Sebastian was by no means excited to meet Elizabeth Midford. He didn't want to meet the young woman who would forever stand between him and Ciel, holding his hand, smiling with him, kissing him, and doing all the things he'd dreamt of doing with the young boy he'd met in the bakery. He didn't want to like her, or get to know her, or have anything to do with her. He definitely didn't want to be the one wrapping her gifts from Ciel or preparing her guest room, just in case she decided to stay the night. Most of all, though, he didn't want to have to smile at her and be kind to her and serve her like he served Ciel.
All that didn't stop her from arriving, though. Sebastian opened the door when he heard the knock on the door, looking down to see the face of a girl who couldn't be any younger than himself of Ciel. She had her blonde hair tied up on the sides of her head in curly pigtails and she held a small box wrapped delicately with a ribbon in her gloved hands.
"You must be Sebastian, Ciel's new butler. It's nice to finally meet you." She said with a happy grin to him.
"You as well, Miss Elizabeth." Sebastian replied to the young woman, stepping aside to let her inside the manor so he could take her coat from her and hang it up. He blinked in shock when he turned around to see her holding the box out to him, looking up at him with her big green eyes.
"It's for you. A gift to welcome you to the family." She said with a happy grin.
Sebastian hated the way the young woman smiled at him and held the pretty little box out to him. She'd only just met him and was already considering him a member of the family and welcoming him in so unconditionally with a gift.
"My lady, you didn't have to." Sebastian said to her with a wave of his hands.
"Please, I insist. I want us to be good friends from here on out." She said happily, pushing the gift into his hands.
Sebastian took the gift from her hesitantly. "Well, I suppose I cannot very well deny a guest of my master's."
Elizabeth grinned at him happily. "I hope not. You can go ahead and open it up here."
Sebastian nodded and carefully untied the ribbon, as if the box itself was made of glass. He set the ribbon aside on the table and carefully lifted the lid of the box to reveal another, smaller box inside. He took it out and lifted open the lid to find a shiny silver pocket watch nestled nicely inside.
"I figured a proper butler ought to have a proper pocket watch to keep him on schedule. Ciel tells me how hard you work to stay on schedule. This might make your life a bit easier." Elizabeth said to him happily.
"Thank you, this was very kind. I'll take good care of it." Sebastian said to her with a small smile in return, fastening the pocket watch to his clothes and slipping it inside the pocket of his pants.
"I'm Elizabeth, by the way. Elizabeth Midford." She said, sticking a hand out to him.
"Yes, I've heard quite a bit about you. All good things, I promise." Sebastian replied with a small smile, taking her hand. "I'm Sebastian Michaelis, though you can just call me Sebastian."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Sebastian." She said with a happy grin to him.
"You as well, Lady Elizabeth. I'll alert my master that you've arrived." Sebastian said with a small bow to her.
"No need. I already know." Ciel replied from his spot on the stairs where he'd been watching the pair meet and get acquainted.
"My lord, how long have you been there?" Sebastian asked with a small frown.
"Not too long, don't worry about it." Ciel replied, sliding past his butler to go over to Elizabeth and gently take her hand, kissing her knuckles. Elizabeth smiled at the gesture.
"Lizzy, allow me to formally introduce my new butler, Sebastian Michaelis. Sebastian, this is my fiancée, Elizabeth Midford." Ciel said to the pair.
"It's a pleasure." She said with a happy smile, sticking her hand out to the taller man.
"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Elizabeth." Sebastian replied, gently taking her hand and shaking it. "If you'll both excuse me, it's time for tea."
Ciel nodded. "Serve it to us in the drawing room. Oh, and bring her birthday gifts as well." He replied, shooing the young man away.
"So, where did you find him?" Elizabeth asked curiously as she walked with Ciel off to the drawing room, holding onto her fiancé's arm as they walked.
"His family was in debt to me and impoverished. So, I cut their debt quota to a third of what it was if he agreed to work for me." Ciel explained.
"He's so skinny, like he's only eating for the first time now. You're so charitable, Ciel." She hummed to him happily as she took a seat in one of the chairs in the room as Ciel sat in the chair next to hers. "How old is he, anyways?"
"He's seventeen, just around our age." Ciel replied as he got comfortable with his legs crossed. "He's very young, and he's still got a long way to go to get the caliber I want him at, but at least he knows his way around a kitchen. The sweets he makes are some of the best I've ever had in my life."
"Well, I guess that just shows where your priorities lie." Elizabeth said with a wide grin, starting to giggle at the look Ciel gave her in return.
Sebastian let himself in the room with a cart that held the tea, food, and birthday gifts in their boxes a few minutes later. He handed the gifts to Elizabeth first before starting to pour the cups of tea for the couple.
"Thank you, Sebastian. Those little cakes look divine." Elizabeth complimented, watching the man focus so completely on doing everything as perfectly as he could.
"I hope they taste just as good as they look, Miss Elizabeth." Sebastian replied as he served the food to Ciel.
"If Ciel was telling the truth, I'm sure they will." She replied with a happy smile as she sipped her tea before setting the cup aside so she could open the boxes that had been tied shut with ribbon.
Elizabeth smiled as she opened up the boxes, one by one, grinning with delight at the parasol, shoes, and purse. "These are so lovely. They'll look adorable with plenty of my dresses. Thank you, Ciel." She hummed, moving from her seat to hug her fiancé thankfully.
