After lots of sleep and lots of preventing Ciel from leaving his room, the young master was fully recovered and was able to get back to his business for the Queen.
"Adalina," Ciel said to the head maid as she served him tea in his study. "I'd like to thank you for tending to me when I fell ill. I know you were not previously aware of my condition, but you still handled it well."
Adalina nodded once to show she had heard him.
"I apologize for you seeing me in such a weak state. But thank you for staying by my side during that time."
Adalina nodded again but couldn't understand how he possibly apologized for having a panic attack after suffering from an awful nightmare. He was still just a child and he had been through so much already. It was only natural for him to have terrible nightmares after enduring such trauma. He didn't have to excuse it.
Of course, she was well aware she should be saying the same thing to herself.
"Once you are finished in here, prepare the carriage. Sebastian and I are heading to London to investigate. Various criminals have been turning up dead in rather gruesome ways. All of them have somehow escaped prison due to mistakes on Scotland Yard's part or they simply haven't been caught before. It appears we have a vigilante on our hands. I don't particularly care, but the Queen insists that London cannot have any vigilantes running about with their own sense of justice. We can't have the citizens losing faith in Scotland Yard's abilities, even though they are perfectly useless. Stay here and take care of the manor until we know what we're dealing with."
Adalina politely curtseyed and left the study with the tea tray. She then went outside and got the carriage ready for transport. Ciel and Sebastian stepped inside, and she watched as they headed off down the road into London.
While she was a bit disappointed that her young master hadn't brought her along, she could understand his hesitation. Things with Daniel had gone very well, but that was because he did not have any prior fighting knowledge. She needed a lot more training before she could go up against someone who actually knew what they were doing.
Sebastian, however, could handle absolutely anything and everything. She didn't need to worry about Ciel as long as Sebastian was with him. He was basically invincible.
Or at least, that's what she had thought before they returned.
Adalina wrote down orders for the servants to complete even though she was well aware that she and Sebastian would most likely have to clean up their messes later. Then she went about doing several daily chores of her own and later practiced the moves Sebastian had been teaching her.
When she heard the carriage returning, she quickly went to the door to prepare for her master's arrival. What she was not prepared for was Sebastian leaning onto the young boy for support as two very large gashes stretched across his chest and various deep cuts covered his arms.
Her eyes widened at the sight. She had never seen Sebastian so much as have a paper cut before. How had such a thing happened to him? Perhaps it was a good thing she had not come along with them. If Sebastian was this injured, she probably would've been killed.
"Adalina, see to him please," Ciel ordered. "Make sure he's all right and that he gets everything he needs."
Adalina quickly curtseyed and took Sebastian from Ciel's grasp. She made him put his arm around her shoulders so she could hold his weight better before she helped him walk to the butler's quarters.
She had never actually been inside Sebastian's room before. He had been in hers, but she had never been in his. The occasion never called for it, and it wasn't like Sebastian kept anything he needed in his room. All he really had in it were his clothes and maybe a few pieces of a paper and writing utensils.
Adalina helped him over to the bed, and he collapsed on top of it with a pained groan. She quickly left the room and ran to the bathroom to retrieve some water, alcohol, cloths and bandages. When she returned, Sebastian's breathing was labored, and he hadn't moved an inch from when she had left.
She lifted her hands to his coat and slowly undid the buttons. He looked like he was uncomfortable with the action, but he didn't stop her. She then loosened his tie before moving it out of the way and unbuttoned his vest and white shirt exposing his very pale skin drenched in red blood. She had half-expected him to be covered in black blood, but it was definitely red albeit a bit darker than normal.
Her stomach did a flip when she saw just how deep the two gashes were, and she let out a small puff of air as she tried to figure out how she was supposed to help him. How was she supposed to take care of injuries on a person who had never gotten injured before? What could she do to heal a demon who always healed himself?
With nothing else to do, she dipped one of the cloths into the water. Then she slowly rubbed the wet fabric across his injured chest. The cloth quickly turned to a deep red color as it soaked up some of the blood.
