A/N: Right. So, awkward apology here. Very sorry for the much delayed chapter. I had wanted this chapter out before school season, and alas, that ironically didn't work out. I am trying to get into the swing of things, but hopefully, this monthly chapter update will force me to stay on track. The moment I relax, this story is bye-bye which is bad for both you and me. Ha. So, there will be no giving up for me. I plan to make this last as long as I need to for this story to be completely finished. Period. And so, I will now announce my appreciation to my readers for their faithfulness in my updating and for the hearts, bookmarks, and reviews. They're motivation as well as something I look forward to. Silent readers are also acknowledged, don't worry.

For our reviewers, special thanks to 8shadesofmadness, bunnyxstar, and SkittleLuvr.x3. The support keeps me going!

8shadesofmadness: Dude, you have wild imagination. You'd be better off making a better story than I am. Maybe one of these days, I'll use an idea of yours since they're a heck of a lot more interesting than mine. Big oof. But anyhow, your feedback is acknowledged. I don't know how much of a revealer you'll like, but shit has yet to go down. So, keep brainstorming lmao.

bunnyxstar: I'm very glad you think so. Honestly, it was meant for before January, but oh well. Hopefully this chapter also meets your expectations. Enjoy reading!

SkittleLuvr.x3: Hah, that is definitely an idea to think about. I may include it when they have their moment together again. But yes, I'm much dreading the Phantomhive scenario. I'm still thinking of how I'll go about this with my character. It's going to be a while tho. Especially for Sebastian, but he's right after so it won't be as long a wait. Stick around and you'll see, lol!

With that said, enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji nor will I ever. Everything read not included in the manga are my ideas and characters alone unless mentioned otherwise.

Chapter 11
Rachel's POV (1st)
"If I'd known you'd be so eager to see me, I would've made myself available sooner."

My eyebrow twitched. /Was that supposed to be a flirt?/ Ironically, one of my greatest weaknesses being that I couldn't tell apart friendly conversation from subtle flirtation, not that this woman and I shared any sort of relationship, especially not after her seemingly cold shoulder for the past few days. Not that it really mattered.

If I was to be bait, then I'll have to assume the part. It's a matter of seeming desperate enough to convince her that I need help. But over what?

"That employer of yours… Undertaker, was it? He seems quite the mental case." Her mouth quirked. Was she looking for agreement?

"If you say so, my Lady. He is a well enough employer, given he provides for my basic needs." Impartiality would have to do for now. I don't what she's looking for.

"Ah. Is it enough for you, however?" She stooped down to inspect a rose bush, brushing the red petals with her hand. Her back was towards me so I couldn't tell her facial expression at all, but given the vantage point, the slight breeze made it easier to smell her scent. Anticipation.

"I could do without the corny jokes." I shrugged. There really wasn't much to complain about. I would hope I'm not that needy of a person.

"I see." Silence reigned for a minute or so, her still inspecting the rose while I warily watched her form until she got up, a rose in hand. She must've plucked it or cut it. "Do you not ever want for more?"

Where was she going with this?

"Whatever could you possibly mean, my Lady?" I tilted my head. Inwardly, I felt we were finally moving along.

"Hmm, well, satisfaction, contentment, a place to call home. Safety. Surely those brutish men you surround yourself with don't treat you the way you deserve to be." She was twirling the rose stem, now, mindful of the thorns. "After all, those poor maids of mine came running from their fiancé, begging for help. They dislike the bars of societal norms. Whisked off like lambs to the slaughter, sold to the highest bidder simply to save reputation. Quite tarnishing, I must say."

"It is unfair, if you ask me." Sure, I did have a problem with that sort of arrangement, how nobles had to survive competition. I'm guessing these are more aimed towards the middle-class given how none of these cases turned a public eye. A shame that class defined your value. I could understand that much.

"Truly, no? I can offer you the same, here." She was approaching me now, rose raised to her nose so she could sample the fragrance. She smiled slyly at me from behind it. "I could take care of those men, just like I did for my poor maids. It's what I did to liberate myself, you know."

Ah, so now she's referencing to the murders.

"These maids of yours, they know what you've done? And they have no issue against it? They're truly happy under your care, being nothing more than a servant?" It did seem like quite a tradeoff, life as a servant to be liberated from a stereotypical Victorian noblewoman's burden.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It is the price to pay, especially with all the bodies, you know? Quite the nuisance, having them piled up." She began to circle behind me, and I could feel her fingers brushing my hair. "But you, you're quite special." Lust. I could smell waves of it.

