That Butler, Solving
I own nothing but my OC.
≤speech in Indian language≥
'thoughts'
"speech"
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
—^—^—^— change of perspective/area of action within one specific time frame/location
Previously:
The coach pulled up in front of the Phantomhive manor. Arthur jumped out and ran up the steps and into the building.
WHAM!
He threw the door open to find Ciel, Jeremy, and Chêne ascending the stairs to the second level. They all looked back at him.
"You've come back in such haste. Whatever is the matter?" Jeremy asked him. "Perhaps you have forgotten something?"
"I have returned to confirm the truth," Arthur replied. "Vicar Jeremy… or should I say—! The butler. Sebastian."
"Heh!" Jeremy smirked. "Excellent." He reached a hand up to his face. "We've clearly somewhat underestimated you. No..." He gripped the 'skin' on his face and pulled. His voice changed to become smoother, younger. "Rather, we have committed a most inexcusable error." He ripped the mask away, revealing his true face as the butler. "Professor," he finished with another smirk.
"I… Can't believe this..." Arthur said, stunned. "I never could have imagined that something so unreal could be true..."
"Oh? Did you not return to the manor because you were assured of the fact?" Sebastian asked him.
"Well, a certain amount of doubt is normal, I think..." Chêne said with a sympathetic smile. "Otherwise everyone would be onto to you."
"Heh. I suppose so," Sebastian said, looking back at Arthur. "If you had continued on your way home, you would have returned to your peaceful 'reality'. So why return?" he asked. The doctor was shaking. "All atremble at that." Arthur gritted his teeth and steeled his nerves.
"I-If the unease I felt turned out to be something more than simple disquiet on my part… It would become my duty to go after the Yard's carriage at once!"
"Haha!" Ciel laughed. "Professor, you are a most righteous man. You did write of your love for the knights of the middle ages in your work, so it's to be expected." He smirked. "Did it not occur to you that you might not be able to return home if you learned the truth?"
"Eh!?" Arthur gasped, paling as his heart beat loud in his chest.
"Heh! I was only joking," Ciel told him.
"Phew..." Arthur sighed, relieved.
"It doesn't sound like a joke when you say it," Chêne told Ciel, frowning slightly. Ciel smirked as he started climbing the stairs.
"—Just as you surmised…" he said to Arthur, looking over his shoulder at him. "… Woodley is not the culprit. At least… not in this case."
"!!" Arthur exclaimed.
"However, he belongs in that carriage," Ciel stated.
"… What do you mean?" Arthur asked.
"We shouldn't stand here talking. Let's see to preparing elevenses or some lunch," Ciel said. "Sebastian. Chêne."
"Yes, Sir," they answered.
"I'll get started on the tea," Chêne said, excusing herself to head for the kitchen.
"Allow me to show you the way," Sebastian told Arthur, gesturing for him to start up the stairs.
"..." Arthur hesitated.
"You desire to know the truth, do you not?" Sebastian asked, smirking slightly. "There is no need to be so terrified. We shall not eat you."
—^—^—^—
Sebastian led him into the conservatory, where Ciel was already waiting at the table. Arthur took a seat. They didn't have to wait long for Chêne to come, pushing the cart of tea and snacks. She found that Sebastian had very helpfully already prepared them sometime when she wasn't looking.
"Today, I have prepared Fortnum & Mason's darjeeling second flush… and petits fours as accompaniment," Sebastian said as he served the tea.
"..." Arthur stared at the sparkling plate of delicious snacks and the fragrant cup of tea with suspicion.
"Nothing here is poisoned, so please do help yourself," Ciel told him as the sipped his tea, amused by his apprehension. "—Well? How did you come to deduce Sebastian was alive, professor?"
"—In truth… I was not convinced he was," Arthur answered honestly. "I just felt vaguely ill at ease all the while, and… I can't really explain it too well, but he—how do I say this…? He was too perfect."
"Pfft!" Chêne laughed, making them look at her. "Haha, sorry, but—I think you're a very perceptive person, Professor," she told him, smiling wryly. "I'm surprised no one said this sooner. Don't mind me. Please, go on."
"Is it just me… or has your behavior changed…?" Arthur asked her, sweat-dropping.
"This how she usually is," Ciel said with a sigh. "And just when you were finally acting like a proper maid..."
"Well, he already knows our biggest secret, so why not?" Chêne pointed out, shrugging.
