A/N: Writers block...that is all...enjoy this late chapter.
Ch.10
Should I just wake him up? He looks so peaceful though, but he can't just stay here! It's 7:00 a.m. I have to get dressed and go over what I have to do with Ciel and Sebastian. I don't want to just kick him out; we barely got off on a good start. Ugh! What do I do!?
I poked Derrick's cheek lightly to see if I got a reaction. To my surprise he was dead asleep.
Good now's my chance!
I quietly slipped out of bed and gathered up some clothes. I opened the door and ran off to the nearest room. I quickly shut the door and spread out the clothes.
"It's a good thing that most of these rooms are vacant." I said in a hushed tone.
I put on a regular long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants that Sebastian had left in my drawers.
"Thank god that Sebastian picks out normal clothes!" I said to myself as I changed.
I walked out of the room and spotted Finny at the end of the hall.
"Oh, hey Finny!" I said loud enough for him to hear.
Finny started to run in my direction and I noticed he was looking at my neck when he was running.
Shit the seal is showing isn't it!?
I quickly covered my neck as he stopped in front of me.
"Good morning." I said happily.
"Good morning, what brings you here?" he asked.
"Huh, oh I just, was wandering around again." I said.
"Is there something wrong?" Finny asked motioning to remove my hand from my neck.
"N-No nothing's wrong! My neck just hurts a little." I said trying to avoid that subject.
"Oh, I could get you an ice pack if you'd like." Finny said his green eyes lighting up.
"There isn't any need for that, thank you though. If anyone needs me I'll be in the library, 'kay?" I said walking past Finny.
"Alrighty then!" Finny said walking in the other direction.
How does Ciel deal with this every day?
"Oh that's right, I don't even know what time this thing is going to start." I said to myself as I entered the library.
It wasn't that big of a room, but it was full of books. Shelf after shelf filled with so much information that one would need.
Finally a place to relax.
I sat down in one of the chairs and let my mind wander a bit.
I wonder what this ball would be like and the people there too. How am I supposed to act, I know basic etiquette but this is royalty and nobles. Shouldn't I at least know these people; I mean I can't just simply say 'hi' to them. If the Queen set this up just for me then I have to keep my appearance up, not only that, I have to keep my guard up too. Who knows what will happen, I just hope this will go smoothly.
A knock at the door snapped me back to my senses.
"Clary? Are you there?" I heard Ciel say.
"Yeah I'm in here." I relied and the door slowly opened.
"I thought you'd be here, so shall we go over what you need to do?" Ciel said picking out certain books from the shelf.
"Let me guess I'm going to have to study?" I said in a light tone.
"Precisely." Ciel said smirking.
"I-I was just joking you know?" I said as he placed the books in front of me.
"You must go over these books and memorize every single face, name, and history behind them." Ciel said.
"I thought so…" I trailed off as I opened one of the books.
"Don't worry I'm sure you won't have to greet as many people as you will be studying them." Ciel re-assured me.
"Okay." I said as I began to read the list of names.
Diana Richard, wife and mother of three, married to her husband Charles Richard. Charles Richard is the owner of the Richard's Clothing and Co. Diana Richard is a photographer, many of her works is displayed in the Museum of Art and Culture located in the heart of London.
The picture showed tall, and muscular man with light wavy hair, beside him was a slightly shorter, lean woman, with dark straight hair. The next picture showed three young children, two girls, and a little boy. Names, Marianne, Lilith, and Christopher, Marianne age: 10, Lilith age: 7 and Christopher age: 4.
Ana Wellington and George Wellington, authors, nothing that special. I thought to myself.
I looked at the picture shown, a short, thin woman sat with a book in her hands. She wore wire-rimmed glasses and had a fair skin tone. Her husband on the other hand was tall, light skinned, and dark curly hair, he too wore glasses. I skimmed through many pages, all I had to do was remember the names and faces right?
Marie Silverstein, Patrick Thames, Jonathon Times, Alexandria Render, Elijah Whinters. So many names of people I have to pretend I know, what a waste of time.
Two hours past and Ciel finally let me stop with the studying.
"The Ball starts at 5:30 p.m. We will leave at 5:00 p.m. just to make sure we get there on time, Mey-Rin will help you with your outfit, and you can't dress as casually as you normally do." Ciel said putting the books back.
"Well I'm not in the position to argue now am I?" I said as I put one of the books back on a high shelf the Ciel couldn't reach.
"Well I have things to do before we leave." Ciel said, his words entwined with anger
"We have a lot of time to kill, why must you work all the time, don't you ever just relax?" I asked before he left.
