapter was supposed to be part of the previous chapter but was too long so I had to divided in two parts. I'll be soon getting back to Mey-Rin since she's supposed to be the main character of the story. I simply wanted to give the other characters more screentime.
Baldroy continues peeling the carrots while Finnian is mashing the potatoes with his gloved hands. Sebastian cuts the bloody raw lamb meat into square cubes with a butcher's knife. Agni cuts the onions and coriander leaves to small pieces.
"I'm surprised you were able to have them help making dinner without breaking or setting things on fire," Sebastian says.
"Every one of us has a set of skill," Agni explains. "We all have our own paths and duties set by the gods. As children of the Divine Mother, we only listen and perform our tasks."
"You seem to be a man of impeccable character."
Agni simply shook his head. "No, I am not. Before I met the prince, I was a foolish and hopeless man. What I owe him can never be repaid in this lifetime."
"How so?" Sebastian asks, looking at him curiously.
"My family were Brahmans, and in the caste system, we belonged to the highest possible caste that is said to serve God. However, seeing my father swarmed by material goods and carnal desires, I lost my faith to the gods. I took advantage of my social status and committed sins everyday. I kept hurting people, killing them even. All to appease my anger and hatred against the gods. I even killed one of my father's wives out of rage, one that I couldn't control."
"So you're saying is that you killed one of your father's wives by accident?"
"It is hard to believe but yes. I had no intentions of killing her."
Baldroy looks at Agni pitifully and shrugs his shoulders. "We've all done bad things in our time. I know from experience. Before I was a cook, I was in a war and I killed a few people myself. I wasn't too proud of it though. I was half dead when Sebastian and the young master found me. So you're not the only one with a past."
"I was going to be hanged for my crimes," Agni points out. Baldroy's eyes widen.
"Okay, well that sucks."
"When I was about to pay for my crimes, I was called the Son of Arshad. The no longer cared for my name. I was dead to my father and he was dead to me. That's when I saw my prince. My saviour...
..."Ruken! Main use aapase khareedana chaahata hoon! (Stop! I want to buy him from you!)" Soma shouted while waving around a bag of golden coins in his hand. He was disguised as a peasant. He was small but he had a lot of courage and surprisingly, a big heart. He climbed down the roof and crowd carried him over to the gallows with care, as if they already knew he was a prince."This should be enough for the deaths of your people."
He gave the bag of coins to the executioner who took it without question. Being a small child, Soma had to use the stool I was meant to stand on to cut the rope from around my neck. He cut away half of my hair away but I did not care. It felt like all the weight fell from my shoulders. I was surprised how a small boy would care so much for the life of a criminal. His actions brought tears to my eyes and his smile brought me joy.
"Vah aadamee jo aap the ab mar chuka hai (The man you were is dead now)," he said, "Aapako Agni kaha jaega (You shall be called Agni and you shall serve and protect me until the day I die)."...
"That day I saw a god emitting holy light inside the prince's body," Agni says, finishing the story of how he met the prince who saved him. Sebastian always thought that the gods are a bunch of good for nothing that should be left behind. It's sort of the same way he feels about Ciel but he makes no comment about it. He is a little surprised on how the boy who saved Agni's life is the same boy who won't stop bothering the young master. He's more hyperactive than a hopping rabbit.
"A little bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?" Baldroy asks but soon runs over to the stove when he hears bubbles. "Shit! The pot is boiling! It's going to blow up."
"Wow, that's some story," Finnian says, his eyes glimmering with intrigue upon hearing the fascinating story.
Sebastian frowns. "It doesn't sound like the same boy interacting with my young master."
Agni sighs and nods in agreement. "He's never been around other children before, Sebastian. He doesn't know how to behave around people outside the palace. He assumes that many will obey him because he is a prince and he becomes confused and shocked when things don't go his way."
"How long has he been trapped in that palace of his?"
"Since his birth. Exactly fourteen years. He has never been allowed to leave the palace. When he returned home with me as his new servant, his parents were furious and forbade him to leave the palace on his own ever again. He spends most of his time shut in his room and is barely allowed to be outside in the gardens."
"Hmm. Now I see why he behaves the way he does now."
"Indeed. He may be a bit difficult but he has is a good boy. He really is. He came here to England with the best intentions and I've noticed that he might be causing you and Lord Phantomhive some grief."