"If there's nothing else you need me for, I think I'll leave you two alone." Sebastian said, shifting a bit awkwardly at the display of affection.
Ciel nodded and let the young man slip out of the room to go back to his duties.
Sebastian sighed once the door was shut behind him. He looked down at the shiny silver pocket watch, turning the thing over in his hand. The front was embossed with the Phantomhive family's seal and he could only assume it was pure silver. It was one of the prettiest, nicest things he'd ever owned and he could only guess how much such a thing would cost. The fact that such a gift would be given to a servant astounded him.
He was thrown out of his trance by the sound of a knock on the door. He quickly pocketed the watch once again and went over to the front door, opening it slowly to peer outside at the mail carrier waiting on the front step.
"How may I help you?" Sebastian asked the man.
"A letter for Earl Phantomhive." The mail carrier replied shortly, pushing the envelope into his hand.
"Thank you. I'll see to it that he gets it right away." Sebastian replied. The mail carrier just nodded and hurried away.
Sebastian watched him leave before shutting the door once again and looking down at the envelope in his hand. The paper seemed rather thick and heavy and expensive. The address looked like it had been written by a master calligrapher and the envelope was sealed with a neat circle of molded wax. He stared at the letter absently, wondering if it was from someone important or if getting fancy letters was just a perk of being born into nobility.
He stopped at the door of the drawing room, knocking gently on the door.
"I've been going soft on him the past couple days, but that's just to let him settle in a bit. It's been rougher than we'd thought. I think tomorrow I'm going to start pushing him again." Ciel explained to Lizzy as they sipped their tea, the young woman wondering how Ciel was planning to mold a butler not much older than either of them into the most perfect butler in all of Great Britain.
He looked up when he heard the knock from the door. "Come in." He called, setting the cup down as Sebastian let himself inside.
"A letter just came for you, sir." Sebastian said, bringing the envelope over to Ciel where he sat.
"Next time, just bring it up to my office. They're usually not important enough to bother with interrupting my fiancée and I. " Ciel said as he took the envelope, looking it over. "Actually, never mind. When the envelopes look like this and have that seal, bring them to me immediately. Otherwise, they can wait."
"Yes, sir. May I ask who it's from?" Sebastian replied, watching Ciel open up the envelope and slide the papers out from inside.
"The Queen."
"The Queen? Queen Victoria?"
"What other queen is there? Now, hush and let me read this."
Sebastian snapped his mouth shut despite all the questions swirling around in his mind. He watched Ciel's large blue eyes scan over the paper, reading each and every word on the page. He glanced over at Elizabeth, but she seemed unfazed by the fact that Ciel had gotten a letter from the Queen herself, the blonde girl just contently sipping her tea and eating a cake, humming happily at the taste.
"Sebastian, these cakes are lovely. I wish I could eat them all day long without having to worry about a stomach ache." Elizabeth hummed to him happily.
"I'm glad you like them, Lady Elizabeth. I'll be sure to make them again for you." Sebastian replied with a small smile to her happily.
"It looks like we have something to do now." Ciel said, folding the paper up and setting it aside so he could sip his tea.
"What is it this time?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"There've been reports of terribly bloody and grisly murders as well as quite a few churches out in the countryside mysteriously catching fire and burning to the ground." Ciel replied casually.
"Why is the Queen telling all this to you? Isn't that something the Scotland Yard should be looking into? Why does she turn to a teenage boy instead?" Sebastian spoke up, clamping his mouth shut when the pair looked up at him. All of a sudden, he remembered how much lower his place was compared to the two people in front of him. A servant speaking out so boldly was generally frowned upon quite a bit.
"I haven't told you that yet, have I? For generations, the Earl Phantomhive has served as the Queen's Watchdog. She came to me because this something that she wants to remain within the underground and away from polite society. The people need to believe that England is safe; it's my job to make sure the keep believing that. The Scotland Yard can stick to their little investigations. If I need them, I'll make use of them. Otherwise, I'll deal with this problem myself." Ciel explained with a small smirk playing on his lips as he looked up into his butler's brown eyes.
"That sounds extremely dangerous, though, sir." Sebastian replied after a bit of thought. He felt his heart drop when Ciel's smile widened.
"Oh, it definitely is. That's why I don't ever go alone. After all, my butler is meant to follow me like a shadow and make sure I stay safe."
Sebastian blinked at the reply, not to sure how to take the revelation. "Sir, I have no experience with detective work." He finally said softly, starting to wonder what he'd gotten himself into.
"I know you don't. But you need to get experience somehow, because these assignments come quite often. All you have to worry about doing is following my every order. Do you understand?"
Sebastian swallowed at that, quickly understanding that the tasks Ciel would have him perform would more than likely involve things he'd never dreamed of doing, things he'd never be able to tell his parents about, things he'd have to beg God for forgiveness later. "Yes, my lord. I understand. I will do anything you order me to."
Ciel smiled at the answer, glancing over at Elizabeth. Perhaps Sebastian didn't have all the experience in the world, but the man's discipline was increasing quite a bit. Soon enough, he would have a butler he could proudly present to other noblemen with the knowledge of how much they would envy him and his perfect servant. "Wonderful. Why don't we start with some more tea?"