Thanks for reading! I don't own any of Black Butler! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates weekly!
—
Charlotte and Isabel were blissfully unaware of the dangerous events that had transpired during the night and so they slept the happy, dreaming slumber that all carefree children do.
Baby Lucas also got his share of rest one he was cuddled in his parents' arms, now safely far away from that mysterious stranger who had seized him so forcibly.
But Alois and Ciel got no respite, no peace, no sleep…...
Both of them dozed off for a few minutes here and there, but they would each wake within the hour, positive that they had heard something, certain that Sebastian was about to burst into the room and rip them apart from one another.
Wide-eyed and worried, Alois and Ciel tossed and turned, their minds racing almost as fast as their anxious heartbeats.
Meanwhile, Sebastian was in his room asleep on his cramped bed.
Sebastian had no plans to attack the couple that night, he was just getting himself settled in to his new post.
But Alois and Ciel didn't know that, and it was the sheer threat of Sebastian being in the house that was a worse torment than any action he could have taken…..
—
Eventually, morning came and Sebastian was the first in the manor to leave his room.
Sebastian arrived at the kitchen before Claude.
Sebastian was so early that he was already halfway through preparing breakfast by the time Claude finally stumbled groggily into the room.
Sebastian always readied Ciel's meals and since he was reinstated to his former position, he saw no reason why that should change now.
"Good morning." Sebastian greeted Claude with a deceitful smile.
"Good morning. " Claude replied in his usual, emotionless voice. Claude saw Sebastian working over the stove and he informed Ciel's new butler, "Preparing breakfast is usually Hannah's job."
"Ah, yes, she mentioned that, but you see, I gave her the morning off." Sebastian explained while keeping his smile.
Claude adjusted his glasses.
As cold and disinterested as Claude seemed to be, Sebastian's answer annoyed him.
"I am the head of the Trancy staff. I didn't approve Hannah to be off this morning." Claude said.
This time, Claude's emotionless voice was charged with just a bit of…...anger?
Sebastian looked directly at Claude and smirked, "Well, I'm equal rank as you now, I suppose, since I was reinstated last night to serve my master~. But, I'm sure that you already heard that, since you are the head of the Trancy staff."
Claude's emotionless face twisted into a scowl.
Seastian gave Claude a calculating grin.
Claude stepped forward to Sebastian, inches away from his face, and muttered, "I don't know why you're here, Michaelis, but I refuse to let you get in my way."
"On the contrary," Sebastian replied with a debonair calmness. "I think you know very well why I'm here~. However, I certainly have no intentions of leaving anytime soon and my master is used to having only the best service. That of which, you've been proven incapable of many times over. So please, Faustus, stand aside, because I won't let you get in my way~." Sebastian said with a smirk as he put on some oven mitts. "It's time to serve breakfast."
Claude scowled the entire time while he watched Sebastian prepare the breakfast cart.
Claude continued to scowl as Sebastian pushed the cart to the dining room and laid place settings at the table for four.
Sebastian even took the time to position a small high chair thoughtfully beside the table for the same infant he had silently threatened to murder the previous night.
Claude sighed as he arrived at Alois's bedroom door to escort the family to their morning meal.
Sebastian was a definite threat, which meant that Claude was finally going to have to do some real work….
How annoying!
—
Ciel held Charlotte's hand and Alois held Isabel's while the family walked to the dining room.
Ciel had placed baby Lucas under Hannah's watchful care for awhile, wanting him to be out of Sebastian's sight.
Ciel knew that Hannah loved the infant and would defend him with her life.
Lucas was safe with Hannah.
"Good morning, master, Earl Trancy ...and the littlest ladies of the Trancy house." Sebastian greeted the four with a polite smile, eyeing Ciel, Alois, and then looking directly at the twins.
Charlotte and Isabel blinked at Sebastian.
Charlotte looked a little curious but Isabel looked concerned and gripped Alois's hand tighter…..
The smallest bluenette recognized Sebastian as the strange man that she had met in London days ago…..
What was he doing in her home?