"Heh. That's true," Ciel agreed. "But as she said, Professor. Don't mind her. You were saying?"
"Yes, well..." Arthur said, clearing his throat. "Both the butler Sebastian and Vicar Jeremy made me incredibly uncomfortable, but there was no room for suspicion… They were perfection. It was all so perfect that I, on the contrary, began to find it strange."
"How do you mean?" Sebastian asked, furrowing his brow slightly.
"It was too much like a novel, wasn't it?" Chêne asked.
"Yes! It is impossible to prepare so completely in advance of one's death… No, one's 'murder'. The food, the owl, what you said to me—it was all too perfect," Arthur said. "That was not the work of some mere premonition. And though Vicar Jeremy, who appeared after your death, was suspicious by all accounts, his alibi was flawless, and there was no reason to doubt him. And then there were his parting words… 'Thank you for taking care of the young master.' The moment I heard those words, I realized the truth behind the unease I had been feeling… and that all our deductions would be utterly overturned by one 'unrealistic possibility.'"
"An unrealistic possibility?" Ciel asked, furrowing his brow.
"The possibility that the butler, Sebastian… was not dead," Arthur replied. "Once I came to that conclusion, I could no longer contain myself..."
"I see, that was a big leap for you… most people wouldn't be able to make it," Chêne remarked. From her experience most people preferred comfortable denial over an uncomfortable truth.
"For you to put all your faith into that one remark and return here… I would expect no less from one for whom the young master has such high hopes," Sebastian said, holding his chin. Not to mention Chêne's prediction of future fame and fortune for the man.
"What nonsense are you jabbering on about?" Ciel said, sweat-dropping. Sebastian smirked knowingly at him. Ciel frowned a little at the butler.
"Well? What did I do to pique you so?" Sebastian asked Arthur with a shit-eating grin.
"The first instance was when Lord Siemens was murdered," he replied. "At that time, you did nothing. You simply observed us and the situation as it unfolded. You, who had responded so swiftly to the trouble that occurred at the dinner party, you understand? Now that I think about it, there must have been a reason. Moreover, you uttered not one word in the earl's defense when he was under suspicion of murder. For a butler to fail to come to his master's aid was just plain odd." Ciel rested his head on his hand and sighed. "Were you not aware? That the next murder would occur and dispel all suspicion from the earl?"
"Yes," Sebastian said with a smile. "I was indeed aware."
"So it was just as I—!" Arthur exclaimed.
"However… that was not my reason for failing to defend the young master," Sebastian stated, amused.
"Eh?" Arthur said, confused.
"Hmph. Chêne was unusually quiet too, now that you mention it. I bet you both thought it served me right or the like, hm?" Ciel said, frowning and furrowing his brow.
"Just a bit," Chêne admitted.
"Not at all?" Sebastian said with a wryly amused expression on his face.
"I was concerned, but you two seemed to be up to something, so I thought it would be better to watch and wait," Chêne said frankly.
"I was just shocked that while anticipating getting caught in some kind of trap, you readily succumbed to sleep with those cares on your mind," Sebastian said wryly.
"N-Now please, just a minute!!" Arthur said. "Anticipating, you said..."
"We, the young master and I, knew beforehand that one of the guests was looking to harass the young master at the banquet."
"Th-That means… you two had already predicted that this incident would take place!?" Arthur asked.
"Yes. Also that Lord Siemens would likely fall victim to that plot…" Sebastian said. He smirked. "And that I would be murdered as well, you see?"
"EEH!?" Arthur exclaimed, shooting to his feet.
««« Rewind «««
{Two days ago…}
Sebastian and Chêne were outside Siemen's room when they heard him cry out.
"Guh! GWAAAAH!!" Siemens groaned and screamed from within the room.
SMASH! THUD.
"!?" Chêne gasped as she and Sebastian furrowed their brows with concern.
'Smash?' Sebastian thought.
"What was that? What's going on in there!?" Chêne demanded, knocking on the door again. "Lord Siemens!" There was no answer. "Lord Siemens!" she called louder, growing more concerned. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Sebastian, the door—"
"Something wrong? What's all the fuss?" Grey called, leading the other guests their way.
"Let us kick in the door," Sebastian said, handing the water pitcher to Chêne.
WHAM!
Sebastian kicked the door down with extraordinary force, ripping it from its hinges. The damaged door fell flat on the floor inside the room.
"Lo—" Chêne started to call again, when she looked in and froze. "!!"