"Don't worry; if the Queen approves of you, then you would be doing as much work as me." Ciel said with a smirk just before he left.
"Its 9:25 a.m., what should I do? Ciel is working, I'm sure all the other servants are doing their jobs'. So what am I supposed to do?" I said to myself.
"Wait a second… Where's Gynx?" I said in a panic.
I quickly jumped off my chair and headed for my room.
I'm pretty sure Derrick knows what happened. He should be awake by now right?
I burst through the bedroom door which caused the demon to jolt up in surprise.
"Sorry, I thought you were awake by now, where's Gynx?" I asked my apology as flat as ever.
"Oh, your cat, last I saw him was with Sebastian. Now would you mind trying to sound apologetic when you've done something wrong?" Derrick said yawning.
"Okay thanks for the info!" I said before leaving.
"H-Hey!" I heard Derrick yell before I left the room.
Okay, maybe that was a little mean. Well that's in the past now.
"Where would Sebastian be?" I said to myself as I searched for the butler.
I kept roaming about the manor and entered Ciel's study.
"Hey Ciel sorry to bother you, I was just wondering where Sebastian is." I said lightly as I slowly opened the door.
"Huh? Oh Sebastian should be in his office, just go down to where the servants stay and it should be at the end of the hall." Ciel instructed.
"Okay thanks!" I said as I rushed through the halls.
Once I was down there it seemed really quiet and peaceful.
I guess everyone else is busy.
I ran down to the end of the hall and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Sebastian said from inside the room.
"Hey Sebastian, I was just wondering if you've seen Gynx." I said as I went inside the room.
"Oh yes he's right here." Sebastian said as he gestured to the kitten that had been sleeping at the edge of the desk.
The room was filled with books and documents. The desk had an abundance of papers too, but they were neatly stacked upon one another. Sebastian who was sitting behind the desk had glasses on and was working on some papers.
"Sorry for bothering you, I'll be on my way." I said as I scooped up the kitten and headed for the door.
"No problem, if you need anything just come and find me." Sebastian said lightly.
"Sure." I said closing the door and heading back.
Gynx was still sleeping in my arms as I passed the many halls of the manor. I went back to my room which was now empty.
"I guess Derrick left already." I said placing the kitten on the bed carefully.
I quietly left the room and headed for the library. I passed by a clock that read 9:56 a.m. and sighed deeply.
What am I supposed to do, I'm so bored and everyone is off doing something else.
Once I reached the library I went in and got the books Ciel had previously taken out for me.
Might as well study some more, if there is anything I need help with, it's socializing.
I took the books with me and headed back to my room. As I turned the hall I saw Derrick walking in the other direction and quickened my pace. I lightly tapped his should with the corner of a book and he turned to look.
"Sorry about earlier." I said apologetically.
"Well, thanks for apologizing correctly. What are those for?" he asked pointing at the books.
"Research." I said bluntly.
"Good luck with that, so did you find your pest?" he asked.
"Yes, and he isn't a pest, you just say that because he doesn't like you." I said sticking out my tongue.
"Yeah, whatever. What time is this thing going to start anyway?" he asked.
"Around 5 p.m." I said.
"Geez." Derrick replied sighing.
"What's wrong with that?" I asked.
"Nothing in particular. I guess I'd better go do some research for myself." Derrick said then disappeared.
"Damn demonic speed." I muttered as I turned again and went into the room.
"I'm so bored." I said in a low voice as I sat next to Gynx and began going over the names.
There were so many names that were memorized and so many faces carved into my brain, it felt like I knew there whole life story by now.
What should I do for the time being? Where did Derrick go anyway?
I kept reading until there was a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" I asked setting the books aside.
"It's Ciel we have to go over the strategy for this evening." I heard Ciel say from the other side of the door.
"Alright then." I said as I hopped off the bed and picked Gynx up.
I stalked out of the room and down the hall with Ciel to the study. He was quiet the entire time, until he started to sneeze at least 2 every minutes.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"I'm not sure." Ciel said as he sneezed.
"Oh, are you allergic to something?" I asked trying to hide Gynx behind my back.
"Don't tell me you kept that stupid thing!" Ciel said as he saw Gynx pop his head out from behind.
"W-Well, maybe." I said as I put Gynx on my shoulder.
"Fine, I guess I can't really complain, just keep him away from me." Ciel said sniffling.
"Got it." I said under my breath.
