Chapter 28

Soma had grabbed their attention, running towards the trio. He was embarrassed, saying that even though he was older than Ciel, he was still a fool who knew nothing of the world- which was true, but Luce couldn't exactly blame him. As a prince, he was probably guarded his whole life and this trip was most likely the first time out of country- not like she had ever traveled before... 'No money, no honey…' She sighed ruefully, letting the events of last night wash over her as she cleaned the dinner dishes.

The Indian prince had apologized to all of them, even to Sebastian. And Luce still smirked when remembering how Soma had used both Ciel and her as a shield, cowering in fear. Apparently the demonic butler had really scared him to the bone and Soma's fright didn't end there. 'Oh no~' Later, when they had settled back into the drawing room, he had constantly shrunk away from the demon; paling when he was served tea and cringing when meeting the butler's red eyed stare. It was hard not to laugh and her eyes still twinkled at the memory. 'That guy is scarred for life.' She let out an amused giggle, drying off the dishes.

After a short discussion, they had assessed that West's three year plan was an attempt to win the royal warrant in a curry contest, thus climbing the social ladder and raising his business. The man needed Agni to not only take out the other competitors but to also make a winning curry. In exchange the butler would get Meena- at least Ciel agreed with her assumption there. It seemed, Agni did it all for his beloved prince. Luciana's hand stopped mid-action, thinking, frowning. 'Would I go so far for someone else?' She had friends- lots of them, but would she do something like Agni for them?

No, probably not. Luce finished up her duties while thinking of how sad her interrelations with others actually are. Sure, she liked going out with friends, would help them out with relationship problems and all that, but Luciana never really put much faith into others and that reflected in her actions. People come and go- it was as simple as that, it was life. So why rely on them? Her head snapped up in realisation. 'Wow, I have major trust issues...' That thought depressed her, so she shook her head clear and focused back on what happened last night.

It came as no surprise to her when Ciel had so deviously declared that the Funtom Company just so happened to be thinking of expanding into the food industry and thus the curry competition would be such a wonderful start. 'What a coincidence...' Luce thought sarcastically, making her way into the girl's room. That boy was slowly but surely becoming a demon in his own right.

However, Soma had declared Ciel's victory against West as impossible, for the simple reason that- "He has Agni with his right hand of god!" Or so the prince had protested. It turned out that Agni's 'right hand of god' was actually not meant for fighting but curry making. 'Who would have thought...' Luce still found it utterly ridiculous. Needless to say, Ciel couldn't help but taunt the household demon.

That had led to Sebastian's very first attempt at curry. It had smelled oh so wonderful and everyone had thought the butler would succeed on his very first try, like always- only for Soma to spit out the curry with a sound of disgust. She laughed at the mental image. Sebastian had looked so shocked and confused. It was incredibly adorable. The girl blushed when realising her own thoughts. She took a deep calming breath and raked fingers through her hair. 'Damn him for being so...him.' Luce face palmed at her own stupidity. Was that really the best she could come up with? She sighed, changing her shoes from heels to her dark boots.

In the end they had come to the conclusion that if they wanted to make proper curry- one that actually stood a chance of winning -then they needed the proper ingredients. At the thought, everyone had zeroed in on an unassuming Lau who was the president of an international trading company. "Eh?" Was his usual clueless answer. 'Honestly, that guy...' Luce wasn't sure how someone so oblivious could be such a successful man. It was probably just a facade- only most of the time he seemed genuinely lost. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and then sighed.

It didn't really matter. Luce stood from her bed and left. Now that the butler needed to wait for at least another day to actually have the ingredients to make proper curry, he would surely drag her off into another midnight lesson. Sebastian would probably come up with some kind of mocking excuse and give her that stupid close-eyed grin of his- but she didn't care today. A grin spread on her face. It wasn't like she was there anyways. Her giggle came out in white puffs of smoke as the girl made her way through the cold winter's air.

Although, Luciana had to admit; she was curious as to how Sebastian would fair against Agni. It was technically a showdown between god and a demon. 'Well~ at least metaphorically.' But who cared about the details? She giggled nonchalantly, slinking through the back alleys.

.

Sebastian's eyes raked the kitchen. It had been cleaned spotless and there was no sign of Luce. It wasn't all that unusual. The girl tended to escape after the servants had finished their dinner. She usually used that time to sleep. So the demon proceeded towards the female quarters, passing the idiot servants as they finished up for the night.

Only when he entered the room, her bed was empty. The demon's eyes narrowed, noticing a note left on her pillow. 'Looking for someone?' Sebastian read the piece of paper and his eyes flashed. That was definitely her handwriting. She played him- again. He didn't hold back the annoyed grumble. Where did she go?

.

"HAHAHAHAHA~" Boisterous laughter shook the room while Luce held onto a coffin for dear life. 'Ha! The irony~' She giggled. Luciana had just finished telling Undertaker of 'Sebastian the abdominal deer-man' and he was laughing like never before.

Thank you for reading and all the reviews!
Especially the reviews :) I really appreciate your opinions because to be honest I'm not really sure where this story will end, obviously there is a general idea but I'm just going with the flow - kinda like Luce. So this story actually relies on all your comments, to know in which direction the characters will develop.

Who knows, maybe we'll all end up hating Luciana or pitying her or it will be a happy end? I'm excited to see where it will go.