Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Black Butler! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates on the second and fourth Saturday of each month!
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As Edward's carriage pulled down the stone driveway and came to a stop, Sebastian slid out of bed.
Hurriedly, the bewildered butler rushed around as he frantically prepared to welcome Phantomhive manor's impromptu visitor.
Outside, after Edward's carriage parked, the Midford footman opened the vehicle's door.
Ciel's stoic husband stepped out with a frown on his handsome face.
Secretly, Lord Midford already dreaded the visit with his family and the awkwardness that would inevitably occur during the occasion.
The footman nodded at his employer as Edward walked past him and strode up to the front door of Phantomhive manor.
The birds chirped in the bright light of the warm morning while Edward knocked on the door.
He waited patiently to be greeted and welcomed to the stately home in which his wife preferred to reside.
Edward lingered only a moment or two on the stone porch before the door to Phantomhive manor swung open and a very cordial, very debonair voice called out, "Good morning, sir, and welcome to Phantomhive manor. May I respectfully ask your name?"
Edward's green eyes widened when his gaze first fell on Sebastian, then his brow furrowed incredulously as he stared distrustfully at the alarmingly charming man whom he had never met before.
"My name is Lord Edward Midford. I am the partial owner of this property and husband of Lady Ciel Midford." Edward haughtily declared to Sebastian, "I beg your pardon sir, but I'm afraid it is I who must respectfully ask your name now?"
Sebastian wasn't at all offended by Edward's abrasiveness as a pleasant smile danced across his thin lips.
It took all of his willpower not to let his smile melt into a dangerous, conceited smirk as he took a good look at Ciel's husband, the foolish beta who failed to see his bride's value.
Sebastian wondered what suave Lord Midford would have to say if he knew where his bride had been moments ago, lying underneath him while he kissed her most intimate places and-
Ciel's lover, er, butler pushed his own greedy thoughts aside.
He answered Edward before an impermissible gap developed in their conversation, "Of course, sir…….My name is Sebastian Michaelis. I'm proud to say that your wife has chosen me to serve as the new butler for the Phantomhive household."
"The new butler?" Edward scowled incredulously.
"Yes, sir……." Sebastian frowned, "My sincerest apologies, I haven't been employed at this estate for very long, but I had assumed that Lady Phantomhive wrote to you about Mr. Tanaka's sudden retirement?"
"No." Edward huffed as he shook his head and frowned at Sebastian, "My wife did no such thing."
An uncomfortable pause settled between Sebastian and Edward before Ciel's butler stood to the side and welcomed her husband into the house.
"My apologies, sir. My lady is often very busy, it must have slipped her mind…...May I take your hat, Lord Midford?" Sebastian asked as Edward stepped inside.
"Thank you." Edward nodded as he handed his top hat over to Sebastian.
After Sebastian turned his back to Edward so that he could hang the hat on a nearby rack, he grinned to himself as he mockingly thought, May I take your wife as well, Lord Midford? Oh dear, it seems as if I already have~.
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Sebastian escorted Edward down the hallway and into the dining room where breakfast was being served.
When the two men entered the room, they found Ciel and Elizabeth sitting at the table in anticipation of Edward joining them.
"Daddy!" Elizabeth cried excitedly when her green eyes landed on Edward.
Ciel's usually frigid husband laughed as his daughter rose from her seat and hurried over to throw her arms fondly around his waist.
"Hello, sweetheart." Edward said as he patted his little girl's blonde head.
Behind him, Sebastian smirked over at Ciel and she scowled back at him.
The bluenette was still in silent awe of how quickly Sebastian had been able to move.
In less than ten minutes, Sebastian had managed to get himself and Ciel downstairs, ready to receive her unknowing, uncaring spouse.
Ciel finally took her sapphire eyes off of Sebastian when Elizabeth released her father and Edward turned to greet her, "Hello, Ciel."
"Hello, Edward." Ciel replied in an icy tone.
Sebastian could feel the lack of tender affection between husband and wife as Edward took his seat at the opposite end of the table.
Formally obeying social custom, Lord and Lady Midford began to eat their breakfast in a silence filled with mutual misery.
Elizabeth kept glancing back and forth between her parents curiously.
It bothered Sebastian how comfortable and familiar the child seemed to be with her mother and father's dysfunctional, unloving relationship.
"You didn't mention to me that Tanaka retired." Edward remarked to Ciel.
Sebastian took a step back and kept his head down to obediently maintain his place as Ciel's faithful servant while he eagerly listened to the conversation that unfolded between his darling and her husband.
"You didn't ask." Ciel snipped in response.