"The young master has never socialized with other children his age before," Sebastian explains, "So being around someone as energetic as Prince Soma is unusual and aggravating for him. And yes, it has proven to be difficult for me as well since I am not used to seeing another boy with such hyperactive energy. He is the complete opposite of my young master."
"I promise that my prince will not be any trouble for you or your master. We will only be here for a few weeks and then we shall be on our way."
"I'm sure Prince Soma will be delighted to return to India."
"Actually, we won't be going back to India."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, since this is the first time my prince has ever been allowed to leave the palace, he wants to explore other places before returning home. After we're done with our search, the prince and I will be going to the American land. I think we will be going to the city called New York."
For some reason, Sebastian finds this a little suspicious. The young bratty prince never mentioned anything about going to New York. Did Agni suddenly make last-minute plans with the prince?
Many dancers are allowed to dance freely to show the viscount what they're capable of in hopes one of them will be picked for the role of Pamela. With all honesty, Mey-Rin has no desires to play Pamela to be touched by another man. But she supposes she should put her best efforts. She watches the other girls twirl, arabesque, croise devant, sissonne attitude, grand jete and other graceful movements. But it seems that none of these movements are satisfying the Viscount Druitt. He remains staring at the girls while his thumb touches his lower lip, his eyes showing disappointment. Mey-Rin watches Lady Elizabeth trying to dance freely, twirling around fast with her arms flailing and contorting her torso around. However, she looks too terrified to go even further. Mey-Rin, for one, tries her best to dance freely even though she barely knows how to dance.
Mey-Rin twirls as fast as Lady Elizabeth did but she then stops and swings her arms in front of her, moving them back and forth while leaning her head as if she were a bird flapping its wings. For some reason, Mey-Rin feels like she's being possessed while dancing. In this version of the story, Pamela is supposed to express suffering and fear as she avoids the lord trying to seduce her. For some reason, she feels the same way. But not because she's being seduced but because she's watching a young boy being seduced by the darkness and she's unable to do anything to stop it. Now that she knows his secret, she may end up watching him die.
"Remember, students," Viscount Druitt says, "Dancing is not just about being visually appealing to the audience. It's not about following the music or coordination. It's about letting go of everything and giving in to your passions. You must not only give in your body, but you must also give in your heart and mind. You must give in your soul."
Soul. The moment he says that, the only thing Mey-Rin can see Sebastian's blood red eyes and malicious smirk while laying his hands on Ciel's shoulders. Ciel's contract eye bleeds down his pale cheek.
Mey-Rin falls to the ground, banging her right knee against the wooden board. The music stops playing and the dancers look at her in shock. Mey-Rin looks down and finds her knee scraped and red. It's not bleeding, however. Just like the time she cut her hand.
She looks up and notices everyone staring in complete shock, including the Viscount Druitt.
"I'm sorry," she says before getting up and limping to the backstage where no one else can see her cry. Tears fall down her cheeks as she removes her stockings and cleans the raw wound with cold water. Even if it's not bleeding, it can still get infected.
"Mey-Rin?"
She turns around and sees Elizabeth Midford standing behind her, looking worried. Mey-Rin immediately bows her head in greeting. It's something she does as a habit now with every noble she meets. She didn't have intentions to bow to Elizabeth in class but it's something she can't control.
"Hello, my lady."
"Mey-Rin, please, it's Lizzie. You don't have to call me Lady Midford here," she insists.
"Sorry, my lad...I mean, Lizzie."
"...Are you all right? That was quite a fall."
"I'm...fine. I'm fine," I lie to her. And she can clearly see through that lie.
"No. You're not. Do you want to talk about it?"
She can't know. If I tell her, there's no telling what Sebastian will do. "Sorry, my lady. Good day." Mey-Rin collects her bag and puts on her coat before hurrying out of the theatre.
She makes her way to the cemetery. Mey-Rin wanted to go to the park but it's too crowded with bystanders and their stupid smiling faces. She wants to be alone and not look at them right now. She cannot tolerate their faces full of ignorance while a little boy she cares for is being devoured by a demon little by little.
She walks down the gravel pathways with her hands in her coat's pockets, feeling the icy cold air kissing her cheeks and white mist coming out of her nose and mouth as she breathes. Mey-Rin stop in front of Mary Jane Kelly's grave after searching for it for almost an hour. Snow is already covering the ground and stone cross.