"It was a Grim Reaper who did this," Sebastian mustered out, sensing her confusion as to how he had gotten injured. "While demons cannot be killed easily, they can be extremely weakened and even killed by Death Scythes especially when dealt multiple blows such as I have endured." Sebastian groaned in pain. "I've never seen a Reaper so fast before. I couldn't even make out his face, but he was definitely the one killing off the criminals. He came at me from behind and stabbed me twice with his Death Scythe. These wounds will heal, but it will take a couple of days rather than a couple of minutes like it normally would."
Adalina put down the now-ruined wet cloth. She picked up another one and began working on the other gash. It was strange to Sebastian so…in pain. She had always assumed him to be unbreakable in a way. But even demons had their limits it seemed.
Adalina gave him an apologetic look before gently rubbing his wound with alcohol to clean it. Sebastian couldn't stop the pained grunt from leaving his lips as his whole body tensed up.
The young woman felt terrible that she had to put him through something so painful, but it wouldn't do anyone any good if his wounds got infected. That is, if they even could get infected.
Once she had cleaned his wounds as best she could, she knew she had to get his back as well seeing as the gashes she had just cleaned were the exit wounds if he had indeed been stabbed from behind. She ever so gently helped Sebastian sit up on his bed. His sheets had turned a very dark red beneath him. She would have to clean those very soon or the stains would never come out, and she could only imagine how Sebastian would feel about that once he was well again.
Very carefully so as not to cause him even more pain, she removed his coat from his shoulders. He winced, but he made no sound. It was so strange to see the normally calm and collected butler in such a state. She didn't even know if she was helping by doing all this for him. Was she causing him more pain for nothing?
She then took his tie off his neck and removed his white shirt and gloves to expose his black nails and contract mark. She could not stop herself from blushing at the complete improperness of this whole situation. But her master had ordered her to care for Sebastian and she was not going to disobey him. She also didn't trust the other servants to care for him. Mey-Rin would explode upon seeing Sebastian shirtless, Finnian might accidently break a bone or two, and Baldroy would rush the whole thing and hurt him more.
She blushed harder when she saw that…Sebastian was much more muscular than she had expected. He had such a lean and slender figure that she was certainly not prepared for the sight that greeted her. Even with the large gashes and cuts, his muscles were still quite defined.
Despite the intense pain, Sebastian couldn't help but smirk as he sensed the emotions coming from her when she looked at him. A part of him didn't want her to see him like this, but another part of him enjoyed making her feel the way she did. Perhaps this was what would help her develop the same kind feelings for him that he had for her.
Adalina climbed up onto the bed so that she was behind him, making sure to avoid the blood stains. She took more wet cloths and cleaned the gashes on his exposed back. She wiped off all the blood—and there was a lot of it—and then rubbed the cloth over his arms and shoulders to clean the cuts. His skin was so very, very cold which she supposed was to be expected. Her face was getting more and more heated as she rubbed the cloth against Sebastian's bare skin. The closest she had even gotten to his skin was when he had removed his gloves in order for him to understand her past, and only on very rare days did he remove his tailcoat. Never before had she seen this much of him. (After all, she had not seen Sebastian when he had used his body heat to warm her up after she had fallen into the lake).
Once she had washed off all of the blood and cleaned the wounds with alcohol, she tossed the cloth away with the others. Then she took the bandages she had brought into the room and wrapped them all around his body until his entire chest was wrapped up.
Afterwards, she helped Sebastian off the bed into the chair by his desk. Her face heated once again at their closeness in his state of undress and the feel of his toned muscles on her body.
She made very, very quick work of changing the blood-drenched sheets so he could rest again. Once his bed had been made and the sheets were out of the room, she helped him from the chair and back on the new sheets.
She took his shoes off for him so he was more comfortable as he rested. Demon or not, lying in bed with shoes on was not comfortable for anyone.
"Inform the young master that I will be sleeping for a little while as it will make the injuries heal faster," Sebastian told her. "He should not worry though. I have suffered much worse in the past."
Adalina gathered all of the ruined cloths and the red-tinted water. Before she could exit the room, she felt a hand on her arm.
"Adalina," the butler said quietly. "Thank you."
Adalina gave him a small smile and nodded a little before departing to let him sleep. Once she had exited the room, she let out a large breath and tried to once again calm her racing heart.
