Time passed by. Yuki had to get Sebastian to consult on what Elizabeth wanted the ice decorations to look like when the annoying blonde bluntly pouted and said Yuki 'is a rag doll' and is 'not fit to be next to her'.
"She just hates me because I am a girl…" Yuki mumbled miserably as she continued the drawings in Ciel's study.
The door opened to view Ciel coming in. He smiled as he acknowledged Yuki drawing.
"Hey, how are the rough sketches for the decorations coming along?" Ciel asked.
"Miserable. Your fiancé is going to suck all the powers out of me," Yuki deadpanned as she drew a complicated rose ribbon arrangement, ordered to make fifty of those huge decorations.
"Why? How?" Ciel looked at Yuki in worry.
"She decided if she cannot have pink in a formal Winter Ball, what is better than making me conjure up complicated ribbon sculptures and multiply the order by fifty? Ciel I can make sculptures but they are time consuming," Yuki sighed and then accidentally poked herself when drawing a rose ribbon in the corner of a room.
"You all right?" Ciel hastily reached for a napkin.
"Yeah, I am wearing gloves, don't worry," Yuki miserably sighed.
"Why don't you take a break?" Ciel asked.
"No can do. I have to get these done," Yuki sighed.
"I am sorry about my fiancé," Ciel asked, "Maybe I can ask her on making the decorations much more simple? I do not like her taking advantage of anyone in my household."
"Why?" Yuki asked, "Does she do this to the other three or Sebastian?"
"Maybe."
"What's with the vague answer?" Yuki sighed and then dipped her feather in the ink and started sketching swan sculptures that Elizabeth wanted two of.
"I don't know, it happens sometimes, where she makes them do impossible tasks that I have to talk her out of," Ciel sighed.
Yuki nodded.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," Ciel said, tired.
The door banged open to reveal the most miserable person the two wanted to see at the end of the world.
"CIEL~!" She came forward and glomped the navy haired boy in a hug, glaring at Yuki intensely before letting him go.
"I haven't seen you in forever!" she screeched.
"Yes you have. Half an hour ago!" Ciel yelled. Yuki bit her lip as she closed the ink bottle and dried off the feather.
"What are you doing?" Elizabeth screeched at Yuki.
"I am done with the drawings, right?" Yuki said.
Elizabeth glared at Yuki and then looked at the drawings that Yuki had preciously drawn, looking so realistic that if it had color it could've been a color photograph. Her cheeks burned in jealousy and she shredded the pictures into tiny little bits.
"I pulled an all nighters for that!" Yuki yelled, completely worn out, then she let her face collapse into her hands.
Then Elizabeth kicked the pile making the pieces shatter and fly out of the open window and all over the room.
"I could've fixed it…" Yuki cried. Ciel's eye burned in anger.
"Well, slut, it was pathetic!" Elizabeth slapped Yuki hard on one cheek making her fall to the ground.
Right before Elizabeth could strike Yuki in her stomach, Ciel pinned Elizabeth back and slapped her hard. Then he pushed her away.
"Ciel, what was that for?!" Elizabeth wailed.
"You heard her. She worked so hard, cut her sleep for the blueprints of your stupid ball, and this is how you treat her? You ordered her to do too many intricate sculptures and I tried reasoning with her to tone down the decorations but she said she wanted to do exactly what you said. And this is how you reward her?!" Ciel yelled.
Elizabeth's eyes watered, "But she is nothing more than a servant!"
"No she is not! I treat her like a friend! And if you can't handle that, you may as well go home now!" Ciel yelled.
"But Ciel!" Elizabeth wailed.
"LEAVE."
Ciel's cold tone made Elizabeth quake in fear and Yuki's eyes widen. She never heard Ciel sound like that before.
Elizabeth latched onto his arm, refusing to follow his order, almost feeling insulted that she was being pushed around like a servant.
"Leave or else I will sign the papers for breaking off our engagement. You are on the last thread, Elizabeth," Ciel glared.
Elizabeth let go, and stood still. Then she ran out of the room, wailing loudly. Yuki sobbed quietly as she picked up a piece of paper from the carpet.
When the sound of carriage left the room, Sebastian came in and his eyes bugged out when he saw the mess.
"What happened in here?" Sebastian whispered.
"Elizabeth didn't like my blueprints so she tore them into tiny bits. I would have been able to piece them together as if they were never torn had she not kicked it, making some fly out of the window," Yuki sobbed into her hands.
"I can take care of that," Sebastian patted her head.
"So why are you here?" Ciel sighed.
"Young Master, Lady Elizabeth wanted you to wear this ring on the day of the ball," Sebastian showed the navy haired boy a beautiful 22K gold ring with a pink sapphire, much to Ciel's distaste.
