Well, in all honesty, I didn't expect to get some people to review the first chapter I posted, neither did I expect to have other people put this story on their alert lists or favorites. I thank all of you who did. It made my day when I saw a few mails popping up with one or another review.

Please enjoy the next chapter of Grace's Inferno and if possible, leave a comment behind in which you tell me what you liked or not about this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji in any form or way. I'm merely using the characters and universe for my and other people's pleasure in fanfiction.

Chapter 2: The grace of having hidden what hurts

"Yay...A party."

Ciel's reaction was cold and uninterested as always, but since his Aunt, Miss Middlefort, wanted him to attend to it, he'd do it. His butler was distributing the guests and his Lord some tea and cake while Ciel was rereading the letter he had gotten from Elisabeth.
Elisabeth for her part, was staring at the other person who was cloaked in brown and the girl was sitting in front of her and Ciel. She was pale, her eyes seemed to stare in the afar and her whole body seemed to be ready to break any minute. She was so similar to the Ciel who had reappeared after that the mansion had burned. He too looked like that, empty of any will and mental strength. But this girl didn't even seem being from any noble descendance, but more like a child that had been picked up from the street. But if that was the case, why was there a butler whom was exclusively hers, like Sebastian was Ciel's?

"U-Uhm, Ciel?"

"What is it?"

"Who is she? She's been staring at us for a while now." asked the blonde girl hesitatingly.

"Her name is Earl Grace Wortley. Her Majesty has asked me to take care of her and to help her to recover from the incident she just came out from."

"Incident?"

"My Lady lost her parents in a terrible accident." answered the unknown butler.

The noble girl observed the butler for a moment. He was pretty similar to Sebastian when it came to manners and a polite smile. But this man's face and eyes were different along with his gestures. Oh, it was perfect, but it was rougher and less graceful, as if he was in training. He wore also a different attire then Sebastian, wearing brown and deep red instead of grey and black. Probably because the dress code at the Wortley's were different from the Phantomhives. Instead of a necktie, the man wore a cravat which was pinned with a necktie pin on which the blason of the family he served for was stamped on. He had a monocle on his left eye that was held with a golden chain to something that was hidden by his thick strands of black hair that was combed back with a parting on the right side, letting two long bangs fall over his eyes. He wore gloves just like Sebastian, but in a grey color instead of white. And last of all, he had his jacket open, revealing his waistcoat.
In fact, the only ressemblance between those two were their manners and black hair. Nothing else really related them. Sebastian's eyes were brown, that of the other man green. Sebastian's smile was a business smile, while that of the other seemed more natural but also more cruel. Their eyebrows were highly arched, but that of the other frowned more easily, showing at least some emotion.

The new one might have been nicer to look at, Elisabeth still preferred Sebastian. Maybe because she knew him better and was Ciel's butler.

"I beg you pardon Lady Elisabeth, but, do I have something on my face?"

The blonde girl, startled, realized that she had been staring at him. Ciel chuckled softly and something that seemed like a giggle came from across them. Elisabeth looked down, red of embarrassment and kept silent, not exactly knowing what to answer.
Ciel looked over at the other girl, who had indeed giggled. Lizzy noticed that his eyes weren't as cold as they usually were when he looked at her. Maybe he pitied her or at least could relate himself to her, since they were both in the same familial situation? But Grace had looked down again, hiding her face. Despite the butler besides her, she seemed lonely and very sad. Elisabeth wasn't sure about Ciel's feelings, but she felt sympathy for Grace.

With a slight jump, she stood up and went over to the girl, grabbing her arm.

"My name's Elisabeth." she said cheerfully. "Do you like cute things?"

Sharp blue eyes looked up to her warm green ones, with a glint of surprise in them. She seemed not to understand the other girl's words, since she didn't answer and only looked with a questioning look at her butler. The man nodded with a smile and Grace finally answered with a small voice that she did like cute things.

"Then it's settled! You'll come shopping with me! And we'll buy new clothes for Ciel too, so that he looks even cuter!"

The concerned one, who was drinking some tea, spurted it out almost in horror from the words of his fiancée and tried to stop them, but was proven too late at the sound of the front doors slamming open and a carriage strolling away.

A heavy sigh escaped from his lips and irritation was written all over his face.

"Would you like to have some more tea, My Lord?" asked Sebastian casually.

Elisabeth was totally loving strolling down the streets with her new friend, her maid and Grace's butler. One, they could buy more since the man could carry it for them and two, she could ask an honest opinion from someone else then Paula.

Grace, for her part, walked very closely to the butler and gripped tight her coat. Seeing that she was feeling uncomfortable, Elisabeth gripped her hands and said with a serious look on her face:

"We're going to buy some things for you, ne? Your butler told me that you had lost almost all of your belongings. So, lets go buy the necessary for you."

The girl nodded, not quite sure what else to do and followed the blonde kid. The butler and the maid smiled and awaited for the orders of the small Lady.

The first place they got to visit, was a toy store.

"We're going to buy a beautiful doll for you!" announced Elisabeth cheerfully while dragging her over to the right shelves. "So, choose the one you like the most."

Grace stared at the glass eyes of the white skinned porcelain dolls which were wearing dresses exactly like those of real humans. They looked like real ladies or children, but that didn't move and from which all live had been drained and their eternal smiles would keep on showing to their future owners.

A tear slipped from the girl's eye, rolling down her cheek.

Elisabeth, immediately realizing her mistake, took the girl over to the Phantom Industries bunnies and teddy bears, pressing her to choose between one of those, while the butler made sure that Grace wouldn't have to look again at the dolls.

After all, those dolls were almost perfect copies of the dead children's faces she had seen before he had appeared in front of her...