Ever since Sebastian had come to the realization that he truly desired Adalina, he began to look at her with new eyes. He still didn't understand how such a thing had happened. Demons did not love. It was a plain and simple fact. So how in the world had he developed feelings for Adalina, someone who never even said anything, and why had they hit him so suddenly? He had worked with Adalina for a little over two and a half years, and never once had he had any romantic attraction towards her. What was so different about now?

She wasn't his demon soulmate. Such a thing was said to be a myth seeing as he had never heard of any of the demons he knew having a demon soulmate, especially not a human soulmate. And even if she was, he surely would've known by now. He would've been pulled to her from the moment he met her. He had never been pulled to her and definitely not in the romantic sense. He also would've seen a mark on her by now as proof that she was his soulmate. She was definitely not a demon soulmate.

He had never had feelings for a woman before, so a part of him questioned if what he kept feeling was truly attraction for her. But the other part of him knew that he desired Adalina much more now in a way that he had never desired anyone, not even any of his previous mistresses. He had only desired those women for their delicious souls.

The feeling was quite thrilling. After living for thousands of years, to experience completely foreign feelings was rather exciting and he decided to let himself enjoy it.

When it came to Adalina, he wished to have her near him every moment of the day. He knew that if he wanted, he could easily have her all to himself and do whatever he wanted with her. But it wasn't enough for him to want her. He also wanted her to want him. He wanted her to desire him in the same way he desired her. His normal methods for seducing women would not work on her. He would have to try something else.

But could someone like her ever want him? She had been terrified of him just a short time ago and part of that was his own fault. While she had certainly warmed up to him, he wasn't so sure she was comfortable around him yet and she certainly didn't have feelings for him. At least not the same kind of feelings he had for her. Could she learn to love him someday?

Adalina noticed a small change in Sebastian. She couldn't exactly say what it was, and it was so barely noticeable that she didn't know if the other servants could see it, but there was just something…different.

The morning after the party, her back and ribs ached terribly from being unused to wearing such a restricting piece of clothing as a corset. She had been all too thankful when Mey-Rin had finally been able to take it off her body so she could inhale properly (it had taken her forever since Mey-Rin didn't know how to operate a corset very well). How women wore those things all the time, she didn't know. It was at moments like that that she was rather grateful she was a servant and was not required to wear a corset every day.

However, at the current time, her primary concern was for her master. He looked even worse than he had last night, and it was clear that he was feeling sick but was trying to hide it. He always hid everything. Adalina could never guess what he was thinking even if she tried.

He let out small coughs all throughout breakfast that grew deeper and louder as the day went on. When she tried to give him medicine, he had shortly declined. But he continued to get worse, and she knew that Sebastian noticed as well, but he never did anything about it. For some reason, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Things took a horrible turn when Sebastian and Adalina were following Ciel towards his study with some tea and cakes so he could get some work done.

However, before he could even make it to the stairs, Ciel began coughing once again even harder than before. His breathing became extremely labored and his face went very pale. It was clear something was very wrong. It became even clearer when Ciel fell to the floor and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the red carpet.

Adalina quickly knelt down in worry.

"He's having an asthma attack," Sebastian said quickly.

Asthma? How had she not known after all this time that her young master had a chronic illness like asthma? Moreover, how did Sebastian know this and she didn't?

Questions would have to be answered later. Right now, her main focus was making sure that Ciel survived this attack.

Adalina had never touched Ciel before. After all, it was not her place to lay her hands on her master unless it was required to fulfill his orders. But in a matter of life and death, such rules were to be dismissed.

The head maid quickly hefted him up into her arms in the way one might hold a toddler. She then rushed up the stairs to his room, her heart aching for him as she heard his loud wheezing in her ears, felt the heat coming from his body as he began to sweat, and felt his body tense as he coughed harder. She lightly pressed her hand to the back of his head, wishing that she could get to his room faster.

Adalina blamed herself for this. She had noticed that he wasn't feeling right, but she had not done anything about it. Perhaps if she had done something earlier, anything at all, Ciel wouldn't be struggling for air.

She finally made it to his room and set him down on his bed where he continued to wheeze in an attempt to get oxygen into his lungs.

This was not the first asthma attack Adalina had witnessed. There had been a girl back in her time in captivity who also had asthma, and she had frequent attacks when she was in the room with the others. The poor girl has managed to successfully suppress her attacks when she was forced to serve the men until one day, she could not hold back any longer. Adalina never saw her again after that.

Adalina knelt in front of the young boy and took his head in her hands, forcing him to look at her stern face. While she was unable to give him specific instructions, he could learn by mimicking her. She made him lean forward a little and then took a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. Then she lightly pressed her hands to his shoulders so that he didn't move them when he breathed.

Ciel did his best to do what she was clearly instructing for him to do, and it helped, but only a little bit. He continued to cough and wheeze as Sebastian came into the room behind her.

"I've brought some clary sage oil and a bit of water, my lord," he said calmly. "It should help you to breathe easier."