She still recalls sitting there on the chair and watching Grell run his death scythe through her heart, splattering blood everywhere. It's an image that still marks her brain today. She'll probably never forget nor will she forget the look on Ciel's face when Madam Red was murdered. The look of anger, terror and despair. Despite everything she did, Madam Red was still Ciel's aunt. Mey-Rin thinks to herself, if she wasn't so weak, she would have stopped Grell from killing them both. If she had untied herself quickly enough, she would have saved Mary.
"What am I doing wrong?" she asks the gravestone with Mary's name engraved on it, "Why couldn't I have saved you? Why did I let him kill you?"
"Hehehe. You're giving yourself too much credit." Mey-Rin jumps and turns around to see the Undertaker digging a grave behind her. She didn't even hear him. I was probably too lost in thought to even notice him. "We all know who was responsible for her death, dearie."
She frowns at him. "You want me to blame Lord Phantomhive for her death?"
"Well," Undertaker puts down his shovel and climbs out of the freshly dug grave, his robes already covered in damp dirt. "His job was to assure the safety of the other women in Whitechapel. But instead, he was obsessed with catching him rather than saving the poor girl from getting slaughtered."
"Don't say that!" she snaps at him and marches off angrily. How dare he speaks about the master that way?
His hand grips her arm tightly, stopping her from moving any further. Okay, ow ow ow. He grins at her and tightens his grip on her arm, his nails digging into her skin. "You know that I'm right, girl."
"No, you're wrong," she says as she tries to tug her arm away, "It's not his fault. It's mine. It was my idea to use myself as bait for Jack the Ripper. I was the one who warned Mary Kelly about Jack the Ripper. I was the one who had to watch the poor woman get slaughtered by a madman while tied to a chair even though I knew how to get out of those ropes."
"Why didn't you then? You could have saved her life if you broke free earlier," he says. Is he playing with me right now?
"Because I was waiting for Sebastian and the master to save us," she confesses. He lets go of her arm with an annoyed scoff.
"And that's where everything went to hell," he sneers, "You rely on Lord Phantomhive too much. He can't even save himself. You allow yourself to be dependent on him, you'll end up in a grave, right next to Miss Kelly. You wouldn't have been able to save that girl either way. Even if you did free yourself, Madam Red and his butler would have cut you to pieces. So don't be a fucking idiot."
Mey-Rin looks over at Mary Kelly's grave. Maybe he's right. She probably couldn't have saved Mary Kelly even if she tried. Grell would have probably gutted her as well if she broke free to save her.
"Now, come to my shop," Undertaker puts his arm around her shoulders. She tries pushing his arm away but he holds her tightly. "You've been out here long enough."
"I've only been here for an hour."
"Exactly. You've already been exposed to the cold long enough. Now come, this is no place for a young lady, especially a girl with a vulnerable mind such as yours. Some tea will warm you up before you head home."
Mey-Rin hesitates but she eventually follows him back to his shop. Once there, he serves her a beaker full of tea. Will he ever buy proper chinaware?
"You should try to forget that Mary Kelly girl," he tells her as he puts two sugar cubes in her beaker. He puts more than five in his. "She's dead. You're not. It will do you no good thinking about a body that's been buried for three months. She is nothing but bones now."
"I feel like it's been yesterday though," she says as she sips her hot tea, "I still have nightmare of her being slaughtered. Gutted like a pig."
He sighs and sips his own tea. "You're letting your guilt get the best of you. If you continue this, you'll probably end up like Lord Phantomhive."
"Why must you criticize him?" I ask. "He did everything he could to stop the killings and yet everyone seems to be treat him like dirt."
"I have no intentions of being cruel. I'm just being honest. If I tell you that it wasn't the lord's fault that he failed to save the girl, I would be lying. And I am never a liar."
Mey-Rin shakes her head. "You weren't there. You weren't there to see the look on his face when...Jack...killed his aunt right in front of him. He was horrified."
"Indeed. But as always, he tries to put on a mask and push people away, pretending like nothing can affect him while we all know that they are all lies. He's been making you wear a mask as well and makes you pretend that nothing happened. You have nightmares. You're letting it consume you like a termite eating wood."
"I don't know what to do though," she says, "I'm terrified."
"Of what?"
"I failed to save Miss Kelly. What if I fail to save my master as well?"
He remains staring at her, his mouth a straight line instead of a smile. "So that's what this is all about. You're worried about Lord Phantomhive's life."
