Chapter 11: Questions.

Once Sebastian finished adjusting the boy's tie, he stood up and brushed off his jacket. "All done, Young Master."

The young earl gazed at his reflection in the mirror as he leaned on his cane. "Do you think Reece Valentine will show up?"

The raven-haired butler shrugged, "There is a possibility that he will, although Miss Dyer never did say whether or not he would attend."

"That woman's hiding something, I can feel it." Ciel muttered, walking out of the room.

Sebastian rose a brow as he followed the boy down the hallway, intrigued by his statement. "You think so, too? I had my doubts as well."

The bluenette shrugged as he strolled down the grand staircase, "I don't really know what it is she could be hiding, but I'm not too concerned about it. If Valentine does happen to come, then most of my questions will be answered."


The ball was almost over, yet there was no sign of Reece Valentine.

Ciel sighed heavily as he ran his fingers through his navy hair, "He isn't going to show up."

At that moment, the large set of doors opened up, and in walked a devilishly handsome man with ebony black hair that ended just above his shoulders and mesmerizing emerald eyes that had bits of gold scattered throughout them.

He looked around the room, his gaze landing on Ciel, and he stalked over towards the boy with a wicked grin.

Ciel rose a brow as the man approached him, "Can I help you?"

The man chuckled softly, "My name is Reece Valentine, I was told by Miss Dyer that you wished to speak to me."

Sebastian glared at the man the entire time he spoke, almost as if they knew each other.

The bluenette then nodded and held out his hand, "My name is Ciel Phantomhive, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine." The man spoke as he shook the boy's hand, paying no mind to the scowling butler beside him. "Miss Dyer said that you wanted to talk about Judith Sullivan. She was a very close friend of mine, so I'd be more than happy to tell you whatever it is that you would like to know about her."

"Samantha Dyer had told me that Judith ran away from home in 1869. Do you know the reason behind that?" Ciel asked, narrowing his eyes.

The raven-haired man nodded, "She ran away from home to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer. Her parents were against it, so she decided to come to London to live with her younger sister, Clarissa, in order to do so. Shortly after her arrival, she was hired by a theatre to be one of their solo performers. Her dancing was very elegant and beautiful, everyone who would come to watch it was amazed by her talent."

The boy folded his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall, "Her sister, Clarissa... Is she still alive?"

Reece shrugged, "I didn't know her very well, to be honest. She's most likely alive, though I don't know where she lives."

Ciel furrowed his brows, "I was informed that Judith suffered from poor health. Did this effect her dancing abilities?"

The man sighed heavily as he put his hands in his pockets. "Indeed it did. She was dying from an incurable sickness that would occasionally shut down some of her senses. As a result, she would often lose the ability to see clearly or hear clearly. One day while she was heading home from the theatre, she couldn't see anything past her fingertips, and... an accident stole her legs from her, and replaced the everlasting love in her heart with emptiness... However, she soon regained the ability to walk again, but she was still unable to perform. She was devastated." He shot a sharp glare in Sebastian's direction at that last sentence, that went unnoticed by the young earl.

"What about her child? ...Did you know she was pregnant?" The bluenette asked.

Once again, Reece nodded. "Yes, I knew quite well that Judith was pregnant. In fact, I was the first person to find out. She was having a girl. She named her Annalise because she remember her lover saying that he liked that name. However, he was not aware that she was pregnant. He never found out about it... until I told him."

Ciel's eyes had widened and he looked up into the man's sharp emerald orbs, "You knew who the father was?!"

He smirked deviously as he spoke, "I knew quite well who the father was. Annalise's father... Judith's lover... was none other than Vincent Phantomhive. Who would have ever thought that there could be an illegitimate child of Phantomhive?"

A random blonde woman who stood only a few feet from us instantly spun around with a shocked expression on her face, "There's an illegitimate child of Phantomhive?!"

A lady with chocolate brown hair who stood beside the blonde woman covered her mouth as she gasped, "Does this mean the previous earl had an affair?"

Reece chuckled wickedly as the women began gossiping amongst themselves. "It's only a matter of time before word gets to the Queen. How will she react, I wonder?"

I narrowed my eyes at the man as I clenched my fists, "Who are you, really?!"

His eyes flashed fuchsia as he ran his fingers through his silken black hair, "Mordecai Harvey. Now, tell me where Annalise is, and I'll tell you the truth behind Judith's death."

Sebastian took a step forward, reaching into his breast pocket to pull out a butter-knife, but stopped when I raised my hand. "Why do you want to know where Annalise is?" I asked.

"So I can protect her from him." He muttered, glaring at Sebastian.

I furrowed my brows, "What do you mean?"

He spoke in a low, haunting tone. "He was the one responsible for Judith's death."