The silverware delicately chimed against the plates while the family continued their meal.
Edward made a noise that was between a snort and a grunt before he went on, "...I see you wasted little time in finding a suitable replacement."
Sebastian wondered if that was a hint of jealousy that he heard in Lord Midford's voice?
"Why should I do otherwise?" Ciel quipped, "Elizabeth and I spend far too much time alone as it is. We need someone on hand to assist us."
Edward glared at Ciel and from across the table, she returned his ominous expression of warning.
Elizabeth frowned at her plate until Sebastian intervened.
He removed the silver teapot from the cart next to the table, stepped forward, and asked the family, "Would anyone care for more tea?"
"I would, please, Sebastian." Little Elizabeth answered.
Sebastian walked over and refilled her cup.
As he poured the steaming liquid into the waiting porcelain vessel, Elizabeth looked up at him with a sad frown but Sebastian glanced down at her with a reassuring smile.
"Has Tanaka been ill?" Edward asked Ciel.
"Yes, but his affliction came on suddenly. The doctors think it's largely due to his age." Ciel replied.
Sebastian couldn't help but see the resentment in her scowl as she grimaced at her food.
He tried not to smirk as he watched her saw through the piece of ham in front of her with a vicious stroke of her knife.
"Poor man." Edward commented, "What symptoms did he show that day?"
Sebastian took the teapot back over to the cart and listened, intrigued to hear how his mistress would respond to that particular question…..
Ciel had mentioned during their languid talks that her beloved previous butler had experienced his calamity during her night at the gentleman's shop where Sebastian earned his living.
She had neglected to ask the doctor tor nature of Tanaka's collapse, so how would she explain his plight to Edward?
"That night was such a…..a trial….that I don't remember." Ciel answered with a dismissive shake of her head.
"Pity." Edward commented.
"Pity, indeed." Ciel remarked.
"May I see Tanaka myself?" Edward asked, "I'd like to visit him while I'm here. I know that I only saw him in passing as we grew up, but the man has given my wife and my daughter such loyal devotion that I feel as though I should thank him for his service personally."
"There's no need for that!" Ciel snapped.
Edward blinked at his wife's outburst.
Elizabeth looked up at her mother.
From his place by the tea cart, Sebastian's eyes widened at the bluenette's wild reaction.
Mortified by her own emotional display and eager not to arouse Edward's suspicions, Ciel cleared her throat and straightened her back as she added, "...What I meant to say was that Tanaka is rather frail right now. He doesn't usually take many visitors, it exhausts him. I myself see him only when he feels he has the energy to hold a conversation."
"...Are you alright, my dear?" Edward asked as he squinted at his wife.
Ciel was not usually one to become so overexcited at the breakfast table and her vehemence struck Edward as profoundly strange.
"I'm fine, forgive me." Ciel whispered as she sighed and laid a delicate hand across her face, "I didn't sleep very well last night, my mind is not…...as it should be today."
"Perhaps you should go and lie down then, you don't look well at all." Edward said as Ciel feigned a headache by pressing her fingers to her temple.
"Sebastian?" Edward called.
"Yes, my lord?" Sebastian answered readily as he blinked at his charge's husband.
"Take my wife to her room, won't you? I wish to play with my daughter for a while and Ciel is too out of sorts to remain with us." Edward frowned as he glanced back over at his bride.
"Of course, sir." Sebastian nodded, "Right away."
Sebastian quickly helped Ciel out of her chair while Edward and Elizabeth looked on.
Instead of carrying her in front of her husband, Sebastian let Ciel lean on him as he led her out of the dining room and back to her bedroom.
As soon as they entered her bedchamber and Sebastian closed the door behind them both, Ciel dropped her act.
She walked over to sit down on her bed as she grouched, "What a terrible way to spend a morning."
"Are all of Lord Midford's visits similar, my lady?" Sebastian asked Ciel.
"Similar?" Ciel laughed bitterly, "They're all nearly identical….each more dreadfully dull than the last."
"I'm very sorry to hear that, my lady." Sebastian replied with a genuine frown.
"It's alright, Sebastian." Ciel sighed as she gazed at him while the frown fell away from her face, "I have you now."
Sebastian finally allowed a smirk to slide over his lips as he stared down at Ciel.
His adorable lover deserved better than the scrap of attention that she received from Edward Midford.
As Sebastian gazed at Ciel, he felt the determination rise in his heart to ensure that he gave her better than Edward Midford.
Sebastian would be the better lover, the better friend, the better father.
Sebastian would triumph over his rival and he hoped that by doing so, he may become more than Lady Phantomhive's butler~.