"He..." Tears fall down her cheeks. "He can die at any moment now and I can't do anything to stop it. I'll fail just like I failed Miss Kelly."
Undertaker sighs and sits next to her, giving her a tissue. "Oh, I can't stand woman crying. It's annoying. But I'm surprised. You're the first person I met that actually cares for the young lord in years."
She sniffles and wipes her tears. "What are you talking about? His family loved him."
"No. Not really. You shouldn't be fooled by what those upper class folks tell you. They're compulsive liars, just like the young lord. The only people that loved him were Madam Red and his nurse Harumi."
She's confused. "W-why?"
She flinches when his thumb brushes against her cheek, wiping her tears away.
"They loved his brother more." She looks at him in surprise. That can't be true. Can it? How can Ciel's family prefer one over the other? "Listen, if you really think that the young lord can be saved from the clutches of evil, start by not being an idiot. You're smart but not wise. If you jump in too soon, there will be no third chance this time." He says this while brushing his finger against the scar on her neck where the bullet nearly killed her.
Mey-Rin arrives at the townhouse at eight after having a long conversation with Undertaker. She thought his way of conversation was somewhat strange. He kept asking for a lock of her hair (to which she refused to give him) and he even took her pulse at one point as if he were examining her. He even asked if she was having urges after her recovery at the hospital three months ago. She told him no. She found it strange. The last time the doctor had Mey-Rin checked, she was completely fine and she's still fine now. At least, I think I am.
When she enters the house's foyer, she finds the young master glaring down at her from the top of the staircase. She gulps nervously and shuts the door behind her. I'm dead.
"Mey-Rin," he says as he climbs down the stairs to meet with her. "Where the hell have you been? I told you to be here at 6pm. It's 8pm. You're two hours late."
Mey-Rin bows her head and apologizes. "Forgive me, my lord. I wasn't feeling well so I went for a walk."
"If you weren't feeling well, you were supposed to come here. Not wander off on your own," he says sternly.
"I'm sorry, my lord. I won't happen again," she says, even though she has a very strong desire to slap or punch him in the face right now.
"Pray that it doesn't," he says. He then sighs tiredly. "Go and get cleaned up. It's almost time for dinner and I need you to set the plate and silverware. Go now."
She bows her head again. "Yes, my lord." She then returns upstairs to her bedroom where she shuts the door and starts removing her coat and ballet uniform, tears falling down her cheeks. She places her hand over her mouth, stifling her tearful cries. Mother of God, help me. Please, God and Jesus, save me.
Sebastian serves him a plate of what looks like orange soup. Today's special is mutton curry from Oriya, one of the areas of India. Also known as lamb curry, made with lamb meat, turmeric powder, salt, ginger garlic paste, onion, coriander leaves, chili and dahi. According to Agni, dahi is fermented yoghurt, which to Ciel sounds revolting. However, he can't help but admit that the smell is delightful.
Soma has his plate served as well. He smiles and claps his hands, eager as a puppy. "Thank you, Agni, mutton is my favourite. It smells delicious."
Agni smiles and bows his head before departing from the dining room.
Ciel looks at his own plate. He's never eaten much Indian food before. He doesn't care much for spicy food but it does taste very good. Ciel watches Lieutenant Catherine unfold her napkin and place it on her lap so she doesn't get her red gown dirty with curry. Ciel is actually glad she decided to wear a more proper attire for dinner. He was already getting irritated seeing her wander around the townhouse in her bathrobe without proper underclothing. It's like she thinks no man is watching her while she has her back turned. However, seeing the lieutenant in a red gown makes him feel a little uneasy. The scarlet red silk with black veiling and white pearls decorating the black veil sleeves makes him think of Madam Red and the lavish clothing she used to wear.
To Ciel's surprise, Prince Soma does the same thing. He unfolds his napkin and places it on his lap. Ciel frowns. Only women were allowed to do that. Men usually tuck their napkins in the collars of their shirts. It seems that the prince doesn't know much about table etiquette in England either.
"It certainly does taste wonderful," Lau says before eating. Ciel almost forgot he's still here. Shouldn't he be going home to Ran-Mao? She must be worried sick about him.
"I thought you'd be going home, Lau," Ciel says.
Lau simply chuckles. "Getting rid of me so soon, eh? I called Ran-Mao and told her I'll be returning home once I finish helping you with the investigation."
