"Nina!" I blinked around at my surroundings and noticed I was on a rooftop. I blinked a couple more times. "You're awake!"

I nodded dumbly. "What's going on, Rema?"

Rema chuckled a little sheepishly. "Well…we found out that Madam Red was a psychotic murderess," she admitted.

I nodded sagely. "I always thought she had an angry flash in her eyes when I woke up from the come and found out, ya know?"

Rema looked like she wanted to strangle me. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"'Cause I didn't know if she would actually turn out to be a psychotic murderess! Sorry for giving the woman the benefit of the doubt!" I snapped at her.

Rema sighed. "Let's just calm down. Right now, there are two demons fighting Grell, a Shinigami."

"They're reapers, not death gods," I automatically corrected. "There's a difference. A clear one, too."

"I doubt that," snorted Rema. "I bet whoever told you that was a boring, by-the-book worker."

"I am not," a bored voice said, "a boring, by-the-book worker. I am a reaper, and Reaper Grell has been killing indiscriminately. Normally, he would be put down, but he is a remarkable reaper, despite his many eccentricities."

"Oh…" I said, whirling and seeing the same weird guy. "It's you."

He looked vaguely insulted before he sighed and leapt onto the other building, just in time to stop Sebastian from killing Grell.

"Sorry to disrupt this," he said in a bored tone that said he was anything but sorry. "But Grell Sutcliff must come with me."

Everyone blinked.

"And you might be…?" asked Grace politely.

"You must be Grace Michaelis. You are very fortunate to have a highly respected reaper as your mate," the man said. "I am William T. Spears, reaper." He flicked a card over to her, but Sebastian was the one to catch it. "Now, for the unauthorized deaths of multiple people before their time and also the unauthorized making of a one-of-a-kind scythe, you're being demoted." Again, his tone implied.

Grell burst into comical tears.

"No!" he wept. "Can I at least have your coat as a reminder of all the fun times we had, Madam Red?"

Madam Red sighed. "Fine," she grumbled. She tossed the reaper her coat.

As soon as both reapers were gone, Grace and Sebastian turned to their respective masters.

"Do I still have to kill her?" Sebastian asked.

"No…" Ciel sighed. "However," he said, his eyes darkening, "I suggest you refrain from murdering any more prostitutes. I'd hate for the Queen to be told about your…extracurricular activities and have to kill you, the next time-if there ever will be-for real."

Madam Red nodded. "Very well," she said. "Have a good rest of the night, Ciel."

Madam Red stalked off.

"Sentiment?" Sebastian asked, tilting his head to his master.

Ciel glared back fearlessly.

"No," he said coolly. "She won't do it again."

~:~

I wrung out my hair quickly, it falling into what seemed to be natural curls now.

Not that I really minded. I liked the curls. They were pretty. I slipped into my nightgown and exited the bathroom, a smiling Sebastian scaring me.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, holding a hand to my fast-beating heart, feeling as though it was going to pound out of my chest. I slumped on the wall as he just chuckled and left.

Did he get a kick out of scaring people? That would explain everything…actually, no it wouldn't.

After a few minutes of getting my heart back under control, I went back into my room and sighed.

I was bored here. It was much less fun, to be honest, to be in the middle of danger. Having been hurt multiple times I swore I just needed a few lessons in case I did get attacked.

That wasn't exactly easy, though, with Elizabeth over for a week, to my and Rema's chagrin.

It was made embarrassing when it all came to a head at the last dinner, where Elizabeth was quite silent, causing Ciel to finally ask her what was wrong.

"Her."

My head jerked up, and I saw all of the servants, of whom only Grace and Sebastian were doing anything, pause.

"Me?" I squeaked.

"Yes, you," Elizabeth said in a dark tone. "You want to take my Ciel away from me!"

I almost rolled my eyes. I only loved Ciel as a little brother. I shook my head.

"It's not like that," I said, looking down at my plate. "First," I said, raising my hand, knowing without looking Elizabeth was opening her mouth, "I'm almost sixteen." I felt my face start to blaze. Yeah, I'd lied to Azzuro Vanel, but I hadn't exactly wanted him to know that I was younger than I really was. "And I'm not someone who wants to marry a lord, no offense," I added to Ciel.

"So you're too old for him?" Elizabeth asked, rather darkly. "Tell me that's not your only reason! You still love my Ciel-"

"As a brother!" I snapped, standing up. "I love Ciel as a brother, Miss Midford. And I cannot, nor will I, ever even try to get a marriage contract with him, because I am not that jealous of yours and Ciel's relationship. I'm also amnesiac, and apparently I'm some sort of princess, so even if I tried, I probably already have a marriage contract that my mother wrote up. Okay?" I was angry, certainly, but I never thought I'd be using my amnesia problem as an excuse. "I apologize if I was too harsh with you." I bowed. "May I be excused?" I asked Ciel, who nodded, looking completely shocked.

I brushed past Sebastian and hurried up the steps, not wanting to talk to anyone. I was upset, but I wasn't all that angry at Elizabeth. She was a jealous little girl and I really had no right to be here.

If it were me, I suppose I would be jealous, too.

But I was fifteen, she was twelve. Granted, I may be older, but I look like a thirteen-year-old, which was in all honesty kind of freaky.

There was a knock on my door.

I opened it with a small sigh, expecting Rema or someone-anyone other than the one standing on the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said, looking down. "I hope you'll forgive me."

"Always," I said warmly. "Is Ciel still eating dinner?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Then go back down there and be happy, I wasn't very hungry anyway," I smiled, lying to her and feeling guilty for doing so.

She nodded and happily skipped off, and I shut my door and sighed, walking over to the window and climbing onto the window seat and opened the window, smiling as the cool night air washed over me.

Learning how to be stronger wasn't going to be easy, but I would do it.