"No. Put it somewhere I will never see it," Ciel gagged.
"As you wish, Young Master," Sebastian bowed, and Ciel sighed in irritated state.
"Sebastian, you said you can fix her blueprints, right? Get to it," Ciel curtly said. Sebastian bowed and got right to the task.
Yuki still stayed on the floor where Elizabeth slapped her, had a tiny shred of her blueprint in her hand and tears continuously streaming down her face. Ciel's face softened at the sight.
"Come on," Ciel softly murmured and gently plucked the tiny piece out of her fingers and picked her up in his arms, bridal style, shocking the girl for what kind of strength he has. Ciel gently padded down the stairs and sat down the sofas in the main lobby of the mansion, allowing the girl to cry into his chest.
"I-I have to r-redo those b-blueprints!" Yuki struggled out of Ciel's arms but he held her down.
"No, Yuki, no. He will fix it in no time," Ciel gently hugged Yuki making her instantly tired.
"You need to rest, Yuki. These past days you haven't been thinking about yourself," Ciel gently chided the girl.
Yuki's tears silently poured as she cupped her cheek as she sobbed and then fell asleep, her arms going limp.
Ciel outlined the redness of Elizabeth's slap, fury building inside him. How dare his fiancé touch her!
"Go to sleep," Ciel murmured even though Yuki was soundly sleeping in his arms.
"I see she is comfortable," Sebastian said.
"When did you get here, Sebastian?" Ciel whispered.
"Just now."
"Did you do as I said?"
"Yes, Young Master. Good as new."
"One more thing. Do not let Elizabeth come until next week at the ball. She is being a huge threat to Yuki's health," Ciel coldly said.
"Yes, Young Master. Is that all?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes."
"Shall I take Young Lady to her room with Meirin?" Sebastian asked.
"About that…"
"What is it?"
"I want her to have a luxurious bedroom. Prepare a room for her to have."
"I can take it she is going to be a permanent resident of a room?" Sebastian smirked.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Ciel glared at the butler.
Sebastian smirked and shook his head. Then he bowed, hand over heart and left. Ciel cradled the girl in his arms and brought her closer to his chest.
"If only time can stop forever like this…"
It can if only you tell Elizabeth the truth, Sebastian thought as he headed up the stairs.
oOo
[One Week Later – Yuki's POV]
The ballroom was perfect as Elizabeth wanted it to be. The two triplet swan sculptures were dazzling, the huge snowflake chandelier was hanging mysteriously in thin air, the wreaths made out of ice hung on the walls. Almost everything was covered in ice, except the floor. The 'ice palace' illuminated in a beautiful blue glow from all the ice instead of candles for today. I looked beautiful in my royal blue strapless ball gown.
I wore glass slippers and my sleeves were long and white, in stark contrast to the strapless dress.
I wore something that resembled a tiny tiara on my head like I was an Ice Queen. I slipped on my gloves as Ciel walked in with his cane and looked in awe at all the decoration.
"This…is…beautiful…" Ciel looked at the ice carvings that covered the ceiling.
I smiled, "One of the few things your personal attendant with magical powers should be able to accomplish."
Ciel chuckled and the guests started to come in. Suddenly a huge screech came and Elizabeth started to run towards Ciel, irking the young boy.
"CIEL! WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING THE RING I GAVE YOU!" Elizabeth snatched Ciel's heirloom ring.
"Elizabeth, give it back!"
"But why?!"
"Because I do not want to wear it! Give it back! You are making a scene!" Ciel yelled.
"Finny," I whispered.
"Yeah?" Finny came.
"Get me a bag."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Finny left and came back with a velvet bag as she requested. Then to support what I had a bad feeling about, Elizabeth screeched and said, "FINE! HAVE YOUR STUPID RING BACK!"
And with that, with all of her might, Elizabeth slammed the ring to the floor. The gold bent and the beautiful blue stone on the ring shattered into a million pieces.
"Sebastian," I murmured, "Hold him back. He might lose it."
"Got it."
I was right. Ciel made a move to slap his fiancé for breaking his ring. Sebastian held the boy's hand and took the cane out of Ciel's right hand. He then bent down and murmured something into Elizabeth's ear.
I stepped forward and bent down and started picking up each fragment of the ring and placing it into the bag.
"Y-Yuki w-what are you doing?" Ciel sputtered.
"Young Master, this must be precious to you, right? Anything precious to you is worth my life. I will fix it for you and spend whatever time it takes to make this ring look brand-new," I smiled at Ciel as she drew the drawstring of the bag.
Sebastian straightened up and said, "I can do it instead."