Ciel scoffs. "You're going to help us?"
"Of course, that's what friends are for."
"We're acquaintances, Lau, not friends," Ciel always reminds him. Just because he helped him and Ran-Mao out of their situation, that doesn't make them friends but Lau keeps insisting that they are.
"So you two work together?" Catherine asks.
"Indeed," Lau says, "I mostly Lord Phantomhive's informant though."
"Shut it you," Ciel says in irritation before looking at Soma, "And you. How long do you two plan to stay here?"
"As soon as we're finished with our search," Soma says after swallowing a bite of curried lamb.
"I think I remember these two were looking for someone important," Lau says, "A woman, believe."
"A woman?" Ciel asks.
"My nursemaid, Meena Chawla. This is her." Soma shows him the same poorly drawn image of a woman he showed to the thugs in East End earlier. The more Ciel looks at it, the more it looks like a ragdoll. "She was a maidservant before my parents put her in charge of me. I drew her. Isn't she a lovely thing?"
"Well, Sebastian, do you think you can find her?" Ciel asks while giving him the image.
"Even I can't do much with that but I will try," Sebastian says as he takes the drawing in his hand.
"I can tell by your faces that you do not like my drawing," Soma says. "I'm still learning how to draw. I don't have many teachers at the palace to help me. Agni is the only one who's ever taught me how to draw."
"And I'm not exactly an artist myself," Agni confesses.
"Well, at least you are honest," Ciel says, "So, tell me, what is this Meena doing in England and why are you causing so much trouble over a servant?"
Soma frowns as if insulted. "Meena isn't just a servant. She's like my second mother. My father had no real interest in me since I'm the youngest. My real mother was too busy trying to get the attention of my father. I don't blame her. Father has ten wives, after all, and Mother isn't exactly his favourite. But she barely pays any attention to me so I was left in the care of Meena. She breastfed me as a baby when my mother refused to do so. Meena was the only one who ever trully loved me. We've been together for many years and never left my side. I was never allowed outside with my siblings. I was always in my room, learning domestic tasks from her." Ciel simply stares at him as if he were getting bored by him, as if he already heard this sort of story before. "But then, one day, an Englishman came. He was a noble."
"And what exactly happened, if I dare ask?" Ciel says.
Soma simply sighs. "Queen Victoria knows that Bengal enjoys political autonomy. But political matters are actually managed by consultants from England. To her, we're just another colony ruled by the British. Apparently, the Englishman was a political consultant. He showed interest in Meena upon seeing her in the caste. My parents took advantage of my absence and sold Meena to the Englishman. I know she's here in England being held against her will."
"So you're here to get her back?" Ciel asks and Soma nods. Ciel sighs and dabs his mouth with a napkin passively. "And you think I can help you?"
"I am told you are the queen's guard dog and you have solved many mysteries, including the case of Jack the Ripper," Soma says, "If anyone can help me and Agni find Meena, it's you."
"Sorry. But I can't help you." If she's still alive, she's probably being used as a plaything for men to do as they please. Ciel has met noblemen and many of their secret desires of having a foreign woman in their beds, either from India, China or Africa. If she's still alive and is being held against her will as Soma said, she's probably a slave with her mind too far gone to even recognize the prince's face. If she's been abused for months now, she's probably nothing more than a mangled up body beneath the sheets. It's probably too late for her which is why Ciel prefers not to waste his time looking for her. Being a woman can be a curse for many.
"What? Why not?"
Ciel considers telling him the harsh truth of what happens to slave women once they are taken from their own country against their will but he can tell that Soma's mind and soul is too childish to handle such things. "If you haven't noticed, and clearly you haven't, I'm in the middle of an investigation. English noblemen returning from India are being assaulted and hung upside down by a highwayman and Scotland Yard suspects that it's one of your kind. I'm not going to put the investigation to a halt just to find a mere servant of yours."
Soma slams his fist against the table, his face turning red with anger. "You do not understand! Meena is the only real family I have! I cannot live in that palace without her! I have no one else!"
"No, I don't understand," Ciel says as he stands from the table, "And I don't plan to understand...Unfortunately, there are some things you can never get back no matter how much you try. You're just going to have to accept it. So do yourself a favour. Stop wasting your time looking for a woman you'll never find and go home." With that, Ciel stands up and exits the dining hall, leaving everyone shocked and confused, minus Sebastian.
