Getting Started

At the beginning of the twelfth new year of Ciel's and Linnea's life...he decided to build a company, and one month was all it took for the planning.

And at the beginning of February, construction begins and training continues.

And because the Head Maid is so young, Nina Hopkins went all the way in designing 'the cutest Head Maid outfit ever' even if she was in shock that said Head Maid, is only 11 years old! She thus finds it a challenge on how to make Maylene's uniforms when the Head Maid is so young it has to match somehow.

She wasn't the only one.

When Ciel finally allowed visitations to the manor, the first to come are his aunt Lady Angelina Durless, a.k.a 'Madam Red'.

'Alright!' Sebastian told the Servants as the Kitchen was officially also Servant Station because its here that they also have their breakfast. 'Bard! Get cooking! Bake as many bread and make as many desserts as possible while thinking of an appropriate menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner! You know the penalty if you burn or blow anything up!'

'Got it!' Bard saluted as he got to work.

'Finny, weed the gardens! The lawn! And remove rotten leaves and rotten flowers as well as pests!'

'Okie-dokie!' and Finny ran off.

'Linnea and Maylene, the whole house and the bedroom linens!'

'Sir!' and the maids ran off.

'And Tanaka can just drink tea.' Sebastian finished. The reason why its 'Tanaka can just drink tea.' means he should relax as he is the second-busiest in the house and of old age, so he should relax whenever possible until he gets his next workload because his jobs are mentally stressful.

For the maids, they are the third busiest in the house.

Because they clean EVERYTHING.

'Maylene, you handle the bedrooms and the Linens, then grab all cloth in the mansion and throw em' to the laundry and use our best-smelling detergents! But be careful with the laundry alright? Remember what I taught you but if you forgot some rules, always call me! Then beat the dust off of the carpets and rugs before washing them too! After the laundry, clean the whole second floor! I'll handle the first floor, the library, entertainment rooms, paintings, vases and sensitive stuff! Make your designation very clean, spotless and shiny! When the laundry is dry, iron everything! NOT A SINGLE WRINKLE!'

'Yes ma'am!' Maylene squeaked, and ran off to her post.

'Well, as for me I should choose what to cheat on...' Linnea grunted as she checked places she took on. As for places too high for her to reach, she can always say 'Sebastian did it ahead of time and left her what she can reach.'

The first guest is Madam Red.

She's a very happy and carefree, frivolous person who always dresses in red or as much red as possible, hence her nickname in social circles, 'Madam Red' that very few people remember her true name, Angelina Durless.

The second guest is Sir Klaus. Klaus is a vigorous, adventurous individual; he often travels, and has a habit of speaking words and phrases from countries he has recently been to. Furthermore, he is cordial, as he tends to enthusiastically express his gratitude for great service. He fancies a lighthearted, humorous atmosphere over a strict, businesslike environment. He travels a lot to obtain information and very close to the previous and current Head of Phantomhives.

Third guest is Diedrich. He is the friend and former Fag of Ciel's father Vincent. Diedrich strictly adheres to the rules and will not hesitate to confront those who oppose it. He is intolerant of those who are tardy and irresponsible. Notwithstanding, Diedrich is capable of admitting and accepting defeat in a fair game, even to the person he is exasperated with. He possesses great integrity, and tends to keep the promises he makes. Although Diedrich's facial expressions are usually angry, and his demeanor grouchy and reluctant, he is in actuality, a very reliable individual, who would go out of his way to assist. Although lately he's gaining weight and is a big fan of the Chef's Cooking until Ciel flatly told him the truth on WHO is behind the tasty food and he couldn't believe it. But due to roles in the house, she has to teach the 'Chef' and make him a real one.

...and more Aristocrats of Evil followed.

A very young Earl doing the Queen's dirty work is unbelievable enough, but so is his Head Maid who is six months older than he is. She also possessed traits servants can't typically have due to their work. Alabaster-fair, flawless skin, thick lashes framing her bright vivid-green eyes, and shiny, silky black hair with a 'dark patrician beauty' to her in Klaus' words, and rosy lips. If she was put in a dress, she would effortlessly appear like a girl of aristocracy. Not to mention she has knowledge Servants normally would not know beyond basic education and their servant training. Its thus known to the Aristocrats of Evil that the most competent servants in the house are the Butler, Steward and the Head Maid.

Next is the entire Midford Family who came without a notice, startling the be-jabbers out of Ciel.

The good thing was the mansion is always spic and span, and Bard finally mastered being a Chef.

Then Ciel decided on renovating the estate to make it look different.

Again, based on Linnea's future knowledge and he decided on an 'every-decade renovation' and Finny's monstrous strength came in handy in demolishing the old mansion after the mansion was emptied, and Ciel temporarily living in his Townhouse in London.

