Chapter 24

The former soldier stared as yet again the left arm of the little girl entered his field of vision, taking more of his vegetables. He frowned. "Is that a tattoo Luce?" His curious question warranted everyone else's attention.

"You have a tattoo?" "What's a tattoo?" "Ho ho?"

She glared at the cook. "Very subtle Bard." He just chuckled. "But no, that's not. Not quite sure what it is either. A scar? Maybe a birthmark." She had it ever since she could remember. It used to be pretty light, but seemed to get darker with her age until it finally stayed the shade it was now. At one time she had thought about tattooing it over but decided against it in fear of ruining the design.

The ex soldier narrowed his eyes at the mark, examining it. "Seems fancy for a scar." She just shrugged and continued slicing the greens. In truth, if all scars could look like that then she wouldn't mind having them. "Looks like feathers." Bard continued and nobody noticed the demon butler stop his hand mid-movement to look over at Luciana's forearm. His eyes widened in surprise and glowed in recognition. That just couldn't be true. "Wait. You said that wasn't a tattoo. So you do have one." The cook grinned victoriously whilst our little thief chuckled. 'So he picked up on that.' She nodded. "Damn girl, I've seen men cringe while getting them. Doesn't it hurt?"

Luce just shrugged. "It depends." Some areas did hurt more than others but frankly she'd gotten used to it. That's basically what happens when you volunteer to be your friends practice dummy.

"Enough of that." Sebastian announced, "Dinner will be delayed if you keep talking.", thus successfully ending the series of questions that were already beginning to arise. A small crease had formed between his brows as he was in denial about what he'd just seen; it was supposed to be a mere folktale.

"Yes sir!" The servants chorused with a chipper 'ho ho ho' at the end.

Having finished with all of her duties Luce drew herself a bath. She breathed out a content sigh as the hot water soothed her muscles. 'Heaven~' Working as a maid really wasn't as easy and fun as one would think. The only relief was that Sebastian was still busy with their guests and the kid, so if she was quick enough then he wouldn't be able to kidnap her for another lesson. She cracked a grin. That was exactly the reason she skipped Ciel's dinner interrogation. Why he wanted to question their guests further was a mystery to her. After all Luce had already told him her theory for the case. 'Oh well...' She shrugged.

Sebastian however had to be present, even if his thoughts strayed elsewhere. The mark on Luciana's forearm was not something he had ever expected. At least now the demon knew that it wasn't just a mere tale- but even in the off chance that it was real, he had never expected it to be on any human. His jaw clenched unnoticeably to the other occupants of the room. Yet it easily explained why he found her so interesting and didn't like her interest in others- Luce bore his mark after all. The demon's eyes flashed. It truly changed everything.

She yawned when entering the girls' room. The door suddenly snapped shut behind her. Luce squeaked in surprise, quickly turning around. 'Mey-Rin...' She gulped as her friend's glasses glinted. "Um... hi?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" The burgundy haired maid didn't even stutter as she pulled Luce to the bed.

"Tell you?" She doubted playing dumb would help.

"Oh my~ This is glorious, yes it is!" Mey-Rin blushed excitedly. "I didn't know you were a pair, no I didn't- but you really shouldn't do it in the kitchen." Her hazel eyes shone through the glasses. "That's where the young master's food is made, yes it is."

'What?!' Luce gaped. "Mey-Rin that's not wha- "

"To think you had a tryst in the kitchen- how scandalous! Yes it was!" The maid continued to gush, blood coming from her nose at her vivid imagination. It even made Luce blush.

"Wait, wait, wait!- What's a tryst?" She had honestly never heard the word, but Luce kind of had an idea from Mey-Rin's gushing. 'I thought people in the past weren't supposed to be so...perverted.'

It was Mey-Rin's turn to gape and she stuttered adorably when explaining. 'Oh- ' Luce slowly nodded, 'so it's like a one night stand...with Sebastian...' She wanted to pale and blush at the same time. "No, no, no- " Luce fervently shook her head, "that is sooo not what happened." No matter how enjoyable it would most definitely be, he was a demon and he co-worker!

"Don't lie. I saw you, yes I did." Mey-Rin zeroed in on her like the sniper she was. "He carried you, yes he did!" 'Damn his bloody schedule!' Luce blushed. "Oh~ I just can't wait, no I can't! Your babies will be so adorable~"

"Wha?!" Her grey eyes widened in shock as Mey-Rin continued to ramble about the cute babies they would make, not being able to decide if their eyes would be grey or that reddish-brown Sebastian had.

The burgundy haired maid let out an enamoured sigh. "You must love him a lot."

Luciana opened her mouth to deny it, but found herself incapable of it. Of course she didn't love him, she didn't even really know him- honestly, no one in this house did. Her throat constricted painfully at the thought. She wanted to get to know him, his character, his reactions, his thoughts- shaking her head, Luce diverted. "So how is it with your lover?" She didn't want to go down that path.

"Another mysterious attack, huh?" Luce stared at the morning paper as Sebastian ironed the fresh ink. It looked utterly hilarious.

"You don't sound surprised."

"Can't say I am." She shrugged nonchalantly while keeping her gaze from the demon. The question of the previous night still plagued her. She always thought it was just a physical attraction, but was it really? She quietly sighed. Even if it wasn't there were so many things that came between them.

Thank you for reading and all the reviews! I hope you have a great New Year and may all your wishes come true!