Prince Soma pushes the chair back and storms out of the dining hall with Agni going after him.
Ciel continues to work in his study, writing down notes involving the highwayman; Pluto is curled up at his feet. He considers going to visit James Norrington and ask him if he knows anything about the incident. Then he'll visit the Undertaker and ask if he has anything from one of the bodies that can lead them to the criminal. He hates having to visit that madman all the time but it is necessary.
He looks over at the picture of his family. His father, mother, brother and him. Tanaka and Harumi stand behind the four. All of them with smiling faces. Ciel smiles a little. He wishes he can have those happy faces back. But he can't. No matter how much he tries.
He hears a creaking sound and immediately turns his head to see Catherine at the door. His instincts immediately tell him to grab a gun and shoot her in the face but he remains still in his seat, his heart racing slightly.
"What do you want?" he asks.
Catherine frowns at him slightly, confused. "Are you all right?"
"Um, y-yes. Forgive me, lieutenant, for the scandal that occurred earlier," he says.
"I've seen worse scandals, trust me. But I am curious to what was all that about."
"You heard it all."
"Yes, but I heard it from a professional standpoint. But I prefer to hear it from a personal standpoint. Why are you refusing to help Prince Soma recover his nurse."
He sighs. "None of you would understand, especially Prince Soma. He is just a bratty child."
"May I offer you a word of advice without you giving me murderous glance?" she asks as she sits down next to him.
He sighs and puts down his pen, looking at her. "What?"
"...Try taking it easy with Prince Soma. I will admit that he can be a little intolerant sometimes. But is still a child, just like you. And not all children think the same way. If Meena Chawla is alive, I think it wouldn't hurt trying to find her to give the prince some closure, whether she's alive or not." With that, she leaves the room just as Sebastian enters.
"Did I miss anything?" he asks while watching the lady disappear into her guest room.
"...No." Ciel sighs. Catherine is right though. He's being a selfish idiot. He hasn't even tried to find out whether this Meena is still alive or not. Whether alive or dead, it's better to give the prince some closure.
"Will you be needing anything else, sir?" Sebastian asks.
"The deck of cards in the library and a big-ass piece of cake," he says with a sigh.
"Main jaana chaahata hoon (I want to leave now!)" Soma snaps angrily at Agni while treading back and forth impatiently across the room.
"Lekin mere raajakumaar, ham pahale se hee aa chuke hain (But my prince, we've already come so far)," Agni says, "Aap ab sambhavatah haar nahin sakate hain (You can't possibly give up now)."
"Main is ghar mein nahin rahana chaahata hoon. Aapane kaha ki yah ladaka meena khojane mein hamaaree madad kar sakata hai. Vah yojana thee. Lekin ab, mujhe lagata hai ki use hamaaree madad karane mein koee roochi nahin hai. Vah keval haeevemain kamabakht chaahata hai (I don't want to stay in this house. You said that this boy could help us find Meena. That was the plan. But now, I see he has no interest in helping us. He only wants that fucking highwayman)."
"Bhaasha (Language)."
"Main dar gaya hoon, Agni. Mujhe dar hai ki usake saath kuchh bura hua. (I'm scared, Agni. I'm scared that something bad happened to her. And he doesn't care).
"But I care. If he doesn't want to help, I will. I promised to be your servant to the very end. You're the reason why I came to England."
Some sighs and nods. "Yes. I know. Thank you, Agni. You are the only one who understands my desperation."
He hears a knock on the door and Ciel enters the room.
"Leave us," he says. Agni bows his head and exits the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Ciel alone with Soma.
Ciel sits at the opposite side of the table. He takes out a deck of cards and sets them down on table. "I assume you don't know how to play chess but you can play poker, right?"
Soma stares at him for a few moments before shaking his head. "I don't want to play games right now. I'm tired. Besides, I don't think I want to play with you anymore."
Ciel sighs and stops mixing the cards. All right. No bullshit then. "We're going to make deal and you will listen. If your answer is no, this will be the end of your search, do you understand?" Soma nods. "If you help me find the highwayman, I'll help you find Meena."
"You mean that?"
"I'm not doing this for you though. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do," he says, "But heed my warning, if you interfere in the investigation. If you do anything to prioritize your search for Meena, the deal is off. Understood?"
Soma nods in agreement. "Yes. Yes, it's a deal."