"Daddy," Isabel whispered, tugging on Alois's pant leg, "Who is that?"
Sebastian kept his pleasant smile and silently swallowed the bile that rose in his throat when he heard his daughter address Alois Trancy as "Daddy".
"Charlotte, Isabel, this is Mr. Sebastian." Alois explained while Sebastian beamed at the two little girls. "He's come to work for us, to help Mr. Claude."
Sebastian was rather annoyed when he noticed that Charlotte did not have amber eyes like her sister.
No…..but if Sebastian looked very closely, he could see the resemblance between himself and the child.
Charlotte did have Sebastian's angular cheekbones…...but it was a subtle similarity and not as striking as Isabel's amber gaze.
No matter!
Sebastian helped the ladies into their chairs and Alois took his seat.
Isabel fell silent in frightened acceptance at the news but Charlotte didn't take Alois's statement lightly.
Claude had never needed assistance before, so why now?
That seemed odd to the oldest twin.
"But why does Mr. Claude need help?" Charlotte frowned. "Is he ill?"
"A lady does not ask such questions, Charlotte." Ciel cut in before Alois could respond.
Charlotte scowled at Ciel, furrowing her brow and making herself look like a little chibi doll of her mother, but when Ciel scowled warningly in return, little Charlotte fell silent and began to eat breakfast with her family.
The air in the room was very tense.
Alois braced himself even while he ate, prepared to fight Sebastian tooth and nail at any second.
Ciel was waiting for everything to come crashing down.
Charlotte and Isabel could sense how uncomfortable the adults were, but they didn't understand why.
However, both of them saw Sebastian's appearance in the manor as…...strange.
Sebastian stood in the background, watching the family, eyeing all three of the bluenettes as if he were about to pounce and run out the door with them.
Charlotte just calmly ate her food but Sebastian's presence seemed to make Isabel particularly antsy.
"Mommy," Isabel found the courage to ask Ciel once breakfast was over and Sebastian left to take the dishes to the kitchen. "How long is Mr. Sebastian going to be staying with us?"
"Hopefully not very long, my darling." Ciel said with a sigh that was so heavy even Isabel felt its weight fall on her tiny shoulders.
Isabel frowned, noticing the stress in Ciel's face as she asked in a worried voice, "Can he leave today?"
—
After breakfast, the girls went to play before their afternoon lessons.
Claude stood stoically by the door to their playroom while they challenged each other to a somewhat juvenile game of chess.
"Mommy and Daddy didn't tell us that someone new was coming." Charlotte said nonchalantly while she took her turn.
Isabel stayed silent.
Charlotte glanced up at the frown on her sister's face before she went on.
"In fact, I don't think Mommy and Daddy have hired anyone new since we've been born! Do you?" Charlotte asked her sister.
"No." Isabel said quietly.
"So then it's quite curious, isn't it?" Charlotte asked her twin with a giggle, "Mr. Sebastian just comes to our house and Mommy and Daddy didn't say anything first!"
Isabel remained silent again and this time, Charlotte frowned at her sister.
"What's the matter, Isabel? Do you not feel well?" Charlotte asked.
"No, I don't feel well at all. Actually, I feel awful." Isabel replied very quietly.
Charlotte stood from their small game table with wide eyes. "W-What hurts? I'll go get mommy and—"
"I'm afraid." Isabel said very quietly.
Charlotte relaxed a little and blinked, "Afraid?"
"Yes ...I'm scared, Charlotte, because I've met Mr. Sebastian before!" Isabel admitted in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
"You did?" Charlotte asked, narrowing her eyes in total confusion. "When? Where?"
"On our birthday a few days ago." Isabel replied. "The ball I chased landed right next to him, he's the one who returned it to me."
"...Oh." Charlotte said with a frown.
Things became stranger and stranger to the girls….
"Did Mr. Sebastian say he was going to come and live with us?" Charlotte asked.
"No." Isabel replied. "He just wanted to know my name."
Charlotte blinked.
"And he wanted to know Mommy's name too, and that's why I'm afraid!" Isabel revealed, staring down at the floor.