I was beginning to feel uncomfortable, both from the scent and her words. But of course, I couldn't show it. That would ruin the game. "How so, my Lady?"

"Hmm, well, to begin with, being apprenticed to an undertaker. Quite the unsavory sort. Only one could wonder what appeal that would have to one such as you, much less anyone else."

Well, she did have a point.

"Unless if there's more…"

All of a sudden, the rose came into my peripheral view, which forced me to look to the opposite side and see that her face was quite close to mine, close enough that I could see her dark blue eyes framed by raven hair. Quite an odd color.

"You'd do so much better under my care." A finger brushed under my chin, and then was gone. She already began walking off. "Think on it, why don't you?" Her figure was disappearing deeper into the garden, leaving me behind.

Well, if this was what Vincent was looking for, then he better have come up with a plan, and soon.

I looked down at my feet to see the rose she had been carrying. She must've dropped it before leaving to make some point.

And all the thorns were stripped.

…

All the men and I were gathered in a room. What kind of room, I was too preoccupied to care. I was sketching into a notebook, trying to sort my thoughts as I began with a rose before intertwining it with a skull. The men were still getting settled, pleasantries and all. The impromptu meeting was today, and I'm sure they were all looking forward to the results. It only seemed that digging deeper into her history only brought up more questions.

Of course, obviously, she was tempting me, and rather unsuccessfully given my loyalties to the contract between Undertaker and I. But the suspicion she had between us… Was there more to her than we originally thought? No way.

At least, that's what I wanted to believe.

Looking down at the sketch, I was surprised to find that I'd already drawn a rough outline of a face. Christ, that habit of mine to draw out my thoughts won't do well for me in the future. Nevertheless, I continued.

That thought aside, she'd obviously confided her secret to me, of course. Rather she trusted me or wanted to test me to rat her out wasn't my concern. We were here to solve a case, after all. Maybe she didn't care? Perhaps it was an appeal to feministic principles, the idea of freedom, equality of rights. I couldn't blame her nor her servants for desiring such, but the way they achieved it, of course, is a different matter altogether.

What did she hope to gain with her massive following? A rebellion? A "told you so" come-back at the patriarchal Victorian society? She didn't seem to care for those, only her desire. Desire of what, though? Just women?

I smirked. /How shallow./ But of course, that's irrelevant to the case. We were here to investigate the deaths of several bachelorettes, presumably, the men all these women - maids, if you will - were supposed to marry. These harem of women didn't seem bothered by her activities from what I could see. She even had servants willing enough to provide her the arsenic she needed.

So then what-

"Rachel!"

I startled, looking up and around in confusion at the men's faces. I blinked. "Yes? Did I miss something?"

Vincent blinked, glanced at Diedrich then Undertaker before looking back at me. "We've been inquiring about your visit with Lady Evans, but it seems you were rather… preoccupied." His gaze shifted to the notebook on my lap, prompting me to look down at the finalized sketch of Lady Evans' face staring up at me from the page. All details finely noted, from the shade of her pupil down to the hairs on her head. A perfect imitation of the enigma that's been evading us the past three days.

"Ah, my apologies. I just didn't have enough time to examine the information as I would've liked." I closed the notebook, keeping the cover secure with my hands. /Whoo, that was a close one./

Vincent blinked before responding. "I see. Well, we can postpone this meeting-"

"No."

He looked at me, mouth slightly agape in shock.

"We don't have the time to dilly-dally. We need to wrap this up as soon as possible because every second wasted is a second closer to someone else's imminent death."

Everyone was quiet, absorbing the urgency in my tone. Then, Undertaker piped up.

"Well, then, m'dear~ Tell us what you know."

I nodded. "Well, first of all, she did inquire about the nature between me and Undertaker's business contract, which lead to her proposal about me staying here. She admitted to the murders way too easily, perhaps in the likelihood that finding the remains of the deceased is rather low and therefore with little evidence to incriminate her with. But otherwise, the maids themselves don't seem at all concerned with her activities."

A few eyebrows raised.

"In fact, they seem in favor of it."

"Ah, now, here's where it gets interesting~ hihihi!" Undertaker lifted a sleeved hand to cover his laugh, appearing bashful.

"So, what you are telling me is that these women are willing to sacrifice their freedom to be free of societal restraints?" Diedrich scoffed, repulsed at the idea.

Well, not that I expected any better, coming from him.

