+Ciel's POV+
The sunlight hit my eyes as I heard someone part the curtains that hung near my bed.
"Good morning young master." I saw my butler serving breakfast as he took plates from a trolley that he rolled in while I was asleep.
"I remember dozing off in my office..." I said yawning slightly.
"You were, I carried you here when I went patrolling last night. Though, I don't think that this is yours." He said as he showed me a silk robe.
"Hmmm... I can remember it clearly... wash it and when it's dry, hang it in our guest's room." I said remembering the mark clear as day.
"Yes, my lord." Sebastian said as he left to take the robe to the laundry room.
After he left, I started eating the waffles that sat on my plate. Syrup dripped from the chunks of delight as I picked one by one using a fork.
"This is most troubling indeed. I have a guest in my mansion that is being trailed by assassins, not to mention that she has a certain benefactor that saved her from being torn to pieces by mindless nobles."
After eating my breakfast, I took my cup of tea and took a long sip. I looked outside and saw the young red-head drawing under a tall tree.
Sebastian came back into the room as I stood up to get changed. After changing into my usual day clothes, Sebastian handed me a book.
"What is this?" I asked Sebastian
"Alice in Wonderland, Sire." He answered.
"I found it on your table last night. I saw Etoile reading it yesterday in the living room. I believe she was simply returning something she borrowed." He said as he took the clothes I wore last night.
"She seems to be enjoying her time here." He said with a sly smile.
"Hmph... I'll talk to her later." I said as I went back to the office.
+During teatime+
Ciel's POV
I was looking through documents when I saw a pair of green eyes gleam at from behind the door.
"Miss Etoile, please enter. I would like to have a word with you." I said as I put down everything that I was reading and turned my attention to the red-head that stood at my doorway.
"What is it, Sir Phantomhive?" she asked as she walked closer to the table where I rested my arms.
"Please, sit and just Ciel." I said gesturing her to the chair across my table. I have to know more about her. I have to learn how she was saved from the awful experience of being sold to a bunch of psychos.
"Then please, just Etoile." She said as she daintily sat across me.
"How do you find your stay here?" I asked with a smile plastered on my face.
"This place is like paradise to me... Much better than my former home." She said with an angelic smile
"So, I hope my servants are treating you well." I said
"Yes! they are very kind. They are very nice." She said as her hands moved all over expressing the feelings she could not express in words.
"Wonderful! I'm glad that you're enjoying your stay here." I said
"Ciel, you and I both know that that is not what you really want to know." She said not changing her expression.
"You are quite smart, Etoile. Will you tell me what I want to know?" I asked looking at her intently.
"Of course. You're the only one who can actually understand me... " She said as she fiddled with her long red locks that framed her small face.
I waited for the words that would answer all of my questions. Her eyes seemed sad for some reason and her hand continued to play with her crimson hair.
"An angel... talked to me... He said that I don't deserve to be treated that way. He said that it wasn't my fault to be born as a mistress' child... He said that I was much too precious to be violated by those savages. He said that I deserve to be happy and that those assassins that planned on taking my life are nothing compared to what I have become. He told me to take back the happiness that was supposed to be branding me, those horrible nobles fawned over how beautiful my body was. I heard what the angel said so I took the gun on the holster that my uncle used for hunting and I shot my uncle here." She said as she used her index finger to point at her own forehead.
I stared at her eyes brimming with tears. Such a fragile girl, I thought to myself
"Everyone looked at me, shocked at what I did. Then, abruptly, a man dressed in black broke in through the window and gave each of them a shot with his silver gun... I guess he was asked to kill all witnesses." She said forcing a smile on her face.
"Anyway, when it came to me, he shot me twice but only on my leg and my shoulder. He then threw away the gun and took out a pretty knife. I liked the knife and since the gun I held was now worthless, I threw it to him. He was such a lousy catcher. The gun hit his wrist and the knife fell. I don't know why... Maybe because of what the angel said... I quickly picked up the knife and charged it at him. What I did sufficed and he fell, bleeding lots of the pretty red that I liked so much." She said giggling a bit as she wiped away the tears that dripped down her cheeks.
I continued to look at her intently.
"I was so angry... I moved the knife up and down and I was showered with so much red... Everyone in that room was red and I was covered with their red... I was so lonely and sad... I wanted my daddy... That's when the angel appeared once again...He told me that everything is going to be okay. He was so beautiful... He had the most soothing smile... But when I assessed his looks, I saw that he had silky red hair and translucent green eyes. He looked a lot like me... He was me..." She said as she let go the locks that fell on her shoulder. She looked at me and relaxed her hand on the table.
"Ciel... I didn't know. Deep inside I wanted to kill them... There's a murderer in me... He told me to kill them... He told me to kill the aunt that taught me when I couldn't go to school... The uncle that read books to me until I fall asleep... I didn't care even if they killed me... They were the only ones that accepted me... I was ready to accept the ugly side to them because they accepted my past... but my ugly side took over and killed them..." She said as she kept her face down, crying tears that no one knew was there.
I grabbed onto her hand that felt so warm. She is not a bad child... Her guilt proved that her innocence is true.
"Ciel, after learning this, can you still accept me even if you know that "he" is residing in me?" She said looking at me with her swollen eyes that looked so innocent. I could not deny that I wished that I was as strong as her.
"Etoile... You were not at fault... what resides in you is something more beautiful. You are not not a murderer. You are strong... "He" is a manifestation of your strength. "He" is not ugly. "He" saved you from people who couldn't control their ugly sides. "He" is admirable. To be able to save you from death, "he" is a hero." I said holding her hand as she looked at me dumbfounded at what I said.
"Everyone has ugly sides but I can confidently say that "he" was not an ugly side of you..." I said comforting the young girl that continued to sob.
"How wonderful this girl is... If only I was as strong as her, maybe, just maybe, I would've gotten through without having to sell my soul like that..." I thought as I watched the girl hold on to my hand, sniffing as her body quivered from time to time.
"Thank you, Ciel..." She managed to say those three words as she continued to hold my hand.
+Night time at Ciel's office+
Ciel's POV
Sebastian entered the office with a tray of food. He looked at me surprised at seeing the sleeping girl on my couch.
"Take her to her room and when she wakes up, give her something to eat." I said as he set the tray on my table.
"Yes, my lord." He said as he carried the girl like how a groom would carry his bride.
"How was your "talk"?" He asked with a small smile on his face.
"I managed to get all the information that I need. What we need to do now it to continue on protecting her just how her majesty said." I said blankly as I started on with my dinner.
"Now, go. She needs all the rest that she can get." I said as I looked at her face. She looked so peaceful as she slept.
Sebastian left the room and I was once again alone. "An angel..." I thought to myself over and over...