"!!!" all of the guests gasped in shock behind her. Everyone paled except for Grey, Lau, and Ran-Mao. There, sitting in a chair in front of a fire, was Siemens. He lay there limply, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and the front of his shirt was stained crimson red. The whole morbid scene was illuminated by a flash of lightning.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!" Irene screamed.
"Uwaaaaah!!" Phelps cried.
"Ah! Mister Phelps!!" Woodley exclaimed, startled when the nervous man fainted.
"Excuse me!" Arthur said, rushing forth from the crowd to check Siemens' vitals. Sebastian held his chin while he observed. Chêne furrowed her brow in confusion.
"… He's dead!!" Arthur announced gravely, pale with shock.
'I am certain I heard something break, but I spy nothing broken. I do not smell blood either,' Sebastian thought, holding his chin. '—Which means… something like a bottle of poison must be in there—'
»»» fast forward »»»
"Pleast wait!" Arthur said. Why did you not mention that right away!? If you had, the earl would have been spared all that suspicion!"
"The young master himself appeared to be simply taking in the scene, so I followed his lead," Sebastian replied.
"To be honest, I also noticed the blood wasn't real… That's why I asked you at that time if you were sure he was dead," Chêne said.
"!" Arthur said, recalling that she had indeed asked him to double check.
"You seemed certain that he was dead, so I figured it was too late for him either way. And like I said before, I was sure these two were up to something, but I didn't know what it was or what would happen if it didn't go according to plan, so I followed their lead," Chêne added.
"A murder occurring under those circumstances—my first thought was that it was a sham," Ciel said, eating a petit four. "Alive or dead, Siemens took the poison himself, as I'd expected. The rest was as the butler said. Ciel picked up his teacup to take another sip. "I'd have time enough to make my move after I had more evidence in hand… a better grip on the culprit's tail, as it were..."
"I see… That's why you had the butler go and add coke to the fireplaces," Arthur said. "That made me wonder as well. There was no need to stoke the fire in a room with no occupant. Yet he was murdered while tending to the fire in that particular room."
"Yes. The true meaning of his command at that time was… 'take a close look at that fireplace'—Still, I must say my master is a most merciless individual," Sebastian said, looking down at Ciel. "For he ordered me to carry out that command, knowing I would be murdered if I went snooping around that fireplace."
"Well, I never imagined it would all play out exactly as I had thought up to that point," Ciel said with the hint of a smirk.
"As you'd thought?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, I'd love to hear that explanation as well," Chêne said with a frown. "If you really knew ahead of time, why did you put me through all that instead of just telling me?"
"We weren't sure if we could rely on your acting skills," Ciel replied bluntly.
"If you knew ahead of time, your morals would make you feel compelled to do something about it. And if you didn't, then they would make you feel a crushing guilt for having chosen to fail to do so. Is that not right?" Sebastian said, smiling a little devilishly at her.
"The way you say that pisses me off," Chêne told them with a vein throbbing on her forehead, blushing a little despite herself. She glared at Sebastian. "I still don't know whether to kill you or kiss you!"
"Well, I know which one I would prefer," Sebastian said, smirking. It would seem his plan to let the shock of his 'death' jar her into forgiving him was working if she listed 'kiss' as an option. "But, yes… I was killed that night."
««« Rewind «««
Sebastian's footsteps could be heard just above the sound of the rain as he walked down the dark and empty hall. The only source of light was the candelabra in his hand. He reached Siemens' room.
"—Now then," Sebastian said. He stopped in front of the fireplace. "To 'make sure there is enough coke to keep going through the night'… was it?" He set to work on clearing away the ashes so he could add fresh coke to the fire.
»»» Fast Forward »»»
"It was neither God nor fate," Sebastian said.
««« Rewind «««
He stopped. There, in the fireplace, were shards of broken glass.
»»» Fast Forward »»»
"Following the scenario upon which my master had decided… with timing my master had fixed…"
««« Rewind «««
Sebastian put together the shards to form a small glass bottle that still held traces of red dye and an ampoule.
»»» Fast Forward »»»
"… By the one whom my master wished to have play the role of villain was I murdered. At the hands of one who had come to torment my master—"
««« Rewind «««
Behind Sebastian was a figure holding a fire poker.
"I should have known..." the butler said, gazing at the reflection on the reassembled bottle. "This is—"
»»» Fast Forward »»»
"By Earl Grey."