"We've still got a lot of time, so once we give you the instructions; feel free to practice them over until it's time to go." Ciel said smiling.
"You're so evil." I muttered to myself as we walked into the room.
"Sebastian, please go over the list of things Clary needs to prepare for." Ciel said sitting in his chair and taking a sip of his tea.
"Certainly. Clarissa, you must practice your dancing, so once you find the time practice with Derrick. Also, you must address each person you meet and or remember the faces of accordingly. If such person gets on the wrong foot with you, do not talk back or make any sort signal showing displeasure. If you do so, there will be a problem. I know you have a lot of tolerance, but your attitude needs adjustment towards the people you don't usually get along with." Sebastian said.
"I think we all know that." Ciel sneered.
I glared at Ciel who seemed to ignore my warning.
"You should take Sebastian's advice; whenever you can't say anything you make faces, so you should work on that." Ciel said smirking as he took a bite of a piece of cake.
"Anyway, if you feel any sort of threat make sure you tell someone, don't go off by yourself. In the worst case scenario make sure you have Derrick by you at all times. Nina Hopkins, the Phantomhive family tailor, will be working on something to accommodate a hand weapon. Speaking of which I think she should be here shortly, she is going to have to get your measurements if you don't mind." Sebastian said.
"Okay, is that all?" I asked.
"Basically, so then go find Derrick and work on what you have to." Ciel said.
"Alright, now I have to go fond that idio- I mean, my elder." I said correcting my remark.
"Sounds better, work on that." Ciel said.
"Tell me when Miss Nina gets here." I said walking out of the room.
I walked down the hall and felt for Gynx who was still resting on my shoulder.
"You should be lucky that Ciel wasn't too mad about me keeping you, the least you can do is behave while we are gone." I said.
Maybe I should just leave you with Pluto, or Snake. Hopefully they have no problem with you; I'm not so comfortable with you staying with Finny, judging by how he handles Pluto. Maybe I should ask the other servants. First I should probably get Derrick.
I walked through that halls and finally got to my room. I opened the door and found Derrick lying on the bed.
"Hey! You could at least ask. You do have your own room don't you?" I said as I walked over to him.
"Well I came to look for you and found these books. I was interested in reading, besides I have nothing else better to do." Derrick said and closed a book he was reading.
"Well, might as well study, but first we have to go practice." I said and grabbed his wrist trying to pull him from the bed.
"What do you mean? I don't have to study; I know almost everyone listed in that book." Derrick said resisting my attempt to pull him away.
"Oh yeah, then why did I have to I could have just used you as my information. Anyway, we have to go practice m I said as I walked over to him.
"Well I came to look for you and found these books. I was interested in reading, besides I have nothing else better to do." Derrick said and closed a book he was reading.
"Well, might as well study, but first we have to go practice." I said and grabbed his wrist trying to pull him from the bed.
"What do you mean? I don't have to study; I know almost everyone listed in that book." Derrick said resisting my attempt to pull him away.
"Oh yeah, then why did I have to I could have just used you as my information. Anyway, we have to go practice my dancing. As bad as it sounds I need a partner, so I have to settle for you." I said with a sigh.
"Actually it's the other way around, I'm the one stuck with you." Derrick sneered.
"I don't give a care in the world, now come on." I said pulling him once more.
"I'm actually kind of tired; maybe I should take a nap." Derrick said.
"Derrick. Now." I demanded and he lazily got up.
"Geez, you're such a pain." Derrick said as he walked out.
"You should work on your attitude too." I muttered.
"What was that?" Derrick asked glaring back at me.
"I said that I order you to obey my every command no matter the circumstance, also, try to be a little nicer like Sebastian." I said flatly.
"Fine." Derrick said in response.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"I'll tell you when I think about it." I said.
"So where are we going?" I asked walking faster to keep up with Derrick.
"The front parlor, it has enough room for dancing, so what should we practice?" Derrick asked.
"Maybe the waltz, that's the only one I know anyways." I said.
"Alright then." he said turning a corner and opening the door.
"Ladies first." Derrick said as he held the door open.
"Thanks." I said and walked in.
"Shall we?" he said as he gestured for me to take his hand.
"Maybe you should go back to your usual self, it's a bit too out of character for me to adjust to." I said as I took his hand.
"All you have to do is tell me and I will, besides, I have to do this once we go to the ball this evening, its proper manners, and you should do the same." Derrick said.
"Okay." I said as I put Gynx down and Derrick began to lead.