Isabel was the most timid and the smallest of the girls, but Isabel was a perceptive child.
Isabel spent so much time being quiet that she had plenty of opportunities to think….
"But why does that make you afraid?" Charlotte asked, furrowing her brow.
"Because I'm fairly sure that Mr. Sebastian already knew Mommy's name." Isabel said with a frown as she looked up and met Charlotte's gaze.
Charlotte's eyes widened and the girls exchanged a deep, concentrating, concerned look.
Why would Mr. Sebastian possibly know their mother's name?!
—
While the twins had their chat, Ciel slipped away to the nursery and took the baby from Hannah, relieving the Trancy maid to go and tend to her daily duties.
In the soft morning light, Ciel sat down in the rocking chair and unbuttoned her blouse, letting baby Lucas nurse.
The bluenette breathed a tired sigh and closed her eyes as she thought through the situation over and over in her mind.
How was she going to get rid of Sebastian?
And how was—
"Hello, Bocchan~." A low, velvet voice purred.
Ciel's eyes snapped open.
Sebastian stood a few feet away from the bluenette, staring down at her hungrily.
Ciel had not locked the nursery door and Sebastian had let himself in!
"I see you've forgotten your manners during our years apart." Ciel snapped, hurriedly covering herself up.
Sebastian chuckled as he watched Ciel struggle to hide her body from him. "Young master~, am I not the one who used to bathe and dress you? You were certainly never concerned about your modesty then~."
"Well that was then and this is now and I will thank you very much to knock before you enter a room in this house!" Ciel hissed.
"As you wish, Bocchan~." Sebastian smirked.
Ciel fidgeted around to keep her bare breasts hidden from Sebastian while he walked over to look out of the window that was directly behind her.
"Why are you here, Sebastian? Really? Why have you come?" Ciel asked through clenched teeth, turning her head to look at Sebastian.
Everything was finally going so well in Ciel's life until he had suddenly returned…
"I have simply come to resume my proper place at your side, young master….day and night, until the very end." Sebastian said with a loyal smile.
"You weren't very concerned about 'your proper place' once our agreement was completed." Ciel huffed.
Sebastian ignored Ciel's retort and continued, "However, there is one other small thing that I've come for, well, two other small things, actually."
Ciel stiffened and narrowed her eyes at Sebastian.
Ciel was bracing for it….
She knew that Sebastian would approach her about it sooner or later…..
The girls.
By now, Sebastian had to know or at least have an idea….
"I want my daughters." Sebastian whispered into Ciel's ear, his voice a dangerous purr.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ciel replied quickly.
Sebastian chuckled.
He stepped over to look at Ciel face to face.
Sebastian expected to see the lie in Ciel's expression, maybe a glint of guilt in her eyes, or a crease of shame across her jaw…..
No.
Ciel had a magnificent poker face and she looked at Sebastian with all the disgust in the world.
Sebastian was amused.
Sebastian couldn't help but wonder for just a moment if Ciel had told the lie to herself about the girl's paternity for so many years that she had actually begun to believe it?
"I think you know quite well what I'm talking about." Sebastian pressed. "And soon, Lady Charlotte and Lady Isabel will too~."
Now Sebastian had done it.
Ciel was annoyed, but Sebastian's threat really sent rage rushing through the bluenette's veins.
Ciel stood from her chair, clutching Lucas protectively in her arms and dared to come within a few inches of Sebastian as she responded, "After everything I've been through, after all my struggles and pain, I will not allow you to ruin my daughters' lives with your absurd delusions! Those twins belong to my husband, just as this baby does, and just as I do! Why don't you just go and leave this house, Sebastian, just like you left me years ago?!"
Ciel stalked over to the nursery door.
The bluenette whirled around to thunder at her reinstated butler before she left the room, "You have no children, Sebastian, and you certainly don't have me!"
With a definite click, Ciel closed the door, leaving Sebastian alone in the room.
Sebastian grinned to himself.
Then Sebastian smirked….
Sebastian's smirk gave way to a chuckle.
How Sebastian always loved it when Ciel became feisty!