After the mansion was rebuilt beautifully but made of stronger material, its the Townhouse that was renovated next.

xxx

Next year, around Autumn...

For three servants, their morning starts very early. Sebastian who never sleeps is wide-awake, while Bard and Linnea are relying on Coffee to give them both a good kick while preparing breakfast for everyone.

'Bard, do we still have bread for the young Master's breakfast accompaniment?' 13-years old Linnea yawned sleepily as Bard checked the Bread Cupboard.

'Gah, two Dripping Cakes left!' Bard exclaimed in horror as he saw only two left. 'Its a good thing he eats only two every breakfast or we're in trouble!'

'We'll have to refill our stocks later...Bread is a very vital thing for breakfast for the aristocracy.' said Linnea. 'We'll check the pantry later after cooking breakfast so we can make more bread.'

Well, Linnea wrote two recipe books. A recipe book for Servants to eat, and a recipe book for the nobility to eat. Bard has recently mastered the delicacy required for such dishes so now Linnea cooks their food while he cooks Ciel's meals as his training. And she designed healthy and filling dishes for both. For good wake-up calls, the Breakfast is composed of Tea/Coffee, Bread, Soup, and Main Dish. Lunch and Dinner however, its Appetizer, Soup, Fish and Meat Dishes, Main Course, Salad and Dessert.

However, she's still the one who makes tea. Sebastian studied her cookbooks as well and its his duty to make it as good incase both she and Bard are unavailable as on some cases, he and Ciel are out for days so its up to him to feed Ciel. And on outings, he's the one who makes tea as well. But because Bard is still nervous about the chinaware(Bard: its damn sensitive and also expensive!), its Linnea who washes it and wipes it squeaky clean. But he handles the silverware for washing at least, and leaving the polishing to the maids.

'Glad to see everyone's up and about.' said Sebastian as the Servants had Breakfast while Ciel's was on a separate tray with chosen expensive, classy chinaware for the day. 'Today's tasks are our usual routines.' he said, picking up Ciel's breakfast and leaving. 'Oh yes, Sir Klaus is coming today at around 6 pm. Do triple the effort.'

'Sir!'

'Bard, because Sir Klaus is a traveler, he is said to like foreign cuisine more than English Cuisine due to his sense of adventure!' Linnea gasped out. Hit the foreign cuisine books!'

'Er what do I make?!'

'Try anything that's not American, European and African! Tackle Middle-East and Asia! Call me if issues come up. Maylene and I will be cleaning the whole house! We'll do the chinaware for last!'

And after all that, they took a bath at around 5:00 after a forty-minute rest, having finished their duties and groomed themselves.

Linnea has strictly enforced 'presenting oneself fresh from the bath and groomed neatly' rules before greeting guests. Because it would NOT do if you greet the guest while looking haggard, just finished work and smelling of B.O and whatever you dealt with in your job. First Impressions LAST and their conduct also reflects on their Lord.

And so, at 6 pm...the Servants lined up inside the entryway behind the front door. From the left side is Tanaka, Linnea and Bardroy. On the right side is Sebastian, Maylene and Finny. If one were to look in zigzag, the order in rank is Tanaka, Sebastian, Linnea, Maylene, Bard and Finny. Since Sir Klaus is the only AoE not to meet the new ones yet, they wore name tags.

'...that was rude!' came the joyful laugh. 'You're the same as always!'

'And you too, have been the same as always.' Ciel retorted wryly as the Servants bowed politely.

'Welcome, Sir Klaus!' they all greeted.

But the first sight that hit Sir Klaus' eyes was the mansion!

'Oh! You've turned the mansion into something beautiful!' Klaus marveled at the sight of the new Phantomhive Mansion.

'We've been awaiting you, Sir Klaus.' Sebastian spoke up.

'Ohhh! Nice to see you Sebastian! Its been a while! There appears to be new faces in this mansion too!' he said as Maylene offered to take his coat and hat.

'Are you staying a while? Your usual room is prepared just incase.'

'Oho? Spend the night, I will! Its careless to travel late!' Klaus said jovially.

'Before we have a talk about business, let's have dinner for a bit in the dining room.' said Ciel. 'Our Chef has done a splendid job for tonight.' he said as he, Klaus, Sebastian and the maids walked away.

Once they're gone...

'Pheeewww...I made it on time.' Bard gasped in relief as his legs felt like jelly.

'But still you did a good job though! The food looks gorgeous!' Finny gushed out as earlier in the kitchens, Bard was making the food more presentable.