Once again it was the usual almost tripping over myself, but after a few more times I adjusted to it. Derrick began going the slightest bit faster and I followed, my tempo was matching with his perfectly and I was able to dance through with hardly any mistakes. I saw that Gynx had disappeared from where I left him and tripped over something. This time I crashed into Derrick making both of us to fall.
"Ow, what was that." I said rubbing my head and looking at Gynx which was at my feet.
"That damn cat!" Derrick said sitting up.
"Looks like that proper act has run out." I said.
"Does he always have to follow you everywhere?" Derrick said getting up and patting off some dust from his pants.
"Well if I had left him alone, he would've done much more damage." I said as Derrick pulled me up.
"I think that that's enough of practice. It's already 12:10 p.m. Time sure flies by when you're being productive." Derrick said.
"You call that productive?" I said and rubbed my head again.
"Did you hit your head?" Derrick said as he leaned forward and moved my hand away.
"Ow! That hurts!" I said as he inspected my head.
"No wonder, you have a bump right there, you should get some ice for that." He said moving away.
"Alright, I will, next time can you let me answer before taking action?" I said placing my hand back to where the bump was.
"Well if I let you answer you would more than likely say it was 'no problem'. So I took matters into my own hands as I saw fit." Derrick said smirking.
"Okay okay, I get it." I said as I picked Gynx up and poked his nose.
"Is that all the discipline you're going to give that thing?" Derrick asked annoyed.
"If I let you there is a 75% chance you'd kill him." I said.
"Well, I can't disagree with that." Derrick muttered.
"I got to go see Mey-Rin, see you later." I said as I left for the door.
"Be careful and try not to hurt yourself any further." Derrick said from behind.
I walked down the hall and headed for the servants' quarters.
Now that I think about it, I don't know where they keep this stuff. Instead of bothering Mey-Rin maybe I should just ask Sebastian or Ciel. At least I know where to find those two. Wait I could've just asked Derrick when I had the chance, I hope he's still there.
I stopped and turned back to the front parlor quickening my pace. Once I made it to the door I was stopped by a cold hand at my shoulder.
"Here, idiot." Derrick said handing me an ice pack.
"Thanks." I said grabbing the ice.
"How did you kno-" I said before I was abruptly cut off.
"It wasn't that hard to find out; you're really predictable at times. Well, if you need me I'll be in your room sleeping." Derrick said turning to leave.
"Why mine?!" I asked in rage but before I got an answer Derrick sped off.
Damn him! I was planning on reading or sleeping, something to pass the time but now I can't! Might as well use his room, wait, where is his room? Argh! I'll just use an empty guest room.
I walked to the nearest room and opened the door. It was empty, completely vacant, no bed, or drawers, just a window.
"I guess they really had to prepare a room then. Literally." I said closing the door.
Gynx shivered as I pet him, it probably didn't help that it was the same hand that had been holding the ice. I kept walking until I ended up in front of Ciel's study.
"Ciel, are you busy?" I said as I knocked lightly on the door.
"Not really, come in." he said and I opened the door.
Oh crap I still have Gynx with me. Should I just leave him outside or something?
In the corner I saw Dan; he looked as if he were trying to get my attention. I slowly walked to the corner when Ciel was looking at some papers.
"Hey Dan, would you mind taking Gynx to my room?" I whispered to the snake.
He nodded as if it was what he planned. I set Gynx down and Dan caught Gynx's attention. At first he was cautious of the snake then began following him around. I opened the door a bit so that they could leave and shut it quietly once they did.
"What are you standing there for?" Ciel said looking up.
"Nothing much." I said hesitantly.
"Okay then, what did you need?" he asked.
"Well, I don't need anything, Derrick is kind of, 'borrowing' my room at the moment so I was just bored." I said sitting in one of the chairs.
"I guess you can hang around here if you'd like, I'm sure Nina will be here shortly, trust me once she gets here you will feel like you've spent an eternity with her." Ciel said with displeasure.
"I'm guessing you don't like this tailor of yours?" I asked with interest.
"Well, 'like' isn't such a good term, it's more like she is a 'bother' to be around." Ciel said.
"Come on I'm sure she isn't that bad." I said.
There was a knock at the door and Sebastian came in.
"Miss Hopkins has arrived." He said flatly.
"I guess you're going to have to find out for yourself." Ciel said with a smirk.
Oooooo! Cliff hanger! ((ahahaha I'm not funny, anyways yes I leave you with a cliff hanger.)) Hope you enjoyed this chapter, keep reviewing and reading. Thank you for reading my story I greatly appreciate it! w