He stood in front of the young master with a very small bowl filled with some kind of liquid. Ciel breathed in the scent of the oil and downed the glass of water. While his wheezing decreased some, he was still having trouble getting oxygen.

"Adalina, would you please prepare a bath for the young master?" Sebastian asked. "Please make it hot. I believe the steam will do him some good."

Adalina quickly curtseyed and exited the room to go the master's bathroom. She filled the bathtub with hot water, but not so hot that it would burn him, and prepared some warm towels for when he was finished. After everything was ready, she returned to Ciel's room and her presence told Sebastian that she had completed her instructions.

"No," Ciel wheezed. "I have orders…from the Queen." He coughed heavily. "I have to…have to help…"

"My lord, you are not doing anything until you are well again."

Adalina stood outside the door as Ciel bathed in case Sebastian needed her to retrieve anything. She could hear Ciel's pained coughs coming from inside the bathroom and each one hurt her. She disliked seeing and hearing her master in pain.

When the two of them exited the bathroom with Ciel dressed in his oversized nightshirt, she followed them back to his room but did not enter. She chose to wait outside again, unsure if Ciel would want her in the room with him. She never entered his room unless it was an emergency.

Sebastian soon exited and closed the door behind him.

"He's resting now," he told the young woman. "I'm sure you're quite curious as to how this happened. You see, I myself did not know that the master had asthma until several months ago when we were working undercover at a circus. Due to several circumstances, he fell very ill much like he has now. I believe that this time, he managed to catch the cold you received not long ago and when that is combined with his running about in the cold London weather, he got sick once more."

Adalina sighed quietly. So this was her fault. It was her fault that Ciel was sick. She was the one who wasn't careful and had fallen through ice and had gotten ill. And because of that, now her young master was inside his room struggling for breath.

Sebastian frowned when he sensed her feelings of frustration. She blamed herself for occurrences in the manor far too often.

"You cannot blame yourself for this. There was no way of preventing him from getting this cold. In fact, the alternative is that he would be dead because it would mean you hadn't saved him from the ice. While it is unfortunate to see him ill, it is better than what could've been."

Adalina wondered how Sebastian always managed to say the right thing to her. It was like he knew exactly what she was thinking. Maybe it was simply one of his demon powers. How else would he be able to always know exactly what to say to her?

"For the time being, we shall let him rest and let his body fight his fever on its own. He should be perfectly fine in a matter of days. Will you help me prepare some food for him for when he wakes up?"

Adalina smiled a little and nodded before following him to the kitchen.

The two of them began chopping up vegetables and various meats that would help Ciel feel better, Sebastian instructing Adalina on what exactly he wanted and where.

"I must say, you handled all of that very well and kept an excellent composure," Sebastian said to her. "I shudder to think of what might've happened had any of the other servants been around for such a display."

Adalina smiled a little, picturing Mey-Rin, Baldroy, and Finnian running around in a panic as their young master fell to the floor.

"I'm unfamiliar with those breathing techniques you used. Do you happen to know anyone with asthma?"

Adalina put her head down as she recalled the girl from so long ago. She had had such life in her eyes when she had first arrived. It was amazing how fast that life could be stolen away.

Even if Sebastian had been expecting a reply, he wouldn't have gotten one. He could sense her sadness and realized that he had touched a nerve.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to dredge up more painful memories."

Adalina gave him a small smile and shook her head, letting him know that there was no harm done.

"This soup is done. Please take this up to the young master's room and let it sit by his bedside. It's very hot now, so it should be at a good temperature when he wakes up again."

Adalina curtseyed before taking the tray with the soup from him and heading up to Ciel's bedroom.

When she put the tray on his dresser, she spared a glance at her sleeping master. While Ciel was usually the most intimidating 14-year-old she had ever met in her life, right now, he looked kind of…cute.

She pulled up a chair and set it next to his bed. His breathing was still labored, but it was certainly much better than it had been before. The oil and the steam had helped him greatly as had the sleep. She gently began running her fingers through his damp hair as a few more coughs slipped out while he remained unconscious.

One thing Adalina knew was that children deserved to be nurtured far more than Ciel was nurtured. She wished that she could provide that motherly affection that he was so lacking, but she knew that she would never be more than a servant in his eyes. That was just the way it was. She really didn't mind it so much. After all, such a life was far better than where she had been just a few years ago, and though Ciel could sometimes be rather unfeeling, he was a kind master when it came down to it and he respected his servants. He was never cross with her even though she did not talk and didn't try to force her to speak.

But a part of her wanted her young master to be like the child he was supposed to be. He needed a mother and a father, and at the moment, all he had were Sebastian and Adalina. Both of them were hardly fit to fill the roles.

Why did such a horrible fate have to befall him at such a young age?

Sebastian passed by Ciel's room but paused when he noticed Adalina sitting by him. A small smile graced his lips when he saw the way she was touching him. He had never seen this side of her before. She always attempted to be very professional and not upset their master in the slightest. However, now that he was sick, she was much more caring and gentle with him and unafraid to lay her hands on him.