'Yeah, but I had to apply incredibly delicacy because the stuff keeps falling down, caused me a great damn deal of stress!' Bard whined. 'I gotta headache Finny, I could use an ice bag! I had no idea its always gonna be like this when nobles come to play!' he groaned. 'I'm gonna make our dinner now. Too bad the girls have to have theirs a bit later since they'll be cleaning up.'

xxx

In the Dining Room...there's a spread of gorgeous Japanese Food presentation even Sebastian looked surprised.

Well? Bard did a good job without me didn't he~? Linnea giggled inwardly, talking to her boss and superior through telepathy.

That guy did this? Sebastian stared at the presentation that delighted Klaus. How did you manage to teach him to this level? Yes, Sebastian is capable of this. He just didn't expect Bard of all people to do this, considering how he and Ciel met the guy.

I simply told him to imagine food in nature's place and achieve balance and harmony with the food's colors. Since it took me a great deal of stress to teach him delicacy, refinement, harmony, patience and creativity I'm glad it bore fruit. Six months' worth of headache paid off!

That's good to know. What about the taste?

I triple checked. It's A-OK! with that, Dinner went smoothly...

xxx

'That was a weird conversation back there Linnea.' said Maylene as they left with the empty dishes on a pushcart. 'They're talking about kids with greed for games...'

'Er, learn to read the atmosphere a bit more Maylene.' Linnea sweatdropped. 'Sir Klaus task is to gather new information on corruption and cases that could possibly become a case the Queen wants the young master to deal with. Sir Klaus specializes in locating and rooting out detailed information about organized crime and how it can possibly affect our country's people.' Linnea growled with narrowed eyes as Maylene gasped. 'And the language he used when he greeted the young master...he came from Italy. That means Italy somehow managed to smuggle drugs into England and the young master needs physical proof so Sir Klaus got him one. His job is appropriate as he loves to travel so might as well make good use of it.'

'Oh!'

'Well, the young Master and Sebastian will leave again soon and we'll be on alert as usual. I'm just glad our new stone paths in the gardens is easy to clean since our last stone paths makes it hard to remove blood off it...'

xxx

Next morning...

While Sebastian took Ciel's breakfast, Linnea took Klaus' breakfast to his room and opened the curtains.

'Ohayogozaimasu, Klaus-sama.' Linnea greeted the sleepy man who groaned from the sunlight glare that shone on his face, 'Our chef has been inspired with Japan lately so here is today's breakfast.' she said as she put on a small table. There is a bowl of Miso Soup with tofu blocks, chopped scallions and button mushroom slices. There's a bowl of steamed rice, then plates of savory rolled bite-sized tamagoyaki, grilled fish fillet, and chikuzenni with the vegetables cut in an artsy way! 'And we have the appropriate tea for the morning as well. High-quality Matcha.'

And she wondered WHEN did Sebastian have the time to get this as last she checked, a jar of Matcha is NOT in their pantry and the stuff Tanaka drinks is the 'yucky ones'(since its his preference)!

'Ohhh! Veramente miravigliosa!' Klaus marveled in delight at the young maid as his eyes fell on her name tag. 'H-Head Maid?!'

'Yes.' Linnea chimed. 'I am the second servant the young Master hired after Sebastian. And due to my abilities, I am designated Head Maid of the Household. My name is Linnea.'

'F-figures that since Ciel is a young earl he'd also find a young and capable Head Maid...' Klaus sputtered incredulously. 'But you sure don't look like one! I mean, with your alabaster-fair skin and beauty just like that of a porcelain doll...are you sure you're not a runaway aristocrat's daughter?!'

'Erm, my family name is Potter sir. There is no family of aristocrats with that name...' said Linnea, sweatdropping. "In the human community at least!"

'Y-you're right but still...I can easily put you in a marvelous dress and no one'd be the wiser! And for a Head Maid you have smooth flawless skin! You're just like Sebastian!' he exclaimed.

'Ufufufu...I take care of myself very well since a Servant's well-being also reflects that of how their Master cares for them.' Linnea chirped. 'The young master is strict, but very considerate of our well-being.'

xxx

'You looked shocked Sir Klaus. Bad morning?' Ciel asked the man in concern. His attendant for the day is Linnea and she's the last person in the house to make a mistake.

'Er, what's the background of your maid?' Klaus asked dumbly. 'I thought she's a runaway aristocrat's daughter posing as your maid until she told me her family name.'

Ciel and Sebastian exchanged looks.

They have one thought: "This, is getting old."

'...you're not the only one who asked that. Anyone who met her asked us that very question due to her appearance.' Ciel told him wryly, 'But the only ones who know of her background are the people in this house, and my relatives. And I can safely tell you as you are among those who do not forgive...her kind of circumstances.' he said with narrowed, grim expression as he rested his chin on his hands' interlaced fingers. 'But rest assured justice is served and she's happier here.'

'Something tells me this is quite a tale.'