"Of course, /you/ would be the least likely to understand coming from a bred patriarchal society. Women have little to no advantage, compared to you. Everything they hope for in a life requires a man; marriage, name, a reputation, a place to live. They're otherwise as good as dead without it." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Diedrich's eyebrow tick in annoyance at the none-too-subtle insult. "Of course, there are loopholes to this issue such as widowers who inherit everything, given they last longer than their husband, but they'd have to have exceedingly strong will for such. Perhaps the main reason for why these women turned to Lady Evans. They didn't want to risk the wait."

Silence permeated the room as the revelation sank in. Eventually, Vincent made a soft inquirement.

"What of the bachelors? Do you know where they are or at least what happened to them?"

I narrowed my eyes, shaking my head. "Unfortunately, I was unable to pry that information from her. However, we can search the manor, more probably the wine cellar and other underground rooms. The bodies may have to collect before she deposits them. I'm not sure." I felt a bit disappointed at that, but I didn't want to give ourselves away. But I'm sure that didn't matter at this point.

"Not to worry. I plan to wrap this up by the end of this week." Hearing a confident note in the Earl's voice, I looked up skeptically to find him smiling - at me, of all people - reassuringly. I lifted an eyebrow in question.

Even Diedrich groused a bit, still stumped. "Oh yeah? And what's that?"

A smirk. "All those walks weren't for nothing, at least where I am concerned. As for you… well, time will tell."

I snorted as the offended cried out indignantly. "Oi! I did my part, too, y'know! There wasn't anything else worth of interest here, anyway." He was grumbling to himself now. I found myself pitying him… a bit.

"Hi hi~ Well then, I suppose this concludes the meeting~" Undertaker stood up, gliding to my side where I remained seated at my chair. I didn't get up yet. But Undertaker didn't seem to want to leave either while the other two noblemen were already leaving for the door.

Diedrich looked over his shoulder, puzzled at our stationary positions. "Uh, aren't you coming?"

Undertaker giggled before making a shooing motion with this sleeve. "We'll be just a minute~ Run along now!"

Diedrich only gave us a strange look before shrugging and tagging behind Vincent.

Once their footsteps faded away, I felt a presence join my side. "My dear?~"

I looked up at him, a little conflicted. It took me a second to focus, which of course didn't go unnoticed. "Sorry, what was it you needed?"

He tilted his head. "Are you alright?"

What a great question to start with. Hm, let's see, am I?

My face blanked at him before blandly replying, "Yes." I looked away again, frustrated. Something was gnawing at my gut, some worry that I was unfamiliar with.

He smirked before lifting my chin with the crook of his clawed finger. "Surely not if my assistant is gloomier than usual~ What seems to be the matter?"

I looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. I was silent, trying to gather my thoughts, and he patiently waited with an excellent poker face before I sighed. /Great prelude to a serious conversation, Rachel. Great job, you idiot./

"There's something worrying me after my meeting with the noblewoman. She seems to suspect something more in our business contract, at least abnormal than what I'd have suspected." Undertaker's face remained nonplussed. Did he not care?

"Well, m'dear, she simply could be trying to catch you off-guard. Think nothing of it, love~ Soon, this will all be but a blur of the memory~" He smiled at me.

I still wasn't unconvinced but I let it go. "If you say so."

"By the way~"

I looked up curiously. "Hm?"

"I've been meaning to ask this, but I suppose now's a time better than never~ Why were you so willing to divulge your nature to me? Usually, most people of sound mind would be quite reluctant to. Mind soothing this poor old man's troubles, hihi~"

I deadpanned. /There he goes again with that old man talk./ "Hmph, quit trying to act old. You're not convincing."

He barked out a laugh. "Is that so?~"

"Sure. Second, well, I found that it was only fair given how much I know about you. Or rather, little since not much is divulged about you other than some vague facts from the author and theories that her fans come up with."
I shrugged, trying to play off my discomfort. "Therefore, I tried making it even. There's a lot about myself I don't know about, as well. For example, my true origins, my parents - though I don't care to meet them. Stuff like why I was born if the people who had me didn't care to keep me around, why I am the way that I am. Being a half-demon, I can see people's weaknesses or rather their flaws, the sins they're drawn to. It makes it hard to really ever trust in someone."

Undertaker laid a hand, suddenly, on top of mine, prompting me to stop and look over at him. He was giving me a smile, but more different than the ones I'm used to. Less crazed and giggly and more of… concerned? "In time, my dear. In time~"

I paused, a plethora of questions at the tip of my tongue, but at his smile, I stilled. I nodded then and his usual grin slid into place.

"Right then~ It's about time we head to bed. What say you, my dear?~" He was already traipsing off to the door before looking over at me, one lime-green double-irised eye in view as he waved goodbye before leaving.

I paused. /What was/ that /all about?/

01/31/19