The young woman disposed of the ruined cloths and poured out the water. Then she headed up to her master's study where she had no doubt he was anxiously awaiting news of Sebastian.
She politely knocked on the door until she heard his approval for her to come in.
"Is Sebastian all right?" Ciel asked.
Adalina nodded.
"Have his wounds healed yet?"
She shook her head.
"Did he tell you anything else?"
Seeing that she wasn't responding (nor had he expected her to), he gave her a piece of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote down that Sebastian had told her he would be sleeping until his injuries had healed but that Ciel shouldn't worry.
"I see. You'll have to take over for him until he is recovered then. I know you're more than capable of doing so."
Adalina politely curtseyed before going off to help Baldroy prepare dinner for the young master.
"Adalina. Adalina."
Adalina quickly opened her eyes upon hearing Ciel's urgent voice. When she sat up a little she realized that Ciel was standing right next to her bed. She quickly pulled the blanket over her chest as her master should not see her in just her nightgown.
Her brow furrowed when she saw just how panicked he looked. Ciel had never, ever come into her room before for anything, and he was never the one to wake her up. It wasn't appropriate for a master to enter a servant's room to wake them.
Sebastian always knocked on her door to get her to wake up. He didn't say anything or even look inside the room. He always knew she had gotten up and was in the process of dressing.
Something had to be wrong.
"It's…it's Sebastian…" Ciel said quietly. "I called for him. I ordered him to come, but he didn't come and he always comes when I order him. It's a rule of our contract. I went to his room to check on him. I…I think he's dead."
Adalina's eyes widened. That was impossible. Sebastian couldn't just die. He said himself he was going to be fine once he slept. He couldn't just be…dead.
She quickly threw off the blanket, not caring about propriety anymore, and wrapped her shawl around her shoulders. Then she quickly followed Ciel to the butler's quarters.
When she entered the room, she wanted to vomit upon the sight of Sebastian. Blood had soaked through the bandages turning them all completely dark red. His arm hung limply off the side of the bed, and his whole body did indeed look lifeless.
Adalina swallowed thickly as she tightened the shawl around her, suddenly feeling very, very cold. She slowly approached Sebastian's bedside, tears forming in her eyes. She leaned over his body and took his head in her hands. His skin was so unnaturally cold…even colder than the day before when she had cleaned the blood off him.
She moved her hand down to his bandaged chest, not caring that her hand got soaked in his blood-drenched bandages. His chest did not move up and down, and she was positive that it had done so while she had cared for him the day before.
The Death Scythe. It had been too much for him to handle.
A small sob escaped from her lips, and that was when Ciel knew.
His butler had been killed.
"Adalina…" he said quietly.
The head maid turned to face him, tears streaming down her face. He could tell she was trying to be strong for him, but all her efforts were for naught. He had no idea she had cared for the butler so much.
"I'd prefer the other servants didn't know about this just yet. It will just cause a panic. I want you to act as normally as possible. As far as they know, Sebastian is still resting from his injuries."
Adalina nodded. Ciel wasn't meeting her eyes, and she couldn't begin to understand how upset he must be. Even if he didn't let on, she knew that he cared about Sebastian and Sebastian cared about him as more than just dinner. Or at least she firmly believed that was the case, and that was good enough for her.
"Make sure they don't see you upset. They cannot know about this. Please take over for him until I can…figure out what to do next…"
Ciel left the room without a glance at her or the butler.
Adalina looked back at Sebastian's dead body. She just didn't understand. How could he be dead? He was a demon, and she had been sure that demons didn't just die like this. Not even if struck by Death Scythes. But what did she know really? She was just a human who had been tossed into this a few weeks ago. She knew nothing.
With another sob, she collapsed to the floor of Sebastian's room, silent tears making their way down her face.
What was she supposed to do now?
Outside the manor, a young Grim Reaper smirked as he watched the scene unfold through the butler's window. He may have just started his work as a Reaper, but already he had rid the world of another demon. Surely Will would be proud of him for that. All it had taken was two blows with his Death Scythe…well, his stolen Death Scythe (it was so much better than that ridiculous and pathetic small little blade Will had given him), and the demon was dead. Now all that was left to do was get rid of that Phantomhive kid.
