A/N: I actually didn't expect to post again until Friday but today I was at home sick, so I decided to finish the chapter I already had half written than sit around bored all day.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji in any way, shape, or form.
WARNINGS: Some mild language, like two curse words, used.
"Are you telling me that I may have endangered more lives than what were originally intended to be risked?" Alois stood up fully now, causing me to slightly lift my gaze to meet his as I nodded to confirm his suspicions. His look of concern quickly morphed into one of pure fury as he slammed his fist damn onto the table. "Damn it! Ciel how long do you think they've been watching us? Because if it's been since the first murder, I hope you know how many people are in danger now."
His tone didn't tell me it was just a small amount. I was almost hesitant to answer, but before I could say anything he screamed the answer at me. "Ciel, my entire bloody manor was full of guests just on Sunday! I held a ball for my birthday, if they've watched us since then, that means that almost all the nobles of England could be in danger!" The candlelight shined off the tears that started to build up in the corners of his eyes as he threw down the cue stick and practically collapsed onto his knees, burying his face in his hands. I could've sworn he mumbled something about his butler before going into hysterics, falling onto his side as he bawled while he mumbled random nonsense I couldn't even understand anymore. If I listened close enough I could hear some bits in Latin, but the rest were incoherent. I couldn't think of what to do, Elizabeth had her breakdowns from time to time, but it's easy to make her happy again with her cheerful attitude. I had no idea what to do for Alois however, for he was not Elizabeth and I don't know how his butler handles him in these occasions. I stepped back and called for Sebastian, but whenever he got close to the blond he just freaked out and started screaming, a reaction I didn't expect. Eventually, after twenty minutes of trying to console the hysterical teen, Sebastian got his butler to come in and deal with the situation as Sebastian left to go work on dinner and I to my office to finish work. If I was quiet enough, if the wind outside died down just enough, you could faintly hear Alois either crying or screaming, a sound that sent unpleasant chills down my spine. Having a guest like that would be a very odd experience in the end, one I would hope to never encounter again.
After the meltdown had been dealt with, the manor had gone silent again. No one was talking down the hall, Meyrin wasn't tripping or breaking dishes, Bard wasn't destroying the kitchen, and Finny wasn't making a mess outside. It was just… silent. For once I didn't enjoy having peace and quiet, it felt odd and made the air in the room feel heavy. It eventually became harder for me to concentrate on my work as time went by. What was going on? As I stood from my chair to go see why everyone was so quiet, Sebastian knocked on the door announcing that it was time to be seated in the dining room. On the way down I questioned Sebastian about the lack of presence from the others, only to find out that they had all left early to head over to the town house in order to prepare it. "I thought it would only be a safe precaution to move over to the town house for this case seeing how the culprit may be watching you at this one. And I thought it would be a pleasant change for my lord since Prince Soma and Agni have left back to India for the time being, leaving the townhouse peaceful." I nodded and sat down at the head of the dining room table, waiting for Sebastian to prepare dinner.
Only five minutes later was I joined at the table by Alois. His eyes were still tinted a light red and there were tears stained onto his cheeks, but only the most observant would be able to see that detail. He seemed to fidget slightly in his chair, glancing towards the window before turning to me, masking his unease with a smirk. "So, Ciel, what's your next move going to be?"
I sent a bored glance his way before shaking my head slightly. There's no way he could seriously think about talking about our plan, practically right in front of killer if he was watching us. "It would not be wise to talk about it in the dining room, it would be much safer to discuss in a room with no windows as to prevent anyone who wasn't supposed to hear to know what we're doing."
He nodded, leaning back in his chair a bit. "So you feel it too? And here I thought I was going crazy from the paranoia this case has caused. Any way, how about after dinner we settle in with a game of chess? We could always discuss tactics." The look he gaze me altered, as if he was trying to tell me he was hinting at someone. So he's going to talk in code? At least he was clever enough to do that.
"Yes, I have one strategy I'd like to practice. I think you might like to see it as well. I think it may be one that I could use to win most chess matches. It's rather cunning." He nodded and turned his attention to the door as Sebastian and Claude presented us our meals. The dining room fell silent soon after that, the only noise being the clinking of silverware against the dishes and the occasional thud of Alois' foot against the leg of his chair as he swung his legs like a mere child would.
Towards the end of the meal the feeling of eyes peering in on us got even stronger, even Sebastian sensed it. At a certain point Alois just stopped trying to ignore it all together, dropping his fork and leaving the room in the blink of an eye, his butler soon after him to go see why he left so suddenly. Once I had finished Sebastian went to go collect my things as quickly as he could, then ushered me and Trancy into a carriage and set off for the town house.
"This case is proving to be quite an aggravating task. Once we figure out the identity of this killer then the case is as good as done." I huffed, crossing my arms and glancing out the window. I refuse to show weakness, but fleeing the manor just because of an unsettling feeling irked me to no end. Now it knows we're trying to escape it. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I'll make sure to order Sebastian to kill the killer as slowly as possible, make sure they suffer.
"It's not a demon." Alois muttered, keeping his gaze glued to the window. "Claude confirmed that for me. Sebastian told me you were certain it wasn't human, so I thought you'd like to know that it's not a demon. I haven't gathered any other clues though. Everytime I've tried to go to the crime scene, the yard has already cleaned the entire thing which left me with nothing. When you started working on the case though, they didn't do so much as mess up a single hair on the body. I think they only did it to fool you into thinking that they're actually investigating. We both know they're not."
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" I sent him a glare, but he just shrugged it off. His excuse was he didn't feel like it was safe to mention it at the time. I thought about this information though. If it wasn't a demon then that could only mean that the feather I found belonged to… "It's an angel. I found a pure white feather on the latest body, it must've fallen off the wing of the angel while it tried to get away. But most angels would never do a thing like this, so it must be a fallen angel." I scowled as I finished, not pleased with this situation.
"I take it by your frown that angels are a pain in the ass to kill?" He just laughed quietly to himself. "You can never catch a break can you? Nothing happens at my manor, maybe we could switch lives for a day. I wouldn't mind having more adventures to go on." He continued to talk nonsense about how much fun it would be and all sorts of adventures I get to go on. Despite him being older than me, he reminds me of a child, such a jealous young child indeed.