"We'll start tomorrow," Ciel says, "Lieutenant will accompany me and Sebastian to visit the Undertaker. He's going to show me one of the bodies. If you wish, you can come with us but you will not touch anything there. Do you understand? Your job there will be to shut up and not move. Are we clear?"
Some nods. "Yes. I'm sorry if I've annoyed you today. I never been around other children before so I got a little too excited."
"You have your siblings back at the palace," Ciel says, frowning.
"Yes, but my parents almost never let me play with them," Soma says with a sigh, "I spent most of my life shut in my room, looking at the outside world through a window. I watched my siblings running around the gardens, chasing each other and laughing. The only time I was able to leave the palace was when I met Agni and even then, my parents were angry that I did so."
Ciel somewhat feels pity for the bratty little prince. Being kept in isolation half your life certainly sounds dreadful. It makes Ciel the times he spent in the Phantomhive Manor and not being able to go outside because he was always sick and had to watch his family play in the gardens. Of course, he had Harumi, Tanaka and the other servants to hang around but it was never the same. Despite not wanting to hang around this bratty child, it would be rude to deny his desire for fun while he's in England.
"There will come a time when the investigation ends and when that time comes, perhaps I will consider showing you around London. Does that sound all right to you?" Ciel asks.
Soma smiles a little and nods.
"All right then. So the game here is simple. You just have to -."
"SNOOOW!" Soma suddenly shouts, making Ciel jump in his seat and drop the deck of cards. What the fuck!? He watches Soma run to the window. "It's snowing!" He then bolts out of the room in the blink of an eye, leaving Ciel dumbfounded. Once Ciel's brains connects knowledge to what just happened, he gets up and runs after Soma. "Agni, it's snowing!"
"Prince Soma, wait! Your coat!" Agni shouts while running after him with a white coat in his arms.
Soma runs outside and starts jumping up and down and the snowy ground while spinning around with his head tilted upwards. Ciel stands in the middle of the doorstep, watching Soma giggling like a small child. He has never seen snow before. I'm guessing they don't have snow in India. Agni squeezes past Ciel and makes Soma put on his coat.
"You'll catch cold, my prince," he says.
Snowflakes fall into the young prince's long eyelashes and he blinks them away, giggling. He reaches out his hands to catch the white flakes gently falling from the night sky. He catches a flake in his hand, like capturing a firefly. Ciel almost laughs, remembering how he and his brother used to try to catch fireflies but they always escaped from our grasp.
The moment Soma catches the snowflake, it melts in his palm, leaving him confused and shocked. "It's gone! It just disappeared! I swear, I had it right in my hand."
Ciel tries not to burst out laughing. Sebastian stands behind him and whispers in his ear. "Should we tell him?"
He simply chuckles. "He'll figure it out eventually."
Ciel somewhats envy Prince Soma. Not knowing the horrors of the real world, he gets to be happy in his own little world. Ciel sometimes wishes he had that. He used to be in his own little world but he was everything but happy. The prince is everything Ciel and Sirius used to be and everything that Ciel is not.
Sebastian finds Catherine in the back of the garden, lying on the snow without a coat to keep her warm. She can get sick like this, exposed to the chilly air. But she doesn't look like she care. I walk up to her and check if she's still alive. She's simply lying there with her arms extended to the side and her leg folded over the other, looking like the crucified Messiah.
"Are you all right?" he asks.
She opens her eyes and looks at me. "I'm just enjoying the snow. I sometimes forget that this has been one of the most beautiful creations ever done."
Sebastian chuckles in amusement. "Beautiful and deadly." He then extends his hand. "Come, you'll catch cold."
She smiles slightly. "I don't get cold."
She grabs his hand. To Sebastian's surprise, her hand is not cold. It's as warm as the summer days. He doesn't understand this. She should be chilled to the bone, not warm. It's like she's been near the fire and the heat permanently implanted into her skin.
"What is it?" she asks, tilting her head while staring at him with those blue-green eyes of hers.
"...Nothing," he smiles. It's probably nothing. "Nothing at all. Come, I'll make you some hot tea."
"Can you make some hot chocolate instead?" she asks while pouting. "I get tired of tea."
"As you wish," he says before leading her back inside the house. He tries to ignore this strange new discovery but even so, he knows that something is not right about their new ally. She's not human. He needs to find out what she is, even if he has to pry the information out of her through seduction.