It truly was a sweet sight and made that all-too-familiar feeling return to him.

"Hey! Adalina!"

Adalina opened her eyes when she heard pounding on her door. She groggily pulled off the blankets and got out of bed. She then wrapped a shawl around her shoulders before answering the door, not wanting whoever was on the other side to see her in just her nightgown.

Finnian stood there with an alarmed expression on his face. She creased her eyebrows together in confusion, wondering why he was here in the middle of the night. It was rare she was woken up in the middle of the night, and usually Sebastian was the one to come get her when this happened.

"Something's wrong with the young master. Sebastian told me to come get you."

Adalina's eyes widened for a moment. Something must be really wrong if Sebastian needed her and couldn't come get her himself. All traces of sleep gone, she quickly followed Finnian up to Ciel's room. The other servants were standing outside the door with worried expressions.

"Sebastian's already inside," Baldroy told her. "He won't let us in, but he said that you can."

Adalina looked at them in confusion. Why would Sebastian let her in the young master's room but not the other servants? Sure, she was the head maid, but it didn't give her that much precedence over the others.

Nevertheless, she trusted Sebastian's judgment. She opened the door to Ciel's bedroom just enough for her to squeeze through so the servants wouldn't see anything inside.

Ciel was huddled under the blankets as Sebastian stood a good distance from the bed.

"Who's there?" Ciel panicked from beneath the large quilt.

"It is just Adalina, my lord," Sebastian answered.

Adalina looked up to Sebastian.

"When the contract was first formed and I began to serve him, the young master had frequent nightmares. I believe his fever is producing some of those nightmares, and no matter what I do, I cannot seem to get him to calm down. I know he would not want the other servants to see him this way, but I thought perhaps you could do something for him."

Adalina looked at her master sadly. Despite it all, he was still just a child and he had endured great trauma just a short time ago. She knew what it was like to suffer from horrid nightmares about being in captivity. But even though he had only been captive for a month, his time had been so much worse than her months on end. He had been so very, very young and abused in much worse ways than she had been. The only reason he was even sane right now was probably because he had Sebastian. It was almost painfully ironic.

She didn't know if she could be of any help to him, but she would try. If she knew one thing, being alone after a nightmare was almost unbearable. Perhaps he didn't want Sebastian near because he gave off too much of a terrifying aura even when he didn't mean to and reminded him too much of his time held captive.

Adalina wasn't sure if there had been women in the cult, but maybe being a woman would help her provide some comfort to him that Sebastian could not.

She slowly went over to his bed, not doing anything too fast so as not to scare him any more than he already was.

"Don't come near me!" Ciel cried when he heard her soft footsteps.

Adalina sighed. He didn't want her near either. But he needed someone. She just needed to show him that she meant no harm and only wanted to provide comfort for him.

She inched towards the bundle of blankets a bit more. She wished that she had the voice to say something…anything…to calm him down.

Once a bit closer, Ciel peeked his head out of the blankets and looked up at her. She had never seen the boy look so scared in the entire time she had worked for him. Clearly, going to him would just make things worse. So she would let him come to her.

She slowly extended her hand for him to take.

To Sebastian's surprise, Ciel's hand came out of the blanket he was huddled under and reached up to hers. There was a moment of hesitation before he finally touched her hand.

Adalina smiled a little and went forward to sit on the bed next to the bundle of blankets. She gave the young boy as much of a reassuring look as she could give him. He was breathing heavily out of fear, but he looked as if he was finally beginning to calm down.

Adalina slowly reached her hand out and touched his head. In response, he moved out of the blankets just a bit more and looked up at her.

Then something extremely unexpected happened that shocked both Sebastian and Adalina alike.

Ciel moved over to her and lightly grasped onto her.

Adalina froze for a moment in surprise. Then she gently rubbed her hand up and down his back in a comforting manner as he continued to hold her hand. She alternated between rubbing his back and the back of his head.

The head maid looked over at Sebastian and gave him a small nod, silently telling him that she had everything handled and would stay with Ciel until he fell asleep.

Sebastian left the room to find the other servants anxiously awaiting news about their young master.

"Adalina is watching over him now," he explained. "I assure you that he will be just fine. You may all return to sleep now."

The servants didn't press for an explanation because they knew they wouldn't get one.

Adalina held Ciel in her arms doing nothing but gently stroking him. It seemed to be enough for he continued to relax with each passing moment.

Eventually, he fell asleep again, so she gently laid him down on his bed so as not to wake him. She didn't want to leave the room in case he had another nightmare and found himself alone and they just ended up back where they had started. So she again pulled up a chair next to his bedside and stayed there to watch over him. She lightly held his hand in her own, providing him with her comforting touch even in his sleep.

Ciel did not awake again during the night, and when Sebastian entered the room to wake him up, he smiled a little at the sight of Adalina sleeping as she sat in a chair by the master's bedside with the upper half of her body lying on the bed, her hand still holding Ciel's.