As the carriage bumped along every cobblestone, Ciel's stomach knotted tighter and tighter. His head started to feel light headed trying to piece together the mystery; something felt a little...supernatural about it. Why would any sane person want random body parts? He thought, gazing out of the window and watching as he drifted through the English countryside. Opposite him sat Sebastian, wearing his trademark winter coat over his butler clothing on this particularly bitter cold day. Sebastian observed Ciel's actions; he was gazing out of the window, his chin resting on his fisted right hand, his eyes implying that he was puzzled about something.

"Is the Young Master curious about something?" Sebastian said, causing Ciel to snap out of his trance and face his butler. "You seem to be very quiet on this journey. Perhaps you are nervous about seeing Lady Elizabeth?" Ciel had completely forgotten where the carriage was taking him for a moment.

"Of course not; I am only visiting Lizzy, for God's sake. However, Aunt Frances is so different..." Ciel paused and thought of his aunt; she hadn't changed at all from his childhood. She was still a strong woman. "Anyway, I was wondering about the case I've been given. I was just wondering...it doesn't seem like someone mortal would want anything to do with random body parts."

Sebastian chuckled. "Maybe the Young Master is underestimating the human race. Humans are strange in different ways; some good, and some bad." Before Ciel could possibly protest, the carriage came to a sudden halt; they'd arrived. Sebastian stepped out of the carriage first, and then began to help the young master out.

Ciel was soon enough embraced with the usual squeeze-hug from his fiancée once he stepped into the Middleford mansion. Lizzy's chirpy giggles and constant list of things she wanted to do seemed to soothe Ciel slightly, but the case was still crowding his mind; all sort of solutions and ideas whirred through his head as he went to sit down in the sitting room. He slumped into one of the plush armchairs, and watched the amber flames from the fire slowly burn at the wood. As he started deeply into space, he's completely forgotten about the presence of his fiancée, and his aunt.

"Ciel!"

Ciel sharply snapped back into reality at the shrill sound of Aunt Frances's voice. He craned his neck to view his aunt; as usual, she was sat upright, like and lady should. Her hair was scraped up off her face into her trademark tight bun; however she had a long curled cowlick at the front of her hair, similar to her daughter. She wore a slightly ornate dress; it was incredibly ladylike, but not as intricate as any of Lizzy's gowns. As he watched his aunt talk about trivial things, he thought about Lizzy. Will she look just like her mother in the years to come? Or will she still have that cutesy, innocent face that he's so used to?

"Ciel, I hope you're listening. Elizabeth won't be around much longer. Her tutor will be arriving soon, so she won't be able to spend time with you until her studies are finished." Aunt Frances sipped her cup of tea, whilst eyeing up the young children's postures. Once she finished her tea, she picked up her parasol and poked Ciel in the side, indicating him to sit up straight, like a gentleman. Lizzy sat up as a lady should at the sight of that action, hoping that she would get poked too. After all, she wanted to show her mother that she was growing up to be a very ladylike woman.

"Ciel, did you know Nina made me a new dress last week? It's so pretty! It's mint green with chocolate embroidery and..." as Lizzy babbled on about her latest outfit, Ciel started to attempt to piece the case together. If someone was stealing body parts from other humans, then surely these parts would be used for something like an occult ritual, maybe? Stranger things have happened in London. Or maybe they're being used for a 'project', for example building deadly dolls or slaves? All of these possibilities danced around the Earl's head, as Sebastian watched him from behind, chuckling. The butler leaned over to his master's ear, and started to whisper.

"Is the young master attempting to solve the case now? Surely it's inappropriate behaviour in front of ladies such as Marchioness Middleford and Lady Elizabeth." Sebastian smirked, causing Ciel to cringe slightly.

"I am aware of the presence of my relatives, Sebastian. I am just considering the possible solutions to such a case. As you have said numerous times, humans do strange things." Ciel turned his head away from his butler to face his fiancée, who was still talking about her dress. Typical Lizzy, he thought, watching her giggle and smile as the described the dress. She's such an innocent person...so unaware of what I have to do in life. Ciel watched her finish her large description, before attempting to say a word himself. But before he would move his mouth, one of the servants entered the door, with two men wearing glasses and suits behind him.

"M'Lady, Earl Phantomhive." The servant bowed before finishing his sentence. "Lady Elizabeth's tutors are here for the day." Aunt Frances thanked the servant and sent him back on his way, before inviting the two men in whilst eyeing them suspiciously.

"You both are obviously not Miss Bedford, Elizabeth's usual governess, are you?" Aunt Frances asked, the grip on her parasol tightening. From what Ciel could make out, his aunt had cleverly concealed a sword blade into the handle of the parasol, incase of emergencies.

One of the men laughed casually. "Miss Bedford is terribly ill today, so we will be substituting for her, if that is alright with you, Marchioness Middleford." Aunt Frances's expression didn't soften, but with a large sigh, she turned to her daughter. "You aren't going to learn anything just sitting around here, are you, girl?"

Elizabeth jumped up from the sofa , and led her 'tutors' into one of the empty rooms upstairs, for them to get some quiet whilst she studied. As they exited the room, Ciel glared at the tutors; something didn't feel right about this. But it was probably the case talking to him; he was getting edgy.

After a few hours of discussing various trivial subjects with Aunt Frances whilst nibbling on various treats and sipping tea, Ciel glanced at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace; it was late, and he should be getting home. After finishing his plate of shortbread and his cup of Earl grey, Ciel stood up, and faced his aunt.

"I'm afraid that we must leave you for now. I have an early meeting in the morning, so I must get home and rest." Ciel politely kissed his aunt's hand and left to go to the carriage outside. However, before Ciel was going to leave for his mansion, he decided that is wasn't rude of him to interrupt Lizzy's lessons just to say goodbye. He walked up the marble staircase, and turned into the left hallway, and down to the room where Lizzy has been studying.

But, as he walked down the corridor, he noticed one of her tutors briskly walking out of the room, with a slight smirk painted on his face. As both of them crossed paths, Ciel noticed that tucked under his arm was a copy of the newspaper that reported his and Lizzy's escape from the Campania. Also, Ciel picked up on the fact that Lizzy's face was circled quite boldly on the paper. Once they brushed shoulders, the tutor whispered something that was only audible to Ciel;

"She's surely a feisty one. You should've taken care of her more, Earl."

Ciel grimaced at the tutor's remark. If he had laid a finger on Lizzy...he didn't want to imagine what sort of torturous demise that man would face. Ciel started feeling his dream from days before becoming a reality; he had to run. As he sprinted down the corridor, he noticed that Lizzy's voice couldn't be heard; you could usually hear her giggling or saying something about their suits being cute. Once he arrived at the door, Ciel noticed that it was bolted shut. With several attempts to getting into the room, Ciel slid down against the door, too nauseous to push even more. However, Ciel felt himself leaning backwards; the door was open. Ciel looked up, and saw his familiar butler had unbolted the door.

"It seems the Young Master tries and tries to save his princess...but this time, you seemed to have failed." Sebastian pulled Ciel to his feet and turned him to face the room.

It was empty. Not a single soul was in there, only a vase that once sat on the windowsill was shattered to pieces on the floor, and the window was fully open, causing the curtains to fly around with the stormy wind.

Lizzy was gone, and so were the tutors.