I held my hands up and shook my head, "I can do it. Master, enjoy your evening with Milady."
With that, and a heavy heart, I walked off to the garden after giving an apologetic bow for what just happened even though everyone in the room knew it was Elizabeth's fault, not mine.
[Several hours later]
My stomach growled. The party was in full blast. I pricked my fingers so many times and got several scratches trying to add a new broken piece and heal the ring.
When the sapphire looked like brand new. I got to work on the metal. I had to remember how the ring was, circular, and bent it to perfection. I slipped the finger on my thumb to feel if the ring was perfect and when I had the feeling of satisfaction bloom in my chest, I silently took it off and put it in the velvet bag and tied the strings closed.
"Ah, so you are here," a voice came from behind me.
I jumped.
"Ciel, what are you doing here?" I asked, knowing that annoying blonde was not next to him or else she would have squealed like a dollie all the way to the garden. I got up and turned around to see Ciel looking guilty.
"I came to see where you were. Everyone is enjoying the party except you," Ciel frowned.
I smiled and held the bag up. His eyes widened when he saw my hands. Oh shoot.
"Yuki what happened to your hands?!" Ciel tried to grab my bare hands but I yanked the gloves on. Still he grabbed my gloved hands.
"I scratched myself while fixing your ring. I will heal myself later, I promise," I said.
"Promise?" he asked.
"Promise."
"What's in the bag, Yuki?" Ciel asked.
"Your ring. I think it is perfect, and fixing it took a lot of my physical energy a side effect of my powers," I said, "Open it and try it on."
Ciel did so and he gasped.
"Well?" I prodded him.
"It's…it's…" he sputtered, not knowing where to start. I think anyone would feel like that right now.
"Is it good?" I nervously wrung my hands, "I tried my best…"
"It's like it was never thrown on the floor before…" he whispered. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh good! I was aiming for perfection when fixing it."
He slipped it on his hand and he genuinely smiled when it felt right just to him. I felt really good about taking time to fix something that was very important to him.
"You didn't have to do this," he said.
"I wanted to. Anything that means a lot to you is very much my business," Yuki weakly smiled, making Ciel feel even more guilty for making her do such work.
"I am really sorry about her. It isn't like her to throw such a fit or tantrum. I do not know what made her burst today," Ciel said, "Usually she would stomp her foot when I wouldn't wear her gifts."
I tilted my head to the side and nodded.
"So is she fine? You should check up on her," I smiled.
"Oh she's fine," Ciel's face darkened. I became worried.
"What happened? If it is about the ring I fixed it."
"Not that. She is just dancing with someone else," Ciel sighed, anger twitching on his forehead.
"Are you jealous?" I asked after a moment.
Ciel didn't have to think about his answer. It just ripped out of his lips, "No. Not at all."
"Why? She is your fiancé, Ciel."
"She was being a huge headache to me, always glaring at ladies when they would try to start a small talk about my business or something like that. She even got jealous when a married lady got near me. Then I found my limit and officially asked Sebastian to get her off my back," Ciel sighed.
"Sorry," I said. I knew how hard it was to have such a difficult fiancé.
"Did you have one?" Ciel asked.
"Me? Oh yes, I used to be engaged. Like I told Finny before, he was the most controlling person I met. He caused my parent's death," I sighed.
"What made him do that?" Ciel asked.
"When he found out I was no ordinary girl," I said. Ciel caught my drift.
"What is the name of this man? Surely I can help you avenge your loss," Ciel said.
"His name is…Allan Hemmingsworth," I said, hesitantly.
"That number two jewelry company in the world?" Ciel asked, incredulously. I nodded.
"What is your last name?" Ciel asked.
"My last name is, Villanueva. My name is Yuki Esperalda Villanueva. I was engaged to Allan and he caused the downfall of my life," I said, grabbing the hem of my dress thoroughly ashamed in myself.
I was drawn into a hug.
"Don't worry. I will help you."
Something caught into my throat and my air felt like it was being cut off. My vision blurred and I croaked out, "H-hey…"
"Yes?"
"Is it okay for me to cry?" I whispered. The hands tightened around my waist and one hand gently pushed my head into his chest.
"It is much better to let it all out rather than trying to hold it all in. Crying makes you stronger," Ciel assured me.
And then my strong front and icy façade and teasing and strong side broke down and I became vulnerable for that one night only. That one night was the night I let myself cry, not including the one where Elizabeth tore my drawings apart.
And I never knew letting my tears out would cause a wave of satisfaction. And all during my tears, hands patted my dark blue hair down and a voice whispered gentle sweet words to calm me down.
I never felt more loved since my parents died.
.
.
.
TBC